"Luo Hu — what is the meaning of this?" Jiang Xiusu was not someone you could bully freely. Watching Ling Yun walk boldly in and kick his own door open, the fury building in him had nowhere to go. "You come into my house like this — you're giving me no face at all?"
Luo Hu didn't answer right away. He considered, then said: "Young Master Jingcheng said some things tonight at the bar that weren't appropriate. Young Lord Ling's friends heard and a confrontation occurred. When Young Lord Ling arrived to mediate, he was shown a video. The content of that video — what Young Master Jingcheng said — was rather extreme."
"This wasn't a conflict with Yangyang?" Wu Meiyun interjected.
She was genuinely surprised. Ling Yun and Jingcheng had always been close. She hadn't expected this conflict to be between them.
"Yes." Luo Hu confirmed with a nod.
"What video? What was in it?" Jiang Xiusu — as always — went straight to the point.
Luo Hu met his eyes with a look of apology. "The video isn't in our hands. But if Director Jiang wants to know the specifics, he can ask Young Master Jingcheng." That done, Luo Hu waved a signal to the bodyguards beside him.
Several bodyguards stepped past Jiang Xiusu and went upstairs.
Watching the bodyguards treat his home as if no one were in it, Jiang Xiusu's authority as the owner of this house fractured immediately. His eyes went dark looking at Luo Hu. "Luo Hu — you're making it very clear you're not leaving me any dignity at all, aren't you."
"Director Jiang — I have no choice either. My apologies."
Luo Hu's allegiance was to Jiang Xiuqing. He only followed Jiang Xiuqing's instructions.
"Fine. Fine. Fine. I'll speak to Xiuqing directly. I want to know exactly what I've done to earn this kind of insult in my own home." Pointing at Luo Hu, Jiang Xiusu turned away from the bodyguard and dialed Jiang Xiuqing.
"Xiuqing — what is this?"
The moment the call connected, Jiang Xiusu dispensed with any regard for Jiang Xiuqing's seniority and demanded an explanation. He hadn't broken any laws. He hadn't hurt the clan. But Ling Yun had shown up with Jiang Xiuqing's security detail to openly humiliate him in his own home. If Jiang Xiuqing didn't give him a reason, he had every right to be furious.
On the other end, Jiang Xiuqing heard the outburst, connected the dots in under a second, and walked to the window. His face was serene. "Xiusu-gege — since you've made your choice, let the children handle the children's business."
Is this just Ling Yun's business?
Hearing Jiang Xiuqing pull the obvious bias move — protecting Ling Yun, pulling the curtain — Jiang Xiusu nearly laughed out of sheer disbelief. "Xiuqing — do you know what Ling Yun just did? He showed up here with your people to raid the house."
"Xiusu-gege — that's too strong a word. Ling Yun is a child we both raised. We both know his character. Going back, he would at most take his own things — and those things belong to him. Taking them saves you the trouble of sorting through them yourself." Looking out at the dots of light in the city below, Jiang Xiuqing's eyes were smiling.
He was dodging the entire question of the public humiliation.
"Xiuqing — why?" Jiang Xiusu knew Jiang Xiuqing favored Ling Yun. But he hadn't grasped the extent — that it went so far that a long-standing Jiang family member had to yield to an outsider at every turn.
Testing the truth of it, Jiang Xiusu's expression went very dark.
Any hope of appealing to Jiang Xiuqing on Yang Qing's behalf evaporated.
Xiuqing was always cold. Cold to outsiders and family alike. Perhaps the one exception — every drop of warmth — had always been Ling Yun's.
Thinking about Jiang Xiuqing's having Ling Yun call him Xiusu-gege, Jiang Xiusu's heart sank. They had all underestimated Ling Yun's place in Jiang Xiuqing's world.
While Jiang Xiusu was running his calculations, Jiang Xiuqing on the other end had of course read exactly what Jiang Xiusu meant.
He didn't address it directly. His tone remained warm: "Xiusu-gege — the day after tomorrow, family gathering. Come early. Let's get together properly."
Not knowing what card Jiang Xiuqing was playing but receiving a personal invitation, Jiang Xiusu's expression finally eased somewhat. He stepped back. "Xiuqing — I'd like an explanation by tomorrow."
"Alright."
Already planning to formalize Ling Yun's position, Jiang Xiuqing agreed without hesitation.
Getting Jiang Xiuqing's word, Jiang Xiusu's expression toward Luo Hu and the others thawed slightly. He ended the call.
He went straight to his study. With things at this point, the best course was out of sight, out of mind. More importantly — he needed to find out exactly what Jiang Jingcheng had done to set Ling Yun off like this.
If it were Yang Qing who'd pushed Ling Yun to this, he could have understood. But Jingcheng?
Jiang Xiusu went to the study with a deep furrow. Wu Meiyun opened her mouth several times and closed it again, then sat on the sofa seething silently.
This Ling Yun was so disrespectful. They'd raised him for eighteen years. Coming in to take everything at a moment like this — where was his sense of what was owed? A wolf in sheep's clothing.
Ling Yun wasn't concerned with Wu Meiyun's muttering behind him. He stood in his room, ice in his face, directing the bodyguards to load everything that was his. Items Jiang Xiuqing had bought for him. Items the family had added over the years for him personally. All his. He'd rather haul them away and destroy them than leave a single thing for Yang Qing the white lotus.
Down in the living room, Wu Meiyun watched the bodyguards moving in and out in a steady stream and felt her expression go darker by the minute.
