RMM – Chapter 64 Return to the Zhengjia Courtyard

The next day, as soon as Xi Yuechen and Su Ruo woke up, they headed straight for the Zhengjia Courtyard.

Seeing his elder brother and Su Ruo return home so early, Xi Yuehui instantly knew they were here to talk about what had happened two days ago. Realizing the atmosphere was unlikely to be pleasant, he immediately fell silent and tried his best to blend into the background, hoping not to get dragged into it.

Shen Liang was surprised to see her son and daughter-in-law show up early in the morning. She quickly arranged for extra breakfast and examined their expressions closely. “Nothing happened, right?”

As it turned out, Shen Liang’s intuition was spot on.

“It’s nothing serious. We just have something to talk to you about later. Let’s eat first,” Xi Yuechen replied smoothly, seeing Su Ruo force a dry laugh without speaking.

Still suspicious, Shen Liang glanced at the two and instructed Xi Yuehui to go find Xi Jian’an in the garden. Turning back, she said again, “As long as it’s not serious, that’s good.”

That sentence made Su Ruo’s heart skip a beat. This… shouldn’t count as something serious, right?

All this time, Su Ruo had kept her hands hidden behind her back. Just as she moved them forward, Shen Liang spotted them.

“Ruo Ruo, what happened to your hands?!” Shen Liang cried out when she saw both hands wrapped tightly in white gauze.

“It’s nothing, Mom. I just accidentally cut myself on some glass. Bled a bit, that’s all,” Su Ruo quickly reassured her upon seeing how worried she looked.

“Wrapped like this and you say it’s nothing? That must be serious! How did it happen? Does it hurt?” Shen Liang held Su Ruo’s hands gently, her face full of concern.

“I’m really fine, Mom. Don’t worry. Let’s eat breakfast first, okay? I’ll explain everything afterward.” If she explained now, there’d be no way to enjoy breakfast.

Shen Liang still wanted to ask more, but Su Ruo nudged her into the dining room with her elbow, insisting they eat first.

Xi Jian’an came in and naturally noticed Su Ruo’s hands. “What happened to Ruo girl’s hands?”

“It’s nothing, Dad. Just a small cut from glass. The bandaging just makes it look worse than it is,” Su Ruo hastily explained.

“Let’s eat first and talk after,” Xi Yuechen added. Hearing this, Xi Jian’an sat down, though his expression still held some worry.

Once Xi Jian’an was seated, Shen Liang stopped asking and also sat down. The others followed suit.

Breakfast began in silence. Xi Yuechen had bandaged Su Ruo’s hands in a much neater, simpler way today—just enough to cover the wounds while leaving her fingers free, so she could still hold a spoon and eat porridge without too much trouble.

As usual, after eating, Xi Jian’an would normally head out to work, but today he didn’t seem in a hurry. Instead, he remained seated, sipping tea.

“Dad, is work not too busy today? Can you stay a bit longer?”

“Mhm. What’s going on? Just say it.” Xi Jian’an answered in a deep voice and stood, walking into the living room to sit on the sofa.

Seeing this, Shen Liang also stood and followed him, saying, “Go on, what’s this all about early in the morning, being so mysterious?”

Su Ruo followed Xi Yuechen to the living room and sat beside her in-laws.

Xi Yuehui stayed behind in the dining room, cautiously clearing the table while sneaking glances toward the living room.

“The day before yesterday… something happened to Ruo Ruo…”

“What happened?!” Shen Liang interrupted urgently before Xi Yuechen could finish.

“Mom, I’m fine! Look, I’m sitting here perfectly okay,” Su Ruo quickly tried to calm her.

Glancing at Su Ruo’s smiling face, Xi Yuechen continued, “She was kidnapped.”

Hearing this, Xi Yuehui in the background immediately sped up and ducked into the kitchen, pressing his ear to the door to listen.

“What?! Kidnapped?!” Shen Liang was utterly stunned.

Even Xi Jian’an showed slight surprise. “Kidnapped? What happened?”

Before Xi Yuechen could answer, Shen Liang had already rushed over to Su Ruo, gently pulling her hands closer. “How did this happen? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

Seeing Shen Liang so worried, Su Ruo gently took her hand and reassured her with a soft smile. “I’m okay, just a bit shaken. I didn’t get hurt. Don’t worry, Mom.”

“With hands like this, you’re saying you’re okay? This must’ve happened during the kidnapping! You scared me half to death. What exactly happened?” Shen Liang carefully examined Su Ruo from head to toe. Seeing that she looked fine apart from the hands, she relaxed a little and turned to Xi Yuechen.

When she looked to her son, he answered, “Just some low-life thugs looking to make money. They didn’t really hurt her. We’ve already dealt with them.”

Xi Yuechen lied smoothly and calmly, giving a brief explanation. But Xi Jian’an, sitting beside him, raised an eyebrow—clearly not convinced—though he didn’t expose the lie right away.

Shen Liang, however, bought it. In her mind, her eldest son was cold, but he never lied.

Still eavesdropping from the kitchen, Xi Yuehui nearly collapsed—They changed the story? And with such confidence too! So big bro does lie. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have been so scared and hiding in the kitchen!

