Chapter 457 - 397: Can No Longer Tolerate Her
Chapter 457: Chapter 397: Can No Longer Tolerate Her
Xiao Man tentatively wrote out a prescription and told Wu Xiaowen to take it to a traditional Chinese pharmacy to buy the herbs. But Wu Xiaowen refused. She insisted on getting the herbs personally prepared by Xiao Man, demanding only the best, just like the ones from last time. She even said to name a price, and she would pay it.
Xiao Man guessed there were two possibilities. ’One, Wu Xiaowen is trying to play the big shot again, getting medicine for her relatives and friends. Two, someone among the Wu family’s relatives or friends knows about traditional Chinese herbs and recognized that the ones I gave her were extraordinary.’
She was starting to regret it. ’If I had known Wu Xiaowen was so thoughtless and muddle-headed, I shouldn’t have taken the easy way out by being too lazy to go shopping. I never should have used the herbs we had on hand at home.’
She told her grandfather about the matter and also asked her grandparents to help persuade Granny Gu and Mrs. Gu to stop bringing food to her school. She really didn’t need it. The car coming and going every day just to deliver a food container made her classmates stare at her like she was a monkey that had escaped from the zoo.
When Grandpa Tang heard that Wu Xiaowen was frequently harassing his granddaughter, not only demanding medicine but also being picky about the herbs, he couldn’t help but frown. His intuition told him something was up.
Sure enough, he sent someone to secretly investigate the current situation with the Bai and Wu families and soon learned the truth. Wu Xiaowen and Bai Lihua were as clingy and inappropriately close as ever. Bai Lihua returned to Beijing once a week, and every time, he would stay at Wu Xiaowen’s place for half a day or half the night.
Recently, the same kind of herbal dregs had been found in the household trash from both the Bai and Wu residences. This proved that a portion of the medicine Xiao Man had prescribed for Wu Xiaowen’s parents had been transferred via Wu Xiaowen to the Bai family for Mr. Bai to use!
Grandpa Tang was furious. ’That shameless, degenerate woman, Wu Xiaowen! It’s bad enough that she’s ruined her own reputation and brought shame upon her children, but to think she’d even help outsiders scheme against Manman! The Tang family can no longer tolerate her!’
’And just who is Mr. Bai? He was exceptionally talented, having practiced Ancient Martial Arts since childhood. In his prime, when he was strong and healthy, his power even surpassed Mr. Gu’s! Although he’s lost his health, grown frail, and his Martial Arts are gone, his other faculties are still intact. Besides, the old are cunning. He must have detected something in the herbs Manman prepared, which is why he had Bai Lihua seduce Wu Xiaowen, hoping to get more from Manman through her!’
Then he recalled what Manman had said: ’Brother Junfan from the Bai family heard from Grandpa that I was studying in Ping County, so he went there to visit me and cooked for me for two days...’
Grandpa Tang’s expression darkened even more. Other than the Gu family, he would never casually reveal the whereabouts of his granddaughter and grandson in the countryside to anyone. Bai Junfan was blatantly lying!
When Manman had mentioned it at the time, he had merely nodded to show he’d heard, not saying much more. Gu Shaojun had been there listening, and he’d wanted to see his future grandson-in-law’s reaction.
’Now, thinking back on Bai Junfan’s motives, it all feels like one big conspiracy.’ Grandpa Tang wasn’t against using strategy and schemes, but who would want their own precious treasure to be targeted by outsiders?
Although the Bai and Gu families weren’t openly hostile, they were constantly competing in secret. The Tang and Gu families had always stood shoulder-to-shoulder, maintaining a cordial, surface-level relationship with the Bai family. But ever since Bai Lihua and Wu Xiaowen had started their secret affair, it was impossible for the Tang and Bai families to be on the same page.
’The Bai family is trying to use Manman to get their hands on those precious herbs. One Bai Junfan wasn’t enough, so now Bai Lihua dares to crawl out of the woodwork and disgust people. Do they think the Tang family is so refined that they’re easy to bully?’
’We’ll just see about that!’
