bayedsolid Chapter 451 Bitter Fruit
Chapter 451 Bitter Fruit
The excruciating pain was emanating from my body.
This made Jiang Yunze realize the truth of his dream.
He remembered being attacked on his way back from the Zhou family home.
Then nothing is known.
He pounded his legs hard.
He attempted to get out of bed and walk.
I hope it's all fake, just a nightmare.
However, when he rolled to the ground along with his bedding, he was in so much pain that he broke out in a cold sweat, his clothes soaked with sweat, and no matter how hard he struggled, he could not get up.
When he saw his mother crying and looking like she wanted to say something but couldn't, he knew that his leg was beyond repair.
He could never enter officialdom again, and he could never make a comeback.
He's crippled...
He became a useless person.
Jiang Yunze lay on the ground, trembling and convulsing, his eyes filled with hatred.
This was worse than killing him.
It is said that a prime minister's belly can hold a boat, but the left prime minister's heart is smaller than a needle.
They will not allow a traitor to live in the world.
He thought he was going to die.
Unexpectedly, the Left Prime Minister made him wish he were dead.
He refused.
But what can you do if you're unwilling to accept it?
Who should he hate?
He hated the Right Chancellor who ordered the confiscation of his property.
He hated the Left Prime Minister who had broken his legs and made him wish he were dead.
He hated the culprit behind this, his heartless and rebellious daughter.
I shouldn't have had her in the first place.
This isn't a daughter at all; it's clearly a troublemaker.
They gave birth to a jinx.
What an injustice!
He looked up at Old Madam Jiang, then at his own legs, and suddenly burst into laughter: "Haha... retribution... this must be retribution, Mother. You had my elder brother's legs broken back then, and look, my leg is lame now too. Don't you think this is retribution?"
"No...no..." Old Mrs. Jiang was terrified by her son's appearance. She stumbled and fell beside him, clutching his hand. "It's not like that. It's just that the servants didn't know their own strength. It's all their fault. There's no retribution. Ze'er, don't think too much about it."
The injury is on the child's body, but the pain is in the mother's heart.
If she could, she would want to suffer this pain in place of her son.
She didn't understand why things had turned out this way.
But her son seemed to be blaming her.
To whom could she confide her bitterness? She had raised her child with great care and hardship, nurtured him into a capable man, and later her brother entered officialdom, even becoming a high-ranking official of the fourth rank in the imperial court.
It is a momentous event that brings glory to the family.
The wives his son married were all incredibly capable.
The daughter of a general, the young lady of a minister's family, and the eldest daughter of a marquis's family.
She was an illiterate country woman, yet she managed to do all that; she could die without regrets.
He lived up to the expectations of the Jiang family ancestors and to the expectations of her husband who died young.
But in the end, how come they couldn't keep a single one?
It seems like we have returned to the starting point.
She couldn't understand or accept how such a joyous occasion had turned into this.
My son's legs are also ruined.
I don't know which heartless bastard hit her son.
What she found most unacceptable was the gold and silver she had accumulated over the years, and the boxes and boxes of jewelry and jade ornaments, and the boxes of gold hairpins.
Gone.
All gone!
Those damned officials! They even went under her bed and into her chamber pot, and they even smashed down the wall.
Not a single bit was left for her.
They even took the gold hairpin from her hair and the jade bracelet from her wrist.
They even ordered the maid to search her body.
hateful.
Grandma Jiang was so angry that her heart ached, a pain worse than if her heart had been ripped out.
But when she thought about her successful grandson and her princess granddaughter, her heart didn't hurt so much anymore.
She struggled to get her son into bed and comforted him, saying, "Son, I'll go find Yan Ge'er and Miao Miao in the next couple of days. Even if you divorce Lu Shi, they will always be your children and my grandchildren. No matter what, you can't abandon us."
Jiang Yunze was so angry that his teeth itched. He grabbed his mother's hand and said, "Mother, don't go. I'm like this now because of that brat Jiang Miaomiao. She probably wishes I were dead."
