Chapter 161
Jiang Mingzhe found the entire situation utterly absurd.
"No, Second Brother, listen to me. It’s not like that," Jiang Mingrui argued.
Jiang Mingzhe delivered another sharp slap to his face.
"Have you given a single thought to Madam Jin? Have you thought about your son, Jiang Tingjun?"
To be honest, Jiang Mingzhe didn't care all that much if Jiang Mingrui wanted to fool around with Zhuang Meixue or even elope with her.
But Jiang Mingrui’s greatest sin was taking every last banknote the Jin family had given to Madam Jin, leaving the mother and son without a single means of survival.
"I..." Jiang Mingrui stammered, unable to find the words.
Seeing his brother's pathetic state, Jiang Mingzhe felt a complete chill in his heart.
"Jiang Mingrui, from this day forward, our bond as brothers is severed."
"No!"
Zhuang Meixue was the first to protest.
"You can't do that! Jiang Mingzhe, you can't do this. You are brothers from the same womb. Have you forgotten how much you used to dote on your younger brother?"
Jiang Mingzhe had not forgotten, and it was precisely because he remembered that he could not forgive Jiang Mingrui.
Jiang Mingzhe’s decision was made, and it was final.
"Second Brother, I know I’ve wronged Huifang and Jun'er. But I had no choice." Jiang Mingrui wore an expression of aggrieved suffering, as if he were the victim.
Had it been the Jiang Mingzhe of the past, he would have felt pity and asked his brother to explain. Now, however, Jiang Mingzhe had long since seen through Jiang Mingrui’s selfish and cold-blooded nature. He felt not a shred of sympathy.
"Whatever grievances you have, you can tell them to Madam Jin after you’re dead."
"Huifang is dead?" Jiang Mingrui was shocked, but his shock quickly turned to disbelief.
"That's impossible. Second Brother, I really didn't expect you to tell such a malicious lie just to force me back to Jiang City. I truly misjudged you. Tell me, did you make up this lie just to get back at me because you’re having an affair with Huifang yourself?"
Jiang Mingrui’s words grew increasingly outrageous. Ye Yunniang listened, her blood boiling with rage.
She wanted to kill this bastard. She looked around for a weapon.
*You'll do.*
Ye Yunniang reached out to grab a carrying pole leaning nearby.
"Ah—!"
"What are you doing?"
"Stop!"
Li An and Li Pan had not wanted to go to the magistrate's office with Li Ping. Instead, they had gone to find the guards, hoping to learn some martial arts from them.
The guards had been reluctant at first, feeling guilty for failing to protect the Li family. Li An had proposed that if they taught them, the family wouldn't hold the past failure against them.
The guards agreed, setting a date to begin training the next day. They even gifted each of the boys a dagger.
The two boys were heading back to find Ye Yunniang to show her the daggers when they stumbled upon her speaking with Zhuang Meixue.
Hiding to the side, they had heard every word of the vile filth coming out of Jiang Mingrui's mouth.
The fire in Li An’s heart burned hotter and hotter until he could no longer control it. He unsheathed his dagger.
Just as Ye Yunniang looked up, Li An plunged the dagger into Jiang Mingrui’s waist.
"Argh!" Screaming in pain, Jiang Mingrui swung a heavy blow at Li An.
"An'an!" Ye Yunniang dropped the pole and lunged forward, catching Li An in her arms.
"I’m going to kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you..." Li An’s eyes were fixed on Jiang Mingrui, his voice a frantic mutter.
"An'an, don’t scare Mother." Ye Yunniang stroked him, trying to soothe his emotions.
Jiang Mingzhe kicked the wounded Jiang Mingrui to the ground, ensuring he couldn't hurt Li An again.
"Jiang Mingrui, take your woman and get out!"
"You think you can just kick us out after your brat stabbed me? No way! That little brat is going to pay for this with his life!" Zhuang Meixue screamed, her eyes full of loathing for Li An.
"You dare threaten my son’s life? I’ll kill you first!" Ye Yunniang snatched the dagger from Li Pan’s hand and lunged toward Zhuang Meixue.
