A once happy family of three is now in disarray, each with their own thoughts, and it’s impossible to go back to the way things were.
The room was silent for a long ti before Yin Bowen slowly spoke, "Little Aunt... you’re not suited for the aristocracy, especially one like the Yin Family, which has stood for a century."
Su Xiaong moved her lips slightly...
Yin Bowen looked up, gazing at Yin Shixiu, and chuckled softly, "Little Uncle, how could you marry such a... such a naïve and foolish woman?"
Yin Shixiu turned his head to look at Su Xiaong, who had a puzzled expression. He understood what Yin Bowen ant, though Su Xiaong probably did not.
"Talking about... justice? Hah..."
"The Yin Family’s form of justice is that even if a couple has lost all feelings, divorce is not an option, no matter how much they detest each other, even into old age! Otherwise, you’d be stripped of everything you were supposed to receive!"
"How much is your idea of justice worth?"
"But... I have to admit, what Guo Tong and I did was not honorable, towards Zhu Lan..."
Yin Bowen looked at Zhu Lan, "I’ve wronged you, but I don’t regret it. I no longer love you, and I have a new lover. I want to be with her..."
Zhu Lan covered her mouth with her hand, looking at him with tears in her eyes, glistening with sorrow, as large tears fell down.
"Su Xiaong, you’re right too. If you were to publicize what Xiao Tong said, I couldn’t stay in this position. I’d lose the Yin Family inheritance rights..."
"Thinking about it, you and Little Uncle have certainly gained from this..."
Yin Bowen let out a heavy sigh.
Earlier, when discussing this matter with Guo Tong, he thought about the consequences of exposure, but his belief that the likelihood of it getting out was low kept him from being too cautious.
"You... what do you want to do to let this matter go?"
Yin Bowen could only ask, although he vaguely felt that Yin Shixiu might use this opportunity to keep him down.
Su Xiaong looked towards Yin Shixiu...
Yin Shixiu shrugged slightly, "He’s said so much already. Whatever ideas you have, go ahead and say them. Isn’t it ti to seek justice for Zhu Lan?"
His eagle-like eyes showed his approval of her.
Su Xiaong took a deep breath, "First, you must make a public statent, giving another reason for your and Zhu Lan’s marriage breakdown. After that, at least Zhu Lan will have the opportunity to start anew. Zhu Lan, do you agree?"
Zhu Lan lowered her head and nodded slowly.
"Secondly, between you and Zhu Lan, it was your infidelity first. You must provide Zhu Lan with compensation."
"...No problem with that."
"Furthermore, you must return full custody of the child to Zhu Lan and pay their living expenses on ti."
Yin Bowen looked at Yin Junjie...
Yin Junjie t Yin Bowen’s gaze briefly before looking away, feeling sowhat uneasy...
"As long as Junjie himself agrees, I... can do it."
"I don’t want to! That bad woman is still in my house, I won’t go anywhere else!"
Yin Junjie quickly said, this ti looking at Yin Bowen with a trace of resentnt...
Su Xiaong didn’t plan to argue about this issue but said, "You can’t bring Guo Tong into the marriage."
Originally, Yin Bowen didn’t really believe Su Xiaong was targeting Guo Tong, but now it seed...
Indeed, Su Xiaong couldn’t tolerate Guo Tong in the slightest.
Not being able to marry Guo Tong...
If this matter reached his grandparents, he wouldn’t be able to marry Guo Tong anyway, and moreover, his inheritance rights in the Yin Family would likely disappear...
In hindsight, causing such turmoil for Guo Tong was definitely unwise.
Thinking further, Guo Tong had said before that she would still be willing to be with him even without a title...
Thus, Yin Bowen was ntally prepared to compromise, but before he could say "Okay," a voice from upstairs interrupted him.
"Wait a mont."
Having struggled to accept reality, Su Jifang lay down for a few minutes, took so heart pills, and then forced herself to co out.
They had been standing on the second floor, listening for quite a while...
Guo Tong had wanted to go downstairs several tis to interrupt but was prevented by Su Jifang, watching as Yin Bowen conceded to Su Xiaong’s demands one after another...
Until this mont...
Guo Tong knew in her heart that Yin Bowen was ready to compromise on the issue of marrying her.
The feeling of disappointnt was inevitable, but she understood that Yin Bowen was, after all, the Young Master Sun of the Yin Family.
Initially, the idea of letting Zhu Lan leave empty-handed was born from not wanting to give up the inheritance rights.
He could be so ruthless to a spouse, let alone anyone else.
Guo Tong wasn’t a naïve young girl of seventeen or eighteen; she had an internal scale weighing things up.
She just didn’t expect her mother to stand up at this mont and interrupt the negotiation in the living room.
Su Xiaong raised her head upon hearing the voice and saw Auntie slowly coming down the stairs, supported by the couch, she stood up quickly.
Yin Shixiu supported Su Xiaong.
"Auntie..."
Guo Jianping assisted his wife, step by step, until they stood before Su Xiaong and Yin Shixiu.
Su Jifang was the youngest of Grandpa’s four siblings and was about fifty or so.
In Shanghai, she should have lived quite well and appeared younger.
But in this mont, her brows were furrowed in deep sorrow, showing the considerable impact she had suffered.
