Almost the night Xu Sinian returned to the Xu Mansion, Tang Ning suddenly fell ill, her face flushed with an excessively high fever.
In a panic, Xu Sinian hurriedly sent people to call both Western and traditional Chinese medicine doctors. He himself stayed by Tang Ning's bedside the whole time. He learned from them that Tang Ning had probably not rested properly after falling into the river. Her body had been working under high pressure, and the overwork had led to a weakened immune system, which caused this illness. In addition, she was under a lot of stress and her mind was too heavy. The fact that she had managed to hold on until now and develop a fever was already a testament to her resilience and endurance.
After hearing the doctor's diagnosis, Xu Sinian immediately fell silent.
Although Lu Chen was the instigator of this illness, he was also inextricably linked to it...
To take care of Tang Ning, Xu Sinian barely slept a wink all night, but even so, Tang Ning, who had been sleeping soundly all night, showed no signs of waking up.
Only after asking the doctor and finding out that there was nothing seriously wrong and that he was just asleep did Xu Sinian's tense nerves relax a little.
However, two pieces of news that soon came made Xu Sinian feel from the bottom of his heart that it was fortunate that Tang Ning was asleep, otherwise it would have been detrimental to her condition.
One of the two pieces of news was that Lu Chen was bumped into by someone sent by Shen San. Ever since Shen San got involved with a military officer from the Ni Kingdom, he has become increasingly eccentric and unrestrained. Although his previous actions against Lu Chen may have been due to old grudges, this time it is definitely not that simple. Now that the situation is becoming more and more serious, Shen San's actions are most likely aimed at Lu Chen's biological father, Marshal Lu.
Tang Ning's illness came on so suddenly yesterday that he didn't learn of it immediately.
Now, Lu Chen, who was seriously injured, has already been taken away by his men. They should be heading towards Fengcheng. It's just unknown whether the journey will be safe or not.
However, his subordinates and Marshal Lu must have already exchanged telegrams. Marshal Lu only has this one son, so he would never allow anything to happen to him.
The other piece of news was—
"...Tang Ning, come out here! Is this how a sister should act? Shameless! You even sleep with your sister's man! If I had known you were this kind of person, I shouldn't have been so kind as to save you, you ingrate! Do you know how much shame Yin Yin and our entire Tang family have lost because of you? Come out here!"
"How come you're so unlucky? Ever since you entered the Tang family, you've ruined our family fortune, and even your father died because of you. Nothing good has ever happened to our family. You're a jinx, a plague. Why wasn't it you who died back then? If I had known this would happen, I should have let your parents sell you to that kind of place. It would have been better if you had come to the Tang family and brought bad luck upon us..."
Lu Chen chased after Tang Ning, leaving Tang Yin behind who suffered immense pressure and humiliation.
Tang Yin was already on the verge of collapse from being used by Lu Chen as a tool to get revenge on Tang Ning. She was further embarrassed by the meaningful glances from the group of onlookers she had specially invited. She even heard her female classmates whispering about how she was being pretentious and aloof, always putting on airs and not keeping her distance from the male classmates. She had previously pretended to be innocent and broken up several couples. Now she was just reaping what she sowed.
"...She actually went after her own sister's boyfriend from five years ago? Don't tell me she doesn't even remember what he looks like after five years. Judging from the veiled meaning in her words earlier, she clearly knew, yet she still brought him to her sister to show off. Wasn't that intentional? Seven days, oh no, I don't even know if it was seven days before she accepted his marriage proposal. Why? Because she knew he was a young marshal and wanted to climb the social ladder. Now look what happened, serves her right!"
They didn't shy away from talking about her at all; in fact, when she looked over, they all gave her a defiant look.
This became the last straw that broke Tang Yin's back, causing her to cover her ears and shout loudly, even though not all the guests had left.
Finally regaining her senses, Tang's mother, like a fierce mother hen protecting her chicks, chased away the onlookers.
After they left, Tang Yin completely locked herself in her room. No matter how much her mother tried to persuade her from outside, she refused to come out or eat.
This angered Tang's mother so much that she started cursing loudly as soon as she arrived outside the Xu mansion.
She attributed all the injustices and humiliations that Tang Yin had suffered to Tang Ning. If it weren't for Tang Ning's indiscretion and deliberate provocation of Lu Chen, how could Tang Yin have suffered such an undeserved disaster, losing all face and not daring to leave the house? She locked herself in her room, not knowing what might happen to her.
The more she thought about it, the deeper Tang's mother's resentment towards Tang Ning became, and she became even more unrestrained in her scolding.
She no longer cared about the care he had given her over the years, his contributions to the Tang family, or even the absurd fact that her good daughter, Tang Yin, had accepted someone else's marriage proposal in just three days.
Almost immediately upon hearing Tang's mother's curses, Xu Sinian looked at Tang Ning with concern. When he saw that she was still asleep, he was relieved and ordered Ah Sheng to send people down to drag Tang's mother away. If possible, he also ordered people to guard the vicinity and not let Tang's mother have any chance to approach the Xu family's small building again.
