Chapter 24 Part 1: Tears Beneath the Slap

Accompanying that slap, the atmosphere instantly plunged into unprecedented dead silence.

Pu Jinyu’s hand was ruthless.

That slap she delivered carried not only her disgust for Yan Chiyun but also her long-suppressed resentment towards the Yan family.

The slap not only reddened Yan Chiyun’s face; even her own hand was numb and aching.

This pain spread densely through her palm.

Looking at the man’s handsome face turned to the side, somehow it involuntarily reminded her of the suffering she had endured in the Yan family in her previous life.

Those images—of living in fear and anxiety, walking on eggshells, forcing smiles—flashed through her mind like a blurry, endless panorama.

She didn’t even know how she had managed to survive all those years.

Looking back now, it had truly been too bitter.

Yes, it was for her mother.

That woman who brought her into this world but never truly loved her for a single day.

Full of sweet talk, she used her as a stepping stone, a convenient tool to manipulate.

Keeping her in the dark for nearly twenty, almost thirty years.

In the end, she didn’t even make it past thirty.

Even in death, she was cursed.

She was her daughter, flesh of her flesh.

Yet she had never cherished her, never made any plans for her.

Why?

Just because she was a girl?

Because she didn’t give birth to the son she wanted, was just a cheap, worthless commodity in her eyes?

She had tried so hard.

When her mother made her dress as a boy, attend school, enter officialdom, when she made her soak in ice-cold water during winter to induce a high fever just so that Lord Pu would come to visit—all those tormenting demands, if her mother spoke them, which one did she not follow?

But her mother?

Her mother’s heart was truly too cold.

Yan Chiyun called her foolish.

She was indeed foolish.

If she weren’t, she wouldn’t have been deceived and manipulated by her mother for so many years.

But was he any better?

What right did he have to call her that?

By what authority did he look down on her and judge her stupidity?

And then presume to teach her how to act.

What did this bastard know?

In her previous life, and in this life up until Yan Huaixiao’s wedding banquet, although she was a fake Pu family eldest daughter, she had always done her utmost to be a good Yan wife.

She had never made any mistakes.

She asked herself, she had never wronged anyone in the Yan family.

But…

Even so, what she wanted, she could never obtain.

She wanted her mother’s love, but her mother never loved her, even unto death.

She wanted Pu Wange’s identity to be ruined and disgraced, but despite all her efforts, the results were minimal.

Not only could she not be cast out, she couldn’t even get a divorce.

Why was it so hard for her to accomplish anything on her own?

All because of this powerful man before her.

If he weren’t so outstanding, her stepmother wouldn’t have insisted on the marriage alliance.

Her elder sister wouldn’t have taken such a desperate measure.

Her mother wouldn’t have been so bewitched as to concoct the scheme of a substitute bride.

To avoid embarrassing him, she was daily lectured by Madam Yan on how to behave properly and thoughtfully.

Now that things had reached this point, he clung to her, unwilling to divorce.

Why?

She didn’t know if he liked her elder sister, but as long as she provoked him, humiliated him, he would surely let go.

So she raised her hand and gave him a resounding slap—not just to vent her anger, but to achieve her goal.

Yan Chiyun had always held a high position, the favored son of the Yan family.

When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

He would surely be willing to let her go.

It was also very possible that, in his fury and shame, he might kill her.

On the day of the wedding banquet, Yan Chiyun kicked the door and burst in.

She could feel the surging murderous intent from his enraged handsome face.

But she didn’t know why he didn’t kill her, and instead protected her.

Either he liked her elder sister, or he wanted to torment and take revenge on her.

Pu Jinyu’s eyes held tears as she glared at the man before her.

Her beautiful pupils were filled with moisture.

With a blink, crystalline teardrops slid down her cheeks, trailing wet paths.

When Yan Chiyun turned back, carrying endless somber anger, this was the sight that met him.

Her tears seemed to fall directly onto his heart, extinguishing his fury and leaving him instantly speechless and frozen.

She was actually crying?

He hadn’t done anything to her; instead, she had viciously slapped him across the face and even insulted him.

If anyone should be crying, it should be him.

But she was crying, as if she had endured so, so much suffering, held in so, so much grievance, to reveal such an expression.

Tears uncontrollably spilled from the corners of her eyes.

Her lips trembled amidst her distress.

Yet her expression remained incredibly stubborn.

Although he didn’t know what she was being stubborn about, or why she was crying—clearly, the day she was caught having an affair, slapped by her own mother, when Madam Pu even tried to beat her to death, she hadn’t cried.

Not just cried; she hadn’t shown a trace of fear.

But now she was crying.

This made Yan Chiyun involuntarily reflect: Had he been… too excessive?

She didn’t want to be intimate with him, but he insisted on kissing her.

But that was also because she was too infuriating.

He had already laid the evidence before her, showing he was willing to give her a way out, yet she showed not a trace of gratitude.

Alright, he admitted that his tone when speaking to her just now had been a bit harsh.

He shouldn’t have been so severe and fierce.

Pu Wange was his wife, not a prisoner in the Northern Administrative Prison.

When his blood boiled over, he couldn’t control himself and was harsh with her.

Yes.

But he really didn’t mean to.

He had also been wronged in this matter, yet she refused to back down, wouldn’t even say one nice word to him.

He had painstakingly explained so much to her.

Even if his tone wasn’t great, did that warrant her merely replying with an indifferent “oh” and then impatiently interrupting him to ask when they could divorce?

