Chapter 365: Unwilling
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“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Yang Pojun answered expressionlessly, in response to Gue Xuehua question.
Guo Xuehua seemed to have further confirmed her suspicions. She said, “The other day, I bumped into Yang Chen at the orphanage. At that time, I felt that I used to know the young man, as if he was an old friend of mine, but I couldn’t think of who it was and soon dismissed that thought. When I went to beg him to save Lie’er today, again, I was hit with a strange feeling of familiarity… I couldn’t understand why I felt a connection between us, when the fact of the matter was I didn’t know who he is…”
Guo Xuehua let out a pathetic smile. “Only a foolish mother like me would fail to recognize her own son. When I saw you earlier, I suddenly thought, isn’t Yang Chen’s look very similar to yours when you were young? Although his appearance isn’t exactly identical, the contours of his face seemed to be made from the same mold. Your eyes, your noses… look almost entirely the same…”
“Xuehua, you’re overthinking this. It’s merely a coincidence,” Yang Pojun replied while his eyes betrayed his emotions.
Guo Xuehua snorted in disdain. “Coincidence? Yeah, how coincidental. His family name is Yang, and he looks very similar to you. Although we were complete strangers, I felt that he looked extremely familiar the first time I met him… Oh yeah, Sister-In-Law talked to him like he was her relative earlier. How coincidental, that even she should know this young man. Also, when I kneeled down to beg him to save Lie’er, he forbade me from kneeling to him ever again…”
“What?!” Yang Pojun widened his eyes. “You said you kneeled before him?! How could you kneel before your own son?!”
Following his burst of anger, Yang Pojun quickly noticed that he fell into Guo Xuehua’s trap!
Expectedly, elation surfaced in Guo Xuehua’s eyes. She panted so heavily that her chest rapidly inflated and deflated, as if she receiving the news of a newborn. Her body shivered while she stared at Yang Pojun with teary eyes.
“You… you finally admitted it… Yang Chen… Yang Chen… that child really is my son… really…”
The corners of Yang Pojun’s eyes twitched. Gloomily, he said, “So what if that’s the case? His emergence couldn’t have happened at a worst time.”
However, Guo Xuehua completely ignored him. She had been immersed in joy following Yang Pojun’s affirmation. Everything else was secondary to her at that point!
Tears flowed uncontrollably. The son whom she’d been separated from for more than twenty years was still alive to her surprise. Guo Xuehua felt that the grey clouds which overcasted her blue sky earlier were all blown away by the metaphorical wind of the news.
“My… my son… I knew it… I knew that I could find him…”
Guo Xuehua wiped her tears. With a smile on her face, she walked towards the door.
“Where are you going?!” Yang Pojun leaped towards Guo Xuehua and blocked her from leaving the room.
Anxiously, Guo Xuehua yelled, “I’m going to look for Yang Chen! I want to tell him that his Mother has been looking for him for more than twenty years. I want to tell him immediately!”
“Do you think that he’s so oblivious to the fact that you are his mother?” Yang Pojun asked.
Guo Xuehua got stunned. Did he forbid me from kneeling before him because he knew my identity?
“He knows you’re his mother and I’m his father, but the fellow straight-up treated us like strangers. Do you think he’d treat you nicely if you went looking for him?” Yang Pojun followed up with yet another question.
Guo Xuehua held her chest as she felt a heartache coming. After that, she bit her lower lip and took a deep breath. “We’ve abandoned him for twenty years without checking up on him. He’ll hate us for that no doubt, and refuse to acknowledge us as his parents. However, this is a completely different thing with me looking for him. I’ll let him know that my love for him has never waned. For the rest of my life, you can be damned sure that I will make it up to him. So, whether or not he wants to acknowledge me as his mother, I’ll still meet him and tell him the truth.”
Yang Pojun shouted angrily, “Why do you have to be so ignorant! Do you know the consequences that will arise from your actions if you do this?! If outsiders find out that a son popped up in the Yang clan out of nowhere, how are they going to look at us?! When the incident gets exposed, not only will me, you and Father be affected, our entire clan will be humiliated! Do you even grasp the extent of which this will affect us negatively?!”
“Wasn’t this caused by us at the end of the day?! Are you going to ignore your own offspring for the sake of your safety, and treat him like he doesn’t exist?!” Guo Xuehua shouted on top of her lungs.
