The smile on Yan Jue’s lips grew wider, and he actually started to laugh.
“What are you laughing at?” Tang Xiaomin lightly punched his chest.
Yan Jue curbed his laughter slightly.
“You brought that woman into the office and then ran away yourself, deliberately creating an opportunity for her. The way you get angry at yourself is really adorable.”
Tang Xiaomin’s face instantly flushed red; she felt utterly mortified.
“How… how did you know it was me who brought her in?”
“I guessed.”
Tang Xiaomin realized she had been tricked and was immediately angered.
“You tricked me.”
The man’s face suddenly loomed closer, and she instinctively closed her eyes.
But after waiting for a long time, the anticipated intimacy never came.
When she opened her eyes again, she was embraced in a broad, warm chest.
“Don’t play these silly games anymore. While I’m happy to see you jealous, I still can’t bear to see you unhappy.”
“I’ll give you another three years. The moment you graduate, we’re getting married. No arguments, no discussions. Did you hear me clearly?”
“Heard… heard clearly.” Her voice was as faint as a fly’s.
How long they had been together, even Tang Xiaomin herself could barely remember.
Time in the underworld was long; day after day passed without any sense of its passage.
Thinking about getting married in three years, Tang Xiaomin couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation.
…
On the other side.
After a lengthy investigation and evidence gathering, the fact that Nangong Bo had instructed a hypnotist to commit murder was irrefutable.
Under the supervision of several powerful factions, Nangong Bo was sentenced to death.
When Nangong Shanshan received the news, she fainted on the spot.
Upon waking, Lu Zelie was by her side, constantly trying to comfort her.
“You’re pregnant now, you need to take good care of yourself and the baby inside you.”
Seeing Lu Zelie, Nangong Shanshan became furious.
“What good are you for, apart from singing and dancing?”
“My father has been sentenced to death, and you’re not helping to find a solution!”
The law was so sacred and inviolable; what could Lu Zelie possibly do?
“Shanshan, I’ve already hired all the capable lawyers I know, at a considerable expense. You’re making things difficult for me.”
“Useless creature!” Nangong Shanshan roared.
“If you hadn’t pestered me back then, how would I have gotten pregnant? My engagement to Ye Fengxing wouldn’t have been ruined, and perhaps my father wouldn’t be in this situation. You’re a jinx, you’ve ruined everything!”
In her rage, Nangong Shanshan grabbed random objects around her and threw them at Lu Zelie.
Having endured enough grievances, Lu Zelie had had enough.
“Since you miss Ye Fengxing so much, why don’t you go back to him and see if he’ll want a pregnant woman like you! Hmph!”
Lu Zelie threw down the pregnant Nangong Shanshan and left without looking back.
She was pregnant, and Lu Zelie was certain she couldn’t escape his grasp.
“You come back! You scoundrel, come back!”
Nangong Shanshan’s anger could not bring Lu Zelie back.
She lay on the bed, weeping silently.
She truly didn’t know how to save her father or how to salvage her own life.
In the grand scheme of things, everything was unfolding in the worst possible way.
Tang Xiaomin!
It was she who wanted to harm her, to harm her father. Tang Xiaomin was the culprit.
Nangong Shanshan clutched the quilt tightly, her expression filled with venom.
“Tang Xiaomin, I will repay you double for what you’ve done to me!”
Nangong Shanshan picked up the phone and dialed a number.
…
In the evening, Zhang Meiyu received news that Tang Xu had had an accident in prison.
They rushed to the prison hospital. Tang Xu, wearing a prison uniform, had just undergone a stomach pumping.
The doctor said with a grave expression, “Fortunately, it was discovered in time. If it had been any later, he likely wouldn’t have been saved.”
Tang Xu was still in a coma at this point.
Tang Yu asked, “Doctor, what happened to Tang Xu?”
“He was poisoned.”
“Where would poison come from in prison?”
A prison guard said, “Some exceptionally intelligent inmates can use various means to produce and ingest poison within the prison for suicide. Tang Xu was a doctor before; this wouldn’t be impossible for him.”
The family members could not accept this explanation.
Zhang Meiyu said, “I visited Tang Xu not long ago, and he seemed perfectly fine. He even told me he would behave well to get a reduced sentence and come out to be filial to me. How could he have poisoned himself?”
“We’ll have to ask him himself when he wakes up. We are only speculating for now.”
An hour later, Tang Xu slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing his mother and elder brother, he even managed a smile.
“Mom.”
“Elder brother.”
“They said you poisoned yourself; what exactly happened?” Zhang Meiyu asked anxiously.
Tang Xu recalled the events before he was poisoned. He hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary; he had followed his usual routine.
He drank a glass of water and was preparing to rest, but soon after, he experienced unbearable abdominal pain. He desperately called for help and passed out upon arriving at the hospital.
“I did not poison myself.”
“Then what exactly happened?”
At present, no one could say for sure. Everything would have to wait for further test results.
Tang Xu could not leave prison. After the visit, with no serious harm done, Zhang Meiyu and Tang Yu departed.
In the car, Zhang Meiyu was in a very low mood.
“Tang Yu, do you believe what Tang Xu said?”
“Yes.” Tang Yu replied without hesitation.
“Tang Yiyi is dead, and Tang Xu loved her so much. Now he’s in prison; could he have become despondent and done something foolish?”
As she spoke, Zhang Meiyu’s voice broke.
However, Tang Yu still didn’t believe Tang Xu would do something so foolish.
“Mom, you’re overthinking it. Tang Xu is devoted, but he wouldn’t take his own life because of Tang Yiyi. He’s been actively participating in prison life and even saved someone during a special incident not long ago, earning him a recommendation for a reduced sentence from the warden.”
“Then this sudden poisoning, could someone have tried to harm him!”
This was precisely what Tang Yu was also worried about.
“Mom, don’t worry for now. I’ll discuss it with Xiaomin when I get back.”
“Ultimately, Tang Xu wronged Xiaomin. Sigh…” Zhang Meiyu’s heart was in turmoil.
Tang Xiaomin returned from school and heard about Tang Xu’s situation from Tang Yu.
Her first reaction was disbelief.
“He’s full of schemes. Do you really believe him when he says he didn’t poison himself?”
Tang Yu had anticipated Tang Xiaomin’s response. He wasn’t angered but carefully analyzed the situation with her.
“Actually, I’d prefer it if he poisoned himself and was just pretending to be pitiable. At least he’d know his own limits and wouldn’t actually poison himself to death. But if it was someone malicious who poisoned him, then Tang Xu would be in a very dangerous position.”
“Who would be so bored as to poison Tang Xu? What benefit would poisoning Tang Xu bring?” Tang Xiaomin asked again.
There was clearly no benefit.
Despite this, Tang Yu was still uneasy.
“Tang Ye treated you so poorly back then; it’s understandable that you don’t trust him. I understand. I hope I’m just worrying unnecessarily.”