Blood trickled down Lu Shiyan's forehead. He stared at me, clutching the vase, in disbelief, his bloodshot eyes brimming with pain.
"You actually..."
Before he could finish, his body collapsed with a thud.
This was my first time doing something like this, and panicked, I rushed to Lu Yanchen. "Are you okay?"
Lu Yanchen looked at Lu Shiyan lying on the ground, then back at me. "I'm fine."
He called Shen Ji over and said calmly, "Take him to the hospital."
"Yes."
Shen Ji was tall and could easily carry Lu Shiyan.
Seeing me panicking as I stared at the blood dripping from Lu Shiyan, he pulled me into his arms. "Don't be afraid. He's not dead, just a few injuries."
I squeezed my eyes shut, trembling slightly in his arms.
After experiencing my own and Huang Ying's deaths, I was terrified of this matter. Although I wanted Lu Shiyan to get his comeuppance, it wasn't the kind of death I'd achieved by bashing him with a vase.
After I calmed down, Lu Yanchen asked, "Why did you throw the vase at him?"
"I didn't think too much about it. He's a grown man, and if he wanted to hurt a helpless, disabled person, anyone would have stopped him," I said, still terrified.
If I had really beaten Lu Shiyan to death, I'd have murder on my hands, and any chance of revenge would have been gone.
I must never be so impulsive again!
But at that moment, I was acting completely on instinct. By the time I realized what was happening, Lu Shiyan had already collapsed.
Lu Yanchen hugged me tightly. "Whatever the reason, I'm really happy you did this."
What was he happy about?
Did I not bash Lu Shiyan to death?
Still terrified, I returned to my room and listened to Lu Yanchen ask about Lu Shiyan's injuries. After a while, Father Lu came in furious. "Lu Yanchen, you're not the only one with the surname Lu in this Lu family. It's not your turn to call the shots. My son was already seriously ill and undergoing treatment, and you were so cruel to injure him!"
"Brother, don't worry. I was the one who hit Little Lu. There's a reason..."
Father Lu's face was stern. "I don't care what the reason is. You should save your explanation for Grandpa!"
Although there was a reason, there have been constant turmoil since I married into the Lu family.
Grandpa certainly loves me, mostly because I look like Su Wan.
After all, Lu Shiyan is his grandson, and he's definitely not going to swallow the blows he's suffered one after another.
When I came down, I met his furious eyes, and Bai Lan was there to soothe him. "Dad, don't get yourself sick with anger. Drink some tea first."
She handed the teacup to the old man, who flipped it over, sending it crashing down at my feet, spilling tea leaves all over the floor and even onto my slippers.
Luckily, it was winter; if it were summer, my calves would have been splashed with hot water.
The old man flew into a rage, and I was trying to figure out how to explain it.
Lu Yanchen took my hand and said, "Dad, it's just a small matter. It's not worth getting yourself sick with anger."
"Small matter?"
"Shi Yan's head was broken!"
The old man had been holding some resentment towards me, and it all boiled over today.
"Wanwan, I thought you were a smart, well-behaved child, and I had high hopes for you. But soon after you married into the Lu family, you were constantly stirring up trouble. I don't know what Shi Yan did to you, and why do you hate him so much?"
One or two times might be coincidences, but repeated incidents would naturally raise the old man's suspicions. Honestly, I hate him, but this was a complete accident.
I was about to speak when Lu Yanchen bluntly said, "Police investigations are based on cause and effect. The evidence is irrefutable, yet you've just convicted her. Why didn't you ask her why she did it?"
I finally began to explain, "Xiao Lu and Yanchen were arguing. Xiao Lu wanted to hit Yanchen, and Shen Ji wasn't there. In a moment of desperation, I wanted to help, so I just picked up a vase..."
"Just by chance? That's easy to say. If there had been a knife on the table, wouldn't you have stabbed it?"
Bai Lan had finally caught me. This was her chance to reclaim Mrs. Lu's power.
She deliberately fanned the flames, knowing full well that the old man wanted to rule over his grandson. But she underestimated my resolve. I looked at her. "So? I was just supposed to stand by and watch?"
"Forget Yanchen being my husband. Even if he was just a stranger, I would never let Lu Shiyan hurt a powerless disabled person! I'm a woman, and he could easily push me to the ground. In that situation, how could I stop him if I didn't?"
At this point, I burst into tears. "Dad, I know I was a little impulsive, but I was also too anxious. If you want to punish me, punish me. This has nothing to do with Yanchen."
"I just hope you don't forget that Lu Shiyan is your grandson, and Yanchen is your son. He's just older than Lu Shiyan, not even a few years older. He belongs to a special group. Lu Shiyan bullied him, and he felt wronged. If I wasn't there, would he just sit there, defenseless, letting Lu Shiyan beat him at will?"
My tears instantly portrayed both of us as pitiful. The old man's gaze fell on Lu Yanchen. I'd noticed long ago that he favored Lu Shiyan.
It's human nature. Lu Yanchen's maturity and composure made people overlook his needs and age.
The saying "crying child gets candy" applies everywhere.
But the fact that Lu Yanchen was still disabled despite his young age was indisputable.
The old man asked, "How are you? Are you hurt?"
"Not yet," he said coldly.
"If Wanwan hadn't stopped me, I might have been the one in the hospital right now."
He glanced coldly at Lu's father and Bai Lan. Both knew they were in the wrong. Bai Lan asked unwillingly, "Shiyan has been so well behaved lately. If it weren't for what you did, how could such a polite child like him hit an elder?"
"Since sister-in-law thinks this is my fault, why don't we wait for Lu Shiyan to come back and ask him?"
I was actually quite curious; I didn't hear clearly at the time what the argument was about.
Lu Shiyan returned shortly afterwards, his forehead bandaged. The snow melted from his coat, and the first thing he looked at upon entering was me.
His expression was so complex, a mixture of loss and recovery, joy, and pain...
Could he have guessed my identity?
That was unlikely, considering he was such a fool. Besides, who in the world would believe in something as outrageous as reincarnation?
"Okay, Shiyan, you're back just in time. Tell me what happened? What did your uncle do that made you so impulsive as to hit him?" Bai Lan asked.
Lu Shiyan stared intently at my face, then stepped towards me.
Under his intense gaze, my heart trembled, as if he were about to reveal some unspeakable secret.
He stared into my eyes and spoke word by word, "Because my uncle took something that was originally mine, and that thing was very important to me!"
My heart was beating fast. Had Lu Shiyan really guessed it? The people around me were confused. "What did my uncle take from you?"
Lu Shiyan stared at me, his voice choking with sobs, "He took from me..."