Chapter 2336: The Truth That Came Late (1)
Even though it had been more than twenty years since Zhu Baoguo’s death, w.a.n.g Yang had better not think that he could live a blissful life after killing Zhu Baoguo. That would never happen.
Mother Zhu quickly grabbed Qiao Nan’s elbow. “You can’t leave. You haven’t made yourself clear. What has our Yang Yang done for you to criticize him in that manner? If it’s really Yang Yang’s fault, I’ll definitely make him apologize to everyone. But if it has nothing to do with Yang Yang, you’d better apologize to him. Besides, don’t you think you should have a little conscience regarding the lawsuit?”
Mother Zhu was the Zhu family’s daughter and had inherited their temper. While expressing her trust in w.a.n.g Yang, Mother Zhu had not forgotten about the lawsuit. Mother Zhu would never forgo such a good chance of killing two birds with one stone.
Having been stopped by Mother Zhu, Qiao Nan couldn’t help but wonder if Mother Zhu was truly ignorant or if she was pretending to be stupid. Was w.a.n.g Yang so important to Mother Zhu that she could sacrifice her nephew, Zhu Baoguo’s life?
After giving it some thought, Qiao Nan finally spoke up. “You’re w.a.n.g Yang’s mom and you’re a Zhu. You’re Chief Zhu’s only sister and Zhu Baoguo’s only aunt, right?”
“Yes.” Mother Zhu answered naturally, feeling that Qiao Nan had asked a strange question. Baoguo had pa.s.sed on a long time ago, even before his father. Why was Qiao Nan asking about Baoguo, and not about whether she was her dad’s daughter?
Qiao Nan pursed her lips. “If I’m not wrong, Zhu Baoguo’s mother pa.s.sed away when he was born. Before he turned three, you were the one who raised him, so your relations.h.i.+p with Zhu Baoguo was probably like one of a mother and son, right?”
“Of course. After my sister-in-law pa.s.sed on, I was the only woman in the family. I was the one who took care of Baoguo. I treated him like my son.” It was exactly because she had such deep feelings toward him that Mother Zhu had nearly cried her eyes out at Zhu Baoguo’s death.
“Since that’s the case, why were you so vicious to sacrifice Zhu Baoguo’s life just to help w.a.n.g Yang get the Zhu family’s a.s.sets? Auntie Zhu, you were the one who raised Zhu Baoguo. You said that you treated Zhu Baoguo like your son, so how could you let your younger son kill your elder son so that he could take your elder son’s place? Could it be that your feelings toward Zhu Baoguo and the Zhu family aren’t that genuine? Did you forget that you are a Zhu for the sake of w.a.n.g Yang? Did you forget that the Zhu family was the one who raised you and gave you a bountiful dowry so that you could marry into the w.a.n.g family? Auntie Zhu, people shouldn’t be so heartless.”
This matter had hurt the entire Zhu family greatly. Of course, w.a.n.g Yang had hurt the Zhu family, but the one who had brought them the greatest pain was Mother Zhu.
w.a.n.g Yang had grown up in the w.a.n.g family, so it wasn’t strange for w.a.n.g Yang to be estranged from the Zhu family because of the w.a.n.g family’s words. But Mother Zhu had grown up in the Zhu family, pampered by her father and brother.
That was why Zhu Chengqi couldn’t accept how Mother Zhu had been so indifferent to Zhu Baoguo’s death.
Both Mother Zhu and Li Yayan were stunned and at a loss for words. Their jaws were opened so widely that flies could have flown in.
Li Yayan could not regain her senses. Zhu Baoguo had died early and w.a.n.g Yang had never mentioned him simply because he was Zhu Chengqi’s son. As such, Li Yayan was truly ignorant of the fact that Zhu Baoguo’s death had not been so simple. In fact, it seemed like her husband even had something to do with it.
No, it couldn’t possibly be true…
Although she did not have much understanding of the Zhu family, she knew that Zhu Baoguo was Zhu Chengqi’s only son. It was because Zhu Baoguo had pa.s.sed away in his teenage years that w.a.n.g Yang had the chance to inherit the Zhu family’s a.s.sets. In that case, Li Yayan felt that w.a.n.g Yang did have a motive to attack Zhu Baoguo. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became.
Zhu Baoguo had died in his teens, and w.a.n.g Yang was even younger than Zhu Baoguo! w.a.n.g Yang had done that to Zhu Baoguo at that age… No, no. w.a.n.g Yang was her husband. They were one. How could she suspect her husband just because of an outsider like Qiao Nan? How could she misunderstand that w.a.n.g Yang had been so brutal to his own relative at such a young age?
It was murder! This was no game. Even at her age, she dared not even kill a chicken, much less a person! When Zhu Baoguo had died, her husband had been no more than a child. How could he have been bold enough or capable enough to kill someone? Qiao Nan should have made up a more believable lie if she wanted others to believe her!
If Li Yayan thought that way, it was only expected that Mother Zhu was even more doubtful of that since she knew her son more than Li Yayan. “That’s enough. How could you say such things even if you want to take the Zhu family’s a.s.sets for yourself? How did the Zhai family accept you with such a character? Baoguo…”
Even though many years had pa.s.sed, Mother Zhu still got upset every time Zhu Baoguo’s death was mentioned. “Baoguo’s death has nothing to do with Yang Yang. If you don’t know anything, you’d better not spout nonsense. Anyone would find your words ridiculous. Although it’s a family matter, it’s been a long time since it happened. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you about it. But there’s no way I’ll let Yang Yang take the blame for them. When Baoguo was young, he had a bad temper and didn’t like to study. He even got into the company of some hooligans. I don’t know why… Those hooligans attacked our Baoguo…”
Mother Zhu choked. Those tears weren’t crocodile tears, and her nose was running too. She was no actress.
Qiao Nan frowned. Mother Zhu was talking about what most people knew, but… “Do you really not know that your son was the one who killed Zhu Baoguo?” Was that even possible?
Li Yayan stared at Qiao Nan. “My mom’s made it very clear. Zhu Baoguo was beaten to death by those hooligans. Why do you have to keep bringing my husband into the picture? Why don’t you think about how old my husband was when Zhu Baoguo died?”
Fine. Qiao Nan could not even get angry because both Mother Zhu and Li Yayan were useless. It wasn’t strange for Li Yayan to be left out of the loop. There was no way the w.a.n.g family would have told a new daughter-in-law like Li Yayan that w.a.n.g Yang had killed a person. After all, they had already managed to hide the truth for such a long time. What was the point of bringing it to light once more? Were they not afraid that w.a.n.g Yang would be caught?