“Thank goodness you’re okay. But why weren’t you more careful when walking around?” Shen Liang scolded Su Ruo with lingering fear in her voice.

Then she turned to scold her son: “You were home. Why didn’t you stay with her? How could you let her get kidnapped?! What do you do all day? Luckily nothing bad happened, but what if it had?!”

Shen Liang was genuinely angry. She had watched Su Ruo grow up and always cherished her like a daughter. Now that she was her daughter-in-law, she cared even more. She hadn’t expected something like this to happen. If her son had paid more attention, maybe none of this would’ve happened.

“It’s really not his fault, Mom. I insisted on going shopping alone and didn’t let him come. And look—I’m really fine now,” Su Ruo quickly stepped in to defend Xi Yuechen. It truly wasn’t his fault. She blamed her own lack of vigilance.

Xi Yuechen looked at Su Ruo, who stood up for him, his eyes filled with amusement and warmth. He was clearly in a good mood.

“This is his fault. Don’t protect him. From now on, be careful when you go out. Always drive, understand? Actually, no—if Yuechen isn’t around, you should just move in with us. I’m not at ease with you alone.”

Though she scolded, Shen Liang was secretly happy to see her daughter-in-law standing up for her son. Their relationship seemed to be improving, and she could rest a bit easier. Still, she was deeply worried about Su Ruo’s safety.

“It’s okay, Mom. It was just an accident. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

At that moment, Xi Jian’an looked at Shen Liang and Su Ruo chatting, then turned to Xi Yuechen. “Come with me to the study.”

Xi Yuechen wasn’t surprised. He hadn’t planned to hide the truth from his father anyway. So he stood and followed him upstairs.

Watching from the kitchen, Xi Yuehui thought to himself, There it is. As expected, there’s no fooling the old man. Tsk tsk.

Su Ruo glanced worriedly at Xi Yuechen’s retreating figure. She was sure her father-in-law didn’t buy their story.

Once Xi Jian’an and Xi Yuechen were upstairs, Xi Yuehui finally emerged from the kitchen—only to be immediately questioned by Shen Liang.

“Yuehui, did you know about this?”

…As expected… He always took the hit.

“Cough. Yeah, I knew.”

“You knew and still didn’t tell us? If they hadn’t come over today, were you planning to keep this from us forever?” Shen Liang glared at him, clearly unhappy.

Used to being the scapegoat, Xi Yuehui feigned grievance. “How could I? I just didn’t want you two to worry. I swear I wasn’t trying to hide it forever.”

Meanwhile, the study upstairs was heavy with tension.

“Tell me the truth. What really happened?” Xi Jian’an didn’t waste time.

“It wasn’t that serious. Some rich young heir took a liking to Ruo Ruo, didn’t know her background, and kidnapped her. Nothing worse happened.”

Xi Yuechen’s voice wavered slightly with emotion. The situation had been genuinely dangerous, and Su Ruo had suffered for it.

“A rich heir?”

“Mm.” Xi Yuechen showed rare deference to his father.

“Hmph. You two deal with this. Handle it cleanly,” Xi Jian’an said coldly. Then he added, “By the way, something happened to Mu You recently, right?”

Everyone knew the Xi family was protective of their own—and far from being pushovers. No one reached this level in politics by being soft.

Xi Yuechen didn’t flinch. “It was Shi Yan’s son.”

“Shi Yan? The one who just came to Beijing?” Xi Jian’an asked in surprise—he knew who that was.

“Yes. He’s part of the Wang faction, but this might not be politically motivated.”

“I’ll keep an eye on the Wang faction. You stay out of this political mess,” Xi Jian’an said, frowning.

Given the current climate, the Wang faction wouldn’t openly provoke others. This incident likely had nothing to do with them. Xi Yuechen’s future was in the military; he didn’t need to get entangled in politics—it would only provide others with leverage.

“Every debt has its source. If this was caused by Shi Hai, we won’t let it slide. The Xi family isn’t to be trifled with.”

Xi Jian’an hadn’t climbed to the top by being gentle. Some matters could be ignored—but not all. Justice had to be served.

“I understand. I’ll take care of it.” There were many ways to settle scores. Any one of them would make Shi Hai regret ever crossing them.

“Be discreet. Don’t let Shi Yan catch wind.” Xi Jian’an nodded, offering one last reminder.

“I will,” Xi Yuechen promised, fully understanding his father’s intent.

—

Leaving the Zhengjia Courtyard, Su Ruo let out a long sigh. The day had finally passed.

She felt exhausted, her eyelids heavy with sleep. Turning to Xi Yuechen, who was driving, she said, “Sir, I’m going to nap. Wake me when we arrive.”

“Mhm, go ahead.”

Whether it was the quiet in the car or how tired she was, Su Ruo actually heard a hint of tenderness in his voice. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes and drifted off.

Before long, Xi Yuechen could hear her slow, steady breathing. Turning to look, he saw her peacefully asleep.

She must have been truly exhausted these past few days.

He slowed the car and drove as smoothly as possible, bringing the quiet warmth of the moment into the glittering city streets.