Ji Jianhui quickly ran up to Mrs. Ji and shamelessly hugged her thigh.
"Grandma, please. Hui'er wants his mother."
No matter how hard - hearted Mrs. Ji was, this was her own grandson after all. Moreover, the little baby was just too cute. With his chubby face turned towards her and his big, bright eyes, it was impossible to resist.
Mrs. Ji finally softened her heart and sighed.
"Look at the mess you've made. Even the old matriarch has been so angry that she's fallen ill. If I'd known this would happen, you might as well not have come back."
Ji Jianhui stepped forward gracefully and curtsied.
"Madam, Hui'er's father also needs his mother."
Mrs. Ji's heart was instantly shattered by this sentence.
She looked at the two people in the hall and waved her hand. "Fine, fine. I won't interfere anymore."
Master Ji was also in a difficult position. The concubine of his second son had now become the wife of his eldest son. If this got out, people would laugh their heads off.
Zhao Luoning knew their difficulties and said, "I'll go and persuade the Second Master. And please be patient, Big Brother and Miss Ning. After all, we've just rejected the Wu family. Even for the sake of the Wu family's face, it's not suitable for you two to go public now. Miss Ning has already moved into the mansion, so it won't hurt to wait a while."
Zhao Luoning knew exactly what Ning Ruonian was thinking. Since she'd already given birth to a child, it was only natural for her to want to marry into the Ji family properly.
It was just that these two had been so reckless.
At the moment, she didn't have a better solution. She could only stall for time. It would be much easier to deal with their matter after she'd settled things with Ji Shisu.
Hearing her say this, Master Ji and Mrs. Ji could only nod. At the same time, they ordered everyone in the mansion to keep their mouths shut. No one was allowed to leak the news.
After dealing with all this, Master Ji and Mrs. Ji left. They still had to discuss how to apologize to the Wu family.
Finally, the chaotic scene came to a halt.
Zhao Luoning went to report to the old matriarch and then led Ji Shijun, Ning Ruonian and their son out of Cihua Courtyard.
After leaving Cihua Courtyard, Ji Jianhui hugged Ning Ruonian's neck and asked in a childish voice, "Mommy, you won't be driven away, right?"
Ji Shijun frowned. "Who said your mommy was going to be driven away?"
Ji Jianhui pointed his little finger at Caixue beside Zhao Luoning.
Zhao Luoning stepped forward and said, "It was my idea."
Ji Shijun got angry. "How could you use a child?!"
Actually, Ning Ruonian had wanted to bring Jianhui out at first, but Ji Shijun had disagreed.
In his opinion, using a child to achieve one's own goals was truly unworthy of being a father.
Now, hearing Ji Shijun blame her sister, Ning Ruonian also got angry.
"How could you scold my sister?!"
Ji Shijun: "… Nian'er, when did I scold her?"
"Raising your voice is not allowed either!"
Ji Shijun: "…"
In the end, Ji Shijun could only carry the child away first. Zhao Luoning also sent Caixue away, leaving some space for the two sisters to talk alone.
"Sister, I'm sorry. I've caused you trouble today."
"So you know you've caused me trouble." Zhao Luoning unceremoniously flicked Ning Ruonian on the forehead.
Ning Ruonian reached out and touched her forehead. Her eyes gradually welled up with tears.
This startled Zhao Luoning.
"Did I hit you too hard? Does it hurt?"
Ning Ruonian shook her head. "Sister, I've dreamed many times that you were angry with me for not coming back and flicked my head."
"I wanted to do more than just flick you. I even wanted to give you a good beating! What exactly happened back then? Why didn't you tell me when you came back? Why did you have to be so mysterious?!"
Ning Ruonian lowered her head. Her voice was full of guilt. "I was too ashamed to face you, sister."
"What happened to that fire back then?"
"At that time, I hated the Zhao family, and Shijun hated the Ji family too."
"So you just abandoned us, pretended to be burned to death in the fire and eloped with Ji Shijun?!"
"No… it wasn't an elopement." Ning Ruonian quickly explained, "Sister, I really couldn't hold on anymore at that time. I begged and clung to Shijun to take me away."
Zhao Luoning understood what Ning Ruonian meant.
During that period, not to mention her, Zhao Luoning felt that she was on the verge of breaking down.
She'd wanted to leave back then, leave the Zhao family, this hell.
This thought had persisted for more than a decade, and she was still working on this plan even now.
"You could have just disappeared like Ji Shijun did. Why did you have to set the fire and pretend to be dead, and even try to burn the Second Lady to death?"
"I really wished I could burn her to death!" When talking about Mrs. Zhao the Second, Ning Ruonian's eyes were filled with hatred. "That woman is so insidious and cunning. She's harmed us so many times. I wished I could cut her into pieces! I only hated that I was too young and too weak at that time. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let her escape!"
As she spoke, Ning Ruonian rolled up her sleeve, revealing a long and shocking wound on her arm.
"What happened?!"
"This was burned by that woman with a fire - tong. She also said she was going to disfigure both of us sisters."
Zhao Luoning looked at the shocking wound and couldn't imagine how the Second Lady could be so cruel.
Seeing the pity in Zhao Luoning's eyes, Ning Ruonian quickly put down her sleeve.
She didn't want her sister to worry.
Ning Ruonian continued, "At that time, I only thought that even if I had to die, I would drag her to hell with me. So I set fire to the firewood pile and hugged that woman, wanting to die with her. That woman was stronger than me. She kicked me into the fire. The scar on my leg was from that fire. After she ran out, she locked the door. If Shijun hadn't jumped through the window to save me, I would have died in that fire."
"The Second Lady wanted to kill you. Why didn't you come back and find us? Father could have stood up for you!"
"I was knocked unconscious by the smoke from the fire and didn't wake up until the third day. When I woke up, I found out that I'd been removed from the Zhao family register. Sister, do you think Father would believe me or the Second Lady?"
Zhao Luoning fell silent.
Being bullied but having nowhere to turn for help and having to swallow one's anger.
Wasn't this always the situation of their eldest branch?
"Luoyu, sister has the ability to protect you now. Since you're back, sister will avenge you."
Ning Ruonian held Zhao Luoning's hand and said gently, "Sister, I'll take my own revenge. I also have the ability to protect you. You don't have to take everything on yourself."
Eldest Brother was simple - minded. So since childhood, as the eldest sister, Zhao Luoning had always taken on the most responsibilities. Ning Ruonian didn't have much affection for her eldest brother or her mother.
One only caused trouble, and the other only chanted Buddhist scriptures.
But towards Zhao Luoning, she always felt guilty in her heart.
Zhao Luoning pretended to be angry and slapped the back of her hand. "You still say you can protect me. You didn't even tell me when you came back. You even pretended to be Ning Ruonian!"
"Sister, I had my own difficulties."