He truly wanted her to stop talking, which was why he resorted to such a rash way of forcibly kissing her.

Although Yan Chiyun sensed the complex and turbulent emotions of the person before him, he really couldn’t understand where her grievance came from.

He reflected carefully, even foolishly wondering if he shouldn’t have been so forceful in kicking open that door, tearing away her dignity?

As he pondered, his gaze swept over the scattered files and letters on the floor.

It suddenly struck him: could her crying be because of Cheng Wenque’s deception?

She had just read the file, plus he had analyzed the pros and cons for her, revealed Cheng Wenque’s motives for approaching her, and laid out the results of the interrogation where Cheng Wenque turned around and blamed her.

Her mouth showed indifference, but in her heart, perhaps she was just as sad and unable to contain herself as Fourth Sister?

Cheng Wenque’s betrayal of her was no different from her betrayal of him, her husband, that day.

He had been incredibly angry about her affair that day; surely she was angry today too.

But was it worth shedding tears over such a spineless, useless man?

The cheek she had slapped still throbbed with pain.

His thoughts circled around, and the towering inferno of anger from being slapped and humiliated gradually dissipated.

He slowly calmed down.

Looking at the woman before him, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, for a moment he didn’t know what to say. “…”

Pu Jinyu didn’t want to cry, and she was trying her best to hold back.

But whenever she thought of her mother, the tears would come uncontrollably.

She didn’t want anyone to see her vulnerability, especially this arrogant, foolish man who presumed to teach her how to act.

He looked angry, but he didn’t speak, didn’t storm off, nor did he rage to the point of raising his hand to kill her.

He just blocked her way, staring at her.

What was he doing?

Had he not been hit enough?

Pu Jinyu felt her emotions spiraling out of control and didn’t want to face him any longer.

Yan Chiyun’s tall figure blocked her way.

To get down, she would have to push him away.

She was long tired of wearing a mask and didn’t want to force smiles and continue dealing with him.

She raised her hand to push him, her words discourteous, “Get lost!”

Yan Chiyun was only momentarily distracted when he was suddenly pushed back half a step by her.

Watching her nimbly jump off the round table and head for the door, he hurried forward and grabbed her wrist.

“Where are you going?”

When the words came out, his voice was as cold and hard as ever.

Remembering his recent thoughts, he softened his tone slightly.

But when he tried to speak again, he didn’t know what to say.

He just tightened his grip on her wrist, not letting her leave.

Pu Jinyu felt his palm was too large and burning, like a shackle trying to imprison her.

She was utterly sick of this feeling.

She struggled and resisted.

“I told you to get lost!”

She not only used her hands but also her feet, kicking and hitting him mercilessly, like a hedgehog.

Subduing a weak woman like Pu was very simple, but Yan Chiyun couldn’t bring himself to use force against her, afraid of accidentally hurting her, especially now when her emotions were out of control and very off.

He simply used a bit of strength to pull her back into his arms, then held her, encircling her.

“Alright, alright, it’s all my fault.

I shouldn’t have berated you so harshly just now.

I’m sorry.”

The words of apology slipped out.

It didn’t seem so difficult after all.

Yan Chiyun’s face was still cold, his brow still furrowed, but his deep, resonant voice had already softened considerably.

He continued in a rush, “It’s not that I think you’re foolish…”

He stopped himself just before saying the word ‘stupid’, quickly changing his tone.

“I’m angry because that bastard is too cunning and sinister, deceiving you, toying with you, keeping you in the dark, and then shifting all the blame onto you.”

It takes two to tango.

He wasn’t so naive as to believe everything Cheng Wenque said.

These words were originally just carelessly said to calm her down, but once spoken, he felt they weren’t just for her, to soothe her into quieting down.

Because he was also somewhat numbing himself.

Soothe her, and soothe himself too…

Because he really didn’t want to divorce the woman in his arms.

As for why he didn’t want to, he couldn’t quite say.

To say he was deeply in love with Pu Wange—there was indeed some feeling, but not to the point where he absolutely couldn’t live without her.

Yet he still wanted to keep her.

Since he wanted to, he acted accordingly.

“That bastard is utterly uneducated, stupid to the extreme.

Instead of studying diligently, his mind is full of crooked paths and desperate measures, wanting something for nothing.

Who knows how many filthy deeds he’s done.

He’s just too inferior.

Such a person isn’t worth you crying over…”

He really wasn’t good at comforting people.

Usually silent and stern, now that he was speaking more, he was very afraid that too many words might lead to mistakes, making her feel he was preaching, achieving the opposite effect.

“Anyway, it’s not your fault.

It’s his fault, and… it’s my fault too.”

Pu Jinyu had initially been struggling, but as she listened, she gradually calmed down.

Her eyes, washed clean by tears, slowly lost their disgust and irritability as she listened to the deep, gentle voice of the man beside her.

They revealed their original quietness, now tinged with a trace of subtle, almost imperceptible interest.

Her quietness made Yan Chiyun breathe a sigh of relief.

He lowered his head, rubbing his chin against her soft hair, breathing in the fragrance of her rouge.

“I won’t bring this matter up again in the future.

You should… let it go too.”

He almost said there were plenty of better people in the world than Cheng Wenque.

He stopped himself just in time.

He was supposed to be appeasing her, winning her back, not encouraging her to find a new man.

He really must have been stunned silly by that slap she gave him, bewitched to such a degree.

Oh well, it was already said.

His face still cold, he raised his hand and gently stroked her back, calming her through physical touch.

“…”

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