Chapter 1348: AT THE SHEN HOUSEHOLD

"HOW dare your son do this?" Shen Wang Ji’s voice boomed through the study as he glared at his wife. "To humiliate me like this! He even let that boy under his care play pretend like him, and—I can’t even bring myself to say it!"

Wu Meixiu looked at her husband and let out a quiet sigh. She picked up the tea cup in front of her and took a sip before responding. "That son is also your son. Though judging by the way you’ve been acting, I’m starting to believe I conceived Ah Mu all by myself. And the one you’re calling a ’boy’ is named Ji Yun. He’s your grandson. He and Ah Mu aren’t playing pretend. That’s simply who they are, and—"

"Stop!" Shen Wang Ji cut her off, his temper flaring. He couldn’t figure out how his wife could stay so calm through all of this. He could barely bring himself to picture Shen Yi Mu with another man, let alone Shen Ji Yun with another boy. "It’s not right," he said firmly. "It’s abnormal."

When his youngest son had told him about his particular... affliction last Lunar New Year, Shen Wang Ji could barely believe it. He had been so angry that his heart nearly gave out. For a while, he tried to convince himself it had all been some feverish nightmare. But when he tried calling Shen Yi Mu the next day and got no response, he knew it was real.

He had wanted to disinherit the bastard, erase him from the family registry entirely, but his wife had stopped him. Now he found himself regretting it. Maybe if he had gone through with it, he wouldn’t have to deal with this new humiliation. Word of what had happened at that party last night was already starting to spread through their social circles. The shame of it burned.

This was exactly why that boy should have been placed under Shen Yi Wu’s care. If he had grown up with his eldest son’s family, he would have developed a normal outlook on life. But because he had been raised by Shen Yi Mu, his perspective had been warped. Shen Wang Ji didn’t particularly care for the boy, but the child was still of his blood. He would have preferred him to live a normal life rather than this. Once again, he could only place the blame on his youngest son.

Hearing her husband label their youngest son and grandson as ’abnormal’ finally made Wu Meixiu’s own temper flare. She set her teacup down with a quiet clink and fixed Shen Wang Ji with a cold stare.

"There’s nothing abnormal about falling in love. It just so happens that Ah Mu and Xiao Yun fell for people of the same sex."

"Hah!" Shen Wang Ji let out a sharp scoff. "Fall in love? Don’t dress up something so disgraceful as romance. I can’t even understand how you can be so accepting of this."

"Maybe because acceptance is what a parent is supposed to give their children and grandchildren," Wu Meixiu said in a sharp voice. "But I suppose you wouldn’t know anything about that. The only thing that matters to you is the family’s reputation and how things affect your standing in politics." She slowly rose from her seat. "We are already this old, Wang Ji, and yet your view of the world is still so narrow."

Shen Wang Ji stared at his wife, momentarily at a loss for words. He didn’t understand where all of this was coming from. She had always been a calm, quiet woman. The kind who stayed in the background and let him handle things. Now she was speaking to him like he was the one who didn’t know how the world worked. It angered him. But beneath that anger, something else stirred. A small, unfamiliar feeling. Almost like he was losing something he didn’t even know he had. He pushed the feeling down and straightened in his chair and refused to let any of it show.

"Where are you going?" he asked as his wife turned and started walking towards the study door.

"To my greenhouse." Wu Meixiu paused and glanced back at him. "Wang Ji, if you can’t accept Ah Mu and Xiao Yun, then leave them alone. Don’t interfere with their lives. If you try anything—anything at all—that would hurt them, I won’t hesitate to divorce you. Remember that."

The look of shock on Shen Wang Ji’s face would have been almost satisfying if Wu Meixiu hadn’t felt so sad. She opened the door and stepped out. And there, just a few paces away, stood her eldest son. The expression on his face made it clear that he had heard every word she just said.

"Do you really mean that, Mother?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I do."

"But why?" Shen Yi Wu asked, clearly struggling to understand. "You’ve been married to Father for nearly fifty years. Why would you want to leave now?"

"Because it’s the only threat that might actually get through to him," Wu Meixiu said, her voice heavy with sadness.

Shen Yi Wu understood then. His mother was doing this to protect his brother and nephew. He didn’t know how to feel about that. Angry, maybe. Or frustrated. Probably both.

"Are you regretting marrying Father now?" he asked, the words slipping out before he could stop them.

"Oh my dear boy, if I regretted it, I wouldn’t have three beautiful sons," Wu Meixiu said with a smile that soon turned to sadness. "If there’s one thing I do regret, it’s that I stayed quiet for so long in our marriage. If I had spoken up more, pushed back against him, maybe it wouldn’t have driven Ah Zhu away. He might... he might still be here with us. And Ah Mu wouldn’t have been so afraid to be himself. And you, Ah Wu, your father might not have shaped you into a copy of him." She placed a gentle hand on her eldest son’s cheek. "Try not to take your father’s words as absolute truth, Ah Wu."

And with that, she walked away.

Shen Yi Wu watched his mother’s thin back. He could see the sadness in the way she walked. His throat felt tight, but he couldn’t say anything. He just stood there and watched her go.

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