Arrogantly, Yang Pojun said, “It’s for sake of the Yang clan. For our family’s honor, sacrificing a stupid kid who had been lost for decades is nothing!”
Guo Xuehua was so mad that she started laughing. Looking at her husband who she suddenly felt was like a stranger to her, she said, “Yang Pojun… when have you started behaving this way? You were never like this back then… Back then, you yourself told me that you’d definitely retrieve our child from the orphanage… You were still tearing away in the room when the child was lost… Didn’t you say we’d bring our child home together? Why… why is your main priority only your face and power? Why are you being so shameless for your authority? In your eyes, is it worth sacrificing your own offspring for the clan’s pride? Is it worth being looked down upon by your wife?!”
Slap!
Failing to endure the insults, Yang Pojun slapped Guo Xuehua right cheek forcefully!
Being an ordinary housewife, Guo Xuehua got thrown aside after being slapped by the military expert Yang Pojun, while her right cheek got swollen. Her eyes were red as a result of crying. However, it was soon replaced with astonishment and emptiness. She couldn’t process what had just occurred!
Yang Pojun felt a heartache when he saw his wife’s dull expression, as if she refused to believe what had just happened. Regretful, he walked towards Guo Xuehua and wanted to help her up.
“Xuehua… I… I didn’t do it intentionally…”
“Get away from me!”
Guo Xuehua flung Yang Pojun’s approaching hand away. She staggered her way up and held her swollen, hot cheek. Letting out a mournful yet beautiful smile, she said, “Yang Pojun… we’ve been married for almost 25 years… Ever since i’ve known you, no matter what I did wrong, no matter what I said wrong, you’ve never scolded me before…
“Today, you just hit me because I want to look for my lost son?”
Yang Pojun shut his eyes as he calmed himself down. He muttered, “Xuehua, it’s my fault for hitting you, but you must know the consequences of acknowledging him. My election will come down in shambles! After that, no one from the Yang clan will be able to enter the core of the country for decades. Do you know what this means to the clan? Do you know how many people are relying on our clan? All, every single one of them will lose their support, and suffer from attacks.”
“Do you think I’m so naive that I can’t tell if you are lying? Father-In-Law is very much respected. He has students all over the central government. Even if you fail to become the vice chairman of the military commission, the Yang clan will become stagnant at most, or stop becoming one of the top clans. But so what if that’s the case?” Guo Xuehua snorted in contempt. “No, the main issue is that you are unwilling to part with the authority you have in hand, to let go of the operations in recent years, and to let go of your pride…”
“You!!!”
With his face reddened, Yang Pojun raised his hand up and wanted to slap her again. However, staring at Guo Xuehua who was looking at him with a disdainful smile, he failed to swing his hand down no matter what.
Yang Pojun snorted before turning around to open the door.
Outside the door, Guo Xuehua’s bodyguards Little Wen and Little Li had been waiting. They could vaguely hear the argument within the room, so they were rather worried.
“Chief!”
Upon seeing Yang Pojun, the two instantly greeted him.
Yang Pojun said to the two ladies, “Bring Madam back to our compound. From today onwards, unless I have given my express permission, Madam is not allowed to communicate with the outside world, nor is she allowed to leave the house. Fulfill her requests as much as possible. Report to me if someone wants to see Madam. If I refuse, no one is allowed to meet her!”
“Yang Pojun! You can’t do this!!! I want to meet Yang Chen!!!” Guo Xuehua shouted loudly when she realised that Yang Pojun wanted to lock her up to prevent her from seeing Yang Chen.
Little Wen and Little Li looked at each other as they felt troubled, but soon nodded and replied, “Yes.”
Although they were Guo Xuehua’s personal bodyguards, they were first and foremost, female soldiers under Yang Pojun’s command. Soldiers had to follow orders at the end of the day.
Yang Pojun turned his head to look at his wife whose eyes were filled with dissatisfaction and resentment. At last, he turned back before striding to leave in an indifferent manner.
“Madam, let’s go back,” Little Wen said mournfully. Although they weren’t aware of why their chief made this decision, no matter how much pity they felt for Guo Xuehua, they still had to follow orders to restrain her.
Guo Xuehua seemed like she heard nothing. She soon lost the energy to stand. Absentmindedly, she sat onto the ground before muttering something which no one could hear.