Chapter 459: Chapter 459: Was She Really Wrong?

Old Mrs. An looked sharply at Mr. Gong. "You reported this to the police?"

"Yes," An Zhihan chimed in from the side, nodding. "Grandma, even if we hadn’t reported it, did you really think an incident of this magnitude wouldn’t attract the police’s attention?"

Old Mrs. An closed her eyes for a moment, then looked back at An Zhihan and sighed. "Zhi Han, if this matter really does involve your first and second uncles, I promise I’ll teach them a lesson and give you a proper accounting of it, all right?"

"And how do you plan on teaching them a lesson?" An Zhihan sneered. "The same way as last time? Just say ’don’t air the family’s dirty laundry in public’ and then sweep it under the rug?"

"You’re all one family, my own flesh and blood," Old Mrs. An’s voice grew heavy, tinged with guilt and helplessness. "I can’t just stand by and watch you tear each other apart."

Old Mrs. An had her own calculations. The An Family’s standing in Xiangcheng was already declining compared to other prominent families due to the mediocrity of its younger generation. If this internal strife continued, she feared they would soon disappear from Xiangcheng’s elite circles entirely.

Old Mrs. An believed she was acting in the best interest of the entire An Family’s future. She had held the reins of power for all these years, partly because her two older sons and their families were incapable of managing the family enterprise. The other reason was that she was waiting for the day An Zhihan might be cured. Once he was able to continue the family line, she intended to hand power over to him. After all, only with An Zhihan’s business acumen could the An Family hope to remain among the elite of Xiangcheng. Of her three sons, her youngest had always possessed the sharpest mind for business.

’I truly have everyone’s best interests at heart,’ Old Mrs. An thought. She didn’t want to lose two more sons, but she also couldn’t bear to lose her youngest son’s only child.

Mr. Gong sneered. "You don’t want to see them tear each other apart? Lu Yunjuan, you were muddle-headed back then, and you’re still muddle-headed now. If your family wasn’t tearing itself apart, how did your youngest son and his wife die? If your family wasn’t tearing itself apart, why did several of us end up in the hospital? So what you’re saying is, Zhi Han can only take the abuse and never fight back, otherwise it’s ’tearing each other apart,’ is that it? Could you be any more biased?"

"I’m not," Old Mrs. An said hastily. "Cousin, you can’t think of me that way."

"Then how should I think of you?" Mr. Gong raged. "Your youngest son and his wife are dead, and you still say the An Family isn’t tearing itself apart?"

Old Mrs. An didn’t speak, only letting out a deep sigh.

An Zhihan’s expression turned even colder. "Grandma, I cut all ties with the An Family years ago. The An Family had no right to interfere with what I did then, and they have no right now. Just go on pretending you only ever had two sons."

In that moment, the last shred of familial affection An Zhihan held for the An Family was utterly extinguished. He would get justice for his parents’ tragic deaths, and for himself, in his own way.

Old Mrs. An stared at An Zhihan in shock. "Zhi Han, what are you going to do?"

At that instant, an immense panic filled Old Mrs. An’s heart. The feeling that she was about to lose something precious seized her.

’Has my grandson’s heart completely turned away from me?’

’But... I was clearly doing it for his own good!’

"Young Master, please don’t be like this. You’re breaking Old Mrs. An’s heart," Mrs. Lin added sorrowfully.

An Zhihan said coldly, "From this day forward, I am just An Zhihan. I have nothing to do with you or the An Family. So, you should all go home today. I don’t need you to pay for my treatment, and I will return the two million you gave me before. Now, leave."

An Zhihan’s heart was filled with resentment. He just wanted to sever all ties with the An Family and cast aside any bonds of kinship. He would get the justice that was denied back then, along with justice for this new offense.

"Oh, that won’t do." Just as Old Mrs. An was about to speak, Su Qing walked into the main hall with a smile. "This is a transaction between me and Old Mrs. An. You have no right to cancel it, An Zhihan. Besides, why should you be the one to pay for this? Were you the one who planned that car crash all those years ago? Isn’t that right, Old Mrs. An?"

Su Qing looked at Old Mrs. An with a smile, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

’Now I get it,’ she thought. What this Old Mrs. An truly cared about was the An Family’s stability. She’d rather let a wound fester and rot than expose it to the air. Because if it were exposed, she feared the entire An Family would become a laughingstock among Xiangcheng’s high society, and might even be kicked out of the circle of prominent families.

’She has some affection for An Zhihan, but not much.’

"Miss Su Qing." Seeing Su Qing, Old Mrs. An grew uncomfortable. It was ultimately humiliating to have these family matters exposed to an outsider.

"Did you bring the final payment, Old Mrs. An?" Su Qing asked.

"I did." Old Mrs. An was eager to change the subject. The conversation had grown increasingly tense, and she didn’t want to continue. She figured she would find another time to have a proper heart-to-heart with An Zhihan. She took several gold certificates of deposit from the Bank of Beijing out of her purse. "You just need to take these to the bank to make a withdrawal."

To make it easier for Su Qing to withdraw the gold, Old Mrs. An had deliberately split the eight million into several certificates.

When An Zhihan saw Old Mrs. An take out the gold certificates, he was about to say something, but he shut his mouth after Su Qing shot him a glare. Fang Lutian whispered to him from the side, "Zhi Han, listen to Miss Su Qing."

An Zhihan nodded silently. He understood that Su Qing was doing this for his own good and was trying to help him. He had spoken out of bitter disappointment when he said he didn’t want the An Family’s money. But on second thought... ’Yeah, why shouldn’t the An Family pay for this?’

Su Qing took the certificates and pulled an 800-year-old Purple Danshen from her bag, handing it to Mr. Gong. "Grandpa Gong, take a look. Is this it?"

When he saw the Purple Danshen that Su Qing presented, Mr. Gong became visibly excited. He carefully took the stalk and examined it closely. "Yes, that’s right. This is exactly as it’s described in the records."

In fact, it was even a bit better than the one described in his ancestor’s manuscript.

The Purple Danshen Su Qing had produced was the largest of the three she had found. It was well over 800 years old, perhaps even a thousand, which was why the faint golden patterns on it were slightly deeper.

Seeing the Purple Danshen, Old Mrs. An also grew very excited. "Cousin, can this Purple Danshen really help Zhi Han stand again?"

"Yes," Mr. Gong responded coolly. He didn’t feel like engaging with Old Mrs. An right now. ’This cousin of mine,’ he thought, ’is getting more muddled with age. She’s beyond help.’

Mr. Gong’s reaction caused the light in Old Mrs. An’s eyes to dim, and a hint of bitterness touched the corners of her mouth.

Mrs. Lin saw this and her heart ached for her mistress. She began to offer quiet words of comfort, but Old Mrs. An gently waved her hand, wondering to herself, ’Could it be that I was really wrong?’

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