Chapter 107: The Small Dark Room That Once Held Xie Yunshu

“Enough, you’d better go back quickly. The psychiatric ward is chaotic—don’t go in there again,” Cheng Yuxiang bit her back teeth tightly, holding back her anger as she hurriedly sent someone away. “Xiao Wei is still at home, don’t let him run away again!”

Lu Xueting’s heart stirred. Although everyone said Zhou Xinyue abused Xiao Wei, she didn’t believe it. Knowing that the person who brought Xiao Wei here was Xie Yunshu, she even suspected that Xie Yunshu beat Xiao Wei and then smeared the dirt onto Sister Xinyue! After all, that woman Xie Yunshu was cunning and wicked—how could she possibly save Xiao Wei?

Xiao Wei was Sister Xinyue’s own son; he would surely protect his mother. Xie Yunshu was only bullying him because he was young and twisting the truth! If Xiao Wei could stand up and prove Sister Xinyue’s innocence, wouldn’t everything be resolved?

Having figured this out and feeling clever, Lu Xueting promised, “Then I’ll go back first. Mom, be sure to instruct those nurses to take good care of Sister Xinyue!”

After Lu Xueting walked away, Cheng Yuxiang’s face darkened completely. She straightened her coat and headed toward the psychiatric ward. Xie Yunshu had been locked in here before—she hadn’t cared or asked questions then, thinking it was only fair that Xie Yunshu suffer a bit. After all, her family background was weak and powerless; who would stand up for her?

At least Xie Yunshu still had a mother and brother to rely on, which gave her the courage to insist on divorce. But Zhou Xinyue had nothing—her mother had died long ago from illness after she was abducted to the mountains, and relatives had dispersed.

Now, without a job, she wouldn’t dare demand a divorce like Xie Yunshu. But as a daughter-in-law of the Lu family, Zhou Xinyue was not someone to be taken lightly! If she wanted to cling to Zhiqi, let’s see how capable she really was!

Zhou Xinyue was indeed kept in a single room. Although the head nurse disliked her, she couldn’t truly mistreat her—after all, what if Zhou Xinyue complained after being discharged?

When Cheng Yuxiang arrived, Zhou Xinyue was sitting on the bed, directing a young nurse to bring her hot water.

“Mom, why are you here?” Zhou Xinyue quickly stood up, trying to put on a pitiful act. “I know I was wrong. I’ll definitely treat Xiao Wei better from now on…”

Cheng Yuxiang slapped her hard across the face. Caught off guard, Zhou Xinyue fell back onto the bed, holding her reddening eyes. “Mom, hit me if you want. It’s all my fault! I’ll make it up to Xiao Wei!”

The young nurse saw something was wrong and tried to intervene to pull Cheng Yuxiang away, but she pursed her lips, turned, and left, closing the door behind her.

It was a family matter, not her concern…

“Make it up to Xiao Wei? What does your son have to do with me? You can beat or scold him all you want, but you absolutely should not drag my son into this!” With no one else in the room, Cheng Yuxiang finally lost her temper. All her life she had maintained the image of a dignified official’s wife, but now she was like a madwoman, pinning Zhou Xinyue down on the bed and slapping her repeatedly!

“Old Lu’s director position is gone, Zhiqi’s deputy dean position is gone! You vile woman, you deserve to die!” Cheng Yuxiang was furious, clutching Zhou Xinyue’s neck tightly. “You destroyed our Lu family. What did Zhiqi ever do to you? Gave you a house, arranged a job, gave you money! And you actually dared to sleep with him? Scum! Scum!”

Zhou Xinyue grabbed her hand, speaking with difficulty, “Let go of me!”

Her face was burning with pain, her neck squeezed until she was nearly suffocating. With all her strength, she pushed Cheng Yuxiang away and could no longer keep up the act of weakness. “Cheng Yuxiang, how dare you hit me! If my father hadn’t been implicated because he tried to save your Lu family, he wouldn’t have died so young! This is what your Lu family owes me. You deserve this!”

Cheng Yuxiang was older and almost hurt her back when pushed. These two women, once pretending a loving mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship, had now torn each other apart completely, glaring like sworn mortal enemies.

Zhou Xinyue, hair disheveled, no longer gentle or demure, stared fiercely at Cheng Yuxiang like a real lunatic: “I know you look down on me and want to force Lu Zhiqi to divorce me after this period! But I’m telling you, no way! Zhou Xinyue will never divorce! I will be Lu Zhiqi’s wife for life!”

Cheng Yuxiang’s chest heaved with anger, “Crazy woman, you’re insane!”

She couldn’t understand why she had ever been so harsh to this woman, or why she wanted to use her to force Xie Yunshu to divorce. If she had known, she would rather have Xie Yunshu be her Lu family daughter-in-law—at least that woman truly cared about Zhiqi!

Zhou Xinyue touched her swollen face, eyes filled with darkness. “If I’m crazy, it’s because you all forced me. I just want to live a normal life. What did I do wrong? Lu Zhiqi’s salary is so high, but he never even buys me a single piece of clothing. He’s a good-for-nothing!”

Cheng Yuxiang stood up from the floor, coldly staring at Zhou Xinyue: “You’re an orphan and you dare defy our Lu family? You’ll regret it!”

She had plenty of ways to torment this lunatic!

Leaving the ward, outside, some young nurses were sneaking a peek at the commotion. Seeing Cheng Yuxiang, they quickly turned away but exchanged a knowing glance. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had a good relationship before, and Cheng Yuxiang always spoke highly of Zhou Xinyue, even calling her closer than her own daughter.

Now, as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, they had come to blows and turned against each other?

Tsk, tsk—official wives really fight dirty. It was quite a spectacle!

Cheng Yuxiang straightened her clothes and coldly looked at the nurses. “Where is your head nurse? I have something to say to her!”

In the nurse’s office, the head nurse looked at the signature Cheng Yuxiang had just made and was a bit stunned: “Madam Lu, isn’t this too harsh?”

“How is it harsh? Xie Yunshu was locked in the small dark room before, wasn’t that harsh? I’m telling you, the Lu family will not pay a single cent for Zhou Xinyue’s treatment. If you want to feed and provide for her, do it with your own money!”

Cheng Yuxiang threw down the pen and looked down at the head nurse with authority. “Do as I say. She is part of our Lu family by marriage, so how I handle this is our family’s business. You just take care of the treatment; the rest is none of your concern!”

The head nurse suppressed a smile and said helplessly, “Fine then, since the family requests it, we’ll follow the rules.”

Zhou Xinyue had been arrogant just because she was the Lu family’s daughter-in-law, but now she would probably cry. A cruel woman who abused a child deserved some torment!

After Cheng Yuxiang left, the head nurse took a key down from the wall: “Take Zhou Xinyue to the innermost ward. Her mother-in-law requested the lowest standard of care. As for food, as long as she doesn’t starve, that’s enough. The family said they have no money for her medical care.”

The innermost ward was the darkest, dampest place. Usually empty, it was the ‘small dark room’ where Xie Yunshu had been confined for five days a month ago…