Inside the jewelry store.
Ji Chengyu had never expected Song Yutang to actually tell on him. His face turned from green to white.
After staring wide-eyed for a long while, he suddenly softened his expression, let go of Lin Lu, and stepped forward, saying quietly, "Xiaxia, let's talk this through calmly. Don't air our dirty laundry in public. Come home with me, you and Tuantuan. Whatever misunderstandings there are, we can resolve them behind closed doors."
Jiang Zhixia stepped back in fright.
Ji Chengyu sighed, lowering his voice to a near whisper. "Xiaxia, think carefully. Your brother is still unconscious, and he might stay that way for the rest of his life. Dad donated a kidney to the old master, and his health keeps getting worse. Mom has worked hard all her life, and she panics whenever something happens. They're already exhausted, heart and soul, over your brother. Could you bear to make them lose sleep all night over you too?"
Hearing his threats through the surveillance feed, Jiang Muyan laughed in anger.
No wonder Ji Chengyu dared to be so brazen. He was counting on Xiaxia having no one to back her up.
It seemed his family had suffered plenty of mistreatment and humiliation while he was unconscious.
Struck in her weak spot, Jiang Zhixia felt her heart tighten, her fingertips curling unconsciously.
Ever since her brother's accident, the rift between her and her husband had grown wider and wider because of Lin Lu and her son.
She hadn't been doing well at all lately.
Even when her brother got married, she had been forced to look after Lin Lu's dog and couldn't go back to her parents' home.
The very reason she hadn't dared tell her parents was that she didn't want to worry them.
"Be good, Tuantuan. Come home with Daddy..." Seeing the wavering in her eyes, Ji Chengyu forced a smile and stepped forward to take Tuantuan's hand.
Tuantuan shuddered in fright and hid close behind Jiang Zhixia.
Song Yutang slapped his hand away. "Go home? Where? Back to the Ji Family to keep being bullied?"
Ji Chengyu grew a little angry. "Miss Song, our family affairs have nothing to do with you. We shouldn't air our dirty laundry in public. You don't want people pointing fingers at Zhixia and Tuantuan either, do you?"
Song Yutang sneered. "If it's dirty laundry, why was your dear sister-in-law Lin Lu allowed to broadcast it in public? She can air it, but your wife can't clarify the facts?"
Lin Lu froze for a moment, then started sobbing again. "Stop arguing... I accept my fate. I'm willing to give my child's father to Zhixia... She can spend as much as she likes on his card too... Just leave us, a widow and her fatherless child, alone..."
Song Yutang abruptly turned and slapped her across the face, rebuking her fiercely. "Isn't your child's father already dead? How can someone who's legally dead be with Zhixia? How can he be Tuantuan's dad? Miss Lin, if you don't explain yourself clearly today, our Jiang Family will never let you off."
This woman was being deliberately ambiguous, clearly trying to mislead people into believing that the child's father was her husband.
She was spreading sexual rumors, pinning the label of mistress on Jiang Zhixia.
If they didn't clear things up, the story would become more distorted with every retelling and might ruin the Jiang Family's reputation.
Watching through the surveillance feed, Jiang Muyan raised his eyebrows slightly.
He hadn't expected Song Yutang to be so protective of his sister.
Lin Lu clutched her slapped cheek, her eyes darting about in panic. "I, I..."
"Enough..." Ji Chengyu stepped forward to shield her behind him, deliberately lowering his voice. "Song Yutang, don't go too far. Guangguang's dad was my own brother. Now that he's gone, I'm Guangguang's dad. What's wrong with that?"
Song Yutang raised an eyebrow and looked at Lin Lu with a half-smile. "So when Lin Lu first said Zhixia was using her child's father's card and stealing her child's father, she meant you, Ji Chengyu. Is that right?"
With her little scheme exposed, Lin Lu turned deathly pale and pleaded through her sobs. "Miss Song, Guangguang is still so young. He really can't be without a dad... I'm willing to give everything to Zhixia. Please have mercy and stop pressuring us..."
