Stealing ML’s White Moonlight C09

Chapter 9

At noon the next day, after school, Shen Lihuan returned home and immediately noticed that everyone was sitting in the living room, and the atmosphere was extremely gloomy.

She raised her eyes to scan their expressions and, sensing the mood, wisely remained silent. She simply sat quietly beside her parents.

Seeing his daughter return, Shen Jiashu forced a rather unsightly smile. “Lihuan, you’re back. Are you hungry? Let’s eat first.”

Lunch passed in an oppressive silence.

After the meal, Shen Lihuan quietly followed her parents back to the master bedroom. Gu Qinglan gently explained everything that had happened, and only then did Shen Lihuan understand the situation.

It turned out that after nearly two months of being bedridden and almost suffocating from inactivity, Shen Jiashu and his wife, now finished with rehabilitation, had gone hand in hand for a walk in the garden.

“Eighteen years have passed, and this garden has changed so much,” Shen Jiashu remarked as he looked around, filled with emotion.

However, when he saw purple lilies planted in the flowerbed just a meter away from the grape trellis, his pupils instantly darkened. A storm seemed to rage within them. His hands clenched into fists so tightly that the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

“I remember there used to be a bed of tulips here. They were Mother’s favorite. After she passed, my brother and I often came here to see the tulips she had tended. Even after they wilted, we would always plant new ones in their place. I never expected them to be replaced with purple lilies.”

Sensing her husband’s sorrow and anger, Gu Qinglan held his hand.

Shen Jiashu’s fingers twitched, but then he intertwined them with his wife’s and shook his head at her. He was no longer the little boy who had lost his mother and could do nothing but rage and yell at his father’s lovers.

Things had changed. His father had always been a sentimental yet cold-hearted man. Their mother had been gone for so many years—aside from her children, who else would still think of her? He just hadn’t expected that even the last remnant of her memory would be erased.

Suppressing his anger, Shen Jiashu returned to the living room and summoned the butler, who had been with the Shen family for over thirty years. Surely, he would know what had happened.

“Uncle Wu, you’ve been with the Shen family for over thirty years. Tell me, why were the tulips next to the grape trellis replaced with purple lilies?”

At that moment, Shen Zhongyuan and Liang Yinqiu were also in the living room. Hearing this, the butler instinctively glanced in their direction.

Shen Jiashu naturally caught this movement. He turned to Shen Zhongyuan with suspicion. “Dad, this has something to do with you?”

Liang Yinqiu, who was usually all smiles, couldn’t muster one now. After all, this matter involved her too.

Shen Zhongyuan remained unbothered, leisurely taking a sip of tea before speaking slowly. “I destroyed the tulips. It’s not a big deal. Did you really need to ask Uncle Wu about it?”

“Not a big deal?” Shen Jiashu’s chest heaved with suppressed fury. “Those were the tulips Mother planted! Do you have any idea what they meant to my brother and me?”

If not for the fact that Shen Zhongyuan was his father, he would have wanted to shout at him.

Years ago, Shen Jiashu’s mother and Shen Zhongyuan had married for business rather than love. She was a virtuous wife and mother, but once the honeymoon phase ended, Shen Zhongyuan grew bored of her. He started keeping mistresses outside and rarely came home.

It wasn’t until three years into their marriage that Shen Jiashu’s mother first became pregnant. However, one of Shen Zhongyuan’s mistresses, an ambitious woman who was also carrying his child, showed up at the Shen residence, flaunting her pregnancy and demanding that Shen Jiashu’s mother step aside.

Devastated by this betrayal, Shen Jiashu’s mother lost her unborn child, who was less than three months along. When Shen Zhongyuan found out, he had the mistress’s pregnancy terminated as well—not because he cared for his wife, but because he would not allow any woman to challenge the status of his legal wife.

The miscarriage damaged her health, and it wasn’t until four years later that she gave birth to their eldest son, Shen Jiayi. Five years after that, she bore Shen Jiashu. But the emotional toll of her husband’s neglect and betrayal weighed heavily on her, leading to her early death.

