novelraw Chapter 334 - 303: Exposed (Part 2)
Chapter 334 - 303: Exposed (Part 2)
Wen Wan smiled and asked, "Will you do whatever I say?"
Song Wei hardly hesitated, "It’s rare that you make a request of me."
This was his promise.
Wen Wan’s lips curled into a sweet smile, "My birthday is in a few days, Mr. Song, can you take a day off?"
This was the first time she had actively asked him to take leave for personal reasons.
In the Song family, apart from Yuanbao’s birthday, no one else celebrated theirs, as if deliberately ignoring that day, including Song Wei.
Wen Wan had not celebrated hers since she got married into the family.
The reason why she brought it up this year wasn’t due to a sudden interest, but because she owed her son two birthdays, and Wen Wan always felt something was missing in her heart. She thought of making up for it on her own birthday.
Song Wei’s gaze carried warmth, "What do you want to do if I take the day off?"
Being watched by him like this, Wen Wan felt her face warm, but she bravely stated her plan, "Let’s have an outing just the three of us, okay?"
After she finished speaking, she sneaked a glance at Song Wei’s reaction and found that his dark eyes became even softer in the dim candlelight, seemingly pleased by the words "just the three of us."
"No one else?" Song Wei asked.
"No one else, just us and Jinbao."
Since Jinbao was born, they had not had a time to go out just the three of them.
After speaking, Wen Wan’s eyes showed anticipation.
"Alright," Song Wei agreed, "when the day comes, as you wish."
...
Wen Wan had a premonition the next evening when school let out, as the carriage broke down halfway, and Uncle Lin went to fix it, Wen Wan took the opportunity to have a stroll.
Yuanbao walked with her, avoiding pedestrians from time to time.
At this hour, many people were leaving the government office, and carriages of different standards followed one after another, under the setting sun, making the street appear even more crowded.
There seemed to be an incident at the front intersection, with many onlookers gathered around, amidst the buzz of discussions, the painful wails of a woman could be faintly heard.
Wen Wan was accustomed to walking around town and had encountered such situations before, but she wasn’t one to join in the excitement, so she usually kept her distance, adhering to a mindset of staying out of others’ business.
But today, for some reason, even though she didn’t want to go, her legs moved towards the crowd on their own. By the time she realized, she was already standing at the back of the crowd, listening more clearly to the voice of the woman inside.
"Juan’er, how could you be so foolish? Didn’t Old Master Xie say from the beginning that he would marry you? What can’t you figure out? If you really leave like this, what about your mother?"
With that, there was a heart-wrenching wail.
At this time, the voice of a young girl weakly sounded, "Mother, Old Master Xie already has a family, I cannot burden him."
"But you can’t be thinking of dying, can you?" The woman’s voice rose sharply.
"I don’t want to leave you, but my legs are already useless. Rather than burning money at the hospital every day and causing trouble to Old Master Xie, worrying my mother, it’s better if I just die and end it all..."
This made it clear that her legs were harmed by someone, but that man already had a family and couldn’t take responsibility for her. Not wanting to burden anyone, she chose to seek death.
The surrounding chatter grew more intense, all pointing at a young man beside them who remained silent.
Seeing her premonition come to life, Wen Wan frowned, squeezed through the crowd, and saw the scene inside —
A shabbily dressed woman with disheveled hair was holding a girl with a blood-stained forehead, crying with tears all over her face.
The woman seemed about forty, with sallow skin and rough hands, her eyes swollen from crying.
She was sitting on the ground, reaching out to hold her injured daughter.
The girl lying in the woman’s arms looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a small blue cloth jacket, half her face covered by blood, making it hard to see her features clearly.
The young man standing beside her was Xie Zheng.
When Wen Wan saw him, his lips were tightly pressed together, his face looked unpleasant, and his eyes were filled with helplessness.
Suddenly seeing Wen Wan lean over, Xie Zheng’s face turned pale as a sheet, devoid of any color. He unconsciously opened his mouth, seemingly intending to greet her, but then realized the circumstances they were in and swallowed back the words "Third Sister-in-law" that were at the tip of his tongue. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
Wen Wan saw that Xie Zheng didn’t dare to acknowledge her publicly, so she didn’t expose him. She looked down at the woman holding her daughter on the ground and said, "The girl has lost about half a bowl of blood, hasn’t she? Why not send her to the hospital right away? If something happens, who will take responsibility?"
The bystanders, having been swayed by the woman’s emotions, were busy discussing and criticizing Xie Zheng. Only then did they realize the girl was injured and quickly urged the woman to take her daughter to be treated and bandaged.