"Alright... I'll listen to you." Upon hearing this, Old Madam Jiang was even less likely to give up.
He agreed verbally, but had his own plans in mind.
Jiang Yunze lay on the bed, calmed down, and then looked around again.
The house was old, but it was spacious, so they didn't have to sleep on the streets.
But how did her mother find this house?
"Mother, where are we?"
"It's the Zhou family's old house in the suburbs." Old Mrs. Jiang glanced at the house with disdain.
She was deceived, but she dared not tell her son.
That brat from the Zhou family actually lied to her.
The promised large house with a garden, two courtyards, a garden, and a pond...
When we arrived, it was indeed huge, but the whole yard was deserted, no different from a haunted house.
The yard was overgrown with weeds and thorns, a place even ghosts would avoid.
There are many houses, but only a few are dilapidated and habitable, not even as good as my old home in Taoxi Village.
Grandma Jiang was heartbroken.
Jiang Yunze was secretly pleased, thinking that the Zhou family was willing to lend a helping hand, only to realize that the Zhou family had not yet appeared.
Tao Tao must have left, otherwise she wouldn't have remained completely hidden after all this commotion.
"Mother, where are Zhou Shi and the children?"
Judging from the Zhou family's words, they have no intention of letting Zhou Shi go back.
If Lord Zhou refuses to help, then let his daughter suffer a bit, so she can go back and ask for more money, or get them a better house.
Having come this far, he would rather let Zhou go back and beg for alms than offer himself up to be ridiculed by Lu Qingyao.
His father-in-law had said that a woman should follow her husband wherever he goes, whether she's a chicken or a dog.
Want a divorce agreement? Forget about it.
A letter of divorce is impossible.
Grandma Jiang looked guilty: "Zhou was picked up by her younger brother, and Xiao Shu was probably secretly taken away by Tao Tao."
It's good that she took it with her; she didn't want any more burden.
Even if you raise it, it'll just be a money-losing crop.
Jiang Yunze was at his wit's end: "...Mother, how can we let Zhou Shi go? What will we do if she leaves?"
He's no longer concerned about his leg.
The most pressing issue is making a living.
“My son, I thought that Zhou Shi was ignorant of farming and lazy, with such a small body, it would be better to buy a maid, so... so I exchanged her for some money and this house.” As she spoke, Old Madam Jiang took out a box of silver from under the bed, looking quite pleased with herself.
Jiang Yunze closed his eyes: "Fine, as long as the divorce papers are still in my hands, they will still come begging to me."
He almost forgot about Zhou Mu.
Lord Zhou may not care about the Zhou family, but Zhou Mu cannot ignore them; the siblings have always had a deep bond.
Besides, this kid is a fool. Even when Jin'er was still around, he fawned over her and sent her a lot of nice things, even daring to send her things that were bestowed upon him by the palace.
Anyway, the Zhou family has plenty of money.
He was not doing this for any other reason than that Lord Zhou had refused to help him in his time of need, and he wanted to vent his anger.
They ruthlessly fleeced Zhou Mu.
However, one sentence from Grandma Jiang almost made him vomit blood.
“Son, Zhou Sanlang took a piece of paper covered in writing and signed it with your hand. I reckon it’s a divorce agreement…”
Jiang Yunze: "...Mother, you're confused. How could you agree to that?"
In my excitement, I almost rolled off the bed again.
Grandma Jiang quickly helped him up, patting his back to help him catch his breath while explaining, "Son, I know you're going to blame me, but in that situation, Zhou Shi insisted on leaving, and Zhou Sanlang threatened me with your injuries. You were about to be beaten to death, and if you didn't get treatment, you'd be gone. No matter how much money I love, it's not as important as your life."
The old lady cried her heart out, tears streaming down her face.
She just felt the money was a bit too little, and as for that daughter-in-law from a noble family, she wasn't even as good as Lu Qingyao.
She inquired, "Son, why don't we go and beg Qingyao for help?"
……