Chapter 449

Chapter 449 The Jiang Family’s Internal Strife!

Back at the Jiang family mansion, Jiang Qingyuan happened to run into Jiang Yihe, who had just gotten out of bed. He was bleary-eyed, shuffling around the courtyard with his shoulders slouched.

“Auntie, what happened? Did they take care of Su Rui?” Jiang Yihe asked hurriedly.

He had assumed that with his aunt involved, Su Rui couldn’t possibly have survived the night, so he had gone to sleep without a care in the world — quite the thick-skinned nerve he had.

Jiang Qingyuan gave her nephew — who was about the same age as her — a long, deep look, and a wave of disgust rose in her heart.

“Su Rui is perfectly fine. Going forward, unless something changes, it’s best you stop thinking about going after him.” Jiang Qingyuan said without a second thought.

“Auntie, what do you mean by that? Just bow your head and admit defeat? That won’t do — he’s our family’s greatest enemy. How can you boost someone else’s morale and deflate your own…”

Jiang Yihe had no idea what had happened the night before, and hearing Jiang Qingyuan say this, he assumed she was simply afraid of Su Rui!

Smack!

Before Jiang Yihe could finish, he felt a slap land on his face — a sharp, burning sting!

Jiang Qingyuan fixed her gaze on this worthless nephew and said coldly, “Remember what I said. If you don’t have the ability to finish someone off in one strike, don’t ever think about going after Su Rui again!”

Jiang Qingyuan had always been a fairly gentle person. This time she raised her hand for two reasons: one, she had been bottling up her frustration with nowhere to let it out, and two, this nephew of hers was truly hopeless — questioning her without knowing the first thing about what had happened!

Did he have any idea what she had gone through last night?

Yet Jiang Yihe completely missed the point. He outright ignored his aunt’s warning, covered his face, and roared with fury, “Auntie, you actually dared to slap me! You actually dared to slap me!”

Watching her nephew’s hysterical display, Jiang Qingyuan felt an inexplicable wave of exhaustion wash over her. She said flatly, “I slapped you to teach you a lesson. Looking at you now, it seems it made no difference either way.”

Not only had it had no effect — it had only earned her resentment.

With that, Jiang Qingyuan turned and walked away.

Clutching his face, Jiang Yihe glared with venomous eyes at his aunt’s slender retreating figure and spat hard on the ground!

“Pfft! How dare she hit me! A dried-up old woman who still can’t find a husband, showing off like she’s something special!”

Jiang Yihe was in a fit of rage and spoke without thinking. His voice wasn’t loud, but Jiang Qingyuan had only walked a few meters away and heard every single word, not missing a syllable.

Her footsteps faltered for a moment, but she said nothing more and kept walking.

If she weren’t a member of the Jiang family, Jiang Qingyuan truly would not have wanted to do anything more for this nephew. She had lost all hope in him.

Not just Jiang Yihe and Jiang Yibo — Jiang Qingyuan had equally lost all hope in Jiang Yigang, who had once been the most brilliant of them all.

Although Jiang Yigang was highly capable and had long been informally designated as the third generation’s head of the Jiang family, from a woman’s perspective, Jiang Qingyuan believed that a person who could do something so utterly inhuman five years ago had nearly extinguished his humanity entirely. No matter how capable he was, without humanity, how could he ever reach the heights he aspired to?

Now Jiang Yihe had actually dared to say such things to her face. Jiang Qingyuan quietly made up her mind — no matter how fierce the future battle for family leadership became, she would never cast a single vote for Jiang Yihe.

“How dare you, Jiang Qingyuan! You hit my son! Stop right there!” At that moment, a shrill voice rang out.

Jiang Qingyuan turned around to see a middle-aged woman with prominent cheekbones storming toward her with an aggressive air, her face twisted with fury.

No need to think twice — this was her sister-in-law, Jiang Yihe’s mother, Wang Qin.

Any mother would be heartbroken to see her child get hit, let alone a woman like Wang Qin, who was notorious for her sharp and vicious nature.

“Jiang Qingyuan, just because my son calls you auntie, you think you can do whatever you want?” Wang Qin shrieked. “You couldn’t get the job done yourself, so you take it out on my son! What a useless woman!”

Jiang Qingyuan heard this and let out a cold laugh, saying nothing in return.

The world was just that cold. When you were pushed out to handle difficulties and manage everything for the family, you were their hero. But when you hit a setback and came up short, you were met with blame and even insults. Those who cursed you always forgot that none of this was ever your obligation to begin with — you had simply chosen to step up.

“Nothing to say?” Seeing Jiang Qingyuan stay silent, Wang Qin assumed she had the upper hand and pressed on, “You slapped my son once, so I’m going to slap you back! Don’t think you’re so great just because you’re Bailu’s sister. You don’t run this Jiang family mansion — you don’t get to walk around here like you own the place!”

Jiang Qingyuan looked at her, still without a word.

Wang Qin puffed up her chest and stood before Jiang Qingyuan, staring at this beautiful sister-in-law who always seemed so lofty and untouchable, like a fairy. The fire of jealousy in her heart blazed even hotter, and she reached out and swung her hand hard at Jiang Qingyuan’s face!

In that moment, Wang Qin’s heart was consumed by pure malice — she wanted nothing more than to disfigure Jiang Qingyuan on the spot!

