Chapter 191

Chapter 191: I Want to See Fu Yuanzhou Jiang Shixu stood outside the door listening for a while, but in the end, he still didn't go in. The sky was overcast, and a light, continuous drizzle began to fall. Jiang Shixu walked to the hospital entrance, looked up at the oppressive, gloomy sky, his thoughts drifting. He and Chu Tang might truly never have a future together anymore. Jiang Yi, his father, was only fifty-two years old and was about to leave this world. When he was five, the news of Jiang Yi's illegitimate child was exposed. His mother had made a huge scene demanding a divorce from Jiang Yi, but in the end, under pressure from the elders of both families, the divorce never went through. At five years old, he was already old enough to remember things. Those bad memories had already taken root in his heart. He clearly remembered all the grievances his mother had suffered, the image of her hiding alone in her room crying, every argument between his parents, and the disgust that flickered in Jiang Yi's eyes. He knew that Jiang Yi didn't love his mother, and he didn't love him either. Jiang Shixu had never felt a father's love since he was young. Growing up, his relationship with Jiang Yi had never been close. He had thought that when Jiang Yi died, he definitely wouldn't be sad. But now that the moment had actually come, he realized he couldn't remain indifferent at all. Not far away, a middle-aged man, holding a little boy in one arm and an umbrella in the other, was hurrying toward the hospital entrance. Soon, the man walked up beside Jiang Shixu. At the hospital entrance, the man closed his umbrella, lowered his head, and gently coaxed the little boy in his arms: "Baby, don't cry. Daddy's taking you to see the doctor. It won't hurt soon." Jiang Shixu's heart trembled. His gaze seemed glued to them, unable to look away. The little boy looked only one or two years old, tiny and small. The man was wearing a factory uniform, dark blue, with the factory's name embroidered on the chest. Jiang Shixu noticed the man's hands—rough and dark, covered in calluses. Yet with those rough hands, he held the little boy with the utmost gentleness, radiating deep fatherly love. His weathered face was filled with anxiety and worry. Jiang Shixu had almost never seen such an expression on Jiang Yi's face. Oh, no, that wasn't right. He had seen it once. That year, Jiang Yi brought Fu Yuanzhou back to the country and begged his grandparents to let Fu Yuanzhou be recognized as a member of the family. His grandparents refused, not even letting them through the door. So Jiang Yi knelt at the entrance, holding Fu Yuanzhou, and refused to get up. The weather that day was just like today. Overcast, heavy and suffocating, making it hard to breathe. Soon it began to rain. Jiang Yi took off his jacket and covered Fu Yuanzhou's head with it, shielding him from the wind and rain. But Fu Yuanzhou still got wet and caught a chill, developing a fever. The anxious look on Jiang Yi's face was exactly the same as that father's. Jiang Shixu watched silently, his chest aching dully. The man hurried away with the child in his arms. Jiang Shixu withdrew his gaze and looked at the vast curtain of rain before him. A few young girls at the entrance were blushing and stealing glances at him from time to time, whispering among themselves. Jiang Shixu paid no attention to any of it. He stepped forward into the vast rain. ... Nightfall, Jiang Shixu's base. "Young Master, we've already located the position of Fu Nian's grave," Lu Ze stood before Jiang Shixu and reported in a low voice. "Fu Yuanzhou had a cemetery specially built for Fu Nian in a remote village in Licheng, Country A." Lu Ze handed the document folder to Jiang Shixu. "This village was where Fu Nian and Fu Yuanzhou first settled when they arrived in Country A. They lived there for five years, and Fu Nian also died there." Jiang Shixu opened the document folder. It was a thick stack. Inside were photos of the wooden cabin they had lived in, as well as some old photos of Fu Yuanzhou and Fu Nian. Lu Ze said, "This cabin was where Fu Yuanzhou and Fu Nian lived at the time. Over the years, Fu Yuanzhou has always had people cleaning it." "According to the cleaner, the locals don't have a burial tradition—the dead are cremated. After Fu Nian died, the villagers cremated her, and Fu Yuanzhou collected some of her ashes and set up a memorial tablet. When Fu Nian died, Fu Yuanzhou didn't yet have the means to build her a cemetery. The cemetery was built later as a cenotaph—what's buried there are some of Fu Nian's clothes and jewelry." "Later, Fu Yuanzhou traveled to many places, but Fu Nian's ashes remained in that wooden cabin. He even had people stationed there to guard it, and every year on Fu Nian's birthday and death anniversary, he would return to pay his respects." "Did you dig up the grave and check?" Jiang Shixu's tone when he said this was as casual as asking what he'd eaten today, but if one looked closely, they could see the fierce, sinister coldness gleaming in the man's eyes. Lu Ze replied, "We checked. It is indeed a cenotaph." "What about Fu Nian's ashes?" Jiang Shixu's dark eyes churned with ink-black emotion, his mood obscure and unreadable. "They've been brought back." Lu Ze made a gesture to his subordinate. The subordinate immediately ran out, and in no time, came back in holding a black urn. Lu Ze took the urn from the subordinate's hands. "Young Master, these are Fu Nian's ashes." Jiang Shixu stared at the urn in Lu Ze's hands, his dark eyes deep as the sea. That woman, Fu Nian, had come to his mother's doorstep over twenty years ago, pregnant with a bastard child, to force her into submission while his mother had not yet finished her month of postpartum confinement. It drove his mother into postpartum depression and nearly drove her to jump off a building. She had turned the Jiang family into a chaotic mess. Over twenty years later, her bastard child had once again thrown the Jiang family into complete turmoil. Everything Fu Yuanzhou had done to the Ruan family and the Jiang family was for revenge. All to vent on behalf of Fu Nian. Since he was so filial, then if he found out that his own mother's grave had been dug up, wouldn't he be utterly devastated? He had nearly killed Tangtang and had instructed Xu Jingxuan to poison Jiang Yi. So wouldn't it be only fitting to scatter his mother's ashes right in front of his face? A cold smirk curled at the corner of Jiang Shixu's lips. "I want to see Fu Yuanzhou." ... After putting in a word with the relevant parties and going through some formal procedures, Jiang Shixu was brought before Fu Yuanzhou. Fu Yuanzhou was currently in custody, awaiting the court's verdict. His case was complex—beyond attempted murder, it involved multiple other major crimes. The Jiang family had applied pressure, specifically instructing that Fu Yuanzhou's case be investigated and prosecuted with the full severity of the law. At this moment. In a small, cramped room, a dim light flickered overhead. Fu Yuanzhou sat across from Jiang Shixu, his hands cuffed and his feet shackled.