Life in the Meng family was leisurely and carefree. Song Mianfeng spent his days playing with the cat, accompanying Lu Yin Zhen in his work, and occasionally going out for a walk. It was incredibly comfortable.

On the contrary, Xia Chunjian had been having a tough time these past few days.

Reporters crowded around her house and downstairs, so she had to hide in a small apartment, rarely going out. The drama she had signed with terminated her contract, her endorsements were withdrawn, and the online slander was overwhelming. 

When she realized that the other party actually had evidence, she contacted Li Xiaoman, attempting to negotiate a price to buy back her incriminating material. However, Li Xiaoman was completely unmoved. Paternity tests, birth certificates, photos from accompanying drinks, recordings of price negotiations… everything she thought would never see the light of day was blatantly exposed. Netizens cursed her, Lu Shi cursed her, even her own son looked at her with hatred.

Xia Chunjian hid at home for three days. On the fourth day, she received a divorce agreement from Lu Shi, delivered by his lawyer.

Although she had long known that this man only loved himself, Xia Chunjian couldn’t help but feel a chill when she saw the divorce agreement.

It was supposed to be the height of summer, yet she felt cold enough to shiver.

Signing the divorce agreement was simple, just a name. But she insisted on holding onto Lu Shi, entangling each other, causing harm to each other.

Then she tidied up her appearance, turned on her phone’s video recording.

At that moment, Song Mianfeng was watching variety shows with Bai Sui. He received a message from Fu Qingshan on WeChat and opened Weibo, clicking into the video posted by Xia Chunjian.

Xia Chunjian had lost weight, and makeup couldn’t hide the dark circles under her eyes. She looked pale, but she still smiled decently at the camera.

After the opening line “Hello everyone, I am Xia Chunjian,” Xia Chunjian fell silent for a few seconds before continuing, “Regarding the various demands on Weibo these past few days for me to respond, I will answer them one by one here.”

“I did indeed interfere in someone else’s marriage, and Changhao is indeed an illegitimate child. But from beginning to end, Changhao has been innocent.”

“He didn’t know I was his biological mother.” Xia Chunjian paused, seeming to recall something, her eyes showing a moment of distraction. “For more than twenty years, there have been no shortages of women around Lu Shi. But I have always been Mrs. Lu, thinking I was the winner.”

“However, just a few minutes ago, he had his lawyer send me the divorce agreement.”

Xia Chunjian smiled, reaching up to tuck away a strand of hair. “At this point, I have given up on him. Some things, rather than letting others expose them, spreading rumors, it’s better for me to settle it myself.”

“These past few days, I’ve been dreaming about her. She was a very beautiful woman, beautiful and innocent, living for love. I envied her back then. Out of jealousy, after giving birth to Changhao, I had someone bring her to the hospital to see Lu Shi, me, and my newborn child, the harmonious ‘family of three.’ I wanted to shatter her romantic dream, but I didn’t expect to cause her to give birth prematurely…”

“Later, she suffered from postpartum depression and committed suicide. Her child was premature and had been kept in an incubator. Lu Shi, fearing her father’s investigation into the cause of her death, took Changhao away, falsely claiming that Changhao was her child.” Xia Chunjian smiled ironically. “No one expected that she had left a signed divorce agreement and a suicide note, to be delivered to her father. She didn’t ask for anything, just custody of the child. Lu Shi didn’t want to sign originally, but he also wanted to maintain his good reputation, so they reached an agreement in private. Lu Shi signed the divorce agreement, her father took away the child, Changhao stayed with the Lu family, and I, also as expected, married Lu Shi.”

“For twenty-nine years, although it’s a bit late, I still want to say—I’m sorry.” Xia Chunjian bowed to the camera with a slow gesture. “To Mrs. Meng Yaoguang and her child, as well as to all those who support me and love me.”

“I’m sorry…”

“I will leave the entertainment industry, but please spare Changhao. He’s not like me, tarnished and guilty.”

The video had already been reposted and commented on over a hundred thousand times. The top comment read, “I’m the third party, my son is illegitimate, but please forgive us,” which summarized the situation perfectly. The follow-up comments included, “If apologies worked, why do we need the police?” followed closely by, “Get lost, third party, and still have the face to cry?” “The despicable have their pitiful side,” “Acting like nothing happened,” “I’ve never seen such shamelessness,” “Forgive me for being blunt, but I think premature birth + postpartum depression + suicide equals murder,” “The scum and the third party should explode on the spot,” “Now you remember to apologize, where were you earlier?” “I envy you too, can I kill you then?”… Song Mianfeng scrolled through the comments, simultaneously liking them. In the hot comments, he found Lu Changyin’s alternate account.

