Zhang Qin coughed forcefully, spitting out a mouthful of blood that stained the hem of Madam Pei's skirt.

Madam Pei turned around, furrowed her brows, and looked at Zhang Qin on the ground with disgust.

"Let go. Stop clinging to me like a mangy dog. I've given you enough over the years! You'll be set for life. Stop bothering me; it only disgusts me!"

Madam Pei kicked Zhang Qin several times with force.

Zhang Qin gritted his teeth and endured it without uttering a sound.

Madam Pei, enraged, kicked him a few more times, then raised her head and shouted at the top of her lungs outside.

"Guards! Guards! Where are they? Where have they all gone? Get in here right now!"

A few noises came from outside the door.

The people outside seemed hesitant about whether to come in.

Zhang Qin crawled forward a few more steps, gripping Madam Pei's ankles tightly with both hands, and struggled to lift his head to speak.

"I am Zhang Xian, do you remember me? I am Zhang Xian, Mom! Please don't abandon me! I beg you, please don't abandon me! I can give up everything, I just beg you to let me stay by your side! I will do anything for you!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Pei's first reaction was not shock, but rather she looked at Ye Ningwan standing in the corner, and then forcefully pushed away Zhang Qin, who rushed over and tightly hugged her calves.

"Are you crazy? There are outsiders here, why are you saying this? Do you want to fight to the death?!"

"Haven't you harmed me enough, you bastard? Why bring up things from twenty or thirty years ago now?"

"..."

Before Madam Pei could finish speaking, Zhang Ji's face showed an expression of extreme shock.

He stared incredulously at Madam Pei's distorted face, as if trying to find a trace of pretense in her expression, looking at every subtle detail, even the slightest twitch of a muscle seemed too real.

"you……"

Zhang Ji's lip muscles twitched, and he couldn't utter another word for a long time.

He was a very clever man; he had already found clues from just a few words from Madam Pei.

Zhang Ji's Adam's apple bobbed, a faint metallic taste of blood filled his dry throat, and his entire mouth tasted of rust.

He struggled for a long time before he could barely utter a few words.

"You knew I was Zhang Xian all along, didn't you? You knew from the very first moment you saw me, but you never even considered acknowledging me, not even for the slightest reason, right?"

Madam Pei's face became increasingly contorted.

Her sharp voice was like a knife, abruptly cutting off Zhang Ji's next words.

"Shut up! I told you to stop talking!"

Zhang Ji glanced at Ye Ningwan standing by the window, a mocking smile curving his bloodied lips.

"You don't need to be so nervous. Ye Ningwan already knows about the relationship between you and me. If she really wanted to tell, she would have already done so."

This time, it was Madam Pei who was taken aback.

"What did you say?"

She crouched down, grabbed Zhang Ji's chin, and coldly questioned him.

"You told her that? Zhang Ji, you betrayed me a long time ago, didn't you?!"

"You think I'm no longer good enough, that I can't bring you wealth and luxury anymore, so you turned to Ye Ningwan and surrendered, even telling her this secret that could kill me, right?!"

Zhang Ji remained silent, his slightly drooping eyes filled with gloom as he stared menacingly at the woman who kept questioning him.

Unable to get the answer she wanted for a long time, Madam Pei raised her hand and slapped Zhang Ji several times.

"I'm asking you! Are you mute, Zhang Xian! You traitor, have you betrayed me? Have you already conspired with Ye Ningwan? You bastard child born of a slut, you piece of trash rotten from bone to blood, I shouldn't have given birth to such a filthy thing as you. I should have strangled you and thrown you into a cesspool to drown you!"

Zhang Ji remained motionless, lying on the ground staring at Madam Pei, his eyes growing increasingly dark.

Because his soul had been torn apart, the physical pain no longer posed any real harm to him.

Perhaps because it was so painful, Zhang Ji was still able to laugh.

"So... this is what you really think?"

"So you hate me this much..."

Madam Pei spoke each word carefully.

"Yes, I hate you so much!"

Madam Pei looked at Zhang Qin's face, which bore a striking resemblance to that man, and her eyes burned with hatred!

She became increasingly hysterical as she spoke.

"When I see your face... whenever I see your face... I'm reminded of that man!"

"If it weren't for him, my life wouldn't be stained, I wouldn't have had to live in fear for so many years! I wouldn't be the way I am now! My failed life is all because of him! All because of that man. If he had never appeared, I would be much happier than I am now!"

Madam Pei's sobs echoed repeatedly in the narrow room, constantly reaching Zhang Ji's ears.

Zhang Ji spoke, his eyes red, word by word.

"I am your son, not that man!"

"The suffering you endured back then wasn't because of me!"

"Back then, you were naive and easily fooled, only looking at his face. You were seduced by that man's few words. So many people tried to persuade you, and your grandfather even locked you in your room, but you were determined to go with him! You climbed out of the window in the middle of the night and escaped from home, finding that man and offering to elope with him! Everything was of your own free will, so why are you complaining? Why are you resentful? It was all your own choice, the sins you created!"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!