Volume 1, Chapter 22: Consort Wan Returns to the Palace
Jiang Song and Li Minglan, afraid of accidentally hurting Shen Zhizhi, finally regained their composure.
Nearby, the restaurant owner wanted to call the police.
Jiang Song stopped him, offering to settle the matter privately and cover the damages.
Compared to Jiang Song, who had only minor injuries, Li Minglan’s face was bruised and bleeding. Shen Zhizhi, deeply worried, left Ruan Wan with the words, “Ah Lan and I are completely innocent,” before immediately taking him to the hospital.
The meal ended on an unpleasant note.
Ruan Wan paid the bill, while Lin Yuying covered the cost of the remaining nine servings of yellow-lipped fish maw.
Lin Yuying didn’t have enough money in her card, so she stepped aside to a quiet spot and called her mother for help.
Over the phone, Lin Ruomei calmly said, “Yingying, you were too hasty. I’ll transfer you 2 million yuan. You’ll be responsible for compensating the restaurant’s losses today.”
“Why should I?”
Lin Yuying was in a bad mood, especially after seeing Jiang Song fight for Ruan Wan, which left her feeling suffocated with frustration.
Hearing her mother’s words, she felt as if she were about to explode with anger.
“Because you spoke out of turn,” Lin Ruomei replied. “Do you think what you did today was clever? Do you think others couldn’t tell you were stirring up trouble? Once Li Minglan and Jiang Song calm down, do you think they’ll let you off the hook?”
“…”
Lin Yuying was terrified.
She hurriedly followed her mother’s advice, hoping to compensate the restaurant owner for the damages before Jiang Song could.
But she was too late.
Jiang Song had already paid.
The skin on his nose bridge was broken, and his lips were bleeding. Fortunately, his handsome face still held up, giving him a rugged, battle-worn charm.
Lin Yuying quickly approached him.
“Young Master Jiang, I’m truly sorry. I had too much to drink earlier and couldn’t hold my tongue. If I hadn’t spoken out of turn, things wouldn’t have gotten so awkward!”
“Let me take care of it—the meal and all the damages in the restaurant. I’ll transfer the money to you.”
Jiang Song glanced at Lin Yuying but said nothing.
Lin Yuying felt a chill run down her spine.
The next moment, Jiang Song turned his head, his cold gaze softening as he spoke gently to Ruan Wan, “Don’t drive. Let me take you home.”
“No need,” Ruan Wan replied, exhaustion evident in her entire demeanor. Her oval face was pale and drained of color. “I’ll go back on my own. I’m sorry for troubling you today, Young Master Jiang.”
Her voice was as soft and gentle as ever.
Like a breeze rustling through a mountain stream, unhurried and calm.
Yet Jiang Song’s brow furrowed.
Her tone was distant and polite, as if everything had returned to square one.
He paused, watching her slender figure walk out of the restaurant door, then hurried after her.
By the time he stepped outside, shattering the reflection of the golden streetlights in the puddles on the roadside, he realized it had been raining silently.
The lights were dazzling, and the puddles mirrored them like glass, stinging his eyes.
Jiang Song caught up to Ruan Wan and grabbed her wrist. “Do you really like Li Minglan that much?”
Ruan Wan didn’t answer.
In Jiang Song’s eyes, her silence was an admission.
“But he doesn’t care about you at all. Now that Shen Zhizhi is back, he’s even less likely to like you. If you don’t divorce him, are you just waiting for Li Minglan to kick you out? Ruan Wan, don’t be so pathetic, okay?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Jiang Song himself was taken aback.
That wasn’t what he meant…
“Yes, I am pathetic,” Ruan Wan lifted her head, smiling self-deprecatingly.
“You’re the heir to the Jiang family, destined to stand at the top of the pyramid. So you’ll never understand the helplessness that forced me to marry Li Minglan, nor will you understand that only as Mrs. Li do I receive even a word of approval from my father.”
The moonlight fell upon her face, as if dotted with silent tears.
“Jiang Song, I beg you, don’t shake me anymore. Let’s not meet again in the future…”
The final words echoed in the quiet night.
Like a stone dropping into the center of a lake, stirring ripples across the surface.
Jiang Song stood rooted to the spot, motionless.
Seizing the opportunity, Ruan Wan shook off his hand, started the car, and drove away.
In the rearview mirror.
Watching Jiang Song standing with his head bowed as if petrified, Ruan Wan knew her chance to make money had arrived.
She had deliberately claimed to be “shaken.”
Though she hadn’t specified what exactly had shaken her, it didn’t matter—Jiang Song would fill in the blanks himself, believing his pursuit had finally taken effect.
It was just like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey pulling a millstone.
So close to taking a bite—
—so close to completely shaking her resolve.
And so the donkey quickened its pace.
—And Jiang Song intensified his pursuit.
Just as Ruan Wan had anticipated.
Soon, her phone rang with a message from Jiang Song.
[Jiang Song]: I have a car that’s been scrapped. If you can fix it, I’ll pay 10 million.
10 million was enough to buy another supercar outright.
Yet Jiang Song wanted her to repair it—clearly just another excuse to see her again.
This time, he was finally willing to go all out.
Ruan Wan didn’t reply. Instead, she drove back to the old Ruan family mansion with the suitcase still in her trunk.
The moment she stepped into the Ruan household, everyone looked at her with unfamiliar gazes.
As if they didn’t know who she was.
Indeed, Ruan Wan hadn’t returned in a long time, and only now did she realize that all the servants looked like strangers—the few elders who had taken care of her since childhood were nowhere to be seen.
Not only that—
The entire Ruan family, from top to bottom, treated Lin Ruomei, Lin Yuying’s biological mother, with great respect.
As if she were the lady of the house.
“Guangguang, what brings you back?”
Lin Ruomei rose from the sofa, wearing a warm, affectionate smile.
But as she stood up, she subtly tugged at her sleeve, hiding the bracelet on her wrist.
—It was the jade bracelet Ruan Wan’s mother had loved most, of exquisite quality, rarely worn even on special occasions.
“This is my home. Is it strange for me to return?”
Ruan Wan, shedding her usual gentleness, pushed the suitcase forward like a ruthless capitalist heiress, ordering the servant Lin Ruomei:
“Take the suitcase to my room.”
Lin Ruomei looked troubled.
“Guangguang, Yu Ying is staying in your room for now. Why don’t you make do and stay in her old room tonight?”
Ruan Wan rotated her wrist.
The next moment, a sharp slap rang out, startling everyone into turning their heads.