However, Xu Sinian's men had not yet had a chance to get close to Tang's mother.
Meanwhile, Tang Ruo, who had rested for a night and felt much better, arrived with her younger brother Tang Jun.
Early in the morning, when Tang Ruo heard from Tang Jun that her mother had stormed out, she immediately thought to herself that something was wrong and hurriedly led Tang Jun out to chase after her, but it was too late.
She couldn't understand how her mother could use such vicious words to insult her older sister. It hurt her to hear it, let alone her older sister.
Yes, her second sister made a huge fool of herself and suffered injustice, but wasn't that all her own fault?
It's amazing that she even thought of getting together with Lu Chen.
She even brought Lu Chen to her eldest sister to ask for her blessing, even though her eldest sister had been talking about a bright and happy future with her the night before, but the next day...
Whenever Tang Ruo put herself in her older sister's shoes, she felt so heartbroken that she could hardly breathe.
She could see that her eldest sister had been missing Lu Chen for the past five years and couldn't forget him. Don't tell her that Tang Yin couldn't see it, but she still did it. Wasn't it because she wanted Lu Chen's current status as the young marshal and wanted to win over her eldest sister's heart?
Throughout the whole farce, Lu Chen was certainly despicable, but Tang Yin was not entirely innocent either.
Thinking this, Tang Ruo rushed over as soon as she saw her mother slapping her thigh and cursing like a shrew.
"Mom, what are you doing? Are you trying to drive my older sister to her death?"
Upon arriving in front of Tang's mother, Tang Ruo pulled her arm and loudly questioned her.
"I drove her to her death? It was clearly her who didn't want us to have a good life. Ruoruo, you are my daughter, and instead of speaking up for me, you're siding with Tang Ning to blame me?"
Tang's mother asked incredulously.
“I am your daughter, but I am also your elder sister’s younger sister. We are family. Why do you have to speak to me so formally?”
“I don’t have a shameless daughter who would seduce her own sister’s man…”
"What seduction? Lu Chen is my eldest sister's boyfriend! Mom, what's wrong with you? Why have you become so unable to distinguish right from wrong? This is no way you're being so biased!"
"Fine, fine, now you've all grown up and are criticizing me for your big sister's sake, huh? If I'd known I'd raised you, I would have preferred to drown you in the latrine as soon as you were born!"
Tang's mother spoke without thinking.
"You raised us? When have you ever raised us? From the moment we were born, our family went bankrupt, and our father became seriously ill. From childhood to adulthood, our eldest sister has been both our older sister and our mother. You haven't earned a single penny, and you haven't even helped with the housework much. How are you going to support us..."
"Smack!"
Before Tang Ruo could finish speaking, her mother, enraged, raised her hand and slapped her hard across the face. The girl's face turned sharply to the side, and she covered her throbbing cheek, looking at her mother in disbelief.
"Mom! How could you do this? Third Sister is still sick, she's not fully recovered, and you..."
Tang Jun, who had been standing behind Tang Ruo without much presence, rushed forward immediately after Tang Ruo's mother's slap, shouting angrily.
When Tang's mother hit Tang Ruo, she did feel a little guilty. But before the guilt could fully spread, she saw Tang Jun's reproachful gaze. For a moment, her resentment outweighed her guilt. She felt that the two siblings, who had been raised by Tang Ning since childhood, had really been corrupted by her. They only knew how to criticize and disobey her.
Can she really rely on these children in the future? I'm afraid that if their eldest sister even frowns, the two of them will rush to kick her out of the house.
The more Tang's mother thought about it, the angrier she became. She gritted her teeth and said, "I'm her mother, can't I hit her? You insist on protecting your eldest sister, huh? Fine, very well. From now on, don't acknowledge me as your mother, and don't come home. Go with your eldest sister. I want to see how good she can be to you."
Tang's mother, who had been so angry with the twins, didn't bother to scold Tang Ning anymore. She flicked her sleeves, turned around, and walked out.
Watching his mother turn away without looking back, Tang Jun helplessly tugged at Tang Ruo's sleeve, "Third Sister..."
On the other side, Tang Ruo also watched her mother's receding figure, and tears quickly welled up in her eyes.
Just then, Ah Sheng trotted up to the two of them and said with a smile, "Miss Tang, young master, the master instructed that if you have nowhere to go, you can stay at the Xu mansion first. Now that Miss Tang Ning is sick, she needs her family to accompany her."
Upon hearing Ah Sheng say that Tang Ning was sick, Tang Ruo didn't care about anything else. She hurriedly asked about her condition and then took Tang Jun's hand and walked towards the Xu family.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Tang's mother had just returned to the Tang family home, still holding her breath. As she pushed open the courtyard gate, she saw Tang Yin carrying a suitcase and hurriedly coming downstairs.
"Yinyin, you're finally willing to come out? Where are you going with that suitcase?"
Tang's mother's attention was immediately drawn to the box in Tang Yin's hands.
Upon hearing her mother's voice, Tang Yin's hand trembled immediately, and a hint of guilt flashed quickly in her lowered eyes. However, she quickly composed herself and looked up at her mother with a stubborn expression in her eyes. "I want to go to Fengcheng."
