Xiao Ying's bone structure was actually quite beautiful; her skin was so fair that the faint blue veins beneath it were visible. However, due to a chronic cough, her voice had grown somewhat hoarse and raspy—it sounded like an old wooden door creaking on its hinges, an unsettling sound that made one feel deeply uncomfortable.
Su Mianmian knew that Xiao Ying would resent her because of that past incident, so she lowered her head even further. "It's not that I don't like it; it's just too valuable. I can't accept it."
Hearing Su Mianmian say that she *did* like it, a faint glint flickered in Xiao Ying's parched eyes. She spoke in a low, spectral tone: "If you like it, then take it. You are my daughter-in-law; no matter how valuable an item is, you are worthy of it."
Having said this, she took the small wooden box from the maid's hands and tried to press it into Su Mianmian's. Su Mianmian still remembered how displeased Gu Yizhou had looked when he found out she had accepted a gift from Xiao Ying; afraid to accept it this time, she demurred and stepped back to avoid it. "Mom, I don't want it. I really can't take it."
"Why can't you? This jade pendant was meant for you all along! Aside from you, no one else has the right to claim it!" As the two women jostled back and forth, the wooden box slipped from Xiao Ying's grasp and clattered to the floor. The jade pendant tumbled out of the box and landed right at Su Mianmian's feet, emitting a crisp, clear chime.
Both women froze instantly. Then, Xiao Ying's expression shifted abruptly, and she let out a startled cry: "My jade pendant!"
At that moment, her eyes were fixed solely on the pendant. Terrified that Su Mianmian might step on it, she shoved her aside, then knelt down with trembling hands to cradle the jade pendant. When she finally looked up again, her gaze—fixed upon Su Mianmian—was filled with seething resentment.
"Why wouldn't you take it? You did this on purpose, didn't you? You deliberately let my son's jade pendant fall to the ground—that was your intention all along, wasn't it?" Su Mianmian, having been shoved by Xiao Ying, stumbled backward and slammed her back against the metal frame of the hospital bed; a sharp pain shot through her spine.
Before she could even regain her footing, Xiao Ying stood up—clutching the jade pendant tightly—and began to advance upon her, step by step. Her sickly face was deathly pale, and her eyes, blazing with fury, took on a truly menacing look. "Put it on! I said put it on—right now!"
Terrified, Su Mianmian edged backward along the side of the hospital bed, retreating step by step. "Mom, calm down—please don't act like this." "Act like what?" A strange, eerie curve twisted at the corners of Xiao Ying's lips. "You've already called me 'Mom,' so surely you can accept this little gift from your mother, can't you?
Be a good girl; put it on." As she spoke, Xiao Ying suddenly seized Su Mianmian's hand, attempting to fasten the jade pendant around her neck. Su Mianmian found this version of Xiao Ying truly terrifying; even the jade pendant itself seemed to glow with a deep, ominous light. "No! I won't wear it!"
With one hand pinned by Xiao Ying, Su Mianmian used her other hand to frantically fend off the woman's advances. Since Xiao Ying's physical strength was no match for Su Mianmian's, she quickly began to falter. She glared at the helpless maidservant standing behind her. "Are you dead? Can't you see I need help here?!"
Trembling, the maidservant stole a glance at Su Mianmian. "M-Madam... if the Young Master finds out you're treating the Young Mistress this way, he'll be furious." "And what do I care about him? Am *I* your mistress, or is *he*?" Although physically frail, Xiao Ying possessed a commanding presence that was truly intimidating.
Cowering under her domineering gaze, the maidservant quickly yielded. She stepped to Xiao Ying's side and joined in the struggle to restrain Su Mianmian. "Young Mistress, please—just do as Madam says."
Su Mianmian shook her head. As she watched a sinister smirk spread across Xiao Ying's face—and just as the jade pendant was about to be fastened around her neck—the door to the hospital room suddenly burst open with a violent crash. The very next moment, Gu Yizhou's tall, imposing figure appeared in the doorway. Upon taking in the scene before him, his eyes darkened instantly.
He strode forward with urgent steps, first roughly shoving the maidservant aside, then seizing Xiao Ying's flailing hand in his own large grip and yanking her away from Su Mianmian. "What on earth do you think you're doing?!" Gu Yizhou's voice was low and deep, seething with barely contained fury.
Su Mianmian clutched the hand that Xiao Ying had gripped so painfully, her entire body still trembling from the ordeal. Xiao Ying, having been interrupted just as she was about to force the jade pendant onto Su Mianmian, felt a surge of malicious rage boil within her; she lashed out with her arm and delivered a stinging slap across Gu Yizhou's face. "Get lost! Let go of me!"
Gu Yizhou's face was knocked to the side by the blow. Gazing at Xiao Ying's increasingly twisted and ferocious expression, he licked away the trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his voice laced with icy coldness. "Have I not told you—you are forbidden from bullying Su Mianmian?"
