Chapter 158: Crossing the Line

When the banquet ended, the guests left one after another.

Only the Ji family and the Lu family remained.

“Yaoyao, I’m going back. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning.” Lu Qingyun gazed at Ling Yao with longing and reluctance, his eyes filled with endless tenderness. He wished he could take Ling Yao back tonight.

“I have some things to do tomorrow. We’ll go to the military district later.”

Ling Yao thought about Yang Qiuhong’s matter and planned to go to the hospital tomorrow.

 Also, the Zhu family would be sending the deed tomorrow, and she wanted to go to that land tonight.

“Okay, I’ll come pick you up in the afternoon then.” Lu Qingyun reached out to hold Ling Yao’s hand.

“Okay.”

Ling Yao saw the Lu family off and returned to the banquet hall.

Ji’s mother and Ji Youran saw Ling Yao and walked up to her.

“Yaoyao, I heard you wanted Youran’s jade pendant.”

Ling Yao slowly shifted her gaze to their faces and calmly said, “There’s a little correction. It’s not that I wanted it, but that she lost it to me.”

Ji’s mother snorted disdainfully, sneered, “Humph! It was just Youran letting you win.

 If she got serious, how could you possibly win? Besides, we’re all family. Why are you so petty? Let me give you a pearl necklace as compensation.”

Her tone was filled with a sense of superiority, as if Ling Yao was a beggar on the street, and she could just give her a little something to get rid of her.

Ling Yao’s lips curled into a faint smile, but her eyes were cold as ice,

“Even brothers need to settle accounts clearly, let alone us who are just cousins. Since you lost the competition, you should keep your promise.”

Ji’s mother was instantly furious. She glared at Ling Yao with wide eyes, her voice sharp and piercing,

 “Ling Yao, I’m your elder. Do you dare to disobey me? This is simply disrespectful and insubordinate!”

“If you want me to respect you, you have to act like an elder, not like this, confusing right and wrong and making a fuss.”

Ling Yao didn’t back down, responding with a sharp retort.

“You have a mother but no father to teach you!” Ji’s mother was furious, her anger reaching a boiling point. She raised her hand and slapped Ling Yao’s face.

Ling Yao quickly reached out and grabbed Ji’s mother’s wrist, then slapped her back with a loud slap, landing squarely on Ji’s mother’s face.

“Slap!” With this crisp sound, the world seemed to freeze.

Ji Youran was stunned by what she saw. She stared with wide eyes, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Ling Yao actually dared to hit her mother. Her mother was Ling Yao’s aunt.

Ji’s mother was also shocked and incredulous. She covered her burning cheek, “You dare to hit me!”

Faced with Ji’s mother’s questioning, Ling Yao didn’t back down. Her cold and sharp gaze fixed on Ji’s mother,

 “Who told you to be so mouthy? Don’t you deserve to be slapped?”

 The other party’s words had already crossed her line. Slapping her once was already being lenient.

At this moment, Old Master Ji and the others rushed over.

They had just been discussing some matters for next month’s wedding in the study.

They were right in the middle of the discussion when Wang Ma ran in, looking flustered, saying that Yaoyao and Ji’s mother were arguing outside.

They hadn’t expected to see Ling Yao slapping Wang Yufeng when they walked in.

“Yaoyao.” Ling Xuemei quickly ran to Ling Yao’s side, looking at her with worry, “What happened?” No matter what happened, she would always stand by her daughter.

Ji Yanting’s gaze fell coldly on Wang Yufeng, “What did you do to Yaoyao?” His daughter was a very stable person.

 The fact that she lost control and hit someone meant that the other person had done something terrible.

Old Master Ji looked at Wang Yufeng with disappointment and coldly said to his eldest son,

 “Control your wife.” He knew his eldest daughter-in-law’s personality very well. This must have been her fault.

Seeing everyone protecting Ling Yao, Wang Yufeng trembled with anger, “I’m the one who got hit.” Were they all blind?

“Ling Yao disrespected my mother and even hit her.” Ji Youran chimed in.

Ji Yanting ignored Wang Yufeng and Ji Youran. He looked at Ling Yao with concern, “Yaoyao, what happened?

 Tell Dad, Dad will solve it for you.” His daughter was his treasure. He wouldn’t let her suffer any injustice.

Ling Yao recounted what had happened.

“Wang Yufeng, you’re truly outrageous! You dare to bully my daughter like this. Do you think I’m dead?”

 Ji Yanting’s eyes flashed with coldness. His gaze, sharp as a blade, pierced directly at Wang Yufeng.

 He exuded an aura of authority that made people dare not look at him directly.

Wang Yufeng was terrified. Her legs went weak, and she trembled as she hid behind Ji Yanfeng, “Yanfeng, look at them. They’re ganging up on me.”

Ji Yanfeng reached out to hold Wang Yufeng’s hand, patted her back reassuringly, then turned to Ji Yanting,

 “Yanting, it’s clearly Ling Yao’s fault. No matter what, Yufeng is her elder. How could she hit her?”

“Can an elder say such outrageous things?” Ji Yanting’s voice was icy cold, devoid of emotion.

 If it weren’t for him, Yaoyao would have been deprived of her father’s love and companionship from a young age.

“Yufeng is always outspoken, but no matter what, Ling Yao, as a junior, shouldn’t hit her elder. She must…”

“Enough!” Old Master Ji interrupted Ji Yanfeng, his sharp gaze falling on the three of them,

 “Since you lost, you have to keep your promise. Youran, take off the jade pendant and give it to Yaoyao. And you apologize to Yaoyao.”

“Dad!” Wang Yufeng and Ji Yanfeng looked at Old Master Ji in disbelief.

 Didn’t he hate Ling Yao the most? He was the first one to oppose Ling Xuemei and her daughter’s return.

“Apologize!”

Wang Yufeng looked at Ji Yanfeng. Seeing him nod, she bit her lip in humiliation, glared fiercely at Ling Yao, and said, “Sorry.”

“And you.” Old Master Ji turned to Ji Youran. He knew what his granddaughter had done today and was somewhat disappointed in her.

Reluctantly, Ji Youran slowly stretched out her hand, fumblingly unfastening the jade pendant from her neck, then handed it to Ling Yao.

Just as Ling Yao’s fingers were about to touch the jade pendant, Ji Youran suddenly let go.

The jade pendant fell straight down, hitting the hard ground with a crisp cracking sound.

“Crack!”

The jade pendant instantly shattered into two pieces.

Ji Youran immediately burst into tears. Tears flowed out like a broken dam, “I already gave it to you. Why did you break it? Do you know how important it is to me?”

She cried and glared at Ling Yao. In her seemingly heartbroken eyes, there was a hint of triumph that was hard to detect.

 This is mine. Even if it’s broken, I won’t give it to you.