Chapter 145: Who Cares If She Lives or Dies

Chapter 145: Chapter 145: Who Cares If She Lives or Dies

By now, everyone understood. Some ties, once severed, could never be repaired.

Once everyone was gone, Shen Zhenwu was silent for a few moments before letting out a breath and asking Song Yao softly.

"Your stomach must be growling."

"Why don’t you take your grandma for a walk downstairs? Whatever you want for lunch, just tell Dongxue. She’ll make it for you."

Then he turned to Shen Rongjing.

"Rong Jing, stay for a moment."

Song Yao understood at once. He wanted to discuss something serious. She nodded obediently and led her grandmother downstairs.

The moment they were gone, Shen Zhenwu got straight to the point.

"I want you to investigate that Ruan Yongxing fellow Yao Yuzhen mentioned. And look into where her money has been going all these years."

"And about Song Yao’s adoptive parents..."

Shen Rongjing immediately interjected.

"I never stopped looking into that. The investigation is ongoing."

"Rong Dan told me a couple of days ago that his brother-in-law mentioned something. Apparently, Yao Yuzhen secretly went to Song Family Village to check things out years ago. Back before Song Yao’s identity was public, the Song Family insisted to everyone that she was their biological daughter. The villagers all believed them; no one was suspicious."

"The only thing is, Liu Yumin supposedly gave birth at her parents’ home. By the time the baby was brought back to the Song Family, she was already a month old."

"She was a month old when they brought her back?"

Shen Zhenwu, who had been leaning against the headboard, suddenly shot bolt upright.

Shen Rongjing nodded.

Shen Zhenwu understood the implications immediately.

"So they were laying the groundwork that early?"

Shen Rongjing nodded again.

"From the looks of it, that’s almost certainly the case."

"To be so meticulous... they were clearly afraid someone would dig up Song Yao’s true origins."

As for why, the answer was an unspoken understanding between them.

THUD. Shen Zhenwu’s head fell back, hitting the headboard hard.

Shen Rongjing started to step forward, but Shen Zhenwu held up a hand to stop him.

"Keep a close eye on this. And don’t slack off on the other tasks I gave you."

"Understood!"

Shen Rongjing’s reply was crisp.

"Alright, you can go now. I’d like to be alone for a while."

With that, Shen Zhenwu laid his right arm over his forehead, covering his eyes.

Shen Rongjing nodded and left.

Shen Zhenwu stood alone by the window.

The sun outside was blindingly bright, but he felt no warmth. Instead, it was as if he were standing in an ice cellar, a chill seeping into his very bones.

He suddenly remembered his sister’s exact words.

"I saw it with my own eyes. She threw herself down the stairs. She was trying to get rid of the baby..."

At the time, Yao Yuzhen had been pregnant with Shen Rongdan.

He’d adamantly refused to believe it back then.

’Even if she resents me, even if she avoids me,’ he’d thought, ’she would never take it out on our child.’

But...

「Just as Shen Shuangshuang rushed out of the courtyard gate, Yao Yuzhen caught up to her.」

"Are you trying to scare me to death?"

Shen Shuangshuang felt a sting in her nose, and her voice trembled.

"Mom, what Dad just said... did you really not hear him?"

A knot formed in Yao Yuzhen’s chest, and she blurted out.

"He stopped considering you his daughter long ago. Why are you still calling him Dad?"

"From now on, you call your real father ’Dad’."

Just then, a breathless Yao Yingying caught up to them. Hearing this, she quickly tried to intervene.

"Yu Zhen, you can’t put all the blame on Zhenwu. What you just said was too cruel."

Yao Yuzhen’s anger flared, and she spun around to yell at her sister.

"I’m being cruel? Should we both go kneel and beg for his forgiveness? Or maybe you can sign the divorce papers for me and go with him to the marriage bureau to get his new certificate?"

Yao Yingying’s face flushed red.

"That’s not what I meant! I’m just saying you should at least hear him out before jumping to conclusions."

"Then tell me, what should I do?"

Yao Yuzhen sneered.

