“Is Yu Hongtu your son?”
At those words, Tan Mengyun felt as if lightning had struck her mind, leaving it completely blank. Her eyes widened and her lips parted, but no sound came out.
After a long moment, she finally came to her senses and confirmed that the person on the other end had indeed been referring to her son, Yu Hongtu.
“The deceased… is my son, Yu Hongtu?” Tan Mengyun’s voice trembled. The words seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, making them almost impossible to utter.
The person on the phone seemed oblivious to her distress and continued, “Your son, Yu Hongtu, was involved in a serious traffic accident at the intersection of Jingyang Avenue and Second Road. He died at the scene. His injuries are so severe that we need a family member to come to the Second Municipal Hospital to confirm his identity.”
Tan Mengyun felt as though an invisible hand had seized her heart and was squeezing it tightly. The pain nearly stopped her from breathing. Her hand clenched around the phone, her knuckles turning white from the force.
She hung up immediately and hurriedly rose, intending to rush to the Second Municipal Hospital. But the moment she stood, her vision spun and she nearly collapsed.
Seeing her reaction, Yu Linglong was utterly bewildered.
Tan Mengyun had never shown such genuine panic before.
She had always been extremely confident, but now Yu Linglong could see the devastating blow in her expression and eyes.
What had happened?
Tan Mengyun pressed a hand to her chest and leaned against the sofa, taking a long while to catch her breath. Then she stood again and hurried outside.
Wanting to know what news Tan Mengyun had received, Yu Linglong quickly followed.
Yu Linglong followed Tan Mengyun all the way by car. She had not expected their destination to be the Second Municipal Hospital, the one nearest the capital’s airport.
She followed Tan Mengyun to the entrance of the hospital morgue and finally realized what was going on.
Could it be…
Yu Hongtu was dead?!
Tan Mengyun staggered into the morgue. Every step felt as though she were walking on cotton, and she could barely keep herself standing.
The morgue was thick with the smell of blood. Butler Huang stood in one corner, his face as pale as paper and his lips devoid of color. When he saw Tan Mengyun arrive, a look of anguish crossed his face. He tried to step forward to comfort her, but she shoved him away and cursed, “Get lost!”
Her eyes fixed on the body covered by a white sheet on the mortuary table. She stumbled toward it, then reached out with a trembling hand and gently lifted one corner of the sheet.
Her heartbeat grew faster and faster, as though it were about to leap from her chest.
The sight beneath the sheet made her stop breathing. She stared at the scene before her in disbelief.
It was a mangled corpse. The clothes had been torn to shreds, revealing wounds covered in blood and shattered bones.
The head was even more horrifying. The skull had been crushed beyond recognition.
Tan Mengyun’s legs gave way, and she nearly fell to her knees. Tears poured from her eyes like a burst dam.
“My son… my son…” she sobbed, her voice filled with despair and agony.
Even though the corpse’s head was completely unrecognizable, she still knew at a glance that it was her son. That familiar outline and the warm smile he had once worn flashed repeatedly through her mind.
How could this have happened? Just two hours ago, her son had still been standing in front of her, angrily shouting that he did not want to go abroad and wanted to stay in the country. Yet now, he had become a lifeless corpse—and one that was horribly mutilated at that.
Tan Mengyun’s heart ached as though it were being torn apart. She could not accept the truth. She could not believe that her son had left her just like this.
“Huang Zhihui! Didn’t I order you to protect my son properly?” After collapsing onto her son’s body and sobbing for a long time, Tan Mengyun turned toward the grief-stricken Butler Huang and demanded furiously, “Why did you let this happen?”
Butler Huang was weeping uncontrollably. He had no idea how to explain it to Tan Mengyun.
“Speak! Why did my son end up like this?” Tan Mengyun demanded again.
Butler Huang raised a hand to wipe the tears from his face and choked out an explanation. “I followed your instructions, Madam, and drove Young Master to the airport. On the way, Young Master insisted on getting out of the car. I was worried he might throw a fit and jump out while we were moving, so I had no choice but to pull over first. I intended to reason with him and calm him down.”
At this point, his expression grew even more anguished, as if he could not bear to recall what had happened.
Butler Huang wiped away another tear and continued, “As soon as the car stopped, Young Master got out. Who would have thought that the moment he stepped out, another car came barreling toward him? I didn’t have time to pull him out of the way.”
Tan Mengyun shouted, “One collision was enough to leave my son looking like this?”
“That wasn’t all. I was just about to get out and check on him when the other car stopped, turned around, and ran over Young Master again while he was lying on the ground.”
“This time, I saw it clearly. The driver deliberately drove over Young Master’s head. That’s why his head…”
He could not bring himself to finish.
That was how it had been reduced to such a horrific state.
Butler Huang could not continue speaking. The bloody scene had caused everyone nearby to scream.
“Tell me who it was! Who killed my son?” Tan Mengyun stepped forward, grabbed Butler Huang by the collar, and demanded furiously.
Only then did Butler Huang manage to force out the answer. “It was a madwoman named Auntie Ya. The police have taken her away for questioning.”
Auntie Ya?
Outside the morgue, Yu Linglong froze when she heard the name.
Tan Mengyun’s eyes were terrifying. She glanced back at her son’s corpse, then quickly composed herself and clenched her fists.
“Butler Huang, notify my husband and tell him to come to the hospital. Have him handle my son’s body. I’m going to the police station now.”
She had to find out who this Auntie Ya was and why she had attacked her son with such brutality.
She would make sure Auntie Ya’s entire family paid with their lives for her son!
When Tan Mengyun walked out of the morgue, she saw Yu Linglong, who had followed her there. Her footsteps stopped, and her gaze turned venomous.
“Yu Linglong, does my son’s death have something to do with you?”
Yu Linglong still had not fully recovered from the shock of Yu Hongtu’s death. However, the moment she heard Tan Mengyun’s accusation, she quickly understood.
She smiled—a smile of immense satisfaction.
“Your son really is dead? Congratulations. You’ve become a white-haired mother mourning a son, just as you deserve. What a pity that he was your only son. Now that he’s dead, you won’t be able to claim all of Yu Zhanzhi’s fortune, will you?”
“Yu Linglong! It really was you!” Tan Mengyun screamed. It was the first time she had ever completely lost control.
Yu Linglong laughed so hard that tears nearly filled her eyes. At the same time, she clapped her hands.
“Those who commit too many injustices bring about their own downfall. Your son got what he deserved! You might be next!”
Tan Mengyun said, “I will never forgive you!”
With that, she turned and strode away, trembling with rage.
Yu Linglong glanced once more at the corpse bed covered with a white sheet in the morgue. Butler Huang was frantically calling Yu Zhanzhi to explain what had happened, and only then did she turn back and continue after Tan Mengyun.
She wanted to go to the police station as well and find out exactly what had happened to Yu Hongtu.
She knew Auntie Ya. The last time, she had heard Long Yuan mention her, and later she had told Jiang Youli about it.
In theory, Auntie Ya was one of Long Yuan’s people. But why had she dealt Yu Hongtu such a vicious blow?
Could this have been Jiang Youli’s doing?
If Jiang Youli really was behind it and the police uncovered the truth, it would amount to hiring someone to commit murder!
Although Yu Linglong wished Yu Hongtu and his mother would hurry up and die, she didn’t want Jiang Youli implicated in a murder case.
