Chapter 86 Illegitimate Child
The atmosphere in the ward changed abruptly as soon as Jiang Sui and the others left.
Ji Lanwan's smile slowly faded. "Did you just go see Yu Juncheng again?"
A hint of unease flashed across Ji He's face.
Seeing her expression, what couldn't Ji Lanwan guess?
She leaned against the hospital bed, her heart aching as if crushed by a boulder, the pain unbearable.
Her husband died early, and Ji Lanwan raised Ji He like a precious jewel, never daring to say a harsh word to her, and believing that she had never wronged her.
She couldn't understand how Ji He had become like this.
Knowing full well that they have embarked on the wrong path, they refuse to turn back and even try to make the same mistake again.
In the past, Yu Juncheng never dared to leave Deng Yi for too long, fearing that she would find out about his affair, so he only dared to call Ji He to Licheng for a secret rendezvous.
But today, he brought Ji He to his door.
Ji Lanwan thought she knew Yu Juncheng's despicable character well enough, but she never expected that Yu Juncheng was far more filthy and shameless than she had imagined.
He actually had the nerve to say he wanted to acknowledge Ji Jingyu as his wife.
“I spoke with Xiao Jing privately, but he seems to have some misunderstanding about me and is very resistant to me, so I would like to ask you to try to persuade him.”
"Get out!"
Ji Lanwan was a gentle person, and almost all of her anger was provoked by Yu Juncheng.
"Mom, what are you doing? You can't treat Juncheng like that."
“Yu Juncheng, from the day Xiao Jing was born, he has had nothing to do with you. You said that yourself. Have you forgotten?”
"I had my reasons back then."
Yu Juncheng tried to erase his shameless behavior with a single, casual remark.
"So now I want to make it up to Xiaojing and give him a complete family."
Ji Lanwan's voice was filled with barely suppressed anger and heartache: "Xiao Jing is not seven months old, nor is he seventeen. He's long past the age where he needs a father. How dare you bother him?"
"Besides, how can you give him a complete family? Are you willing to give up the wealthy life the Deng family has given you? Or do you want Xiao Jing to be an illegitimate child who can't be seen in the light of day!"
"If you have any humanity left, you should stay away from Xiao Jing and never bother him again in this lifetime."
"Mom, Juncheng promised me that as long as Xiaojing is willing to acknowledge him, he will definitely divorce Deng Yi."
Ji Lanwan was so angry that her hands were trembling.
Only Ji He would believe such nonsense.
If Yu Juncheng truly wanted to be with Ji He, he should have gotten a divorce first before coming to her, instead of making empty promises that even a three-year-old wouldn't believe.
But Ji He believed it without a doubt.
As if they had been bewitched by Yu Juncheng, they completely disregarded worldly morality, etiquette, and shame.
Ji Lanwan didn't want to waste any more words with Yu Juncheng; she just wanted them to get out of her house as soon as possible.
One chased them away, another blocked them, and yet another took advantage of the chaos to fan the flames.
The scene quickly descended into chaos.
In the scuffle, Yu Juncheng suddenly flung his hand away, and Ji Lanwan, caught off guard, fell to the side with a thud to the ground.
Fortunately, she managed to grab a nearby table for leverage, thus avoiding more serious injury.
—
“Go tell Yu Juncheng that Xiao Jing is a child of the Ji family and has nothing to do with him. Tell him to give up on that idea.”
"No way!" Ji He was extremely agitated upon hearing this. "Because he doesn't have a father, Xiao Jing has suffered so much prejudice and harsh words since he was a child, you know that! Now he can clearly have a father, what right do you have to stop him? Can't you stand to see our family doing well?"
"It's you and Yu Juncheng who can't stand seeing Xiao Jing doing well."
For the first time, Ji Lanwan felt resentment towards Ji He. "You are truly beyond saving. Ji He, I'll say it one last time: if you want to be a mistress, if you want to be scorned by the world, then go ahead! But don't drag the child down with you, don't let him be gossiped about behind his back! Xiao Jing's father died before he was born, understand?"
"I'll say it to you one last time: Xiao Jing has a father, Yu Juncheng. I will definitely help Xiao Jing reunite with his father, and our family will be very happy."
At the entrance to the ward.
Ji Jingyu stood frozen in place, all the color draining from her face. Her fingers gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, her knuckles turning almost transparent white.
It felt like a damp, cold cotton ball was stuffed into his throat, making it hard for him to breathe.
Every word and every sentence starkly reminds him of his status as an "illegitimate child."
His worst fears have come true.
After carefully hiding it for so long, the secret that had kept him awake at night for so long was finally discovered by Jiang Sui.
The hospital corridor was hot and stuffy, but Ji Jingyu felt cold all over, as if the chill was seeping into her bones.
