TFWYH – Chapter 49 Encouraging Divorce

No matter how many sentences he could come up with, even Old Man Ling’s words eventually ran dry. He wasn’t some learned scholar, and before long, he was out of things to say.

Yet Ling Yu remained exactly the same, not even sparing him a single glance.

With no other choice, Old Man Ling went straight to the point.

“Divorce her!”

At that, Ling Yu’s lips curled slightly, and for the first time he turned his gaze on him, a blatant trace of mockery in his eyes.

“Grandfather, this is your first time coming to my house, isn’t it?”

Old Man Ling’s face stiffened at that, his tone turning harsh. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to say, Grandfather, you really don’t come here without a reason.”

“…” Being called out by his grandson like that, especially with so many villagers watching from outside, Old Man Ling felt his old face burn.

Before he could speak, Ling Yu continued,
“Since you’ve never cared whether my mother and I lived or died, why come here now just to humiliate yourself? Or does Grandfather think I’m the type to repay hatred with kindness?”

“You—!” Old Man Ling was trembling with rage.

Ling Yu’s words were downright ruthless.

And with all the villagers outside witnessing it, his grandson wasn’t giving him a shred of face.

Originally, his plan had been simple: threaten Tang Wan with divorce. Surely she would be terrified—after all, what woman isn’t afraid of being cast aside?

Once she panicked and begged for mercy, he’d use his wife’s “injuries” as an excuse to extort some silver from Tang Wan.

But who would have thought Tang Wan wouldn’t fall for it at all—and would even slap his face in the process.

Fine then!

If he couldn’t deal with Tang Wan, he’d go after Ling Yu instead.

After all, Tang Wan hitting an elder was something he had the moral upper hand on.

But who would have thought Ling Yu would give him no face either?

Old Man Ling shot to his feet, roaring, “The one who was beaten is your own grandmother! If you insist on shielding that… that wife of yours, don’t blame me for striking you from the Ling family genealogy!”

“Please, go ahead,” Ling Yu said with a lazy smile, gesturing invitingly.

“Good! Very good!” Seeing that he couldn’t intimidate Ling Yu, Old Man Ling added, “I… I won’t just expel you from the Ling family. I’ll… I’ll go to the magistrate. Today I’ll risk my old face if I have to, but I will seek justice!”

Ling Yu chuckled softly.
“Grandfather, why bother? Just say how much silver you want. All this going in circles… aren’t you tired?”

Old Man Ling was instantly choked silent, his old face flushing crimson.

Under Ling Yu’s half-smiling gaze, he felt as though every bit of darkness in his heart had been laid bare.

Before he could speak, Ling Yu continued,
“Oh, sorry. Grandfather must not be that kind of person. As for going to the magistrate—sure, I’d actually like to see whether Grandmother or my mother ends up being judged as more injured.”

Old Man Ling: …

The onlooking villagers: …

Did that even need to be asked?

Old Madam Liu had slapped Jiang shi several times, then kicked and punched her viciously. Jiang shi’s face was swollen, and her body was probably covered in bruises.

And Old Madam Liu?

Never mind that she’d nearly drowned. Tang Wan had only slapped her twice. Her face was just a little puffy, she’d lost a few strands of hair, and there wasn’t a single bruise on her body.

How could she possibly be more injured than Jiang shi?

“Fine, fine! I can’t control you anymore. From now on, don’t call me grandfather—I have no grandson like you!” Out of arguments and seeing that neither Ling Yu nor Tang Wan cared about his authority, Old Man Ling threw out that hollow threat and stormed off.

As for the silver—after what Ling Yu said, how could he even dare ask for it?

Not unless he really wanted to lose all face!

Once he left, the village head quickly dispersed the crowd, telling everyone to go about their business.

But he himself didn’t leave. Instead, he stayed behind in Ling Yu’s room, clearly with something he wanted to say to him.