The old man narrowed his eyes slightly. "How do you want him punished?"
Song Yutang smiled calmly and said at an unhurried pace, "Our Jiang Family is a distinguished family with a century of history. Surely we have rules. I've only just married into the family and know very little, so please enlighten me, Grandpa. Under the family rules, how should someone be punished for framing an elder and disgracing the family?"
The old man fell silent for a moment. "Butler Wang, drag Jiang Sinian to the ancestral hall and give him thirty lashes."
Jiang Sinian went deathly pale with fright. "Grandpa, I know I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"
But Song Yutang still wasn't satisfied. "And what about me? I suffered for no reason and nearly had my reputation destroyed. How will I be compensated?"
The old man looked up at her. "What do you want?"
Song Yutang met his eyes. "My husband's younger half brother plotted against me because, ultimately, he considers me an outsider. How about this? Have him give me some of his shares. Once I have shares, I'll be a shareholder in the Jiang Family, one of the family."
A chorus of sharp gasps immediately filled the living room.
Jiang Qingyu nearly jumped up in fury. "Don't even think about it!"
Wu Caixia shrieked, "In your dreams! Who are you to covet the Jiang Family's shares?"
But the old man fell silent.
He stared at Song Yutang for a very, very long time. Just when everyone thought he would lose his temper, he finally spoke slowly. "If you can give Muyan a child, boy or girl, I'll give you 1% out of the 3% in Sinian's name."
1%.
It sounded like very little.
But this was 1% of the wealthiest family's Jiang Group.
Jiang Sinian roared like a madman, "Grandpa, those are my shares! You can't give them to her!"
Chen Ruyin could no longer bother pretending to be delicate, either. She wailed to heaven and earth, "Brother Kun, you're driving us to our deaths!"
"Dad, you personally gave Sinian that 3%! It's the foundation of his standing in the group. Now you want to carve out 1% for Song Yutang... how-how is he supposed to have any say on the board after this?"
"Even if Sinian hasn't earned any merit at the company over the years, he's still worked hard. Song Yutang hasn't done anything. Dad, you can't favor my elder brother's family like this..."
"Grandpa... please... spare Third Brother... if anything happens to him... Shiya... Shiya won't go on living, either..."
Jiang Qingyu and his wife threw tantrums and rolled about, while Jiang Shiya and Chen Ruyin cried, made scenes, and threatened to hang themselves.
Their greedy, mean, scheming behavior was simply both stupid and wicked.
For the first time, the old man found this family loathsome. His gaze darkened. "Enough! Aren't you always saying Yutang is an outsider? Once she bears a child of the Jiang bloodline, she'll be a proper member of this family. What's wrong with giving her some shares?"
His gaze settled on Jiang Qingyu. "As Muyan's uncle, you should make a gesture, too. When the time comes, give the child 1% from your own holdings as a welcome gift."
"..." Jiang Qingyu's face turned completely black.
Butler Wang had already caught on. He immediately signaled the bodyguards to step forward and drag the still-struggling Jiang Sinian out.
Chen Ruyin hurried after them, sobbing.
Jiang Qingyu and his wife shot Song Yutang vicious glares, but dared not say anything else and slunk away.
At last, the living room fell quiet.
The old man dismissed everyone and walked up to Song Yutang, his gaze sharp. "You really are something. I knew exactly what game you were playing, yet you still talked me into it."
Song Yutang met his gaze openly. "I'm sure you've investigated my past. Since I chose to come to the Jiang Family, I never intended to leave. I'm Jiang Muyan's wife, the mother of the Jiang Family's eldest legitimate grandson, and the mother of your future great-grandchild. We aren't enemies. Everything I do is for this family."
The old man's face remained expressionless. "Other people play covert tricks. You, on the other hand, scheme in plain sight."
Song Yutang smiled. "Grandpa, there's really no such thing as covert or overt schemes in this world. I simply deal with matters as they stand, doing what I should and what I can. If you think I've done anything wrong, you can punish me."
