“Mother!”

Chu Ye must have been really frightened. When he stood up, his chair was pushed back. Before he could walk to his mother to comfort her, another figure appeared in front of him.

The man stood next to Jiang Wu.

“What’s going on?”

Chu Ye’s face turned pale, and Jiang Wu stopped crying immediately. She looked up and saw that the man who was so tall that she had to tilt her head back was Chu Ling.

The moment the two looked at each other, Jiang Wu could clearly feel that the man’s gaze had become several degrees darker. She was so stiff that she dared not move and watched Chu Ling raise his hand and wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.

The calloused hands rubbed against the delicate skin.

This was originally an action full of pity, but when Chu Ling did it, Jiang Wu could not feel it at all. She only felt coldness.

“Father.” Chu Ye spoke in time, “Why are you here?”

Chu Ling did not answer immediately. After a while, he withdrew his hand and finally looked at his son, who was standing across from him, reflecting his own image.

Jiang Wu lowered her head quickly.

She didn’t see Chu Ling coming in from outside just now. He must have been in the teahouse. She was really unlucky.

“What did you do to make your mother cry?”

Jiang Wu’s heart, which had just been put at ease, was lifted again when she heard his questioning.

She stood up in a hurry and explained before Chu Ye could speak: “No. I just heard people talking about Ruyue Jùnzhǔ. I was sad because she was so young and had to leave her hometown.”

She felt sick in her heart. If she hadn’t had to, she really didn’t want to say such a thing.

It was really that Chu Ling had an inscrutable desire to protect his playthings. Whenever she was hurt or unhappy, he would punish the people involved without saying a word, leaving no room for maneuver.

Jiang Wu hated him so much for this. She didn’t feel that he was protecting herself. She just felt that she was being coerced by an invisible force, forcing her to bear all his sins.

If Chu Ling went to hell after his death, he would definitely not be able to escape.

Despite this, Chu Ling did not take her explanation to heart. He was still looking at Chu Ye with a certain kind of pressure in his eyes.

Jiang Wu realized that the father and son did not look like father and son, but rather like enemies in confrontation. Although Chu Ye looked gentle, he did not flinch in front of his father. The same sharp eyebrows made the father and son look even more similar.

“Dàrén.”^[1]The term is a respectful form of address in Chinese, often meaning “sir” or “lord” when referring to someone of higher rank or status. It can also simply mean … Continue reading

She called out again.

Jiang Wu never expected Chu Ling to have any fatherly love. This man was a cold-blooded animal without any emotions. All his emotions were probably given only to Chu Yan.

This time Chu Ling finally moved.

“Go back home.”

Jiang Wu knew that she couldn’t go anywhere today. She wanted to say a few more words to Chu Ye, but under Chu Ling’s gaze, she dared not say a single extra word. She only turned around to take a last look at the young man standing there alone.

Powerless, she had no way to get close to them, let alone take them away in the future.

---

Jiang Wu was actually quite shocked.

The breath that was stuck in her chest couldn’t be released.

She really disliked Chu Yan.

Even though she was looking forward to Chu Yan’s return and Chu Ling’s divorce, this did not conflict with her dislike for Chu Yan.

After being married for eighteen years, she still couldn’t match a single finger of that woman.

It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t angry. That woman made her life seem like a joke. Whenever she thought about it, she felt extremely frustrated.

It was not because of Chu Ling’s love. Who didn’t have a desire to win?

Of course, for the sake of future freedom, she could have ignored this kind of annoyance.

But once it came to children, Jiang Wu felt the discomfort became more and more obvious, to the point where she could no longer tolerate it. She knew it was jealousy.

She was jealous that in the near future, there would be someone who could openly do the things that she wanted to do but could not do. In time, that fake mother would surely occupy a place in the hearts of her children, surpassing her own position.

After all, Chu Yan was not a loser like herself. No one could compare to her in more than ten years.

Jiang Wu knew that she was very narrow-minded. Whenever she felt depressed, she felt like something was pressing on her chest every day, making her depressed and annoyed, as if she would not feel better unless she did something.

It was at this time that she saw the yard full of peach blossoms.

Jiang Wu’s anger also reached its peak.

---

In the beginning, Jiang Wuyuan didn’t know what a shitty substitute she was.

She was just the daughter of a small family, yet she was able to marry the eldest son of the Duke’s Mansion. Her husband was so handsome and unparalleled. Which girl could resist being moved?

Her mother-in-law looked down on her because she came from a poor family, and made things difficult for her. However, she was able to live independently despite the pressure.

Jiang Wu really thought that he did this for her.

It was not until later that she realized, how was it for herself? He did it so that he could have a better chance to have an affair with his so-called sister.

It was much easier to hide the secret from a fool like herself than from the whole family of the Duke’s Mansion. He also has to consider the face of his sister.

This courtyard was where Chu Yan lived before.

Jiang Wu, who had been well protected by Chu Ling, looked at the blooming peach blossoms. The more she looked, the stronger the fire in her heart burned. She thought of her past self—humble, eager to please Chu Ling, completely devoted to him, and feeling anxious and uneasy because he kept delaying their consummation.

How could she know at that time? Their first marriage consummation was on the night Chu Yan left as a bride. The original owner was gone, and the substitute finally came in handy.

No matter when Jiang Wu started to recall this half of her life, it was all a joke.