At the time, Shen Jiayi was fourteen, and Shen Jiashu was nine.

Without their mother, and with their father constantly surrounded by a rotating cast of women, the brothers suffered through difficult times. Fortunately, Shen Jiashu had Shen Jiayi to protect him, ensuring that he never suffered too much.

Because of this, the bond between the brothers was deep. Even when Shen Jiayi later told him, “Little brother, take Qinglan and leave the Imperial Capital. Never come back,” Shen Jiashu didn’t resent him.

He knew his brother was looking out for him. At the time, if he hadn’t taken Qinglan away, she might not have survived.

But Shen Jiashu still resented his father’s coldness. His mother had endured so much for this marriage, yet in the end, she meant nothing to Shen Zhongyuan. Even Liang Yinqiu, who had only recently married into the family, was treated with more regard than she ever was.

Sensing his son’s anger, Shen Zhongyuan lifted his heavy eyelids. His son was excellent in every way, except that he was too sentimental. His mother had been dead for years, yet he still clung to the past.

“It’s just a patch of tulips. You’re making a big deal out of nothing, just like your brother.” Shen Zhongyuan shook his head. “Back then, when your sister-in-law married in, your brother was too focused on the company and neglected her. Not only that, but he had time to talk to the tulips, yet not to his wife. She became hysterical. So, I burned those tulips.”

Hearing this, Shen Jiashu could no longer hold back. He slammed his fists onto the table, his eyes bloodshot.

Shen Zhongyuan met his gaze without flinching. Shen Jiashu let out a sharp laugh. “Fine, fine. Very well.”

Just as the father and son were locked in their standoff, Shen Lihuan returned, and the rest unfolded as expected.

Shen Lihuan thought for a moment. If she outright told her father, “Grandpa and Aunt-in-law are in an incestuous relationship,” he might not even believe her. Even she found it ridiculous. It would be better for her father to discover the truth himself.

So, she casually remarked, “Grandpa is really good to Aunt-in-law. Since Uncle neglected her, Grandpa even burned Grandma’s tulips for her. No wonder, at dinner the other day, I saw Aunt-in-law tenderly picking food for Grandpa with her own chopsticks. With Grandpa treating her so well, it’s only natural that she takes care of him in return.”

Originally staring out the window in a daze, Shen Jiashu immediately turned to scrutinize her. Shen Lihuan pretended not to notice and instead chatted with Gu Qinglan about amusing incidents at school.

…

The banquet date was set for July 27th, and invitations had already been sent out. Shen Jiashu gave Shen Lihuan a dozen blank invitations, allowing her to invite her close friends.

After some thought, Shen Lihuan selected a few invitations. She got along well with her classmates, but compared to Chang Qing, they were just acquaintances. So, she decided not to invite too many of them.

After handing out the invitations, delighting her classmates, Shen Lihuan finally took out the most exquisite invitation and presented it to You Changqing.

“Dear Miss You, may I have the honor of inviting you to my banquet?”

As she spoke, Shen Lihuan leaned against the wall, one arm braced against it, effectively trapping You Changqing in her embrace. Her roguish smile was more dazzling than the sun.

You Changqing, who was five centimeters shorter than Shen Lihuan, had to tilt her head up to meet her gaze. Initially, she had been annoyed that she hadn’t received an invitation while others had. But now she realized that the most beautiful invitation had been reserved for her.

Her cold facade finally cracked, and she accepted the invitation with a soft smile.

“Since you’re being so sincere, I suppose I’ll give you a chance.”

You Changqing was born into an aristocratic family, and elegance was in her very bones. As she lifted her delicate chin and swept her alluring gaze over Shen Lihuan with an air of arrogance, Shen Lihuan felt her heart skip a beat.

Changqing was truly beautiful, she thought, her lips unconsciously curving into a gentle smile.