Su Yishen glared at him fiercely and turned to leave.
"Mom, listen to me." Situ Jun knew what she was going to do, so he grabbed her hand and stopped her.
Su Yishen said angrily, "Let go."
"You can't let her out, or the Situ family will disappear from the capital!"
"What do you mean?" Su Yishen's heart trembled, and her whole body felt cold.
Situ Jun pulled her aside and sat down, having no choice but to tell her everything.
He was afraid that if he didn't, things would be ruined sooner or later.
Su Yishen shook her head in disbelief. She could never have imagined that her usually well-behaved daughter would be such a person.
Situ Jun could no longer control his emotions. He held his head in his hands and sobbed.
This forced Su Yishen to believe it, even if she didn't want to. Coupled with what her daughter had said before leaving, she had no room for doubt.
She slumped down powerlessly, tears streaming down her face.
Only the sobs of mother and son filled the room. The caregiver had long since left, and the elderly Madam Situ could only glare.
As she cried, Su Yishen's gaze shifted to Madam Situ on the bed.
She wiped away her tears fiercely, her eyes filled with ferocity as she walked over.
"Uh... uh..."
Madam Situ looked at her askance, drool running down her chin, unable to speak, only making guttural sounds.
Su Yishen's chest heaved with anger. She raged, "It's all your fault! Why can't you behave yourself even in old age!"
She desperately wanted to slap her, but her ingrained good upbringing prevented her from doing such a thing, and she couldn't even utter any harsh words.
Madam Situ could only look at her, her eyes filled with a thousand unspoken words, but unable to express them.
She was resentful, hateful, and pained, but now could do nothing but weep.
Su Yishen glared at her hatefully, and in her desperation, uttered the most vicious sentence.
"Do you know why you've ended up like this? This is retribution, retribution!"
She felt an unprecedented sense of relief, her heart filled with exhilaration.
From the moment she married into the Situ family, she had endured Madam Situ's tyranny. She was domineering and arbitrary, her word law.
Everyone had to obey her, whatever she said went, and no one in the family could do anything about her.
Fortunately, her husband had always stood by her side, and her father-in-law was reasonable.
Though life had been difficult, it had its sweet moments amidst the bitterness. As their children grew older and her in-laws became less involved, life had become quite pleasant.
Then, this sudden incident occurred, and now she wished she could kill this detestable old woman.
In her heart, while Situ Jing also made mistakes, she was young and foolish. Without Madam Situ's instigation and planning, she wouldn't have done these things.
It was also her own fault for neglecting her daughter's feelings, knowing full well that she couldn't easily let go of Ling Yucheng.
While she was still fuming, someone suddenly yanked her arm fiercely. Before she could even look at the person, her face received a heavy slap.
The crisp sound of "smack" was exceptionally sharp in the ward. The atmosphere in the room immediately froze, as if even the air had solidified.
Su Yishen cupped her face, looking at the person who had struck her in disbelief, her eyes full of grievance. Her lips trembled, and she struggled to hold back her tears.
Situ Jun roared angrily, "Dad, what are you doing?"
Situ Chuanqi's hands trembled with rage. He pointed at Su Yishen, his eyes red.
"What am I doing? Listen to what your mother said!"
Su Yishen's face was filled with sorrow. She couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
She said nothing, offered no explanation, but simply lowered her head and walked out of the ward in a daze.
This was the first time Situ Chuanqi had laid hands on her since their marriage.
Although wronged, she felt no resentment in her heart.
It was because he didn't know anything. However, his lack of trust had deeply wounded her heart.
Situ Jun, unwilling to let a misunderstanding arise between his parents and affect their relationship, did not immediately rush out. Instead, he explained the situation to Situ Chuanqi.
Upon hearing this, Situ Chuanqi was filled with remorse. He had no time to be angry about other matters, only thinking of how to apologize to his wife.
As for Madam Situ on the sickbed, no one paid her any mind anymore.
She could only hear, and nothing else. She couldn't even manage her own bodily functions.
This feeling made her wish for death, but she couldn't even take her own life now.
...
The Ling Residence.
After Zhu Yunfei returned, the Ling family was filled with warmth and joy.
Xia Wantang had become the most important person in the Ling family. Everyone fussed over her, showing her great care and concern.
She felt deeply satisfied and experienced unprecedented happiness.
Li Bowen and Jiang Zexi also stayed for dinner that day.
However, both of them were engrossed in their phones, appearing very busy.
Li Bowen's expression was relaxed, his eyes full of tenderness behind his glasses, as if smitten.
Jiang Zexi, on the other hand, was the opposite. His brow was furrowed, and while his expression wasn't grim, it wasn't good either.
He had been busy searching for someone these past few days and hadn't looked at his phone. It had died of battery depletion at some point.
Upon turning it back on, he saw many unread messages and missed calls. To his surprise, when he opened them, he found a breakup text from Xia Wanfu.
He didn't feel sad, just a little uncomfortable.
After all, they had been together for so long. His feelings for her couldn't compare to those for Jinning, who was irreplaceable in his heart.
But he truly did like and depend on Xia Wanfu, wanting to hold her every night.
If possible, living like this for a lifetime would be quite good.
Looking at the words "Let's break up" on his phone, he still wanted to salvage the relationship.
As for why Xia Wanfu wanted to break up, he thought it was because he had neglected her these past few days.
Although it was a bit unreasonable, it wasn't unbearable.
So he replied: I'm sorry, I've been busy looking for someone and neglected you.
However, this message was sent with a single exclamation mark.
Xia Wanfu had blocked him.
He thought of calling her, but found that his calls couldn't go through.
If she truly wanted attention, she wouldn't have gone to such extremes.
He wondered if something else had happened.
He messaged the housekeeper to inquire about the situation.
The housekeeper then recounted Xia Wanfu moving out and the cryptic question she had asked before leaving.
Before, because he was busy searching for someone, the housekeeper hadn't dared to disturb him unnecessarily and had intended to tell him about it upon his return.
Jiang Zexi now understood the reason for the breakup.
He figured Xia Wanfu was determined. He had made a mistake, and he had nothing to say.
The moment he confirmed that they had truly broken up, he felt a pang of discomfort.
Habit was a terrible thing.
He held his phone, feeling inexplicably agitated. After much thought, he decided to let it be.
Their time together had greatly improved his mental state, and it seemed that some of his emotional pain had been healed.
Thinking of her hard work, he felt that a bright future for her was the best compensation for their breakup.