In her rage, she never stopped to think about what consequences this might bring!

“Stop!”

At that moment, a furious shout rang out across the courtyard!

But it was too late. Wang Qin’s hand came down hard on Jiang Qingyuan’s face!

The sharp crack of the slap echoed throughout the entire courtyard, and for a moment even the wind seemed to go still.

Five vivid red marks rose rapidly on Jiang Qingyuan’s delicate cheek — a shocking, jarring sight.

She said nothing more. She cast a long, deep look at the two figures in the far end of the courtyard, then turned and walked away.

As she left, she made another decision.

All those years, she had always lived for this family — swallowing her pride and bearing humiliation, while losing so many precious things along the way.

From now on, she, Jiang Qingyuan, would think more about herself. There are times in life when a person simply has to be a little selfish.

Wang Qin had slapped Jiang Qingyuan and watched the other woman’s cheek swell up rapidly. The rush of satisfaction from her revenge was overwhelming.

But caught up in her moment of retaliation, she had forgotten about that furious shout that had come from the far end of the courtyard.

“Wang Qin, you rotten woman — do you have any idea what you just did?”

Jiang Bailu erupted!

He stormed over to Wang Qin’s side, pointed right in her face, and roared with his face flushed red, “You actually dared to hit Qingyuan? Have you lost your mind?”

Wang Qin shot her husband a contemptuous glance and sneered, “You’re the one who’s lost your mind, pointing your finger in my face like that.”

“Why did you hit Qingyuan?” Jiang Bailu was clearly henpecked — the moment his wife pointed back at him, his bluster deflated by half.

“Jiang Bailu, are you out of your mind? Your sister hit your son — whose side are you on?” Wang Qin flared up again.

“Yeah, Dad, Jiang Qingyuan just slapped me!” Jiang Yihe chimed in. “Mom was standing up for me!”

“Standing up for what! Can you even call her by her name like that? She’s your aunt!” Jiang Bailu raised his hand as if he were about to slap Jiang Yihe too! This rotten son of his was truly beyond hopeless!

“Jiang Bailu, can you tell right from wrong? Why do you always take your precious sister’s side?”

Wang Qin raged on, “I’ve been married into the Jiang family all these years, putting up with Jiang Qingyuan at every turn. You’re my husband, yet you treat her better than you treat me. I’m starting to wonder if the two of you have something going on! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking — you see your sister is pretty and you want to commit inc*st!”

“Shut your filthy mouth!” Jiang Bailu finally snapped and struck his wife hard across the face!

He put his full force into it, sending Wang Qin crashing to the ground!

“Say that again and I’ll tear your mouth apart!” Jiang Bailu pointed at his wife, blood trickling from the corner of her lips, his whole body trembling with rage!

Wang Qin sat on the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and a deep, venomous hatred filled her eyes.

“Fine, Jiang Bailu. I raised your son all these years, and for that b*tch Jiang Qingyuan, you actually dared to hit me too!”

Wang Qin’s voice was so loud that it immediately drew the attention of many members of the Jiang household.

Yet from start to finish, she never noticed that her husband had not come here alone!

Jiang Bailu had been out early accompanying the old man, Jiang Tiancang, on a morning walk, and they had happened to come this way — just in time to witness Wang Qin strike Jiang Qingyuan!

Seeing people already pointing and whispering, Jiang Bailu snapped, “You shameless woman, if you have something to say, take it inside. Stop making a scene out here and embarrassing me — have you no sense of decorum!”

“Take it inside? Which home are we going back to?”

At that moment, a voice full of authority rang out from behind Wang Qin.

Hearing that voice, Wang Qin immediately acted as though she had found a pillar of support. She scrambled up from the ground, grabbed Jiang Tiancang’s arm, and wailed, “Dad, you have to stand up for me! Jiang Qingyuan hit my son, and when I said just a few words in response, Jiang Bailu actually hit me. You have to make this right!”

But Jiang Tiancang’s face had already turned an iron shade of gray with fury. That earlier shout of “Stop!” had come from him!

Having watched helplessly as his most beloved youngest daughter was struck, the old master Jiang was on the very edge of losing control!

And when he heard what Wang Qin had said to Jiang Bailu, he nearly fainted from rage!

She actually dared to accuse his son and daughter of inc*st? She had a death wish!

Seeing no reaction from Jiang Tiancang, Wang Qin kept on sobbing and sniveling, “Dad, please stand up for me. If you won’t give me justice, I might as well not live anymore…”

But Wang Qin never got an answer from Jiang Tiancang. Instead, he gave his arm a violent shake, sending her stumbling and nearly falling over!

Struggling to contain the fury within him, Jiang Tiancang pointed at Jiang Bailu and roared, “You worthless fool — why haven’t you divorced this vile woman yet! Our Jiang family temple is too small to house a bodhisattva like her!”

Jiang Bailu froze, then his body began to tremble like a leaf in the wind!

Wang Qin, hearing those words, went pale as ash!

“Dad, you can’t do this. I raised Yihe all these years — even if I have no great merit, I’ve put in the hard work. I apologize to you, I…”

Wang Qin pleaded desperately, but to no avail. Jiang Tiancang shook his hand away once more and left behind words that would shake the entire Jiang family compound for days to come.

“From this day forward, I never want to see this vile woman again! Get — out!”