He was like a clown stripped naked, all his wretchedness and embarrassment laid bare before Jiang Sui.
Ji Jingyu wanted to explain, to defend herself, to tell her that she wasn't, but her thin lips closed slightly, and in the end she could only let out a hoarse, dry breath, letting despair wash over her.
Even being sentenced to death wouldn't be much worse.
Ji Jingyu thought.
However, it's good that Jiang Sui found out.
He finally found relief from despair.
—
"Are you being so heartless to me because you think Su Yinian will take care of you when you get old?"
The thought of Su Yinian's pretentious act in front of her just now made Ji He feel nauseous. She was Ji Lanwan's daughter; what right did Su Yinian have to point fingers at her?
"What does this have to do with Teacher Su? Ji He, don't drag innocent people into this."
"I know you've always liked Su Yinian. When she first came to Xunning, you even secretly helped her out." Ji He sneered. "But do you think she's some kind-hearted person? She was forced to come to Xunning by the man's family."
Ji He had personally witnessed someone threatening Su Yinian, warning her to behave herself in Xunning and not to ask for anything she shouldn't, otherwise the consequences would be something she couldn't bear.
"And then there's Jiang Sui, who looks so much like Su Yinian. She claims to be a relative staying with him, but I think she's clearly Su Yinian's biological daughter. The reason Su Yinian is hiding her identity is because Jiang Sui's background is also something that can't be brought to light!"
A warm sensation came from near her ear, and the cool, minty scent forcefully replaced the hospital's disinfectant smell, landing on Jiang Sui's nose.
Ji Jingyu reached out and covered Jiang Sui's ears, leading her several steps forward until he could no longer hear the sounds coming from the ward clearly before he stopped.
Ji Jingyu pointed to the chairs at the end of the corridor, her voice hoarse and almost breaking, "Go sit there and wait for me, okay? No matter how angry you are, don't run off alone, it's not safe."
He didn't dare look Jiang Sui in the eye, and he was also afraid of hearing Jiang Sui's rejection. After he finished speaking, he turned around, pushed open the door of the ward, and walked in without looking back.
—
"Yu Juncheng doesn't love you at all." Ji Jingyu looked up at Ji He, her dark eyes revealing a hint of malice, her voice as cold as ice.
"Nonsense, your father loves me very much!"
Faced with the mother and son's alternating attacks, Ji He's face twisted into a grimace. "What do you know? All these years, your father has only ever loved me."
"Is that so?" Ji Jingyu said with a mocking expression. "Then why did he marry someone else's woman and turn you into a mistress who can't be seen in public?"
The love Ji He spoke of was like thin ice on a winter's day, easily broken with a single touch.
It's like the foam on a hot pot, which looks thick and real, but is actually all worthless impurities. With a gentle smear, it will disperse and fall apart.
For more than a decade, Ji He lived this kind of life.
“It was that woman who schemed against your father and got pregnant with his child. She said that if your father didn’t marry her, she would ruin his reputation…” Ji He didn’t know if she was trying to convince Ji Jingyu or herself. Her expression was frantic and ferocious. “Yes, your father was forced to marry that woman. He didn’t love them at all.”
So this is what they call being forced into a corner.
That nausea returned.
For so many years, Ji He has been deceiving herself like this, and even tried to deceive Ji Jingyu.
Unfortunately, Ji Jingyu had witnessed true "having no other choice".
That day, he was in the kitchen with Jiang Yunzhao.
"Add salt after stir-frying, right?"
"Yes, but the heat can be turned down a bit, so it won't burn easily."
The indoor temperature was high in winter, so Jiang Yunzhao was only wearing a dark sweatshirt.
Even so, he was still sweating profusely.
He took a deep breath and rolled up his sleeves. "It's almost done."
Jiang Yunzhao has a long scar on his arm, which looks like it was cut by some kind of sharp blade.
Jiang Yunzhao noticed his gaze, narrowed his eyes slightly, and then stretched his arm out in front of Ji Jingyu, "Are you looking at this?"
"How did you get injured?"
Ji Jingyu wasn't one to meddle in other people's business, but he found himself strangely curious about the wound.
A playful look flashed across Jiang Yunzhao's face. "Its origin is a secret, even Sui Sui doesn't know it, but I want to tell you."
Jiang Zhenkai used Jiang Sui's safety as leverage to force Jiang Yunzhao to marry Fang Yanya, and he complied.
As for anything else, he would never agree to it, even if it meant his death.
After getting married, Jiang Yunzhao continued to live in the villa with Jiang Sui and never spent the night at the Jiang family's old house.
To him, Fang Yanya was just a decoration.