"Let him keep coming home every day to yell at me about how I can’t raise a child? Make Shuangshuang kneel in their ancestral hall and burn incense to admit she was wrong?"

Yao Yingying glanced at Shen Shuangshuang and sighed heavily.

"Yu Zhen, you might not like what I’m about to say. You’re used to having things your way, so this might be hard to hear. But I’m your older sister, and I have to say it."

"At our age, passion and romance are as fragile as paper lanterns—one gust of wind and they’re gone. The only things that truly last are a stable home and your children."

"A peaceful home, children who make you proud, who are sensible and considerate—that’s what we have to look forward to for the rest of our lives."

"If you insist on this divorce now, who will you rely on when you’re old and sick?"

Yao Yuzhen replied coolly.

"If you’re happy to live your whole life cowering, that’s your choice. I never asked you to change my destiny, nor have I ever relied on you for anything. You don’t need to worry about my affairs."

At that, Yao Yingying knew there was no point in saying anything more.

She gave her sister one last look, then turned and walked away.

Yao Yuzhen watched her sister’s retreating figure, her hands clenching into fists.

’I will not regret this,’ she told herself.

The only thing she wanted to slap herself for was agreeing to marry Shen Zhenwu all those years ago.

With that thought, she took Shen Shuangshuang’s hand and walked away from the Shen family’s gate.

’Shen Zhenwu wants that money?’

’Not a chance in hell.’

’Does he really think I’m some sucker who’ll work for free and even pay him for the privilege?’

The more Yao Yuzhen thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.

Since the Shen family was after her savings, she couldn’t risk leaving the money in her account. They might find a way to transfer it out from under her.

She grabbed Shen Shuangshuang’s hand, turned, and hurried toward the old alley where Ruan Yongxing lived.

As they ran, Shen Shuangshuang looked back and asked.

"Mom, aren’t we going home?"

Yao Yuzhen shook her head.

"We’re going to Uncle Ruan’s first."

Ruan Yongxing had been beaten badly the day before, and Yao Yuzhen had tried to persuade him to move in with her.

"My house is big, and I have a spare room. I could take care of you," she had said.

But Ruan Yongxing had just waved his hand dismissively.

"Forget it. I don’t want to drag you into this."

Before he could finish, he’d grabbed his bag and returned to his own shabby little house.

Seeing the bruises on his face, Yao Yuzhen hadn’t insisted and had let him go.

And now, here she was, having to make a special trip to see him.

Inside his room, Ruan Yongxing was eating at a table across from another man.

"Can we really get that much?"

The man glanced at Ruan Yongxing, his brow furrowed. "And the Shen family will really wash their hands of her after this? Are you sure?"

Ruan Yongxing replied calmly.

"Don’t worry. She’s getting the divorce today. Once the papers are signed, she’ll be completely cut off from the Shen family. Who’s going to care what happens to her then?"

He paused, then sneered.

"As for the woman herself..."

His eyes turned cold. "She’s an idiot. She believes every word I say. What if the money’s gone? I’ll just tell her I lost it all!"

"If it comes to it, we can have her go raise hell with the Shen family one more time, while we take the money and flee the country!"

"I hear they turn a blind eye to this sort of thing over there. They won’t even bother to investigate."

"I wonder if your father has eaten yet."

Yao Yuzhen murmured mildly, standing by the door.

She was completely unaware that just moments before, the man behind that very door had called her an "idiot."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

The moment the knock sounded, the two men inside fell silent.

The other man’s eyes darted toward the bed and the cabinet, as if looking for a place to hide.

But the room was tiny.

Ruan Yongxing glanced at the door, then waved a hand at the man, his voice a low whisper.

"What’s there to panic about? Just say you heard I got beat up and came to check on me."

The man nodded furiously, not daring to make a sound.

"Did your father go out?"

Yao Yuzhen knocked twice more. When there was still no answer, she decided to peek through the window. She had just taken half a step when...

Shen Shuangshuang, who was already at the window, took one look inside and her face went white with shock.

She whipped around and shoved Yao Yuzhen.

"Mom! Mom...!"