Even an Upright Official Cannot Settle Family Disputes; None Is More Poisonous Than a Woman's Heart
Hu Xing clapped a hand over Xia Tian's eyes, keeping him from seeing the doll.
"Now I understand!" Hu Xing said, looking at Zhang Juan. "I wondered how a bright, clever child like Xiao Tian had suddenly stopped talking, started hiding from everyone, and even tried to jump off a building several times! It turns out you were behind it, Auntie! If there hadn't been so many people in the Xia Family to notice in time, your scheme would have succeeded!"
She began putting her skills as a detective to work, reconstructing the truth.
"I remember you were pregnant then, and you and Xiao Tian bumped into each other on the stairs. Later, you lost the baby. So you held a grudge and took it out on Xiao Tian. Children are so innocent! He believed everything you told him. You told him he'd killed his little brother, that his little brother had turned into a ghost and come looking for him. You secretly hid a terrifying doll and brought it out from time to time to frighten him. Every night, you slipped it into Tiantian's bed, making him think his little brother's ghost had come for him and wanted him to pay with his life."
"You pretended to be pitiful, making my uncle think it was all the child's fault, that his jealousy of his future little brother had caused it. You made it so his father wouldn't believe anything he said. You even fed him mustard and pricked his bottom with needles. How vicious can you be?"
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhang Juan protested. "What evidence do you have to slander me like this? Just this doll?" No longer caring about her position, she said to Wu Lixia, "What right did you have to search my home? I think you've wanted to break Changzheng and me up for ages, so you made this thing to frame me!"
Xia Changzheng finally lost his patience. He rushed over and slapped Zhang Juan hard across the face. "How dare you speak to Aunt Xia like that!"
"You hit me?" Zhang Juan clutched her face and grew hysterical. "You actually dared to hit me! What happened to all those sweet promises that you'd treat me well for the rest of my life? What right do you have to hit me? Just because of their nonsense? Your son bumped into me and made me lose my son. Isn't that a fact? What right do you all have to pin the blame on me?"
Xia Changzheng softened a little. He wanted to soothe his wife but didn't know what to say, so he could only turn to Wu Lixia. "Aunt Xia, could this be a misunderstanding? I admit I haven't taken good care of Xiao Tian. I'll do better from now on."
Hearing this, Zhang Juan quieted down too. Although Hu Xing was furious, she was, after all, a member of the younger generation and was not in a position to say more.
Everyone waited for Wu Lixia to speak.
"Although I'd had my suspicions for some time, I never imagined this was what had happened," Wu Lixia said. "If not for Mr. Qingmu today, I, his grandmother, and you, his muddleheaded father, would probably have stayed in the dark forever! As for a misunderstanding, I'd like to believe there was one, but the evidence is conclusive. Our Xia Family has no room for such a vicious woman!"
Xia Changzheng glanced at Qingmu, knowing that this strange man had been involved in much of what had happened today. "Who is he?" he demanded angrily. "Since when does an outsider get a say in our Xia Family's affairs?"
"Professor Mei introduced him to treat your eldest uncle," Wu Lixia said.
Hearing that he had come to treat his eldest uncle, Xia Changzheng could only suppress his anger and dared not show the slightest further disrespect. But inwardly, he planned to find an opportunity to teach this fellow a proper lesson.
Sensing that her husband was about to back down, Zhang Juan cried out desperately, "Honey, I've been wronged! You have to believe me!"
"Aunt Xia, I'll take her home first," Xia Changzheng said. "Once I get to the bottom of this, I'll give you and the Xia Family an explanation."
Wu Lixia sighed. "Even an upright official cannot settle family disputes! All right, then. But you can't take Tiantian with you. I wouldn't feel safe."
At that moment, Qingmu, who had been watching coolly from the sidelines, suddenly spoke. "He won't get to the bottom of it, and he won't be able to give you an explanation."
Xia Changzheng froze, then demanded angrily, "What did you say?"
"Someone lost her baby through her own actions and shifted the blame onto your son," Qingmu said. "If you don't even know something so obvious, what can you get to the bottom of?"
"Ridiculous!" Zhang Juan shouted at Qingmu. "What do you mean, through my own actions? Would I deliberately get rid of the baby in my own belly? Am I insane?"
"You're not insane. You just knew perfectly well that it wasn't the Xia Family's flesh and blood!" Qingmu stood up as he spoke and walked over to Xia Changzheng, looking above his head. "Some people's green hats are already thirty feet tall, and they still don't know it!"
"Utter nonsense!" Xia Changzheng flew into a rage and reached for Qingmu's collar, but his hand caught nothing, and his fury instantly turned to embarrassment.
"What evidence do you have for these wild accusations? Is anyone in the Xia Family going to do anything? You're letting an outsider stand here spouting nonsense!" Zhang Juan shouted.
"Yes, Mr. Qingmu, you mustn't say such things lightly," Wu Lixia added, feeling that matters had gone far beyond anything she had imagined.
Qingmu said to Xia Changzheng, "Does that whatever-the-hell real estate company of yours have a young, promising chief accountant? Is he better-looking than you? Did your current wife know him before she knew you? Does he know your company's accounts better than you do? ..."
His questions left Xia Changzheng stunned. Scenes from the past surfaced before his eyes, and a terrifying thought rose from the depths of his heart. He broke out in a cold sweat.
"Don't listen to his nonsense! Changzheng, he's making it up! Changzheng, you have to believe me. How could I possibly do something like that..." Zhang Juan pleaded hysterically through her tears.
Smack! Xia Changzheng slapped her across the face. If his earlier slap had been somewhat suspect as a show for Wu Lixia, this one carried every ounce of his strength and left Zhang Juan dazed.
"Enough, stop hitting her! Hurry back and take a look. I reckon more than half your company's assets aren't yours anymore!" After reminding him, Qingmu sighed. "So there are people this stupid among the rich too!"
Xia Changzheng stamped his foot bitterly and was about to turn away when a quiet but commanding voice rang out from inside:
"You needn't go!"
A servant pushed out a wheelchair. An elderly man sat in it, his face weary. Li Wei immediately strode over and took the wheelchair from the servant.
At the sight of the old man, Qingmu finally confirmed his earlier conjecture. The man in the wheelchair was none other than Xia Wenyuan, renowned throughout the Three Wu. Although he rarely appeared in public now, his image had been appearing in the headlines of major media outlets for thirty years.
"Uncle..." Xia Changzheng tried to say something more.
"Enough!" Xia Wenyuan's voice was not loud, but it carried an inviolable authority. "I noticed your company's financial problems long ago, but I didn't intervene because I thought you could handle them yourself. It now appears that you lack the ability to manage an enterprise this large."
"Starting today, your older cousin will take over Greenview Real Estate. You'll go manage the property management company. As for this woman..." Xia Wenyuan paused. "You already went through a divorce for her, and someone even died. You're a member of the Xia Family. Another divorce would invite public criticism and damage the family's reputation. As the saying goes, family scandals must not be aired in public. You'll have to swallow this bitter fruit yourself."
At the old man's words, Zhang Juan instantly collapsed to the floor. She knew she had escaped disaster today. But it also meant that from now on, every day, she would have to face the wrath of Xia Changzheng, who now knew the truth, with no power to resist and no one to sympathize with her.