Page 48

"You've got the guts, go tell Su Shiyuan to throw me out of this house. I'd be more than happy to leave!" Huo Jiu sneered, feeling that Lu Manzhen truly had no idea what she was talking about.

Why was he living with the Su family? Did she think he wanted to live here? Of course not. It was because Su Shiyuan did not trust his living organ bank wandering around outside every day, so he had no choice but to keep him locked up here. Adoption in name, imprisonment in truth.

Lu Manzhen's expression changed, and a rare trace of guilt surfaced on her face. When she spoke to Huo Jiu again, her tone had softened considerably. "Don't overthink it! You're my child, and your father has already passed away. As your mother, I have to raise you. Letting you live with the Su family is for your own good too. Don't imagine things that aren't there."

"Is that so?" Huo Jiu gave a dry laugh, his gaze fixed on Lu Manzhen's face. "That wasn't what you were saying just now."

Lu Manzhen's delicate brows shot up, and she became somewhat embarrassed and angry. But seeing Huo Jiu's faintly mocking expression, she could only suppress her temper and say awkwardly, "I was just too angry and said something without thinking. You're part of the Su family. It's only right for you to live here, and no one can drive you away."

"Please don't!" Huo Jiu interrupted dismissively. "The Su family is the Su family, and I am me. I've never been one of you."

Lu Manzhen knew she could not win an argument against Huo Jiu, nor could she be bothered to stay and get herself worked up. After reluctantly saying a few conciliatory words, she turned and left.

As soon as she reached downstairs, she heard Aunt Zhao greeting guests. Su Zhuo's grandmother and the Bai family's second daughter had arrived at some point. They were sitting on the sofas in the first-floor living room, drinking tea as they listened to Aunt Zhao report on everything.

Lu Manzhen's heart skipped a beat. Instinctively slowing her steps, she stood at the stairway landing and listened carefully for a while. She heard Aunt Zhao say resentfully, "...Madam, Second Miss, you haven't visited the Su family lately, so you have no idea. That young master the new madam brought back has become more and more outrageous. A few days ago, he made a huge scene and smashed quite a few things in the house. He even damaged the family photo the eldest miss took with Young Master Xiao Zhuo before she passed away. Last night, he cursed at us Bai family members too. He has absolutely no manners."

Su Zhuo's grandmother and the Bai family's second daughter had already heard about these matters over the phone. They had been furious even then, and hearing it all again in person made them even angrier.

"I'm not dead yet! Do that mother and son think that now Yueyin is gone, the entire Su family belongs to them? Do they even intend to gang up and bully our Xiao Zhuo?" Su Zhuo's grandmother heavily set down her teacup on the coffee table. Instead of growing angry, she laughed. "Where is Lu Manzhen? She's only been the Su family's daughter-in-law for a few years, and she can't hide her true nature anymore? Guests have arrived, yet she won't even come out to receive them. Does she take our Bai family for poor relatives coming to beg for handouts?"

Lu Manzhen inwardly cursed. She did not dare remain at the stairway landing to eavesdrop any longer and hurried downstairs with a placating smile. "Madam, you've come. What are you saying? How could I dare disrespect you? I was just upstairs talking with Huo Jiu, and Aunt Zhao never informed me that guests had arrived."

As she said this, Lu Manzhen cast Aunt Zhao a cold look. "Aunt Zhao, this is where you were in the wrong. You're an elder servant in this household, so you should know the Su family's rules. Important guests have come—how could you not notify me?"

"You needn't shift the blame onto Aunt Zhao. Aunt Zhao came from the Bai family, so naturally she respects the Bai family. Since the two of us came to visit, someone had to prepare tea. What, were we supposed to be left waiting while she went upstairs to ask for instructions from you, the new madam? Without your permission, are we Bai family members not even entitled to a cup of hot tea?"

The words were laced with barbs, and Lu Manzhen's face went somewhat pale.

"What are you saying? I couldn't possibly accept that." Seeing that the Bai mother and daughter had come looking for trouble, Lu Manzhen could not be bothered to keep lowering herself either. She simply sat down on a sofa beside them and asked with a smile, "May I ask what guidance you have for me today, Madam?"

"Lu Manzhen, stop playing dumb when you know perfectly well what's going on!" Bai Yueling sneered. The way she looked at Lu Manzhen was like enemies meeting with eyes blazing red. "If Aunt Zhao hadn't called us, we never would have known that you and your son had such nerve. You even dared curse at Bai family members right in front of my brother-in-law!"

"Where's that little bastard you brought in from outside? Get him down here, now. I want to meet him today and see exactly whose backing he's relying on to dare curse at his elders!" As Bai Yueling spoke, she angrily slapped the coffee table, reddening her palm. She was clearly truly furious.

Lu Manzhen's expression turned icy. "Watch your language. They say the Bai family has excellent manners, yet Second Miss Bai keeps calling someone a little bastard right in front of her own mother. Is that the Bai family's upbringing?"

Bai Yueling was about to say something, but Su Zhuo's grandmother stopped her. "She's furious, so she spoke without restraint. But compared to what your son said when he cursed people, her words today are nothing."

After saying that, Su Zhuo's grandmother's expression darkened. Without giving Lu Manzhen time to react, she said in a low voice, "Fine, if he won't come out, then forget it. I came today to ask you and your son face-to-face: when exactly are you going to undergo the bone marrow transplant? Xiao Zhuo's condition worsens by the day, yet you two clearly don't care at all. Don't tell me you're planning to drag this out for as long as you can..."

Su Zhuo's grandmother paused slightly, her gaze turning cold as it settled on Lu Manzhen. Her voice chilled. "Don't forget that the reason Shiyuan agreed to bring that child back to the Su family was to treat Xiao Zhuo."

"In the years since you married into the Su family, although Xiao Zhuo has never called you Mom, he has always treated you as an elder with respect in both word and deed."

"If you dare entertain crooked thoughts just because Shiyuan and Xiao Zhuo are kindhearted, then you truly have the hearts of wolves and the lungs of dogs."

Before Lu Manzhen could speak, Bai Yueling impatiently said, "Exactly. My brother-in-law has treated you so well, and Xiao Zhuo trusts you so much. If you don't want to treat Xiao Zhuo's illness, that would be utterly vicious."

"Lu Manzhen, think about it. With all the disgraceful things you did back then, if my brother-in-law hadn't liked you and married you, letting you become the chairman's wife of Su Corporation in such splendor, would you ever have had the chance to rise to the top in one step? And that little bastard in your family—if my brother-in-law hadn't been kindhearted, could he ever have entered the Su family's doors?"