Since Zhai Yanjun didn't listen to her Yue Lan huffed in anger and left. But she still had a calculating glint in her eyes. So what if her son wasn't willing to listen to her? She had other ways to make him bow down before her wishes! He'd never be able to escape.
In all honesty, even Zhai Yanjun knew what his mother was gonna do now that he didn't even try to keep up the pretense of cordiality. But he didn't care. He was too old to fall for her tricks.
?
As he sat down with his grandparents to eat, he didn't even lift his head up. Seeing him acting like this, Grandmother Zhai's brows knitted. Since they didn't have the habit of talking during the meals, she stayed quiet for now. But when they were done and Zhai Yanjun was about to retire for the day, she called out,
"Junjun..."
Zhai Yanjun looked at his grandmother and asked, "Yes?"
"About your mother's visit today," began Grandmother Zhai trying to sound as cautious as she could.
But Zhai Yanjun didn't let her continue, "Grandma, don't. I don't wish to talk about her. I'm already angry that you allowed her to enter this house."
Grandmother Zhai smiled sadly, "I have no right to stop her. She is still the legal wife of my son. And even if I ignore that fact, I can't ignore the fact that she is your mother."
Zhai Yanjun scoffed, "Mother? Does she even know what a mother really is? She couldn't even give respect to her own mother to this day. How could she become a good mother to me?"
"But divorce at this age is not good," spoke up Grandmother Zhai. "It might affect your marriage."
"I don't care," retorted Zhai Yanjun. "It's already too late. Now, I want this marriage to end. I'm tired now."
"As I said, even if they get a divorce, she'll still be your mother," said Grandmother Zhai helplessly.
"She lost the right to be my mother on the day she left me to die!" He stood up and concluded, "I don't wish to discuss this again. I am only home for two days, don't make me change my decision."
This threat worked perfectly well on Grandmother Zhai who instantly shut her mouth. Her grandson just came back, how could she let him so soon? She barely got two days to spend with him.
Grandfather Zhai had been quiet all this while. He silently placed his hand over his wife's hand on the table and patted it to comfort her. "You can't change his hatred for her," he reminded her softly. "The wounds on his heart are too deep. The most painful thing is the fact that the one to leave those wounds was his own mother. The one who was supposed to protect him hurt him the most. Don't forget the reason why his personality turned out to be so taciturn."
The reminder of that, left Grandmother Zhai feeling worse. Her eyes reddened as she thought of it. She felt like she shouldn't have talked about this with her grandson. She actually ended up poking at his wounds.
Zhai Yanjun was in a really bad mood when he went upstairs to his room. Recalling his mother's face made his anger go up a notch. But suddenly, he stopped. Something caught his attention and he frowned. Immediately, he ran downstairs surprising both his grandparents.
"What's wrong, Junjun? Do you need anything?" asked Grandmother Zhai in a soft voice.
"Grandma, my mother had a sister, right?" asked Zhai Yanjun.
Grandmother Zhai was taken aback. Not knowing where this thought came up from but she nodded her head, "Yes, she has a younger sister. Why are you asking?"
Zhai Yanjun's eyes brightened when he heard that. He knew he had some connection with Yue whom he met at Xiang Manor. But until he laid his eyes on his mother, he couldn't think of any connection.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"That... We don't know," answered Grandmother Zhai honestly. "She had... left the family for years now. So we really don't know anything about her." She tactfully changed her wording and instead of telling him that she was thrown out of the family, she decided to say she left on her own.
"Was her name Yue Yue?" asked Zhai Yanjun.
"Yes," nodded Grandmother Zhai.
Zhai Yanjun had heard both Shui Koshing and Mu Chenyan calling her name earlier in the day. At that time, he felt he heard the name before but didn't think much about it.
...
On the other hand, Mu Chenyan was caressing the dagger she received today like it was a precious child. Yue was rolling her eyes at how Mu Chenyan was acting like a lovesick fool. Seriously! This woman's hobbies were questionable. Who collected antique daggers? Yue really had no words to describe her.
Noticing the dirty look in Yue's eyes which were directed at her, Mu Chenyan said, "Yue, you must be thinking I'm a fool?" Yue didn't even hide it and nodded her head plainly. "I know it's a strange hobby but I can't help it." She smiled gently as she gazed at the dagger and added, "Do you know this dagger is called Azure Dragon? It's been passed down to fifteen generations of Emperors. It's a real treasure. Now, I only have to find its pair; the Phoenix dagger that belonged to the Empresses. Then my collection will be complete."
Yue raised her brows when she learned the history of the dagger but couldn't help saying, 'Since it belonged to am Emperor, have you thought about how much blood is on its blade? Have you thought about how many lives it had taken?'
Mu Chenyan shrugged her shoulders, "Since it belongs to the era of blood, it's only right it'll taste some blood. It's no big deal."
'Such things carry the resentment of the people who died with its blade. It's not good to keep such ominous things in the house.'
Mu Chenyan laughed out, "Yue, you're really funny sometimes." She shook her head helplessly, "Do you know that the whole Xiang Clan has been dyed with the blood of thousands? They fought on battlefields, it's only right that the resentment of ghosts would follow them. But living has to go on living." She patted Yue's shoulder saying, "Stop thinking about such things. Just a little resentment of a ghost won't hurt me."
Yue glared at her acting so nonchalantly. Since her family believed in such superstitious things. They would even hold important events on auspicious dates to avoid trouble so she was still not used to how nonchalant Mu Chenyan was about such things. She didn't believe in anything. In a way, she was like Raelle who would only believe in proven facts.
Mu Chenyan placed the dagger in her collection carefully before she said, "Next time, have some control over your emotions." Yue lifted her brows at her quizzically. "Your emotions were written all over your face when you saw Zhai Yanjun today. If I can notice, do you think no one else did?"
Yue pursed her lips. She really lost control over her emotions since the one before her was Zhai Yanjun whom she loved dearly. Seeing how the little boy in her memory had grown up so much, she couldn't keep her emotions in check.
'I don't think Fai would have noticed,' she told Mu Chenyan.
Mu Chenyan laughed at her, "You either don't know your son or you really underestimate him. If he was so naive as you believe him to be, then he wouldn't have been able to befriend my Elle."
'You really think he noticed something?' asked Yue in apprehension.
"Of course, he did," answered Mu Chenyan. "But don't worry. He won't question you about it. As you know, he is an understanding person. He'd always keep things to himself rather than worrying you."
Yue couldn't help feeling sadder when she heard that. She of course hated that habit of her son's where he always wanted to keep her away from worries. But it couldn't be fixed at this point.
'What should I tell him?' she asked. 'Should I tell him the truth?'
"Can you even lie to him?" questioned Mu Chenyan. "The only reason you have been able to keep secret from him is that he never asked you anything. Once he did, you won't be able to hide anything."
'But I don't think he'll ask,' Yue looked exasperated.
"That even I know," answered Mu Chenyan. "So, stop thinking about it. Some secrets can't be kept for life. With time, he'll eventually learn everything he is supposed to know. Even if he doesn't want to know, time will disclose everything in front of his eyes."
Yue lowered her eyes and didn't say anything. It was true that some secrets couldn't be kept for life. Not like she wanted to keep any secrets from her son. It was just that her son repeatedly refused to learn anything about those secrets which left her in a difficult position.
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