CHAPTER 543: CHAPTER 278: INSISTENT TESTING (PART 2)

Zhou Jingyi nodded and turned to pack up her clothes.

"You—" Mrs. Zhou’s eyes widened with anger.

"Alright, alright!" Master Zhou pulled his wife’s sleeve, saying, "It’s only natural for a daughter to be worried when her husband is sick like this. Why keep her anxious all night? Let her go! I’ll go with you to see him tomorrow!"

Mrs. Zhou, hearing her husband say the same, felt even more displeased and could not help herself; sneering, she said, "My daughter really is a fool! She’s the one worrying about him, but when he was out enjoying himself, did he ever spare her a moment’s concern!"

Mrs. Lin’s face immediately turned ugly, and she simply looked down as if she hadn’t heard anything.

Master Zhou quickly stopped her, and hurriedly had someone bring Mrs. Lin down for tea while waiting.

Mrs. Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly thanked them as she left.

"How can you say such things at a time like this!" Master Zhou said displeased.

Mrs. Zhou retorted angrily, "Am I wrong? If not now, when should I say these things! This is really karma! Hmph!"

Master Zhou angrily replied, "Enough, hold your tongue! Karma? What about our daughter then? Have you figured out who this karma will fall upon?"

Mrs. Zhou was taken aback, her eyes reddening as she said, "My daughter is innocent, she absolutely should not be unjustly involved! What else is there to say at this point? We might as well divorce as soon as possible and be done with it!"

"You’re mad!" Master Zhou frowned. "A divorce can’t happen at this time! Our son-in-law’s life and death are uncertain, and our daughter insisting on divorce—what would people say if this got out?"

"What’s the use of such a reputation?" Mrs. Zhou said tearfully. "Isn’t our daughter miserable enough already!"

"It’s useless! If you want her to not have a future, then go ahead and make a fuss about the divorce now!" Master Zhou flung his sleeves angrily.

"Why not!" Mrs. Zhou replied. "It’s originally the Shi family who wronged our daughter. Now their son is on the verge of death, and our daughter doesn’t even have a child. Could she be expected to remain widowed her whole life? If the son-in-law was affectionate and righteous, that would be another matter, but he’s actually such a heartless creature, how could I accept this!"

"Do you think I can accept it? Whatever it is, this shouldn’t be brought up now! If you don’t want to harm our daughter, you’d better not add more trouble!" Master Zhou said angrily.

"How am I adding trouble!"

"Dad, Mom, both of you calm down," Young Master Zhou sighed. "Let’s see what the situation is like tomorrow! Perhaps our brother-in-law, who might be lucky, will pull through this!"

Mrs. Zhou, before Young Master Zhou could finish, spat in contempt, saying, "Lucky and fortunate? With his heartless nature being lucky and fortunate, it really makes no sense!"

"Have you had enough!" Master Zhou said helplessly.

"I won’t let this go easily! My daughter shouldn’t have to suffer for a lifetime!"

"Mom, I think my little sister means—"

"What does she know! A child’s impulsive moment, her opinion shouldn’t count!" Mrs. Zhou became even angrier upon hearing this, thinking of her daughter’s pathetic demeanor, felt waves of suffocation in her chest.

While they were arguing, Zhou Jingyi arrived with Su Qing and Su Bi, her eyes red as she said goodbye to her parents and sister-in-law.

Seeing her in an instant change into a simple pea-green outfit and replaced her elaborate gold hairpin with a modest jade one, Mrs. Zhou couldn’t help but feel infuriated. Just as she was about to scold her, seeing her daughter’s pitiful, tearful eyes softened her heart. She sighed and turned her face away in vexation, "Fine, once married, a daughter is like water spilled out of the house, if your heart pines for him then go! In your heart, your parents don’t matter as much as that heartless man!"

"Mom!" Zhou Jingyi couldn’t bear such harsh words and sobbed as she knelt and wrapped herself in Mrs. Zhou’s embrace, tears streaming down, her frail shoulders trembling lightly, "Mom, please don’t say that! It hurts me to hear it!"

"Look at you! Jingyi is already distressed enough, stop rubbing salt into her wounds! She hasn’t said anything, why must you?" Master Zhou sighed.

"Turns out it’s me who’s being needlessly worried!" Mrs. Zhou got angry again and glared at her husband. Seeing her daughter’s pitiful little face covered in tears, she felt a pang in her heart and sighed, holding back from saying more.

Mrs. Zhou lifted the handkerchief to gently wipe the tears from Zhou Jingyi’s face, tenderly stroking her hair and sighed softly, "If you are determined to go, I won’t stop you, but his illness is contagious. You must be careful yourself, don’t get too close, don’t stay by his side for too long, you must know to protect yourself, understand? Daughter, you are the flesh of my heart, think of your mother if not for yourself. If anything happened to you, how could your mother go on living?"

Mrs. Zhou said this with tears rolling down. Master Zhou glanced towards the door, thinking fortunately the Shi family was not here, otherwise, his daughter’s days returning would be miserable after hearing these words!

"I understand! Don’t worry, mother!" Zhou Jingyi felt a great pain in her heart.

"Saying this, mother feels at ease now!" Mrs. Zhou forced a smile, reminded Su Qing and Su Bi again, and finally let Zhou Jingyi leave.

Zhou Jingyi left Zhou Mansion with Mrs. Lin, the carriage racing towards Qingzhou City. On the way, Zhou Jingyi inevitably asked Mrs. Lin about the condition of Fengming, growing even more anxious and distressed upon hearing everything, silently lamenting: Could my fate really be this harsh? I married someone I liked at first sight, initially thankful for heaven’s mercy, only to discover he had someone else in his heart, even abandoning me and leaving home for two years. On his return, we could have started afresh, live well from then on, but now we might be on the brink of a life-and-death separation...

Zhou Jingyi turned sorrowful, unable to hold back her tears.