Chapter 85 was still not ruthless enough.
Ji Tanyuan sighed, "What else could it mean? Divorce."
"Impossible," Ji Qing said coldly.
Ji Tanyuan: "Mom might not be able to live with you anymore."
Ji Qing only said one thing: no divorce.
Ji Qing couldn't accept it. He had already tolerated Sheng Wan separating from him and ignoring him, but he couldn't let them lose their only remaining marital relationship.
In the span of half a lifetime, he had already considered Sheng Wan as the person bound to him for life. Regardless of resentment or love, as long as she was Madam Ji, she was his.
He knew that Sheng Wan didn't like his older brother and the others, so he hadn't arranged for them to meet for the past 20 years, maintaining a state of mutual non-interference.
He never let her attend family dinners, even though she didn't like them. In these ten years, he has done what he should have done, so why did it have to come to this point of divorce?
He paused for a moment before speaking in a dry voice: "Is she blaming me for arranging this marriage?"
Ji Tanyuan pursed her lips, "Actually, we've been conflicted for a long time, haven't we?"
"The three of us haven't been together for a long time, and it has nothing to do with whether I'm married or not."
Ji Qing shook his head. "It's because of my indulgence of your uncle all these years that she's angry, isn't it?"
"But she never says it."
"I told you, but you wouldn't listen."
As for why he was lenient with Ji Ting, he simply said that he used to think his uncle hadn't done anything wrong.
Ji Tanyuan noticed the word "before".
"And now?"
Ji Qing lowered his eyes. "Fame and fortune amplify desires, and desires amplify the evil in human nature."
Ji Tanyuan really wanted to say "bullshit!"
But she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Let me tell you, no, he's always been like this. He was honest before because he didn't have the ability to do bad things, so he could only live a sleazy life. Now that he has money, he'll sleazy about others too."
"You're still making excuses." Ji Tanyuan sighed.
"Your grandparents' last words were that you should never forget your clan. To make up for the regret of not being able to fulfill your filial duties, you have lived up to their words and devoted your life to taking care of the Ji family clan. You have sacrificed half of your and your mother's marriage to accommodate him. That should be enough, don't you think?"
"To be honest, it has nothing to do with my grandparents. It's just that you think so too. That ancestral hall is your root, especially since I'm a daughter. You never intended for me to inherit it."
Ji Qing looked directly at Ji Tanyuan and said, "You're wrong."
"However, the group must bear the surname Ji..."
Ji Tanyuan nodded, "I understand."
Now, she and her father can no longer find the harmonious relationship they once had. When the affairs of the group are brought up on the table between father and daughter, many things are different.
"I can't have dinner with you today. I have a dinner party tonight and a meeting tomorrow. After that, I have to go back to Yanjing. As for the divorce, my aunt will probably hire a lawyer. I can't do anything about it."
Ji Qing sat on the bed without saying anything more.
Ji Tanyuan got up, picked up her coat, and stood in front of the sofa, very close to her father's wheelchair, yet also very far away.
He was alone, wearing a dark blue hospital gown, and his complexion was not good. In the past two years, he had aged rapidly. The group was beset by internal and external troubles, and he had exhausted himself to overcome the crisis. Now this had happened.
Ji Tanyuan has never experienced hardship in life since childhood; everything she has is the best and most expensive.
Although she never experienced a perfect and harmonious family life, she knew her parents loved her very much. She could accept the unusual family situation, since compared to others in her circle, her parents were already considered to be good to her.
However, the topics of interests, the group, and relatives are always unavoidable.
She sighed, then walked closer, bent down, and hugged him. "Happy New Year, Dad. Listen to the doctor. At your age, you can't be willful anymore."
Ji Qing closed his eyes, raised his hand and patted his daughter's back, "Okay."
He started his wheelchair, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and watched Ji Tanyuan and Zhong Yan walk out of the door. The two young people were graceful and elegant, and even in the gloomy winter, they were a perfect match.
His daughter is now beautiful and capable of standing on her own, but she's still not ruthless enough.
When will I be able to achieve what Zhong Yan did, with diverse and flexible methods, able to be both gentle and ruthless?
——
After parting ways with Ji Tanyuan, Shen Xiling went directly to Shen Xichen's residence.
The butler was somewhat surprised to see Shen Xiling. "Young Master Xiling? What brings you here?"
Shen Xiling frowned. "Where's my brother?"
The butler quickly made way for him, saying, "The master is talking to someone, please wait a moment."