Grandpa Tang made his decision. He informed the Gu family, then called Tang Qingyun and ordered him to begin divorce proceedings with Wu Xiaowen immediately. He also told him to be even stricter with himself at his post and prepare to return to Beijing next year.
Tang Qingyun had already been informed by his father that Wu Xiaowen had betrayed him. The sheer number of photographs had nearly blinded him. He had been enraged, tormented, and full of hatred. He’d even bought a train ticket back to Beijing to settle accounts with that wretched pair, but his father had stopped him, forbidding him from acting rashly. Slowly, he had come to terms with it. ’A fickle woman who could change her affections for the sake of status and personal gain isn’t worth holding on to. She’s not worthy of my love!’
Thankfully, both of his children were grown. Hao Hao was more mature than his peers and could distinguish right from wrong, so he wouldn’t be too deeply hurt. As for Manman... Tang Qingyun was filled with regret. ’If only I’d seen through Wu Xiaowen a few years earlier, I definitely could have kept my daughter instead of letting my brother take her away!’
Tang Qingyun formally submitted the relevant documents to the court, requesting a divorce from his wife, Wu Xiaowen. When Wu Xiaowen heard the news, she was utterly shocked. She couldn’t believe Tang Qingyun would be willing to leave her. Once she came to her senses, Wu Xiaowen became convinced: ’It must be the Tang family putting pressure on Tang Qingyun! Especially Old Mrs. Tang—she’s never liked me. Now, she’s finally making her move, trying to drive me out and destroy me completely!’
Accompanied by her mother, Lin Aizhen, a grief-stricken and indignant Wu Xiaowen stormed over to the Tang Mansion. This time, Grandma Tang was very accommodating. She had the guards open the iron gate and invited the mother and daughter, Lin Aizhen and Wu Xiaowen, inside.
Lin Aizhen shot her daughter a look, signaling to her: ’See? The Tang family cares about their reputation. They’re afraid of you making a scene at the gate. Go ahead and cause as big a fuss as you can. Let’s see what they do then!’
It was a Sunday, so Wu Xiaowen also planned to use her children as backup. She didn’t have high hopes for that ungrateful brat Manman, but Hao Hao would definitely help his mother. No child could just stand by and watch their parents get divorced; there was nothing in it for them.
The mother-daughter duo refused the staff’s invitation to come inside. Instead, Wu Xiaowen began to wail loudly just outside the iron gate, attracting several neighbors who came to watch. Lin Aizhen was secretly delighted. ’The residents in this area are all from prominent families. Let’s have everyone see just how harshly Old Mrs. Tang mistreats her daughter-in-law!’
But Lin Aizhen had miscalculated one thing: while most of the residents on this street were indeed influential figures, the Tang family was the leader of the pack. And neighbors generally stuck up for one another. It made no sense for them to side with an outsider against their own neighbor without knowing the full story.
So when Lin Aizhen went on and on, listing the injustices the Tang family had supposedly inflicted on her daughter, people let her finish her tirade. But what followed was a continuous stream of rebuttals that nearly knocked her off her feet.
Wu Xiaowen’s crying grew even more pathetic. She started shouting through the open iron gate, "Hao Hao! Manman!" calling their names one after another, her voice thick with tears. The young guard standing by the gate finally couldn’t take it anymore and very seriously informed her, "Tang Haocheng did not come home this Sunday. And Manman left early this morning after having breakfast with her grandparents. It seems a friend asked her for help with something."
Wu Xiaowen’s scheme had come to nothing. She stood there stunned for a long moment, forgetting to even cry.
Grandma Tang came out, a smile on her face, and invited the neighbors who had been trying to console Wu Xiaowen to come inside for a seat. She mentioned she had just received some autumn tea and invited everyone to try some.
After the neighbors had all gone inside, Grandma Tang gave Wu Xiaowen a cool glance. She then walked up to Lin Aizhen, stopping two steps away, and looked her straight in the eye. "I remember many years ago, I told you and Wu Yu Xuan to your faces: I don’t want to waste my breath on you in this lifetime. I don’t even want to see you! And yet, you insisted on marrying your daughter into my family. What exactly are you after?"