Watching this scene, Jiang Muyan felt warmth well up in his heart.
After a moment's thought, he called Zhao Chuan. "Buy the bracelet my wife took a fancy to before and have it delivered to the Jiang family home."
Since Song Yutang had stood up for his sister like this, he ought to thank her.
Zhao Chuan already knew what had happened. "Mr. Jiang, that bracelet only costs a few thousand... wouldn't that be a little too..."
Jiang Muyan had not expected it to be so cheap. "That is too cheap. Do you have any suggestions, then?"
Zhao Chuan said, "There's an auction next month, and your wife's name is on the guest list. How about we see what she likes and bid on it for her?"
Jiang Muyan considered it for a moment. "All right. Arrange a private box and send a buyer over."
"Yes." Zhao Chuan added, "There are a few documents at Hengxing that require your signature in person. You'll need to find time to come to the office, or should I have someone deliver them to the Jiang family home?"
Jiang Muyan thought it over. "Have Old Gu prepare the documents. When I find an opportunity, I'll meet with you all. There are some things we need to discuss face-to-face anyway."
"Where?"
"The usual place."
After hanging up, Jiang Muyan's gaze returned to the surveillance feed.
Song Yutang was helping Jiang Zhixia straighten out her newly purchased clothes, her profile looking gentle yet resolute beneath the mall's lights.
It was lovely.
Perhaps this marriage, brought about by a twist of fate...
Was not so bad after all.
It seemed he really did need a wife like her-gentle and kind, with resourcefulness and resolve.
At the mall, the sales assistants had finished packing Jiang Zhixia's purchases.
She pressed two of the jewelry sets into Song Yutang's hands, her eyes red as she said a little shyly, "Sister-in-law, I picked these out especially for you. Please accept them as an apology from Chengyu and me."
Since she had put it that way, Song Yutang had no reason to refuse.
Before parting, the two exchanged contact information.
Song Yutang made a point of telling her, "Remember, don't just grit your teeth and bear it when you're wronged. You have your parents, your brother, and your sister-in-law. Whenever you run into trouble, call me."
Jiang Zhixia's eyes grew even redder.
No wonder her parents both said her sister-in-law was a wonderful person.
She really was so, so wonderful.
Xiao Tuantuan was delighted too. She threw her arms around Song Yutang's leg and beamed. "Auntie, Tuantuan likes you."
To make his stance clear, Ji Chengyu immediately instructed the bodyguards, "Take my eldest sister-in-law and the young master to the villa in the west of the city. Have the servants pack their things at home and deliver them there. From now on, apart from reunion dinners during the holidays, they're not allowed to set foot in our home again."
Song Yutang finally felt satisfied.
So did Butler Wang.
Neither of them interfered with what followed, leaving Ji Chengyu to tie up the loose ends himself.
On the way home, Li Xiulan took Song Yutang's hand and sighed repeatedly. "Yutang, thank you so much for today. It's your father's and my fault for being so useless. We didn't even know our daughter was being wronged, let alone have the ability to back her up."
Smiling, Song Yutang clasped her hand in return. "Mom, you and Dad treat me like your own daughter, so naturally Zhixia is my own little sister too. We're family. There's no need to speak as though we're strangers."
She had stepped forward to stand up for Jiang Zhixia partly to defend the Jiang family's dignity.
The other reason, of course, was that Jiang Guoqiang and his wife treated her well.
Li Xiulan patted her hand, deeply gratified. "Our ancestors must have accumulated so much virtue for our family to have married such a wonderful daughter-in-law. But with Muyan in that condition, I'm really afraid we're holding you back. Why don't... you two get a divorce?"
Song Yutang's heart lurched, and she hurriedly asked, "Mom, have I done something wrong?"
"No, no..." Li Xiulan quickly shook her head. "You're wonderful in every way. You're simply too wonderful. I really can't bear to make you live like a widow with a husband still alive..."
Song Yutang breathed a sigh of relief, then said solemnly, "Mom, I will never get a divorce. In life, I belong to the Jiang family; in death, I'll be a Jiang family ghost."
The Jiang family had immense wealth and could walk sideways through Cloud City.
Her parents-in-law were sincere and kind, and her younger sister-in-law was kindhearted and sensible.
Her younger brother-in-law...
Was a bit dim, but not a bad person.
Although Jiang Muyan was in a vegetative state, that also eliminated the risk of him chasing flowers and stirring up grass, favoring a concubine and ruining his wife.
She had only been married into the family for half a month, yet she already made the decisions on practically all household matters.
As long as she did not seek romantic love, a family like this would be hard to find even with a lantern, whether in the Jing Dynasty or the modern world.
Since she had married into it, it was hers. No one could drive her out.
It took Li Xiulan a long while to recover. Both moved and helpless, she said, "You child... if you ever change your mind and want a divorce, just tell me. Your father and I will take you as our goddaughter, and we'll still prepare a generous dowry for you."
Warmth filled Song Yutang's heart, and she took the opportunity to change the subject. "Mom, tell me about Zhixia and Ji Chengyu."
Li Xiulan sighed. "I heard Lin Lu was originally Ji Chengyu's fiancée, betrothed to him since childhood. Who knew she would secretly get involved with his illegitimate older brother and even set him up in a collision that broke his legs? His father already favored his illegitimate son and used that as an excuse to strip Chengyu of his position at the company.
"Zhixia studied nursing and happened to be assigned to his ward during her internship. On the day Lin Lu married his older brother, Ji Chengyu jumped into a lake to kill himself. It was the dead of winter, and Zhixia risked her life to drag him out... Zhixia was softhearted, so she stayed by his side. Before long, she was pregnant with Tuantuan, and the two naturally got married.
"Over those years, Zhixia helped him slowly get back on his feet. After Tuantuan was born, their life was fairly harmonious. Later, Ji Chengyu's father passed away and unexpectedly left most of his assets to him. Still, he treated Zhixia and Tuantuan quite well, and he was good to our family too.
"A year ago, Ji Chengyu's older brother had an accident while driving drunk, and he brought Lin Lu and her son home. Your father had only just been acknowledged by the Jiang family then, and there was so much going on that he didn't ask too many questions. But every so often, the three of them would come back for a meal..."
Li Xiulan suddenly remembered something. "Come to think of it... ever since Muyan's accident, Ji Chengyu doesn't seem to have visited even once. Back when Muyan was fine, he used to bring Zhixia and Tuantuan back to her parents' home almost every week..."
By this point, Song Yutang understood everything.
The person Ji Chengyu loved most had always been Lin Lu.
When he had gotten together with Zhixia, he had merely been reluctantly settling for her.
During those first few years, of course, Lin Lu's betrayal had bothered him too.
But as time passed, the more unattainable something was, the deeper his obsession grew.
So the moment his brother had an accident, Ji Chengyu immediately brought Lin Lu and her son back to his side.
He had continued keeping up the appearance of a loving marriage only because Zhixia had become the richest man's granddaughter and had her exceptionally capable brother, Jiang Muyan, to rely on.
But over the past year, he had also seen clearly how coldly the old man treated Jiang Guoqiang's family.
Once Jiang Muyan, their pillar of support, had an accident, the family no longer had much value to exploit.
Certain that Zhixia was weak and afraid of trouble, he used caring for his widowed sister-in-law as an excuse to dote on Lin Lu and her son without restraint.
Ji Chengyu looked every inch a respectable man, yet beneath the surface he was mean and selfish, and even liked debasing himself.
Once someone like him had a change of heart, he was more frightening than a ghost.
Today, Zhixia seemed to have gained the upper hand, but what would happen in the future was still anyone's guess...