For Jiang Zhenkai, this was a blatant provocation against his personal authority.
However, since he could break Jiang Yunzhao's pride once, he could certainly break it a second and a third time...
All of Jiang Yunzhao's resistance was insignificant in Jiang Zhenkai's eyes. He could crush him again and reshape him into whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.
Jiang Zhenkai had someone drug Jiang Yunzhao and then threw him into Fang Yanya's room.
Ironically, his purpose in doing this was not to help Fang Yayan gain a foothold, nor did he really want the Jiang family to have more children; it was simply to destroy Jiang Yunzhao once again.
He knew better than anyone how to drive Jiang Yunzhao into an endless breakdown.
But this time he failed.
To stay conscious, Jiang Yunzhao made a deep cut, almost leaving him disabled.
The sudden appearance of such a long wound could not be hidden from Jiang Sui, who was closest to her father. Jiang Yunzhao comforted her, saying that he was helping others and had gotten injured while protecting something very, very precious to them.
Actually, he wasn't exactly lying.
His body belongs only to Su Yinian. By preserving his innocence, he is protecting Su Yinian's property.
“Dad is a great hero.” Jiang Sui carefully touched around the wound.
Jiang Yunzhao was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, and instantly stopped feeling the pain in his wound.
"So remember, a man's chastity is very important." Jiang Yunzhao said meaningfully, "If a man doesn't cherish himself, he might as well be dead."
As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Ji Jingyu's face, subtly observing her expression.
If Ji Jingyu shows even the slightest hint of disapproval or a ridiculous expression, then there will be no possibility between him and Jiang Sui.
Ji Jingyu didn't speak, but simply nodded seriously.
His movements were unhurried, as if he were making a solemn promise.
Jiang Yunzhao stared at him for a few seconds, a slight smile curving his lips.
"You just need to know about this, but don't tell Sui Sui or her mother. So much time has passed already, it's pointless to make them worry and feel sad."
Jiang Yunzhao made Ji Jingyu realize that truly loving someone means wanting them to be the happiest person in the world, not crushing them into dirty mud where they never see the light of day and have to endure endless scorn.
It is inappropriate to compare Jiang Yunzhao with Yu Juncheng; this is a desecration of Jiang Yunzhao.
A sense of apology flashed through Ji Jingyu's mind.
—
"So what if they got married? All these years, I've been the only one by your father's side, and it's always been me."
Ji He seemed to suddenly feel more confident.
Ji Jingyu scoffed, her gaze mocking, "That's because Yu Juncheng can't find another person as stupid as you."
"nonsense!"
"Is that so?" Ji Jingyu's tone was icy cold. "Then how did he come to have that youngest son?"
"What younger son?" Ji Lanwan's voice trembled with anger as she realized what was happening. "Yu Juncheng actually has a younger son? Ji He, are you crazy? Even now, you still think he's sincere towards you!"
Ji He's face flushed red, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, her eyes darting around in a panic. "How did you know?"
Yu Juncheng was probably spoiled by Ji He.
On the day of Jiangda's anniversary celebration, he actually brought Deng Yi and his youngest son with him.
While he feigned an attempt to mend his relationship with Ji Jingyu, his legally recognized wife and son were probably sitting not far away, eagerly awaiting his return.
"Is he livestock? Only animals can't control their instincts and desires, constantly reproducing. Or is it..."
Ji Jingyu's sudden pause made Ji He's heart skip a beat for no reason, and a chill ran up her spine.
Subconsciously, she knew that what Ji Jingyu was about to say was beyond her capacity to bear.
Ji Jingyu slowly approached Ji He, "He doesn't love you, otherwise why would he have two children with someone else? All these years, what you thought were sacrifices and concessions are nothing but a joke in Yu Juncheng's eyes."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
Ji He was trembling with rage, her eyes filled with a frenzied fury.
"Ji He!"
Ji Lanwan wanted to stop him, but she was powerless to do so.
The raised hand, carrying the wind, slapped heavily across Ji Jingyu's face.
Ji He stared in disbelief at her reddened palms, then hurriedly apologized, "Xiao Jing, I'm so sorry, Mommy didn't mean it, let Mommy see..."
She reached out to touch Ji Jingyu's face, but before she could, Ji Jingyu took a step back.
“There’s one more thing you’re wrong about.” Ji Jingyu looked at Ji He, her tone cold and distant. “Jiang Sui is different from me. Her parents love each other very much, and she was born into their expectations.”
Author's note: Because Sui Sui forbade Ji Ge from pinching her, Ji Ge could only clutch the hem of his clothes.
He's incredibly obedient. [Let me see.]
Thank you so much, everyone, for the nutrient solution and the landmines! [fireworks][fireworks][fireworks]
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