Chapter Fifty-Five: Get Out

“Get out of my house this instant! If you won’t leave of your own accord, don’t blame me for forgetting all the years we’ve known each other!” Ji Chunyan realized her daughter couldn’t be counted on today and had to take matters into her own hands, determined to drive Yan Yuanqing out of their home. Even if she couldn’t make Yan Yuanqing and Shi Yurou divorce outright, she would never allow him to appear before her eyes again! Out of sight, out of mind—as the saying goes—she just wanted him gone.

Yan Yuanqing looked at Ji Chunyan with a frosty expression. He suspected his mother-in-law had been manipulated by someone; otherwise, how could she have learned so quickly about what had happened at the Traditional Medicine Hall? It should have taken longer for the news to reach her. So who was it, working behind the scenes, orchestrating all this and targeting both him and Shi Yurou?

“Mom, let’s suppose someone offers you something nice, or at least something you could take or leave, but demands that you kneel and beg for it, and then thank them profusely. Would you do that?” Yan Yuanqing didn’t leave immediately, but instead threw the question back at her.

Ji Chunyan clearly hadn’t expected Yan Yuanqing to question her at a time like this. In her anger, she let out a cold laugh. “How ridiculous! Do you even know who you are? Are you really comparing yourself to me?”

“If someone gives you something, what’s wrong with accepting it on your knees? Over the years, how much have my daughter and I helped you? Otherwise, you’d have been sleeping on the streets long ago. Even if you have to kneel and beg for something good, then bring it back and offer it to us, that’s only right. When did you become so entitled, thinking you can refuse someone’s generosity?”

“If you want to keep living in this house, I suggest you go to the head of the family right now, admit your fault, and do what you know you must. If you can bring back what should have been yours in the first place, then perhaps I’ll show you some leniency and let you remain here. But even then, I’d have to keep an eye on you.”

Ji Chunyan’s words became more and more outrageous. By the end, if Yan Yuanqing hadn’t kept his wits about him, a less clear-headed man might truly have started to doubt whether he was a real member of this family at all—or merely a tool meant to curry favor outside and bring home the spoils in a servile manner.

“That’s enough, Mom. I won’t do any of what you’re asking. Give up on that idea,” Yan Yuanqing said calmly.

“Then get out!” Ji Chunyan, seeing that Yan Yuanqing remained obstinate, dropped the last vestige of civility, pointing straight at the door. “Out!”

Yan Yuanqing sighed in resignation. In this situation, Shi Yurou was actually the one who felt the most awkward and distressed. Deep down, she surely supported him, but she couldn’t openly defy her mother.

He glanced at Shi Yurou, and as expected, her face was flushed with anxiety and embarrassment. Seeing her like this, Yan Yuanqing hesitated no longer and chose to leave for now. Based on his understanding of his mother-in-law, her anger would subside after a while and he’d be able to return. It was hardly a perfect solution, but at least it allowed the family to maintain some semblance of peace and avoid total ruin in a moment of rashness.

Had he ever once failed to hold back during these past three years and truly gone head-to-head with his mother-in-law, this small family would have ceased to exist long ago.

“Hmph! You actually listened and left? Do you really take yourself for the master of this house? Go on, get as far away as you can, and never let us set eyes on you again! Just seeing your face brings me bad luck!” Ji Chunyan said with disdain.

Yan Yuanqing gave another helpless sigh and was about to leave when suddenly, footsteps sounded outside—it seemed someone had come to visit.