Chapter 577
“Hehe, thank you for the compliment, Old Uncle Xie.” Li Zhiwei’s eyes gleamed. She had always felt that this old man was no ordinary person and that he could give her unexpected surprises.
“Weiwei?” Lady Yao frowned, unable to understand why her daughter was being so cordial toward an old man.
It wasn’t that she looked down on Jun Mowen. She was simply surprised by her daughter’s attitude.
Her daughter was not the sort of person who could easily warm up to just anyone.
Li Tianyou gently patted Lady Yao.
He believed that his daughter must have her reasons for acting this way.
“Hey, little girl, you’re far more perceptive than your foolish elder brother.” Seeing Jiang Yuanrang reaching for the dishes, Jun Mowen sneered.
“Old man, how have I offended you? Why are you insulting me in front of my younger sister?” Jiang Yuanrang put down his chopsticks and asked, somewhat displeased.
“Don’t you know what you’ve done? I’ve taken you there so many times. There’s something wrong with these dishes, and you can’t even tell?” Jun Mowen asked irritably.
Jiang Yuanrang was dumbfounded.
What was wrong with the food?
Was he supposed to be able to tell?
Nanny Tang, however, was stunned. She had not expected the old man to expose them on the spot.
Madame Jiang’s face went pale. She had known that the old man’s arrival could bring nothing good.
“You old fool, what nonsense are you spouting? How could there be anything wrong with the food?” Nanny Tang was the first to object. She pointed at Jun Mowen’s nose and demanded an answer.
“Exactly. These dishes are all from the Hospitable Restaurant. Are you trying to say that the Hospitable Restaurant poisoned us? Why would they do such a thing?” Madame Jiang said indignantly.
She was trying to shift the blame onto the restaurant’s owner, Second Young Master Zhuang.
“Go and summon the manager.” Xu Mu’s face was cold as he gave the order.
Madame Jiang and Nanny Tang exchanged a glance, a hint of panic flashing in their eyes.
“Esteemed guests, has something displeased you?” The manager entered and immediately noticed the tense atmosphere in the room. For a moment, he was puzzled.
“Manager, where is your employer? I heard these dishes were sent over at his instruction.” Jiang Yuanrang pointed unhappily at the dishes that had just been brought in.
“Eldest Young Master Jiang, could there have been some misunderstanding? Our employer hasn’t been in Lu City recently.” The manager was confused. His young master had left the city several days ago to attend to some business.
Their employer would not be back for another three days.
How could he possibly have sent dishes to Eldest Young Master Jiang?
“The waiter just said that your employer had ordered them to be sent over,” Jiang Yuanrang said, displeased.
“Go and bring that person here.” The manager frowned. He had no idea which fool had dared offend even Eldest Young Master Jiang.
At his words, Nanny Tang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, that man had not been one of their waiters. He was merely a street thug from outside, and by now he had probably already left the restaurant.
Unfortunately for Madame Jiang, this meant her plan was going to fail today.
“Old man, what drug was put in these dishes?” Jiang Yuanrang asked, baffled.
He was thinking about the vicious person who had dared plot against him and his family.
If that person fell into his hands, he would make sure they paid dearly.
“An aphrodisiac,” Jun Mowen answered irritably.
“What kind of poison is that?” Jiang Yuanrang asked, completely bewildered. Then his expression turned ugly.
He cursed inwardly. Who could be shameless enough to drug him with an aphrodisiac?
“Madam Jiang, what do you mean by this?” Without a second thought, Li Tianyou rose to his feet and glared furiously at Madame Jiang.
“Lord Li, what proof do you have that I was the one who did this?” Madame Jiang thought that since she had not personally carried out the deed, she could simply refuse to admit it.
“Other than you, who else here would do something so despicable?” Li Tianyou said furiously.
“So, Mother, you drugged me because you wanted me and your niece to…” Jiang Yuanrang could not bring himself to finish.
He did not like Jiang Siyue. He had told Madame Jiang this countless times.
He had never expected her to resort to such underhanded methods against him.
“I knew you wanted to leave with them,” Madame Jiang said, turning her face away.
“I raised you for nineteen years. What’s wrong with wanting you to leave behind an heir for the Jiang family?” Madame Jiang looked at Jiang Yuanrang with displeasure.
“Hmph! It’s true that you raised my son for nineteen years, but if you hadn’t interfered, why would you have needed to raise him for those nineteen years?” Li Tianyou said angrily.
“You lost your own son, and you were grieving. But none of that was caused by the Li family. Yet you still kept us separated from our flesh and blood for nineteen years.” Li Tianyou’s voice was cold.
“Mother, you’ve truly disappointed me.” Jiang Yuanrang looked at Madame Jiang with disillusionment.
“At first, I thought that since you had raised me, I would repay you properly.” Jiang Yuanrang gave a self-mocking laugh.
“But I never imagined that this whole matter had been your scheme from beginning to end. And now, for the sake of your own selfish desires, you still want to force me to do something against my will.” As he spoke, Jiang Yuanrang smiled bitterly.
He really had been foolish. How could he still have held on to even a trace of hope for her at a time like this?
If Madame Jiang had truly been thinking of him, she would not have tried to control his marriage.
Much less force him to have a child with Jiang Siyue and leave that child in the Jiang family.
“You raised me for nineteen years, and I will remember that debt of gratitude. But you secretly took me away from my birth parents, and my father and mother will remember that hatred.” Jiang Yuanrang’s eyes were bloodshot.
He knelt straight down before Madame Jiang and solemnly struck his forehead against the floor three times.
“Yuanrang…” Madame Jiang choked out, panic rising in her heart. She seemed to know what Jiang Yuanrang intended to do.
Yet she could no longer think of a single reason that might persuade him to stay.
“From now on, please take care of yourself, Mother. Everything I’ve done for the Jiang family over the years will count as repayment for the nineteen years you raised me. From this day onward, you and I are strangers.” After saying this, Jiang Yuanrang ignored Madame Jiang.
He turned to Li Tianyou and said heavily, “Tianyou, for the sake of the fact that she raised me for nineteen years, please don’t hold against her the matter of her stealing me away back then.”
Jiang Yuanrang’s heart was heavy.
“From now on, I’ll return to the capital with you. I’ll be Li Tingzhou and nothing else. In this world, there will no longer be a Jiang Yuanrang.”
As he said this, several tears slid from the corners of Jiang Yuanrang’s eyes. After all, Madame Jiang had treated him like her own son throughout these years.
But that still could not erase the evil things she had done.
“Yuanrang!” Madame Jiang burst into tears.
This was not the outcome she had wanted.
“Madam Jiang, please leave.”
Li Zhiwei had someone escort Madame Jiang out.
“Madam, let’s go back.” Nanny Tang’s heart was aching.
She had never approved of what Madame Jiang had done back then.
But Madame Jiang had just lost her own child and was also worried about the second branch, which was watching them like a tiger waiting to pounce.
That was why she had stubbornly clung to her decision.
Now that Eldest Young Master Jiang had found his family, they ought to be happy for him.
But she was only a servant. She could keep such thoughts to herself.
Only then did Nanny Tang feel that the guilt in her heart had lessened somewhat.
The only people left in the room were the members of the Li family, Jun Mowen, Wen Xiu, and several hidden guards.
“Princess Consort, I just saw Magistrate Lu enter the room next door with a man. He even addressed that man as ‘Prince,’” Xu Chuan hurriedly reported after seeing that there was no one else in the room.
“Which prince?” Li Tianyou asked, also somewhat puzzled.
