Chapter 556: Chapter 556: Not Obeying Comes with a Price
Old Lady Zhou mentioned the two words "prison cell," and Zhou Xuennianâs face went through various changes. He immediately recalled the miserable days he had spent in prison, the inhuman torture. The whip scars on his body, only just fully healed, seemed to start throbbing with pain again, and it felt like rats and cockroaches were crawling over him...
Zhou Xuennian shivered all over, unwilling to think back on those days, his hands clenched tightly.
What deal had they made for him to be released from prison?
"You donât know? Your wife must know. When she urged you to go to Wufuâs home, didnât she tell you?" Old Lady Zhou glared at Madam Lu with a chilling gaze.
Madam Lu, with a guilty conscience, did not dare meet her mother-in-lawâs eyes.
"We had an agreement," Old Lady Zhou said with a sneer. "Wufu would intercede on your behalf, and in return, we were never to set foot there again. I agreed."
But what are you doing now? Do you think I havenât lost enough face, that I havenât been hit loudly enough, so you want to see me get slapped a few more times, is that it?" Old Lady Zhou went on to say, before breaking into a cough.
Feeling heartache for her, Zhou Xueli patted her back and urged, "Mother, donât be angry, itâs not worth it."
Old Lady Zhou, as if she hadnât heard, looked at her eldest son with disappointment and said, "I wonât say anything else. I just want to ask you, eldest son, do you want to go back to prison and squat there again?"
Zhou Xuennianâs face changed.
"Mother, this... My official position has been stripped, and that matter has been settled. How could I return to prison..." Zhou Xuennian took a deep breath and said.
Old Lady Zhou coughed a few times before saying, "Donât forget how you were released. Do you think if you anger her, she wonât be able to find a pretext to throw you back in prison? Eldest son, Iâm not afraid to tell you, she can find a hundred reasons to deal with you. She doesnât even need a reason, with her connections to that powerful official!"
Zhou Xuennianâs eyes widened, a fear creeping up from his toes and enveloping him completely.
"I, I am her uncle!"
Zhou Xuennian tried to convince himself, uncertain whether he was looking for a reason or something else.
Old Lady Zhou let out a dry laugh, which, to her younger son, sounded unbearably desolate and sad.
"Uncle? In her eyes, what kind of uncle do you consider yourself to be? Are you still deluding yourself? Look at your wife, look at Dajun, after so many lessons, havenât you learned to behave?" Old Lady Zhouâs laugh was filled with desolation as she said, "You all want to reap benefits without considering the risks. Donât you fear losing your lives in the process?"
Zhou Xuennianâs face was grim: "Mother, what have we done to them? Isnât the loss of my position enough?"
"Who can you blame for that?" Old Lady Zhou said with a sneer. "Those were the choices you made yourself, whom can you blame?"
Zhou Xuennian was silenced, bowing his head.
"I told you not to go to their place again, but you disobeyed openly and secretly. Just wait, if you donât listen, you will pay the price, and I hope you can bear it when the time comes!" Old Lady Zhou closed her eyes.
"I donât believe she would dare to kill someone!" Madam Lu couldnât help but blurt out.
Old Lady Zhou glanced at her mockingly and said to Zhou Xuennian, "If you keep listening to your wifeâs pillow talk, one day she will get you killed!"
Madam Luâs face turned pale, and she opened her mouth as if to howl.
"Big brother, mother needs to rest now, donât wail here," Zhou Xueli stepped in before Madam Lu could speak and continued, "Also, Iâm going to be a father soon, so I wonât have free hands. We brothers have divided our household, and I wonât be looking after your lands anymore. Youâll have to learn to farm it yourself!"
What, they had to farm it themselves? Zhou Xuennianâs face truly couldnât look worse, but Zhou Xueli said no more to them.