"Shut up!" Song Yutang shouted angrily, staring straight at Ji Chengyu. "You must make this clear. Whose husband are you, and whose dad? Whose card was Jiang Zhixia using?"
Lin Lu threw herself into Ji Chengyu's arms, crying. "Chengyu, I'm sorry for putting you in such a difficult position... Since Mrs. Jiang insists that you say it, just say it. It doesn't matter if Guangguang and I suffer a little..."
Guangguang squeezed out a couple of aggrieved tears too. "Daddy... No, Uncle... Go be Tuantuan's dad... It's okay if all the kids at kindergarten say Guangguang is a wild child without a dad. Guangguang is used to it anyway..."
Ji Chengyu hesitated for a moment.
But as he looked at the trembling mother and son in his arms, he finally gritted his teeth and glared viciously at Jiang Zhixia and her daughter. "Jiang Zhixia, how much longer are you going to cling to me? I told you long ago that we were over. My brother entrusted you to me before he died, so I had no choice but to... And you, Tuantuan, I'm only your uncle. Don't call me Daddy again."
His words were like a knife.
Jiang Zhixia's face instantly drained of color, and the last glimmer of light in her eyes went out completely.
Tuantuan clung tightly to her mother's leg, her little body trembling.
Li Xiulan shook with anger. "Ji Chengyu, are you even human? When both your legs were crippled and you were thrown out of your home, Zhixia saved your life and married you without hesitation. Yet you're slandering her, saying she's clinging to you, just to protect this woman."
Having received an even more definite answer, Song Yutang stepped forward, her gaze blazing as she looked Ji Chengyu straight in the eye. "Are you sure that's what you want to say? The police are already on their way, and the marriage registration system has everything clearly recorded.
"If the investigation really proves that a daughter of our Jiang Family has been clinging to you, a married man, then as the Jiang Family's eldest daughter-in-law, I promise that the Jiang Family will publicly apologize to you and Miss Lin Lu through all major media outlets and compensate you a hundredfold for your financial losses. But if this is slander and defamation..."
On the other side of the screen, a barely perceptible trace of approval flashed through Jiang Muyan's eyes.
She spoke clearly and logically, and handled matters firmly and decisively.
His new wife really was not someone to be trifled with.
Cornered, Ji Chengyu instantly turned deathly pale and couldn't get a word out for a long while.
Just as he found himself unable to advance or retreat, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from the crowd. "Mr. Ji, think carefully before you speak."
Butler Wang strode forward with a group of bodyguards. "The young madam is right. With so many people here, you might as well make things clear. Who exactly is clinging to whom? Who is your lawful wife? Our old master may be getting on in years, but he won't tolerate a grain of sand in his eyes. If a member of our Jiang Family really has done something wrong, we will certainly give you a satisfactory answer, Mr. Ji."
Cold sweat immediately broke out on Ji Chengyu's forehead.
Wasn't the old man distant from Jiang Zhixia, never bothering with her?
He hadn't expected one phone call from Song Yutang to bring Butler Wang here so quickly.
He knew what the old master was capable of.
Never mind him-even when his father was alive, the mere mention of that richest man had made him tremble with fear.
"I, I..." Ji Chengyu's lips trembled for a long while without producing a word. Finally, looking as though he had broken down, he turned to Jiang Zhixia. "Zhixia, I'm sorry... I, I wasn't thinking straight just now... Ever since my brother died, Lulu has been traumatized and developed mania. The doctor said she couldn't take any more distress. I only wanted to go along with her and look after my brother's widow. That's why I said those things..."
Seeing that things were going badly, Lin Lu hurriedly cried too. "Y-yes... There's nothing improper between Chengyu and me... You... You're slandering my innocence like this... Sob, sob, I might as well die..."
Song Yutang's gaze drifted lightly onto her. "I don't know whether you're innocent. All I know is that a respectable widowed sister-in-law wouldn't plaster her entire body against her husband's younger brother's chest."