When Ling Yun's figure finally appeared at the top of the stairs, she snapped. "Ling Yun — speaking purely in terms of standing — do you think you have the right to take any of this?" Those things belonged to Ling Yun because he was a Jiang. He wasn't a Jiang anymore. What gave him the right to take or touch anything?
Once you'd been hurt enough, the wounds stop feeling like wounds.
Looking down from the stairs at Wu Meiyun on the sofa looking up at him, Ling Yun smiled — brilliant, wide, blazing. "Ninety percent of what I'm taking is gifts from Little Uncle. Little Uncle hasn't said the gifts he gave need to go back. So — Madame Jiang — do you have the authority to speak on his behalf?"
Wu Meiyun, who absolutely did not have that authority: This was the first time she'd seen this side of Ling Yun. She'd always known he was bold and imperious outside the house — but having that turned on her felt entirely different. Infuriating on every level.
"Ling Yun — this is the Jiang family home. Jiang Xiuqing is our family head. One surname unites us — all of us stand on the same interest line. He gives you things because of what this family contributes to the clan. You benefited from our reflection. But you're not a Jiang anymore — do you still think you have the right to take any of it?"
For reasons Wu Meiyun couldn't entirely account for, she had gone from discomfort to genuine, undiluted dislike of Ling Yun. Ever since she'd known there was no blood tie, everything Ling Yun did set her off. Every time she thought of her biological son suffering out there for eighteen years — her equilibrium was simply gone.
Resentment by displacement, probably.
She knew she wasn't being gracious. In front of Ling Yun, she had stopped trying to pretend.
Listening to Wu Meiyun's grand speech, Ling Yun paused for one second. Then he laughed. Laughed as though he'd heard the funniest thing in the world. Laughed until his sides hurt and his eyes welled up with ironic tears.
Watching Ling Yun's helpless, delighted laughter, Wu Meiyun's expression went black as a cauldron. "Ling Yun — are you being just a little too insolent? I raised you for eighteen years. Is this how you treat me? Were all the manners I taught you swallowed by a dog?"
"My apologies — I lost my composure." With a dismissive wave toward Wu Meiyun, Ling Yun looked seriously at Luo Hu. "Uncle Luo — tell this lady why you and your team are here."
Luo Hu's expression shifted — and he straightened to face Ling Yun with absolute respect. "Young Lord Ling — the Fourth Master has instructed us to protect you. Even our lives come before your safety."
Sometimes the most effective face-slapping didn't require a sharp tongue. Facts outargued everything.
Luo Hu's unwavering declaration landed like a thunderclap. Not just Wu Meiyun — even Ling Yun was stunned.
Nobody had expected Jiang Xiuqing to value Ling Yun this overtly. Even Ling Yun, the person it was about, hadn't known.
Ling Yun recovered faster. After a few seconds he had himself back together — and turned a look on Wu Meiyun that was one part satisfaction, five parts contempt, two parts genuine sadness. In the end it distilled to one question: "Madame Jiang — may I take my things and go?"
She thought so little of him — he was going to make it as uncomfortable for her as possible.
Looking at the Ling Yun who was familiar and completely unrecognizable at the same time, Wu Meiyun felt her sense of reality waver. The warmth between mother and child flashed through her memory and was swallowed immediately by Yang Qing's worn, slightly-pinched face.
She couldn't be magnanimous. She was sorry for it. But she couldn't.
A long, silent exhale. She turned her back.
At this moment Wu Meiyun knew — Luo Hu saying those words publicly had been Jiang Xiuqing's intention. No matter how much she resented Ling Yun, she couldn't defy the family head.
"Uncle Luo — let's go."
One final look at Wu Meiyun's back. Ling Yun walked out without a shred of reluctance. But as he stepped through the Jiang family gate, he added: "Uncle Luo — there are three more cars of mine in the garage. Have a few people drive them all out too."
If it was going to be a clean break — make it completely clean.
"Yes, Young Lord Ling." Luo Hu's tone remained perfectly respectful — more respectful, in fact, than he'd been with either of the two actual Jiang family members.
Watching that — Wu Meiyun, once the outsiders had gone, smashed a nearby vase.
"Meiyun — we may have miscalculated. What Xiuqing feels for Ling Yun may be more than just fondness." Jiang Xiusu, who had been listening from the staircase landing the entire time, walked out with a deeply troubled expression.
"Xiusu!" Wu Meiyun understood the implications and was ashen.
Why had she been so impulsive? It was just one more child to raise — couldn't she have kept up appearances? If she'd kept up appearances, she was sure Ling Yun would have continued to respect her. He would never have become this.
She was full of regret now. Too late.
Regret for giving Ling Yun up too soon. Because over these years, they had leveraged Jiang Xiuqing's attachment to Ling Yun for enormous advantages within the clan. That had already made them the envy of other Jiang branches. Without Ling Yun going forward — things were going to be considerably harder.
But as the saying went — you could buy a thousand things with gold, except the chance to know in advance what not to do.
They had genuinely not known how important Ling Yun was to Jiang Xiuqing. Important enough that even without the Jiang surname, Jiang Xiuqing hadn't retreated from Ling Yun by a single step. And so they had miscalculated.
While Jiang Xiusu and his wife were drowning in regret, back at the Jiang main house, Ling Yun had launched himself with considerable grievance into Jiang Xiuqing's arms. "Xiuqing-gege — they were all bullying me!"
It's not as if he couldn't complain. He absolutely could.