The responsibility was hers.
"Auntie, are you... feeling better? Do you want to go to the hospital—"
At this mont, before Su Xiaong could finish her sentence, she saw the old lady suddenly bow deeply to her.
This bow startled Su Xiaong!
She herself needed to be supported by Yin Shixiu, yet she had to reach out to support the old lady. Such a grand gesture, she definitely couldn’t accept it.
However, the old lady’s back was heavily bent, and the pressure on Xiao ng’s hand felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Guo Tong’s eyes turned red...
But she couldn’t move her feet; she knew her mother’s thought with this one action.
Seeing her mother lowering herself like this for her made her heart hurt...
But she also knew that with things having developed to this point, if she still wanted to marry Yin Bowen, still wanted to be this Mrs. Yin...
The last shred of hope was clutched in her mother’s hands.
Guo Shuai was close with Guo Tong, but with Guo Jianping, Su Jifang was alright.
This young man was clever, his mind had quickly figured it out, understanding that Su Jifang was playing the family card...
Even Guo Tong and Guo Shuai could understand, how could Yin Shixiu and Su Xiaong not be aware?
"Grand-aunt, let’s talk this through, like this, Xiao ng really can’t bear it!"
"You can bear it, Xiao ng..."
Su Xiaong was montarily speechless, anxiously looking at Yin Shixiu...
Yin Shixiu took a small breath; seeing Su Jifang here when he ca in, he had anticipated this scene would happen, and indeed...
This family really was proceeding step by step, as if acting out an old-school drama.
"Grandma, even if you keep bending your back like this, your daughter still has to take responsibility for her own mistakes."
Yin Shixiu’s words were already quite tactful.
This was all because Su Jifang’s surna was also Su.
"I know, I know..."
Su Jifang straightened up her body, tears streaming down her face, tightly gripping Su Xiaong’s hand, "Xiao ng... it’s not Xiao Tong’s fault, it’s my fault as a mother for not teaching her well, it’s my fault as a mother..."
"Grand-aunt, I beg you, don’t say such things..."
Su Xiaong really couldn’t stand seeing the old lady so pitiful...
"Xiao ng, you’re a kind girl, every ti your grandfather talks to , he praises you..."
"Just for the sake of your great-aunt, spare Xiao Tong just this once, okay? I promise she will change, she definitely will change..."
"We have already spared her."
Yin Shixiu said coldly.
"But if she can’t marry Yin Bowen, being pregnant out of wedlock, a single mother... I can’t bear it... What about her future? Her whole life... would be ruined!"
Su Xiaong’s chest felt as if it were blocked by a stone...
"Grand-aunt, our cousin’s life is a life, but doesn’t everyone else’s life count as a life too?"
"Xiao ng, I’m begging you, great-aunt is begging you, just forgive her this once, please?"
Su Xiaong unconsciously clenched her fist, she couldn’t speak harshly to her grand-aunt, but... she really had a fire in her heart.
Seeing Su Jifang crying so pitifully, in front of this family, in an instant, she and Yin Shixiu seed to beco the villains...
When her ankle twisted, when the grand-aunt fainted just now, she didn’t regret even a bit.
But now, seeing Su Jifang pleading so bitterly in front of her, Su Xiaong just wanted to escape.
Deeply regretting involving herself in this matter.
Be it Guo Tong or the whole Yin Bowen family, she wasn’t afraid of offending them; it wasn’t a big deal.
But grand-aunt was different...
Her relationship with grand-aunt wasn’t too close, but her grandfather and grand-aunt were close family!
Seeing Xiao ng not speaking, Su Jifang was anxious, she still tightly held Su Xiaong’s hand, "Xiao ng, can you give your great-aunt a few minutes? Your great-aunt has sothing to say to you privately..."
Su Xiaong looked troubled...
Su Jifang could read expressions too, her eyes fell on Yin Shixiu, "Mr. Yin, could you join us too, is that alright?"
Yin Shixiu didn’t make it difficult for the old lady, he lifted Su Xiaong in his arms and borrowed a side hall on the first floor.
Guo Jianping supported Su Jifang and went into the side hall together.
The Yin Bowen family’s house was big, although there was only a glass shelving unit separating the main hall and the side hall, but they were a bit further apart, so the conversation couldn’t be heard clearly.
There was also a set of leather sofas in the side hall.
Yin Shixiu put Su Xiaong down on the sofa, and Guo Jianping helped Su Jifang sit down as well.
"Great-aunt, you’re here, and you’ve heard what I said and what cousin herself said, you and great-uncle both heard it."
"Cousin destroyed a good family!"
Su Jifang clasped her hands together, looking very nervous and at a loss.
Grandfather had said, great-aunt was gentle by nature, always kind to others, never quarreling with anyone.
Originally, marrying off to Shanghai, she thought she could live worry-free for a lifeti, but who would have thought...
No matter how hard the couple tried, they never had a child of their own.
Su Xiaong could understand why great-aunt valued Guo Tong so much.
But she couldn’t understand why, at this stage, great-aunt still wanted Guo Tong to have a good life!
"It’s not that Shixiu and I are deliberately making it difficult for her; it’s that she brought this on herself."
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