Chapter 296: Chapter 296

Upon reaching the hospital, Li Xianglu encountered Lu Anna and Qin Zhen who had already arrived in the hallway. A twitch passed through Lu Anna’s eyes at the sight of Li Jianqing, then she shook her head in horror.

Li Xianglu helplessly shook her head before asking, "How is everything?"

Lu Anna took a furtive glance at Li Jianqing, whose face was stormy, and whispered, "She was less than a month pregnant. This morning, for some reason, she got into an argument with that man surnamed Wang, and then she was pushed down."

Li Xianglu frowned. How could anyone resort to violence? After all, Ai Luo was his wife, wasn’t she? Even if he was angry, he shouldn’t lay a hand on her. Besides, what could they possibly argue about? They had only been married for a month; how could there be any conflict?

When they arrived at the ward door, Li Jianqing leaned against the wall, deciding not to go in and suggesting Li Xianglu go and take a look instead.

This was a double room; the other occupants were a happy family group chatting around a woman who had just given birth. On this end of the door, however, it was eerily quiet - obviously Ai Luo’s side. Only Ai Luo’s mother was there, holding Ai Luo’s hand and weeping quietly.

Lu Anna stepped forward with two pounds of brown sugar and a bag of Xiao Mi, placing them down she said, "Aunt Ai, this is from my mother. My sister-in-law is about to give birth soon, she visited and can’t make it here, so please bear with us."

Sha Xinyu lifted her head, her eyes rimmed red, but when she saw the two people, anger flared in her eyes, and she stood up, ready to speak.

Ai Luo spoke first, "Mom, you go back first. The miscarriage is my own affair. Even if I was beaten to death, it has nothing to do with you. Don’t cause a fuss here, or don’t bother visiting me at all."

Sha Xinyu, who had been about to speak, closed her mouth abruptly. Her expression did not show much surprise, indicating that such talk from Ai Luo did not faze her anymore. Nonetheless, inside she felt some resentment towards both Li Xianglu and Li Jianqing. People like Sha Xinyu always behaved this way, never admitting their own faults, instead blaming others.

Yet, Sha Xinyu did not budge. Li Xianglu set down what she had brought and softly consoled, "Ai Luo, your body is your own. Do not act rashly out of pride; you have a whole life ahead of you."

For some reason, Ai Luo’s eyes twinkled, and then she closed them and nodded, as if she had taken the words to heart.

Lu Anna’s eyes widened in shock, and Li Xianglu was also taken aback. Had she said something special?

Sha Xinyu, seeing her daughter actually listen to an outsider’s words, was annoyed that her own incessant talking did nothing, and her gaze bore into Li Xianglu with ill-intent.

Li Xianglu couldn’t be bothered with Sha Xinyu, whose thought process diverged from that of a normal person. A perfectly good girl insisted on marrying a man in his thirties, and for his second marriage no less. Now her daughter was assaulted and had a miscarriage, and yet, she blamed others.

Just as Li Xianglu was about to bid farewell, a scream suddenly came from outside the ward. Something felt off to Li Xianglu, who immediately rushed out. The ward was right by the stairwell, and at that moment, a group of five or six people surrounded the area, where her third brother and a man in a military uniform were grappling with each other.

Li Xianglu cried out in alarm and was about to break up the fight when she saw Li Jianqing land a punch that knocked the man to the ground. He mounted the man and furiously slapped his face, screaming, "I told you to hit her, I told you to hit her!"

Lu Anna also hurried out, her eyes wide: "Xiang, that man is the one surnamed Wang."

Li Xianglu quickly rushed in and pulled her third brother off that man. At the same time, having heard the disturbance, Sha Xinyu charged out, scratched Li Jianqing’s face with a swipe, and then stood in front of the shorter man like a lioness protecting her cub.

Li Xianglu screamed in shock and hurriedly covered Li Jianqing’s left face with a handkerchief, furiously shouting at Sha Xinyu: "Have you lost your mind?"

Sha Xinyu was furiously indignant: "It’s all because of you. If it weren’t for you siblings, my daughter wouldn’t have been ensnared , deluded. Li Jianqing, as a military school student, you dare to hit someone? Just you wait, I’ll report you to your school, and ensure you never graduate!"

Li Xianglu was both shocked and enraged; if this gets reported to the school, third brother would be ruined, yet she didn’t know what to do. She saw the man behind Sha Xinyu, covering his face and sneering as he looked over: "So you’re Li Jianqing, huh? Why do you want even what’s left over by me?"

Li Jianqing’s eyes filled with murderous intent as he looked back, his fists tightly clenched, his chest heaving with the urge to charge forward.

Li Xianglu grabbed Li Jianqing and whispered urgently: "Third brother, don’t fall for it; this man just wants you to hit him."

Sha Xinyu kept on with her relentless shouting: "Call the police, call the police! Arrest him! A military school student who dares to hit people in public, and you still think you’re in the right?"

At that moment, the surrounding crowd was abuzz with discussion, and Li Xianglu was momentarily at a loss. If this matter blew up, it would not be good for third brother at all. Even if Grandpa intervened, he would likely receive a minor demerit, which would affect third brother’s future assignments.

Just then, Anna exclaimed: "Iro, why did you run down here?"

At this time, Iro stood barefooted behind the crowd, looking at Sha Xinyu and the man, and disdainfully said: "Great, call the police, hurry up and call them. I want to report Wan Mingxiang for beating his wife, causing her to miscarry and be hospitalized. I’d like to see if the military will turn a blind eye just because your Wang Family has influence!"

Sha Xinyu, her face filled with horror, rushed over to cover her daughter’s mouth, but Iro pushed her away first, her eyes filled with hatred: "It’s all your fault, all your fault. You despise love for wealth, you climb up the social ladder, and they don’t even treat your daughter as human. Even though I’m still a virgin, he still doubted whether the child in my belly was his and pushed me to the ground. Are you still defending this ruthless beast? Are you even my real mother?"

Not only Sha Xinyu, but everyone around was stunned. Li Xianglu, trembling, pulled third brother’s arm tightly, scared and in a hurry to hold him back. She was truly afraid that third brother would rush forward again, in which case Iro wouldn’t be able to save him.

More and more people were gathering around, and Sha Xinyu was also stunned by her daughter’s words. Wan Mingxiang paused, then turned around and headed downstairs.

And Li Xianglu quickly gestured to Anna to help Iro to the sickroom, it being a cold day, and Iro having just had a D&C, she really shouldn’t catch a cold.

Li Xianglu, however, didn’t go back inside. Instead, she stood at the stairway entrance with Li Jianqing, waiting for him to calm down.

When he had finally settled down a bit, she asked: "How did you end up fighting with him?"

Li Jianqing looked guiltily at his sister’s worried face, but he had no regrets. Even at the risk of being expelled from the school, he would beat this brute up.

Li Xianglu was also taken aback when she heard that Wan Mingxiang had sought out Li Jianqing on his own. Could it be that Iro had a photo of third brother? And that Wan Mingxiang had seen it?