With her shaking finger, the Old Madam wiped a tear off her eyelash.

  "I couldn't allow that to happen because I realized that I had fallen in love with Weisheng. It was wrong and I knew that. But I couldn't help it. He gave me the warmth and love that I always craved for. He gave me the respect and dignity that I always wished for. It was a dream come true for me that I met a man like him. I would have never forgiven myself if something happened to him. What was I supposed to do with my life if he was gone? So I urged him to remain quiet and just let things be as they were."

  Old Madam slowly shut her eyes and leaned her head back on the chair.

  Lihua softly squeezed her hand and whispered, "Then…?"

  "Then…… things went further between us one night. It was the next morning that I realized what had happened. I was afraid. If my husband, Jiang Zemin, came to know about the truth, you couldn't even imagine the consequences. He was a ruthless and sadistic man. I didn't know what to do at all. My mind went blank. But Weisheng consoled me and said that everything would be fine. He planned that we will make Jian Zemin think that I slept with him."

  Lihua furrowed her brows. "Why so? There was no need for that if he was in the dark because up until now how much I listened, I don't think he ever got suspicious of your and Zhao Weisheng's relationship. Otherwise, he would have already dealt with him."

  "Yes. He never got suspicious because we were extremely cautious and also because he never thought that women in the Jiang family would ever dare to cheat. That just simply never crossed his mind. I knew how his mind worked. A woman would never think of having an affair in that era especially in the Jiang family, so there was nothing to get suspicious about."

  She took a deep breath.

  "But for how long? What if I got pregnant because of that night? At that time, there wasn't really much concept of contraceptives as there is now because women didn't use them. A woman would get married and have children. That's it. The concept of using protection wasn't really spread that far in society. So I was afraid of pregnancy. How was I supposed to explain it? That's why Weisheng suggested it. We did just that. The same night, he mixed some sleeping pills in his juice. I messed up the clothes here and there and the next morning, Jiang Zemin easily believed that we had slept together. I was glad that we did that because one month later, I came to know that I was pregnant."

  Lihua smiled. "Dad."

  Old Madam faintly smiled back. "Yes. I was carrying Weizhe in my womb. Naturally, the Jiang family was thrilled. They were waiting for a son for a long time. In those two years, I had to bear a lot of humiliation because I never got pregnant. At first, I felt ashamed that Weisheng had to…" she pursed her lips, "compromise with a woman who wasn't pure. But whenever I brought that up, Weisheng would always scold me a lot of thinking of useless things," she chuckled. "He would even threaten to break up if I ever brought the subject again. That man only knew to shower endless love and nothing else."

  Lihua sniffled, her heart overwhelmed with mixed emotions. "I now understand why the men now are so doting and loving. It's in the genes!"

  The Old Madam nodded.

  Lihua's nostrils flared as she asked, "But why did you suffer humiliation because you didn't get pregnant?"

  "Because Jiang Zemin thought that I had problems. That was also a reason why he would often beat me. My father-in-law had forced me to do a lot of therapy from the traditional doctors and even……occult so that I get pregnant."

  Lihua wished to puke blood.

  "Even I wondered if I really had problems. But then I conceived Weisheng's child and he told me that there might actually be problems with Jiang Zemin, not me. I was utterly shocked because I never thought that men could have problems too. But Weisheng was quite knowledgeable."

  Lihua beamed. "As expected of him. Not only handsome but intelligent too."

  Old Madam went on. "The pregnancy went quite peacefully and I gave birth to Weizhe nine months later. It was the most beautiful moment of my life, Lixue. He was the child of the man I loved so much. You cannot even imagine how blissful I felt. Weisheng also had tears in his tears, but he hid them from everyone. Jiang Zemin was flying in the clouds. The Jiang family finally got an heir. Things were peaceful until…"

  "Until?"

  "Until a feud broke out between Jiang Zemin and his younger brother, Jiang Shan for the position of the Mafia King. By tradition, Jiang Zemin should have easily inherited the throne because he was the eldest son. But my father-in-law didn't want that."

  "Why not?"

  "How can I say……Jiang Zemin was the elder one, but he didn't really possess any talent to become the ruler. He didn't have any leadership skills nor was he smart enough to handle the Underworld. But Jiang Shan was. He had shown his capabilities and proved that he deserved to become the King. My father-in-law was hesitant because neither did he want to break the tradition nor let the Underworld fall into Jiang Zemin's hands. But in the end, the Underworld was more important to him, so he handed the position to Jiang Shan, much to Jiang Zemin's humiliation."

  "Jiang Zemin was filled with hatred for his father and his brother. He would have to serve under the command of his younger brother? That was preposterous to him. He fought a lot, but nothing changed in his favor. That's when he thought that by hook or by crook, he would train Weizhe to become the next Mafia King and not just that. He wanted his presence and faction to increase in the Underworld. So, he wanted to have more children that would help him achieve his goals. And so he told me one day that he wanted another son."