Zhaoxi Bujuan: “Lu Changhao didn’t know? I don’t believe it.”

Most of the replies below the comments also expressed disbelief. Some people who had seen the revelations from “Zhaoxi Bujuan” while watching the show were asking if she was related to the Lu family, if she knew more details, and if this incident was also orchestrated by the legitimate wife’s son. The replies resembled an interview scene, with microphones all being handed to Lu Changyin. Questions were asked one after another. The more Song Mianfeng read, the more furrowed his brow became.

Netizens’ curiosity was an insatiable black hole. After learning about the past conflicts from Xia Chunjian’s confession, they began digging into the legitimate wife and the premature child.

But Lu Changyin didn’t know much to begin with. The comments she had replied to before were just “hearsay,” and because of her own identity, she kept her alt account very low-key. So she didn’t reply to any comments, letting netizens dig as much as they wanted but unable to uncover more information.

Seeing that the situation was still within a controllable range, Song Mianfeng sent a message to Fu Qingshan: “Help control the comments, make sure there are no comments related to Aunt Meng and Lu Yin Zhen.”

Fu Qingshan asked, “What about Lu Changhao?”

“Let’s not worry about him for now.”

After replying to Fu Qingshan, Song Mianfeng placed Bai Sui on the sofa to play by itself, then took the video to the study to find Lu Yin Zhen.

“Is it true that Lu Changhao didn’t know about this?”

“He knew.” Lu Yin Zhen watched the video and responded calmly, “He didn’t know at first, but over the years, he probably became suspicious. So later, under Meng Huai’s guidance, he did a paternity test himself.”

Song Mianfeng suddenly realized, “So that’s how we got that paternity test report.”

Lu Yin Zhen asked, “Do you think Lu Changhao is innocent?”

Song Mianfeng shook his head, “Since he went for a paternity test, he should have looked into the matter from back then, or at least questioned Xia Chunjian and Lu Shi. But from your acquisition of Lu Shi’s company to Xia Chunjian’s recent troubles, her high-profile return to make money, and Lu Changhao building his fan base on Weibo, paving his way into the entertainment industry, none of them show any signs of remorse… Nobody is innocent.”

Lu Yin Zhen looked into his eyes and whispered, “Don’t you think I’m too indifferent and heartless?”

“Yin Zhen,” Song Mianfeng sighed, pretending to be melancholic, “The one who orchestrated this whole thing was clearly me. I’m so bad. I protected you and Aunt Meng so well, didn’t allow Fu Qingshan’s people to find anything on you, and even concealed the part involving Aunt Meng when Li Xiaoman exposed the information. Aunt Meng should have a clean and white reputation. The deceased have passed away, so why bother bringing up things from decades ago to disturb her peace?”

“I’m not just bad, I’m also hypocritical. I think Lu Shi, Xia Chunjian, and Lu Changhao are all bad people. Those who hurt you should all die. Unfortunately, now we live in a society governed by law, so we can’t commit murder. I don’t have the ability to bankrupt Lu Shi, so I can only let the netizens help you vent your anger.” Song Mianfeng asked, “Do you think I’m ruthless?”

“No.” Lu Yin Zhen couldn’t help but smile. Although he knew that Song Mianfeng’s statement “those who hurt you should all die” was exaggerated, he still felt comforted and touched. “I think you’re very cute.”

Song Mianfeng held his hand and chuckled softly, “I think you being indifferent and heartless to others is great. That way, you can leave all the warmth and love for me.”

Lu Yin Zhen held his hand in return, gently stroking the back of it with his fingertip, and said softly, “Originally, I wasn’t going to let Lu Changhao off.”

“Lu Shi erected a tomb for my mother, but Lu Changhao has never gone to pay his respects over the years. After knowing he was a bastard, he still occupied my identity, vainly enjoying the praise from fans. I really hate him because, like Lu Shi, he’s extremely selfish.”

The trap set by the paternity test was to expose Lu Changhao’s claim of being unaware all these years. It was to make him do a paternity test himself, hence ruining his reputation completely and making him live under the shadow of being a bastard for the rest of his life, unable to see the light.

However, now Lu Yin Zhen didn’t intend to pursue it any further.

“My grandfather said that after being with you, I’ve become much softer.” Lu Yin Zhen looked up and smiled at him. “I promised you to start a new life, so from now on, I won’t meddle in the affairs of the Lu family.”

^[1]Author’s note: Checked the “Marriage Law” Chapter III, Article 28: Grandparents and great-grandparents who have the ability to support have the obligation to support their … Continue reading