Side Building Waiting Room
Ji Ting looked at Shen Xichen: "Aren't you going to give me an explanation?"
Shen Xichen sat on a single sofa, relaxed, with his legs crossed.
“We didn’t do it. My men saw that the person lying on the bed wasn’t the target and didn’t do anything. Whoever put Ji Ziqian up there did it. I was framed.”
"The purpose is to create a rift between us."
"As for how the other side knew about our plan, it's possible that there was a traitor on your side."
Ji Ting had already anticipated that the other party would say this, "Then you should find evidence that the other party made my son look like Ji Zhihe in order to lure you in, and that my son's autopsy showed that he died of a drug overdose. Only your Shen family could do that at that hospital."
"If it were someone else, who else could do it?"
“The Zhong family,” Shen Xichen said slowly.
Ji Ting was stunned. "What did you say?"
Shen Xichen curled his lips, "The Zhong family of Yanjing, Ji Tanyuan's in-laws, are on Ji Tanyuan's side. We've become enemies, and you've lost your assistant. Ji Tanyuan benefits the most, doesn't she?"
Ji Ting's shoulders slumped, somewhat lost in thought. "How could this be? How could Ji Tanyuan dare to lay a hand on her own cousin? Even if she killed Ziqian, there's still the second son, and the other sons. Can she deal with them one by one?"
Shen Xichen took a sip of tea and said casually, "Who told you to get so close to me? The Zhong family must be unhappy. Fortunately, I used this incident to create distance between us, making you mistakenly believe that I killed him by accident."
Ji Ting shook his head. "Give me the evidence. The hospital is full of your people. The Zhong family is so powerful in Shanghai, why would they need a marriage alliance?"
A mocking glint flashed in Shen Xichen's pupils, hidden by his eyelashes. "At least he has some brains."
He was too lazy to make up any more stories, so he raised his eyes and said coldly, without a trace of warmth in them, "In the end, you just don't believe me, you're trying to extort me?"
The next second, a hissing sound crawled past behind him. It was a snake. Ji Ting's pupils contracted, cold sweat poured down his forehead and palms were also sweaty, and his legs began to tremble. This person was a madman.
He snorted coldly and stood up. "Shen Xichen, you think you can get Ji Tanyuan? No way."
Ji Ting walked to the door, and as soon as he opened it, he was greeted by the dark muzzle of a gun.
The terror was like a man-eating monster. The woman with the gun took a step closer, her face expressionless, as if she were looking at a dead object.
Ji Ting was so startled that his already tense body couldn't take it and he fell to the ground.
Immediately afterwards
Shen Xichen appeared before him. The man looked at him and spoke without any emotion: "What did you say?"
Ji Ting had forgotten his original purpose. His fear of death had reached its peak, making him feel cold to the bone and unable to move.
Even though Shen Xichen looked no different than usual, he felt a sense of impending death; this person was too eerie.
Shen Xichen continued, "Did you just say it was impossible for me?"
Ji Ting shook his head, "Maybe, maybe, I said maybe."
Shen Xichen smiled slightly, "That's right, someone as perfect as him should be mine."
He straightened up, turned and left.
The woman was left alone, her hair tied up except for bangs covering her forehead, her dark eyes and the hand holding the gun motionless.
Ji Ting swallowed hard. "Can I leave now?"
After Shen Xichen left, Xiao Qi put away her gun and then bowed, saying, "I'll see you out."
Shen Xichen walked from the connecting corridor to the main house and saw Shen Xiling in the hall.
Even though their fathers were brothers and the two men were somewhat similar, they were different in temperament.
Shen Xiling possesses a simple sense of justice and kindness, while Shen Xichen, aside from his superficial gentleness, easily gives the impression of a noble young master who is "pure as ice and jade, gentle as spring."
It's just an illusion.
Shen Xiling stood up. "Brother, back then, regarding the Ji family's matter, was it that you couldn't help or didn't want to help..."
Shen Xichen: "Did Ji Tanyuan send you to ask this?"
Shen Xiling frowned. "No."
"Do we have any obligation? No, we have no obligation."
"Was the Ji family's misfortune their own doing, or were there villains causing trouble?" Shen Xiling followed up with another question.
Shen Xichen sighed: "Xiling, she got married."
Shen Xiling's eyes suddenly dimmed.
Shen Xichen suddenly added, "Besides, she doesn't like you."
Shen Xiling pursed her lips: "I know, but was it actually the Shen family who did it?"
Shen Xichen: "No, it's the Zhong family."
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