Chapter 52 You Truly Are a Virtuous Wife and Loving Mother of the Wu Family

Without giving Lu Qinian a single chance to speak, Madam Zhou grabbed him and pulled him toward Wu Zeren. "Apologize to Zeren right now!"

Wu Zeren sported a swollen, pig-like face, looking thoroughly smug with a flicker of disdain in his eyes.

*This is your real mother. Look, she's taking my side.*

Lu Qinian had always possessed a fiery temper. Madam Zhou's attitude made him feel deeply aggrieved, and provoked by Wu Zeren, he completely snapped. He violently shook off Madam Zhou's grip and roared, "Why on earth should I apologize to him? He deserved a beating! Why are you taking his side? Whose mother are you, anyway?"

Feeling that she had lost face in front of her husband, Madam Zhou didn't even stop to think. She raised her hand and slapped Lu Qinian across the face. "You unfilial wretch! What kind of attitude is that?"

Lu Qinian was left completely stunned, and Lu Huixin was frightened as well. "Mother, what are you doing!"

Madam Zhou was also somewhat dazed. Although Lu Qinian was her son, she had remarried and was no longer considered a member of the Lu family. Strictly speaking, she no longer had any qualification to discipline Lu Qinian.

If the Lu family chose to pursue the matter over this slap, she would find it very difficult to explain herself.

That wretched Wu Zeren immediately grabbed Madam Zhou's sleeve, putting on a sickeningly sweet and manipulative front. "Mother, please calm down. Don't make yourself sick over this. It doesn't matter if I suffer a little grievance; please don't let any misunderstandings come between you and Qinian."

Madam Zhou was completely dumbfounded.

This was the first time Wu Zeren had called her "mother" since she remarried!

Was he finally acknowledging her status?

Unable to believe her ears, she asked, "Zeren, what did you just call me?"

Wu Zeren grinned with his swollen face. "I called you mother. Mother, I finally believe that you truly treat me as your own flesh and blood. My mother used to protect me just like this."

With that, he even intentionally tugged and swayed the corner of Madam Zhou's garment.

Tears of joy welled up in Madam Zhou's eyes as she looked up at Wu Yongwen. "Husband, did you hear that? Zeren called me mother! He has accepted me."

Wu Yongwen wore a deeply gratified expression as well. "You've done well. He felt your sincerity, so naturally, he accepted you."

In the two years since they had married, he had constantly been plagued by headaches due to the discord between Madam Zhou and his two children. Now that this problem was finally resolved, he was overjoyed.

While they were thrilled, the faces of the two wretched children from the Lu family turned pitch black.

Especially Lu Qinian; he felt like an absolute joke.

He cast a cold gaze at Madam Zhou. "So, you are Wu Zeren's mother now, and you're no longer our mother, is that it?"

Madam Zhou only then remembered her own son and daughter, and she looked at them awkwardly. "I—"

Lu Huixin also gazed at her coldly. "So everything you said before was just to comfort us. You told us that even if you were no longer in the Lu family, you would still care about us just the same. It was all a lie."

Madam Zhou's face was filled with distress. "I wasn't lying to you, I—"

"Enough!"

Lu Qinian let out a harsh roar. "Don't say another word. I understand now. Wu Zeren deserved to be beaten, but this is the only time. I won't apologize to him—he doesn't deserve it! From now on, don't ever come looking for us again. I don't have a mother like you!"

With that, Lu Qinian turned around and ran off.

Lu Huixin also cast a disappointed look at her before turning to follow him.

Panic gripped Madam Zhou's heart, and she stamped her feet in anxiety. "You two, come back right now! Why have you become so unreasonable!"

With that, she turned a resentful glare upon Lin Wanqing. "Was it you who instigated this? Now that those two siblings are registered under your name, you must have meddled behind the scenes to destroy our relationship as mother and child! How can your heart be so vicious?"

Lin Wanqing: "..."

Was she simply standing still and still getting shot by stray arrows?

"Madam Zhou, are you truly Huixin and Qinian's birth mother?"

Madam Zhou was taken aback. "If I'm not, could it be you? Madam Lin, what on earth are your intentions? Don't think you can destroy the bond between me and my children. I gave birth to them; no matter what, they will always feel close to me. Even if I'm not by their side, they will forever be devoted to me!"

Lin Wanqing was utterly speechless. "A person cannot have it both ways. Since you remarried and became a member of the Wu family, you should tend properly to your own new household. The Lu family has nothing to do with you anymore. You were the one who abandoned them first. Even without me, given your actions today, a rupture between them and you was inevitable."

Panic flared in Madam Zhou's heart. "Didn't Qinian do something wrong today? What is wrong with me asking him to admit his mistake and apologize? You simply want to ruin my son through excessive praise and raise him into an unruly, unmannered brute!"

Lin Wanqing rolled her eyes. "You certainly care deeply about your new household, so deeply that you didn't even bother to figure out the whole story before rushing over here to demand accountability. Do you even know why this good stepson of yours was beaten like this? Why I would condone Qinian hitting someone? You didn't know a thing, yet you rushed over to force Qinian into apologizing. You truly are a magnificent mother."

With that, Lin Wanqing instructed Banxia, "Give them a detailed account of what happened today, and leave nothing out."

She had not the slightest desire to speak with Madam Zhou any longer.

The woman was simply a selfish, foolish idiot!

Having given her instructions, Lin Wanqing walked away.

Madam Zhou tried to stop her, but this was the General's Estate, and Madam Zhou was already an outsider. Barely taking two steps, she was blocked by the guards.

Banxia wore a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Mistress Wu, the General's Estate is not a place where you can barge in at will."

Madam Zhou's face turned ashen. "What kind of thing are you! When I walked through this estate as I pleased back then, you were still nursing at your mother's breast!"

Banxia sneered. "You also know that was back then. Things are different now. Don't forget your current status, Mistress Wu. Aren't you afraid your new husband might mind?"

A jolt went through Madam Zhou's heart, and she quickly looked up at Wu Yongwen.

Sure enough, Wu Yongwen's expression was less than pleasant.

No man would ever want to admit that he was inferior to another man, especially when that other man was his wife's former husband.

Madam Zhou opened her mouth to explain, but Banxia cut her off.

"Mistress Wu, today at the academy, this good stepson of yours declared that you lack feminine virtue and couldn't bear loneliness, anxiously rushing to remarry a mere few months after your first husband died. He said you were disloyal and unrighteous, and a disgrace to all women under heaven. Our Second Young Master beat your good stepson precisely to defend your honor. Our mistress heard his insults with her own ears, which is why she condoned the Second Young Master taking action."

"Our mistress and young master have been trying hard to maintain your dignity, yet you bring the very stepson who cursed you right to their doorstep to condemn them. You truly are a virtuous and exemplary wife and mother of the Wu family."

Madam Zhou widened her eyes in disbelief. "Impossible, that's impossible..."

Banxia sneered. "The person who cursed you is right here. Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Madam Zhou lowered her head to look at Wu Zeren. Wu Zeren hurriedly averted his eyes, clutched his head, and cried out, "Father, my head hurts so much, my whole body hurts! Hurry and take me to see a physician!"

His attitude explained everything.

Madam Zhou's face turned deathly pale.

Wu Yongwen wore an awkward expression; he had never expected the truth to turn out this way.

Unwilling to continue making a spectacle of himself in the General's Estate, he smoothly seized the opportunity to say, "Don't be afraid, Father will take you to see a physician. Wife, we will take our leave first; you stay here and comfort Qinian."

With that, Wu Yongwen hurried away with Wu Zeren in tow, leaving Madam Zhou standing alone in a daze.