Xiao Ying gave a cold snort and raised her hand to strike Gu Yizhou again, but he swiftly seized her wrist, pinning her in place. "I see you've truly lost your mind. I'm going to tell Grandfather right now: from this day forward, you are not permitted to take a single step outside the family estate!"
"You wouldn't dare!"
Xiao Ying struggled violently to wrench herself free from Gu Yizhou's grip, her stare fixed on him with an icy, piercing intensity. "Gu Yizhou, don't you forget—I am your mother!"
"So you *do* remember that you're my mother."
Gu Yizhou spoke these words with chilling composure; a flicker of deep, somber darkness crossed his jet-black eyes. He turned away from Xiao Ying and walked toward Su Mianmian. "Are you alright? Did she hurt you anywhere?"
Su Mianmian shook her head, but as she gazed at the blood still trickling from the corner of Gu Yizhou's mouth, her eyes began to sting with unshed tears.
He was a man of seemingly boundless power—capable of anything—yet time and again, he was wounded by the very people closest to him. "I'm fine. And please don't fight with your mother over this; she just... she just wanted me to wear that jade pendant."
Gu Yizhou had witnessed the entire scene just moments ago—Xiao Ying's desperate, frenzied attempts to force that jade pendant onto Su Mianmian. His gaze darkened even further. "Don't wear it. From now on, if you ever see that pendant, stay as far away from it as possible."
Su Mianmian felt a surge of bewilderment. What exactly was wrong with that jade pendant? Why was Xiao Ying so maniacally determined to give it to her, while Gu Yizhou insisted she keep her distance?
Her eyes shifted to Xiao Ying; upon hearing Gu Yizhou's command, the woman's already indignant face took on an even deeper, more sinister shade of fury. "I knew it! I knew you were the one meddling behind the scenes! Gu Yizhou, you stole everything that belonged to your younger brother—you will face retribution for this!"
Consumed by her hatred, Xiao Ying snatched up a thermos flask from the nearby table and hurled it at Gu Yizhou's back. Acting on pure instinct, and with no time to shout a warning, Su Mianmian shoved Gu Yizhou out of the way with all her might. The thermos slammed into Su Mianmian's side instead, clattering loudly as it crashed to the floor. Gu Yizhou snapped back to reality, immediately pulling Su Mianmian close to check her over. "Su Mianmian, are you alright?" Su Mianmian shook her head; she truly was fine. "The thermos was empty; it wasn't heavy."
Hearing this, Gu Yizhou finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up and called out toward the door, "Gao Ze! Come in and take the First Madam home!" Gao Ze immediately pushed the door open; together with a maid—one on each side—they took hold of Xiao Ying and began dragging her out. "I'm not leaving!
I haven't finished speaking yet! Su Mianmian, do you actually think Gu Yizhou married you because he loves you? You're wrong! He doesn't love you at all..." Xiao Ying struggled and shrieked, but the rest of her sentence was cut short; as the hospital room door closed, her voice faded completely away.
Gu Yizhou stared at the closed door for a long moment. His tightly clenched fists slowly relaxed, and he pulled Su Mianmian into his embrace. "Mianmian, don't listen to my mother's nonsense. I married you..." "You didn't marry me because you loved me—I know that. Ours was a marriage of convenience from the very start, after all."
The words Gu Yizhou had been about to speak caught in his throat; he swallowed them back down. She had already suffered quite a scare just moments ago, and he didn't want to say anything else that might frighten her. He gently ruffled the top of Su Mianmian's head.
"Do you remember what I told you just yesterday? That you must prioritize your own safety above all other people and things? Have you forgotten that so soon?"
Su Mianmian knew he was referring to the incident that had just occurred—when she had pushed him out of the way and taken the blow from the thermos herself. She pursed her lips, her voice dropping to a low whisper tinged with a hint of grievance: "But I also told you that if you were ever in danger, I wouldn't hesitate to protect you."
In that instant, Gu Yizhou felt as though his heart were being enveloped by the warmth of the sun; every single cell in his body seemed to fill with heat. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for that surge of warmth to slowly subside. Then, taking Su Mianmian by the shoulders, he gently eased her out of his embrace and met her gaze with his own deep, dark eyes. "Mianmian, I don't need your protection. If I truly didn't want to be hurt, no one could possibly lay a hand on me." He added, "You just need to remember to protect yourself."
Su Mianmian pursed her lips. "You promised me before that you wouldn't let yourself get hurt again. Yet today, your mother still struck you—your lip is even split open."
Gu Yizhou curled his lips into a faint smile, completely unconcerned by such a minor injury. "She has a lot of pent-up anger inside; if I don't let her vent it, her condition will only worsen."
Su Mianmian looked deeply displeased. "But seeing you get bullied like that makes my heart ache, too."
After a moment of reflection, she sighed, sounding a touch despondent. "Your mother treats you this way, yet you still put her feelings first in everything you do. I honestly think this is a textbook case of 'blind filial piety.'"