Her sons were Ye Yunniang’s weakness; she would never show mercy to anyone who dared to harm them.
“Mother, don’t,” Li Pan said, grabbing Ye Yunniang’s hand. “Mother, don’t hurt yourself.”
Li An reacted as well, catching Ye Yunniang’s other hand. “Mother, stay calm. I’m fine. I disowned them long ago. I only have you now, Mother. Don’t do anything impulsive.”
Ye Yunniang pulled An'an into a tight embrace, forcing her emotions to settle.
Clutching his waist, Jiang Mingrui stood up with Zhuang Meixue’s support and sneered at Jiang Mingzhe.
“Second Brother, you certainly are dedicated to raising someone else’s little bastard.”
Jiang Mingrui’s words thoroughly enraged Jiang Mingzhe. “The mines are short on workers,” he said coldly.
With a single sentence, Jiang Mingzhe decided the fate of Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue for the rest of their lives.
“Jiang Mingzhe, you can’t do this to me!” Zhuang Meixue screamed in terror. She refused to go to the mines.
“Second Brother, don’t! Second Brother, I was wrong. I don’t want to go to the mines!” Jiang Mingrui scrambled to admit his mistake.
“Chen Fei, watch them closely,” Jiang Mingzhe commanded.
“Yes, sir.” Chen Fei, the captain of the guards, led his men forward to seize Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue. Their struggles and shouts were nothing more than the final, useless cries of the desperate.
Ignoring them both, Ye Yunniang escorted An'an and Pan'er back to their rooms to comfort them.
It was the following day when she went to see Cai Damei.
Cai Damei had already heard about what happened the day before.
“How are Pan'er and An'an?”
“The three brothers got up early this morning to practice martial arts with Chen Xiang.” Chen Xiang was the most skilled martial artist among Jiang Mingzhe’s subordinates.
Once Jiang Mingzhe learned that the two boys wanted to study martial arts, he arranged for them to follow Chen Xiang.
“If you are going to learn martial arts, you should learn from a master. Learning a few parlor tricks from a common escort is useless,” he had said.
When Pingping returned with his reward money and heard his older brothers were going to train, he joined them.
“Tell me in detail what happened yesterday,” Cai Damei said.
Ye Yunniang hid nothing, recounting the previous day’s events in full.
“Jiang Mingzhe handled it well enough,” Cai Damei said, sounding grudgingly satisfied. “Have you made up your mind that he’s the one?”
“Yes.” Ye Yunniang nodded firmly.
“Have you set a date for the wedding?”
“I want you to pick the date, Mother.” At this, a sense of reluctance rose within Ye Yunniang. “Mother, I won’t get married. I’ll stay and take care of you for the rest of my life.”
“What nonsense are you talking? I have my health and my strength; I don’t need you to wait on me,” Cai Damei disagreed. Ye Yunniang had sacrificed enough for the Li family. She wanted Ye Yunniang to pursue her own happiness.
“Mother, that’s not what I meant. I just can’t bear to leave you.”
“If you marry Jiang Mingzhe, even if we don’t live together, we will both be in Jiang City. We can see each other whenever we like.”
“Mother, aren’t you coming to the Jiang household with me?” Ye Yunniang’s plan was for Cai Damei and the four children to move into the Jiang residence together.
“What kind of daughter-in-law brings her former mother-in-law along when she remarries?” Cai Damei laughed.
“I insist on bringing you with me,” Ye Yunniang said. She stood up and went to find Jiang Mingzhe.
Because of Jiang Mingzhe’s prior instructions, Ye Yunniang reached the room where he was working without any hindrance.
Jiang Mingzhe put down his brush. “How is Mother’s injury?”
He walked over to Ye Yunniang, reaching out to take her hand.
Ye Yunniang took a step back, avoiding his touch.
“I have something very important to discuss with you. Sit down first.”
“Alright.” Jiang Mingzhe sat down obediently, waiting for her to speak.
Ye Yunniang took a deep breath. “After we marry, I want to live under the same roof with Mother, Shushu, Pan'er, An'an, and Pingping. If you do not agree to this, I cannot marry you.”