The woman looked up at Wen Wan, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.
Wen Wan directly ignored it and said, "I have a grandfather who used to work at the Imperial Hospital. His medical skills are exceptionally brilliant. If you’re not comfortable with an ordinary clinic, I can take you to see my grandfather. With his expertise, even if the girl’s one foot is at death’s door, he can still save her."
Someone looked at Wen Wan and asked, "Is the young lady referring to Doctor Li from the east of the city?"
"Indeed," Wen Wan replied with a smile.
"Oh, that’s wonderful! Doctor Li’s medical skills are renowned in the Capital. With him around, the girl will be alright."
Urged by the crowd, the woman agreed to take her daughter for treatment.
Just then, Uncle Lin had already repaired the carriage and was heading their way. Wen Wan pointed at it casually, smiling, "That’s our family carriage. It will get you to the city east quickly."
The woman remained silent for a moment and then slowly helped the girl to stand up.
Wen Wan bent down, picked up a bamboo cane from the ground, and handed it to the girl, "Afraid you might have some trouble walking? Don’t forget to take this."
The girl was startled, inwardly frightened she had almost forgotten her limp. She took the bamboo cane from Wen Wan and managed a weak smile with a murmured thank you.
The mother and daughter staggered forward, but the woman did not forget to glance back at Xie Zheng.
Xie Zheng seemed still lost in the previous incident, standing there in a daze, lips pressed into a line, fists clenched, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
Wen Wan asked Song Yuanbao to take the mother and daughter to their family carriage. She stayed behind and only looked towards Xie Zheng after the onlookers had left, "And now, you still won’t tell the truth?"
Even though Wen Wan was a few years younger than Xie Zheng, her stern demeanor was enough to intimidate him.
Xie Zheng closed his eyes, his expression pained.
Wen Wan sighed, not forcing him any further, "Forget it, let’s go over there first and see what’s happening. Don’t let her cause any more trouble; otherwise, it will be even harder for you to handle."
Wen Wan took a step forward but heard the man’s hoarse voice from behind, "That day, after I hit her, I took her to the clinic. The doctor said her legs were fractured, and she wouldn’t recover for a few months. Even if she did recover, she might limp for the rest of her life. Her mother came rushing over despite her illness, and upon seeing her daughter’s condition, cried until she nearly fainted. She then insisted that I take responsibility or she would directly report me to the Shuntian Prefecture Government."
"I still have two years before my assessment, and if I get a stain on my record in the government office, no matter how well I perform, I will not be given important assignments because of this incident. I... I was forced to promise to take her into my household."
"So you lied to the Third Son, saying you were in love with this Ning Juanjuan?"
Xie Zheng didn’t have time to wonder how Wen Wan knew the girl’s name. His face remained pale. "Yesterday at the tavern, I intended to confess, but I didn’t expect Third Brother to assume I had feelings for Ning Juanjuan first. I didn’t want to complicate things, so I didn’t deny it."
"And today? What happened?" Wen Wan pressed on.
"I couldn’t think of an excuse to convince my parents and wife to take her in, so I used the chance after coming down from the Lower Court to talk to her and see if we could delay it. At least until her legs recovered a bit more. She had clearly agreed at that time, but shortly after I left, she came rushing out, crying and saying she didn’t want to burden me anymore, and then she ran headfirst into a wall. After that, you saw everything."
At that point, Xie Zheng’s eyes grew red, "Among the curious onlookers were two of my colleagues. By tomorrow, the entire Hanlin Academy will know I’m a heartless scoundrel."
Wen Wan said to him, "From the beginning, you shouldn’t have kept this a secret. If you’d come clean earlier, there wouldn’t be so much trouble now."
Xie Zheng replied, "That day, I hit her because I was in a hurry, and that is a fact. If I don’t take responsibility, the mother and daughter will surely make a scene at the Shuntian Prefecture, and my reputation will be ruined, wasting all my years of effort."
Wen Wan thought for a moment and decided to tell him, "Ning Juanjuan’s legs aren’t actually injured. The doctor said they were broken because they were all in cahoots beforehand."
Xie Zheng was so shocked he stepped back half a step, "Why?"
He prided himself on being cautious, never daring to speak out of turn or offend anyone while outside. Why would someone want to harm him?
Wen Wan hesitated to say that someone couldn’t get to Song Wei, so they decided to attack those around him, planning to ruin Xie Zheng first. She urged, "Let’s go catch up and see what’s happening before discussing this further."