Chapter 343: Chapter 343: Disowning His Son to Marry Her
Jiang Ruyan quickly got dressed and pressed her ear against the door, clearly hearing the old man’s subservient voice coming from the living room.
"Jun Yuan, Ru Yan said she didn’t mean to do it. She just wants to marry me sooner, that’s all."
"She hired people to kill me, and it wasn’t on purpose? Then what *would* be intentional?"
When Fu Junyuan saw that his father knew the truth but was still defending that vicious woman, he couldn’t help but yell.
"Son, why are you yelling at me? You’re fine, aren’t you? If something had actually happened to you, I definitely wouldn’t have let her get away with it."
Fu Mingyuan frowned at his son. ’This boy is getting more and more unreasonable. To think he’d want to send the woman I love to prison.’
"So I guess I’d have to be beaten to death with an iron rod by the men that vicious woman hired before you’d admit she did it on purpose?"
Fu Junyuan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had always believed his father shared a deep bond with him and his siblings.
That was why he had taken such a drastic step as to stop Jiang Ruyan from marrying into the Fu family.
"Ru Yan is so kind, how could she bear to have you killed? You’re so young, yet you’re already making such malicious assumptions about people."
Fu Mingyuan stared at his son in disbelief, his heart aching beyond words.
"I get it. In your heart, that vicious woman is the kindest person there is. Dad, if you insist on marrying her, then just disown us. The three of us siblings will manage on our own."
Seeing the devastated look on his father’s face, Fu Junyuan let out a cold laugh, his eyes flashing with thick sarcasm.
’That vicious woman is a ticking time bomb. I can’t let my brother and sister live with them. It would be far too dangerous, just waiting for her to go off at any moment!’
"You bastard! You unfilial son! How dare you threaten me?"
"I wouldn’t dare threaten you."
"Jun Yuan, tell me you’re just joking."
"I’m not joking. I’m serious. Grandfather was clearly against you marrying her before, so I have no idea what tricks you two pulled to get him to nod his head."
"I... what tricks could I use? It was Ru Yan’s kindness that won your grandfather over."
Upon hearing this, Fu Mingyuan’s expression instantly turned grim. His voice trembled as if he’d suffered a terrible shock.
"Dad, it seems that vicious woman’s place in your heart has reached an unimaginable level."
Fu Junyuan met his father’s furious gaze without a trace of fear and said, word by word, "Since you favor her so much, there’s nothing more I can do. Go on and marry her."
"Jun Yuan, if only you’d been this sensible from the start, we wouldn’t have had all this unpleasantness between us, and Ru Yan wouldn’t have hired people to teach you a lesson."
"Yes, it’s all my fault. I’ll just take my brother and sister and we’ll start our own household."
With that, Fu Junyuan turned, took his sister’s hand, and prepared to leave, but he was suddenly stopped.
"Stop! I dare you to walk out that door!" Fu Mingyuan roared, exasperated, his eyes red as he stared at his son.
A mocking smile touched the corners of Fu Junyuan’s lips. He turned back to his father and said, "Dad, I’m twenty-two years old. I’m no longer a child you can order around."
After he spoke, he took his sister’s hand and walked away without a single backward glance.
Fu Mingyuan stared in disbelief at his son’s retreating back, so enraged that he felt a mouthful of blood welling up in his throat, unable to spit it out.
’This son of mine was always so well-behaved and sensible when he was young,’ he thought. ’But ever since his mother passed away, he’s been neglecting his responsibilities.’
’And now, just because I want to marry the woman I love, he’s turned on me, his own father. It’s truly heartbreaking.’
Jiang Ruyan, who had been hiding in the room all this time, heard the commotion and rushed out, steadying Fu Mingyuan as he nearly collapsed.
She asked worriedly, "Ming Yuan, are you all right? Should I call a doctor?"
Fu Mingyuan shook his head, his face etched with grief. "Ru Yan, Jun Yuan is dead set on severing ties with me. Tell me, is he even my son anymore?"
"He’s just saying things in the heat of the moment. He won’t really disown you. Ming Yuan, it’s all my fault. I pushed him too hard, and that’s why he’s so angry."
Jiang Ruyan wept silently, her eyelashes heavy with tears that she stubbornly refused to let fall.
Looking at the woman’s tear-streaked yet beautiful face, Fu Mingyuan felt another pang in his heart.
He patted her on the back, consoling her. "There, there, Ru Yan, please don’t cry. It breaks my heart to see you like this. It’s my fault; I’m the one who has wronged you.
It’s his good fortune to have someone as kind as you for a stepmother. That ungrateful son of mine just doesn’t know what’s good for him.
I raised him for twenty-two years, and now he turns on me over someone as kind as you. As his father, how can I possibly endure this!"
Jiang Ruyan looked at the old man hanging his head in sorrow. ’I’m truly disgusted with him,’ she thought. ’He can’t even handle his own son.’
But she had to feign the air of a virtuous wife and doting mother to comfort him. "Ming Yuan, please don’t blame yourself.
Jun Yuan is just having a hard time accepting that I’m a year younger than him, and that he’ll have to call me ’Mom’ from now on.
That’s why he’s treating me so horribly. If you just talk to him calmly, I’m sure he’ll forgive us.
You two are father and son; you absolutely can’t let an outsider like me completely ruin your relationship."
As Jiang Ruyan spoke, she felt a wave of self-pity. ’I originally wanted to marry Fu Junyuan,’ she thought, ’but he wouldn’t even give me the time of day.’
’If I had a choice, I obviously wouldn’t want to marry this old man, but Fu Mingyuan has money and status, so I just have to bear it.’
’If my uncle and cousin hadn’t given up, wouldn’t I be able to take my pick of any talented young man in the Imperial City?’
Sorrow welled up in Jiang Ruyan’s heart. The more she thought about it, the more it felt like a bone stuck in her throat, and she tasted a metallic sweetness rising from deep within.
When Fu Mingyuan saw his beloved’s red and swollen eyes still brimming with tears, his heart seized with a sharp pain.
He said guiltily, "Ru Yan, I’m so sorry! It’s all because Jun Yuan is being unreasonable. If he insists on stopping our marriage, then I’ll just disown them. I won’t let you suffer like this."
Hearing this, Jiang Ruyan’s face immediately broke into a brilliant smile. "Ming Yuan, are you serious?"
She excitedly threw her arms around him. "Ming Yuan, I’m so happy! I’m not dreaming, am I~?"
Feeling the passion of the woman in his embrace, a heroic pride swelled in Fu Mingyuan’s heart.
He hugged Jiang Ruyan tightly, gently kissed her forehead, and coaxed softly, "Yanyan, we’ll go get our marriage certificate tomorrow."
Jiang Ruyan laughed involuntarily. "Ming Yuan, I want to become your wife this very instant. I wish we could go get it today."
"Alright, Ru Yan, we’ll go right now." He gently caressed her smooth, lovely face, his eyes brimming with tender love.
The reek of stale smoke that hit her when he opened his mouth, along with the sight of his yellow, tobacco-stained teeth, filled Jiang Ruyan with a surge of disgust.
It made her want to gag, but she forced herself to maintain a joyful expression. "Thank you, Ming Yuan."
She even initiated a passionate kiss, and the two of them kissed as if they couldn’t bear to part, only stopping when they were both breathless.
"Ming Yuan, shall we go to the room~?" Jiang Ruyan asked, a shy expression on her face.
The two soon became intimately entangled, and a scene of boundless passion unfolded...
