Seeing Fu Jingyan acting so foolishly, Old Madam couldn’t help but feel disgusted. She waved her hand wearily, saying, “Alright, you can go now. There’s so much trouble every day. I thought you’d be the one to give me peace of mind, but instead, you’ve handed me the biggest headache.”
“…”
Fu Jingyan didn’t understand—how was it that he had created the biggest problem?
Was the issue caused by his Fifth Uncle really that small?
When it came to her own son versus her grandson, his grandmother was clearly biased toward her youngest son.
Well, it was true: emperors favored their eldest sons, while common folk doted on their youngest.
His grandmother was a typical example of a commoner who spoiled her youngest child.
After being chased out of Old Madam’s room, Fu Jingyan was in a sour mood. He turned and headed toward Fu Shen’s courtyard in the north, asking the butler to pass a message to his parents that he would be staying there for the night and wouldn’t be returning home.
Midnight.
Two disheartened men sat drinking together.
“What time did Yu Yue leave?” As they drank, Fu Jingyan somehow found himself asking about Yu Yue.
Perhaps he’d been brainwashed by his grandmother.
She went on and on about Yu Yue, never letting up.
“She left not long after you did, saying someone was waiting for her at home,” Fu Shen replied, glancing back at him.
“…”
Fu Jingyan thought of Li Kui’s face.
It couldn’t compare to his own looks, but Yu Yue liked him anyway.
Was he the one waiting for her in that little Western-style house?
No wonder Yu Yue had sold the marital home he’d given her without a second thought.
“Why so quiet? Changed your mind about divorcing her?” Fu Shen asked.
“No, the divorce is definitely happening. It’s just… we haven’t even finalized the paperwork yet, and she’s already openly living with another man. As a man, who could calmly accept something like that?”
“What did your grandmother say to you?” Fu Shen wasn’t particularly interested in delving into Yu Yue’s possible infidelity.
That was a matter between Fu Jingyan and Yu Yue as husband and wife. Even as an elder, he had no right to interfere.
“Grandmother said I should persuade Yu Yue not to divorce until after you and Qingyue get married.”
“You didn’t object?”
“Of course I objected. But you know how domineering Grandmother can be. How much difference would my objection make?” Fu Jingyan downed the remaining wine in his glass in one gulp, frustration written all over his face.
Fu Shen tried to stop him. “Don’t drown your sorrows in alcohol. Take it slow.”
“After I left, what did Yu Yue talk to you about?”
“She said Tangtang looks like me, not like Su Qingyue.”
“…”
Was she trying to drive a wedge between his Fifth Uncle and Qingyue?
Fu Jingyan’s eyes turned bloodshot. Whether it was from drinking too much or something else, he couldn’t tell.
Once a seed of doubt is planted, it slowly takes root and grows.
He began analyzing the details.
Yu Yue had gone to the airport today. Maybe she’d been attracted to his Fifth Uncle when she saw him there.
When Yu Yue married into the Fu family as a “lucky bride,” Fifth Uncle had been away.
Over the past three years, while he was abroad, Fifth Uncle hadn’t returned either, so Yu Yue had never met him in the Fu household.
The men in the Fu family were all fairly good-looking.
Women tended to like handsome men, just as most men preferred beautiful women.
Who could guarantee that Yu Yue hadn’t been smitten the first time she saw his Fifth Uncle at the airport?
And just yesterday evening, when he went to pick Yu Yue up, she suddenly couldn’t accept the one-month divorce cooling-off period and tried to persuade him to pull some strings behind his grandmother’s back.
Was he out of his mind?
To satisfy her desires, he went and hurt his own grandmother’s feelings?
If Grandma could handle it, that would be one thing, but what if she couldn’t? What if she had a sudden heart attack or something because of his anger? He would be the Fu family’s sinner for life.
He couldn’t bear that kind of consequence.
“What right does she have to say that? Fifth Uncle, did she confess to you and say she likes you?” Fu Jingyan blurted out impulsively.
Suddenly, a cup of cool liquid splashed onto Fu Jingyan’s face.
“What happened to you tonight? What kind of stimulation did you get?” Fu Shen was utterly speechless.
Splashed with a cup of wine, Fu Jingyan sobered up a bit. “Sorry, Fifth Uncle.”
“What’s really going on with you?” Fu Shen grew concerned.
“It’s nothing.” It was just that none of the women he saw today were her.
They had been investigating for so long, yet there wasn’t a single clue. He was feeling a bit restless inside, that was all.
“That night, why did the operation fail? You never gave me a clear explanation. Fifth Uncle lost his legs, but I don’t care about that. Jingyan, you should know what I care about.”
Fu Jingyan was now completely sober.
“That night, I must have accidentally drunk something that was spiked. Later, I was waiting in the surveillance-free parking lot you designated. When you gave the order, I…”
“A woman got into the car, and then we…”
Fu Jingyan couldn’t bring himself to finish.
That night, he got carried away with a woman, fooling around in the car. In the end, he failed to cooperate with the operation Fu Shen had arranged long ago, causing Fu Shen to injure his legs.
After recuperating outside for several months, his legs weren’t amputated—they were saved. But whether he would ever stand again in this lifetime was uncertain.
Given such severe consequences, he had never dared to tell Fu Shen the truth about that night.
He himself was tangled and conflicted, feeling incredibly complicated.
He wanted to find that woman.
Because he had told her he would take responsibility for her.
She was his first woman, and he knew that woman was also her first time that night.
The men of the Fu family had a strong sense of responsibility. He felt that, regardless of feelings, since he had a physical relationship with her, he should take responsibility for that woman.
What if she got pregnant because of that night?
As a woman, being pregnant before marriage would subject her to gossip.
“So you want to divorce Yu Yue because of this woman?” Fu Shen began to understand.
He didn’t blame Fu Jingyan. After all, the operation he had assigned Fu Jingyan was also very dangerous.
If that woman he mentioned hadn’t appeared that night, Fu Jingyan’s operation might not have succeeded either. The enemies lurking in the shadows were more powerful than they had imagined.
“What else can I do if I don’t divorce her? I can’t carry this burden in my heart and continue living a hypocritical life with her, can I?” Fu Jingyan said.
In his view, this matter was a ticking time bomb sooner or later.
The only difference was whether he would let it explode actively or passively.
Besides, Yu Yue leaving the Fu family might not necessarily be a bad thing.
It could also be seen as his way of repaying Yu Yue for saving his life back then.
“All these years, you’ve never paid any attention to her. Can I interpret that as you protecting her in an indirect way?”
“She has no grudge against me. I think she shouldn’t have been dragged into the deep waters of the Fu family. Don’t you agree, Fifth Uncle—”
“Everyone thinks you dislike her because she’s fat.”
“Let them think that way.” Fu Jingyan didn’t mind; in their eyes, he could just be seen as a shallow, lustful person.
“What if Yu Yue misunderstands you too?” Fu Shen reminded him.
“She won’t,” Fu Jingyan blurted out instinctively. “She doesn’t care at all about what I think of her.”
“She told me today that she likes handsome men,” Fu Shen chuckled. “You should fall into the category of handsome men.”
Fu Jingyan: “…”