The man's face was dark and gloomy, his voice chillingly cold: "Fang Yingxue bribed my servants to drug An Ruo's food. The evidence is solid, and you still dare to defend her?"
Shen Yu knew his wife's nature well, but since he needed something from him, he didn't dare to confront him head-on. He softened his tone instead: "I promise you, if this really was done by your second aunt, I'll give you an explanation myself."
"But if it wasn't her... could you, for the sake of us both being Shen family members, let Uncle off this time? From now on, we'll go our separate ways and never resort to such underhanded tricks again."
Shen Xiaoxing ignored him, his dark eyes growing a shade deeper.
Seeing Shen Yu's demeanor didn't seem like a lie—could there be another side to this story?
Leaving the seaside villa, Shen Yu immediately rushed back to the Shen family's old mansion, stepping into Ming Garden with a cold face.
He hurled his briefcase down hard, startling Fang Yingxue, who had been leisurely sipping tea, into a sudden daze.
"What's wrong with you? Did you take the wrong pills?"
Shen Yu lashed out at her, "You useless woman who only brings ruin!"
Fang Yingxue looked at him with an innocent expression: "What did I do to upset you this time?"
Ever since last time when Fang Yingxue had insisted he go beg the old master to release Shen Tingfeng, not only had he failed to convince him, but he'd also been scolded mercilessly by his own father.
Shen Yu had a huge fight with her, and later, when Shen Tingfeng was exposed in a scandal that shamed the family, the old master flew into a rage and beat him with a dozen strikes. When he came back, they fought again.
They'd been giving each other the cold shoulder for days, and now Shen Yu came home and started cursing her out of the blue.
Shen Yu vented all the anger he'd just taken from Shen Xiaoxing, grabbing a blue-and-white porcelain cup and smashing it to the ground, shattering it into pieces.
"Was An Ruo's miscarriage your doing?"
Fang Yingxue froze, her guilty eyes darting around: "Who told you I did it?"
"So it really was you!?"
"That little bastard dared to frame my son, and that little slut was carrying his child. If it were born, wouldn't it compete with us for the family fortune?"
Shen Yu sighed heavily: "You have no brains at all! Even if you wanted her to miscarry, you shouldn't have done it at this critical moment. And on top of that, you didn't cover your tracks properly—now he's got leverage on you!"
His anger clearly meant something had gone wrong.
Fang Yingxue sensed trouble and raised an eyebrow: "Are you saying Shen Xiaoxing knows about all this?"
Shen Yu was so furious his liver ached.
He'd sworn to Shen Xiaoxing that this had nothing to do with Fang Yingxue, and now this foolish woman had slapped him in the face!
How was he supposed to go back and beg Shen Xiaoxing to go easy on them now!?
"Tingfeng's lack of foresight and brains—I see he takes after you!" The more Shen Yu thought about it, the angrier he got. He grabbed another cup from the table and smashed it, venting furiously: "You went ahead with such a big matter without consulting me. Now he's got the evidence, and he's teamed up with others to oust me. He's doing this to force me to beg him, to push us into a corner!"
Fang Yingxue's mind went blank, focused only on avenging Shen Tingfeng. She hadn't dared to bother Shen Yu these past days since he was busy, never imagining that her one move would be caught!
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Fang Yingxue began to panic.
"What do we do? The old master won't really kick our branch out, will he?"
Shen Yu took a few deep breaths to calm himself, then said in a low voice: "Kicking us out isn't likely, but if we can't find a way to fix this, our standing in the Shen family will be no better than servants!"
"Think of something..."
"How am I supposed to clean up the mess you've made!?" Shen Yu's agitation caused his injuries to ache, and he winced in pain.
Fang Yingxue quickly called for a doctor to re-bandage him.
Shen Yu leaned against the sofa, his lips pale and cracked, a few white hairs showing at his temples.
"There's one more way."
Fang Yingxue was the typical housewife from a common family, raised to believe her husband was her everything, to manage the household and raise the children...
So no matter how fierce their argument had been, seeing Shen Yu now fallen ill, she came over with red-rimmed eyes: "What way?"
"You go to them and apologize."
Fang Yingxue was stunned. Would she even make it back alive?
"Even if our branch has no power to rely on, Shen Xiaoxing wouldn't dare touch you." Shen Yu leaned back against the large pillow, looking weak: "This is the only chance we have left to salvage something."
Even if it came to a desperate fight, Shen Xiaoxing would have nothing to say. If he refused their apologies after both of them had groveled, then they'd go down together!
Fang Yingxue mulled it over for a moment before finally following Shen Yu's advice and going to apologize to the couple.
...
An Ruo came out of the company, cradling her work laptop and a few small items in her arms.
When she handed in her resignation, Gu Chao showed no displeasure; instead, he generously told her to focus on finishing her studies and looked forward to her return after graduation.
Before she reached the car, the driver hurried over: "Young Madam, let me take those for you."
"Thank you."
The driver was a young man in white gloves, very meticulous: "You're too kind, Young Madam."
An Ruo nodded with a slight smile. Just as she was about to cross the street, a black limousine pulled up in front of her. She was about to go around it when the window rolled down.
"Ruo Ruo."
Fang Yingxue called out warmly, "It's me."
An Ruo was momentarily taken aback. Was she showing up here to stir up trouble again?
After all, last time she'd teamed up with An Qing to accuse her of identity theft, nearly getting the old master to have her killed. Later, Shen Yu had pretended to send her to the police station but sent someone to kill her on the way. These two old foxes were truly disgusting!
"Waiting for a ride?" Fang Yingxue said with a bright smile. "Come on up. Wherever you're going, I'll give you a lift."
"No need, Second Aunt. I have a driver." An Ruo pointed to the black car across the street.
Seeing her wariness, Fang Yingxue's smile stiffened. She got out of the car: "Ruo Ruo, I won't lie to you. I came here to apologize."
An Ruo raised an eyebrow slightly. Had the old witch had a change of heart, feeling guilty about what she'd done, and come to apologize in person?
"Second Aunt has wronged you..." Fang Yingxue, who had spent years in the entertainment industry, could summon tears on command. She covered her mouth lightly: "I shouldn't have been jealous of you and done something so unforgivable."
An Ruo was a bit confused: "Second Aunt, I don't quite follow..."
Fang Yingxue glanced around—she wouldn't be able to perform well here—and wiped her tears: "How about this? Come with me to the café up ahead, and we'll talk properly."
As she spoke, she reached for An Ruo's arm, but the moment her hand touched the girl, a tall figure suddenly blocked her way.
Ye Feng had been assigned by Shen Xiaoxing to secretly protect An Ruo. Seeing Fang Yingxue appear, he immediately stepped in.
An Ruo recognized him and figured he was there on Shen Xiaoxing's orders to guard her.
Fang Yingxue was startled by this large man, stepping back two paces and clutching her chest to calm herself: "Who... who are you?"
The man was rugged, with a fierce tattoo on his face, and at an estimated two meters tall, his mere presence was intimidating.
"I'm the bodyguard responsible for protecting our Young Madam," Ye Feng said with neither humility nor arrogance. "Please stay away from her."