The old man said nothing and walked past her.
After two steps, he suddenly looked back, a ruthless glint rising in his deep eyes. "Being clever is a good thing. But being too clever for your own good... gets on people's nerves."
Before Song Yutang could reply, a crisply enunciated line suddenly came from the living room speakers:
"Your Majesty, however unworthy your own son may be, he is still your flesh and blood. However good your nephew may be, there is still a degree of separation. Since ancient times, people have enshrined their birth parents in ancestral halls. Whoever enshrines someone else?"
"Indeed, one's own flesh and blood is one's own flesh and blood, after all. So be it... convey my decree. Return power to the crown prince..."
It turned out that Li Xiulan had switched on the television at some point, and a historical drama was playing.
The old man's expression instantly turned ugly, and he cursed in exasperation, "What rubbish are you watching? Turn it off!"
Li Xiulan shrank back in fright. "This-this is a proper historical drama... I was just watching it to pass the time..."
The old man glared fiercely at her and stormed upstairs.
Only after he disappeared around the turn of the staircase did Song Yutang quietly look back and give Li Xiulan a thumbs-up.
Li Xiulan covered her mouth to hide her laughter and raised her eyebrows smugly.
Watching the surveillance footage in his bedroom, Jiang Muyan couldn't help laughing aloud, either.
Jiang Sinian had truly lifted a rock only to smash his own feet this time. His losses were enormous.
Song Yutang really did have some ability, turning his scheme against him and putting him in check instead.
His efforts hadn't been wasted: following the information supplied by the paparazzi to trace Jiang Sinian's assistant, retrieving their chat logs, then displaying them to everyone in time...
Seeing that Song Yutang was already heading upstairs, Jiang Muyan hurriedly put away his computer and lay back down to play the vegetative patient again.
A minute later, she pushed the door open and walked in.
After plugging in her phone to charge, Song Yutang hesitated briefly, then accepted Jiang Muyan's friend request.
As expected of Young Master Gu's club. They even secretly copied Jiang Sinian's chat logs with his assistant onto the tablet and had them play automatically.
Jiang Muyan was utterly exasperated. "???"
What did this have to do with Gu Zheng?
It was clearly his own superb technical skills.
Young Master Gu has countless affairs to attend to every day. He certainly wouldn't have time for the Jiang Family's domestic squabbles. This was most likely Top Host's doing. Even the manager obeyed his every word. There's probably more to his identity than meets the eye.
I'd planned to keep up appearances by not accepting his friend request. But since he helped me so much, pretending not to know would be terribly rude. As Song Yutang thought this, the two of them had already added each other.
She first sincerely thanked him in a text, then sent him a generous six-figure red packet.
She also politely said she would like to have a meal with him sometime when he was free to thank him in person.
Even if I never need this connection again, I should still maintain a good relationship.
Jiang Muyan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
So that was actually what she thought?
Song Yutang wasn't very old, but she really had plenty of schemes in her head.
Still, he had to admit that it made perfect sense.
After doing all this, however, Song Yutang was utterly exhausted.
She took a quick shower, lay down on the bed, and went straight to sleep.
Jiang Muyan: "???"
Hadn't they agreed to make a baby?
Today was already the last day of her ovulation window.
Song Yutang had already closed her eyes. I drank today, so it's not a good time to conceive. I'll wait until the next ovulation window.
Jiang Muyan: "..."
Damn that Gu Zheng! Who told him to sell her alcohol?
"Zzz..." Song Yutang's breathing gradually grew slow and steady as she fell asleep.
Jiang Muyan opened his eyes and found himself facing her peaceful sleeping face.
He couldn't help staring at her for a long time.
Song Yutang looked soft and graceful, yet acted decisively and efficiently.
Jiang Muyan suddenly felt a little anticipation-
After he woke up, what would it be like if the two of them could fight side by side?