Zhou Mucheng frowned, "Mom! I've told you many times before, I don't like Ling Yue. Calling off the engagement was bound to happen sooner or later." When she was little, Ling Yue was cute and he treated her like a younger sister. But as she grew up, her personality became less and less likable. She always walked with her head lowered and acted obsequiously, nothing like a young lady from a prominent family.
If he had to spend his whole life with a woman like that, then his life would be ruined. He knew it was cruel to call off the engagement with Ling Yue at this point, but this was an opportunity and he didn't want to miss it.
"You! You're really pissing me off!" Zhao Yu's face flushed red with anger. She walked up and punched Zhou Mucheng's shoulder.
Zhou Mucheng didn't budge at all, allowing Zhao Yu to vent her anger by hitting him.
After all, it was her own son. After a few hits, Zhao Yu couldn't bear to continue. She glared fiercely at Zhou Mucheng and then stormed over to the couch to sit down. "So how are you planning to compensate Yue'er?" No matter whose fault this was, compensation had to be made.
"I'll give her enough money to support herself for the rest of her life," Zhou Mucheng said evenly. Money was the only compensation he could offer Ling Yue. He had nothing else to give.
"If Yue'er was willing to accept money, she wouldn't have returned my bank card," Zhao Yu said irritably, looking at the bank card in her hand. If Ling Yue had accepted the card, it would have made her feel a little better at least.
"I'll take care of this properly," Zhou Mucheng said. He knew Ling Yue had feelings for him. She would be overjoyed to accept anything he gave her.
Zhao Yu humphed and turned her head away, refusing to acknowledge Zhou Mucheng any further.
Under the bright moonlight, Ling Yue sat motionless in the yard, absorbing the stellar energy between heaven and earth. Perhaps due to the spiritual energy she had absorbed during the day, after absorbing the stellar energy for a while, a trace of energy was generated within her body. Although the amount was pathetically meager and nearly imperceptible, it still signified that her recent cultivation efforts had not been in vain.
After circulating this energy through her body several times, Ling Yue no longer sensed any stellar energy from her surroundings, so she exited her meditative state and opened her eyes before returning to her room.
She removed her clothes and slowly unwound the gauze wrapped around her body. Where she had suffered burns before, the wounds had already healed, leaving only faint scars behind. She wasn't worried though - these scars would disappear in a few days at most.
After replacing the soiled gauze with fresh, clean wrappings, Ling Yue removed the gauze from her face. The burns on her face were more severe. Except for the area around her eyes, there wasn't a single patch of undamaged skin across her whole face. The uneven, pitted wounds looked gruesome and horrifying.
She wrapped fresh gauze around her face again before tidying up the items on her table and going to bed, soon falling asleep.
In the Ling Family residence, Yang Xiner tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Ling Tianzheng hadn't come back yesterday so she didn't get a chance to discuss severing ties with Ling Yue. Although he had returned today, he immediately fell asleep after drinking some alcohol.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Ling Tianzheng reached out and pulled Yang Xiner into his embrace.
"I was thinking about something," Yang Xiner said, flipping over to face him and hugging him back.
Ling Tianzheng forced his bleary, drunk eyes open and looked at Yang Xiner. "What is it?"
Yang Xiner hesitated briefly before speaking. "Since the Zhou Family wants to call off the engagement, I was wondering if we'd have a chance to match Ling Meng with them instead if she became the Ling Family heir apparent. That way we could still form a marriage alliance with the Zhou Family." As she spoke, she slid her hand under Ling Tianzheng's shirt to caress him.
Ling Tianzheng immediately felt his blood rushing at her touch. He flipped Yang Xiner onto her back and pressed down on top of her. The Zhou Family was stronger than the Ling Family so he was also unhappy about dissolving the engagement. At the time, he had suggested substituting Ling Meng for Ling Yue to uphold the marriage agreement, but the Zhou Family patriarch rejected the idea, saying they would only marry the true daughter.
After making passionate love, Ling Tianzheng and Yang Xiner resumed their earlier discussion. "So do you have any ideas about it?"
Yang Xiner hesitated briefly before responding. "I just feel that Ling Yue has already been driven out of the family and they've completely abandoned her. It's not suitable for her to keep using the title of Ling Family heir when she's in that situation. If she did anything disgraceful it would just smear the Ling Family's reputation."
Ling Tianzheng's eyes narrowed and a fierce glint flashed through them before he flipped over with his back facing Yang Xiner. "Let's go to sleep," he said curtly.
Yang Xiner didn't understand what Ling Tianzheng's reaction meant and didn't dare ask more. Overcome by drowsiness, she slowly closed her eyes as well.
The next morning when Ling Yue left her room, she saw Granny Xu washing clothes by the well. "Good morning, Granny Xu!"
Granny Xu looked up and smiled kindly at Ling Yue. "Good morning, Miss. Breakfast is in the kitchen - go eat."
"Okay," Ling Yue nodded and headed for the kitchen.
On the kitchen table was a bowl of rice porridge, a plate of pickled cucumbers, and two steamed buns.
Ling Yue sat down, picked up her chopsticks to grab a slice of pickled cucumber and took a bite. The salty-sweet flavor spread through her mouth and she smiled slightly. She really enjoyed the tasty flavor of these pickled cucumbers.
After hanging up the clean laundry, Granny Xu came into the kitchen and saw Ling Yue had finished eating. She smiled and sat down next to her. "Miss, I'll go with you to the hospital later to change your bandages." The doctor had instructed them to change the dressings every day when she was discharged, otherwise the wounds could become infected.
"No need. I've already changed them myself - see, the gauze is all new," Ling Yue said, stretching out her arm to show Granny Xu. She was certain that even if they went to the hospital now, the doctor still wouldn't change her dressings. Ling Meng had paid so generously for her medical fees just to ensure she wouldn't be able to return to the hospital after being discharged. Ling Meng wanted her to be unable to get her dressings changed so her wounds would become infected and she would suffer in agony. She would simply oblige Ling Meng for now and let her enjoy her moment of smug satisfaction.
"You can't change them yourself! What if your wounds get infected? No, you must go to the hospital," Granny Xu said disapprovingly. Miss's injuries were extremely severe - when they changed her dressings at the hospital last time, she personally witnessed just how serious the wounds were.
Ling Yue was about to refuse at first but then changed her mind, a sly smile playing at the corners of her eyes. "Oh, alright then." She wanted to take this chance to embarrass the Ling Family. She was still the Ling Family heir after all. If the hospital dared to turn her away at the door, wouldn't that be an outright slap to the Ling Family's face?
"Granny Xu, I need to step out for a bit first. I'll be right back," Ling Yue said, getting to her feet and walking outside. If she was going to make trouble, she might as well go all out. She wanted to see how the instigators would clean up the mess in the end.
Ling Yue went to the small grocery store at the mouth of the alley and made several phone calls before returning to the yard in a cheerful mood. Seeing Granny Xu already waiting for her, she said, "Let's go."
"Alright," Granny Xu smiled and nodded.
The two of them arrived at the hospital. Granny Xu had Ling Yue sit in the waiting area while she took her medical records to register her. But she was informed that the hospital had blacklisted Ling Yue and she would need to go to another hospital to get her dressings changed.
Seeing Granny Xu return with a dark expression, Ling Yue knew the situation was just as she had guessed. The corners of her lips curled up slyly. "Granny Xu, let's go to another hospital. It doesn't matter which one."