"Fengcheng?"
Tang's mother repeated the sentence first, and then realized that Fengcheng was the place where that bastard Lu Chen lived.
"you……"
"Yes, I'm going to find Lu Chen. This morning I heard someone under the window saying that someone was hit by a car on Xiangxi Road yesterday, and someone rushed up shouting 'Young Marshal,' so I knew it must be Lu Chen. He must have been taken back to Fengcheng by his men. I'm going to find him. He promised to marry me, and he can't go back on his word."
The most crucial point Tang Yin hadn't mentioned yet was that she felt Lu Chen was seriously injured and needed someone to accompany him, which was her opportunity. She was sure she had a way to make him completely forget Tang Ning's existence. Besides, her reputation in Haicheng was already ruined, and she wouldn't be able to find anyone better, so she might as well seize Lu Chen's opportunity.
If she really marries Lu Chen and becomes the young marshal's wife, all the ridicule she's faced today will be nothing.
“Yinyin…”
At this moment, Tang's mother really couldn't understand what her second daughter was thinking. Lu Shen was obviously a heartless and ruthless man. Such a person was selfish and only cared about himself. Oh no, after yesterday's farce, he probably started to be devoted to Tang Ning.
If Yinyin goes to find someone like that, will he marry her?
The more Tang's mother thought about it, the more unreliable it seemed. But before she could even speak, tears streamed down Tang Yin's smooth cheeks on the stairs. Her eyes were red and swollen, and she screamed hysterically, "I can't stay in Haicheng anymore! What else can I do but go find Lu Chen? I don't care, I want to go to Fengcheng! I don't want to stay here! Mom, it would be best if you agreed today, but if you don't..."
Suddenly, Tang Yin pulled out a small knife from her sleeve, which she had prepared for self-defense, and held it to her neck.
I'll die right here in front of you!
Tang Yin said this with absolute certainty.
"Ouch, ouch, Yinyin, Yinyin, don't do this! You're tearing your mother's heart out! Put the knife down..."
Tang's mother's eyes also reddened, but no matter how she tried to persuade her, Tang Yin just held a knife to her own neck and wouldn't listen to anything.
Children are all debts!
"good."
Tang Yin's threat of suicide finally made her mother relent, but before Tang Yin's eyes could even show any surprise...
“But… Mom wants to go with you. Otherwise, it’s so chaotic outside, and I’m worried about you, a young girl, going to such a far place as Fengcheng alone.”
This was Tang's mother's final bottom line. Anyway, those two little brats, Tang Ruo and Tang Jun, only cared about their good older sister, so she didn't want to get involved anymore and let Tang Ning handle it.
In fact, not only did Tang Yin make a huge fool of herself yesterday, but she also lost face quite a bit. She might as well go with Yin Yin. If things really get out of hand, Yin Yin will have someone to back her up and won't be left all alone.
Upon hearing Tang's mother's words, Tang Yin subconsciously glanced at her wooden box, her eyes flickered slightly, and then she nodded.
Actually, she was a little scared because she had never been on such a long trip before. With her mother by her side, she was less afraid.
As for the rest, we'll talk about it once we're on the train.
Once on the train, Tang's mother learned from Tang Yin that she had brought all the family's money, several thousand silver dollars, with not a single copper coin left.
"Anyway, Tang Ning is still here, and Xu Sinian is so rich, he definitely won't abandon Ruoruo and Xiaojun, right? Mom, are you... angry with me?"
Tang Yin hugged her mother's arm and said this in a coquettish manner.
"No……"
Although she said no, Tang's mother was truly shocked by her second daughter's ruthless and cold-blooded methods, and a faint chill crept into her heart.
Putting aside the fact that the money had nothing to do with her and was all saved by Tang Ning, when she returned home, she saw that her daughter was already preparing to leave. If she hadn't met her by chance, she probably wouldn't have been able to come out with her.
In other words, when she took all the money from the house, she didn't care at all how her mother would live afterward, as if she was certain that Tang Ning would not stand idly by and do nothing about it.
But she was cursing Tang Ning out that morning, and Tang Ning overheard those words. So when Tang Ning actually came to her for help, Tang Ning was truly willing to forgive and forget...
Tang's mother thought to herself, and for a moment she even began to doubt whether her second daughter was really as innocent and harmless as she had imagined.
On the other hand, Tang Yin understood her mother's inner thoughts perfectly well. But since things had already come to this, it would be better for her to be honest sooner rather than later. Besides, her mother liked her so much. Once she arrived in Fengcheng, found Lu Chen, and became the young marshal's wife, it would be better for her to take good care of her mother. She could also coax her a little, and her mother would definitely not remember it for long.
Tang Yin thought to herself.
The mother and daughter, who had always lived under the protection of others, were completely unaware that their unbridled discussions about whether or not the ocean was foreign, coupled with their good looks, had already attracted the attention of some people.
Immediately, several men with pointed chins and monkey-like faces exchanged glances...
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