"Do you think I care about the Huangfu family's assets, or that I want to inherit them?" Song Jiaping's face was stern. Looking at Wu Xiufang's unrepentant state, her belief that she had done nothing wrong, his heart bled as he said, "Everything you own today was bought with the lives of my family! I don't want it, nor do I crave it! I only want to clear the names of my grandfather and father, and allow my mother's spirit to rest in peace!"
Wu Xiufang's eyes were bloodshot. She ignored what Song Jiaping was saying. In her heart, the lives of Song Jiaping's family were worthless, merely stepping stones for her. She didn't care at all.
What angered her most now was that Mengyao, her most beloved daughter, was not helping her but standing with Song Jiaping.
"Yaoyao, come here. He's trying to harm me now, trying to take my life, and wants to bring eternal damnation upon our Huangfu family. You are also a member of the Huangfu family, how can you be in cahoots with him?"
Mengyao was in great conflict. She knew that after her mother was arrested, her father would surely not escape either. Without her father, the Huangfu family would have no backbone.
Her uncle and other relatives would all covet the position of CEO, and then the Huangfu family would be thrown into chaos, perhaps even destroyed. She hesitated, reaching out and tugging Song Jiaping's clothes from behind him, unable to stop herself from pleading with him.
Tianyi saw Mengyao tugging Song Jiaping's clothes and immediately said to her, "I know this is difficult and painful for you, but you just heard it yourself – those were several lives! Even if Song Jiaping lets her go for your sake, the people who died unjustly will not forgive her!"
Mengyao wanted to plead with Song Jiaping, but the words couldn't come out. Just then, the sound of police sirens echoed from outside.
Hearing the sound, Wu Xiufang trembled all over. She rushed towards Song Jiaping, trying to grab Mengyao behind him and said, "Yaoyao, save me, quickly save Mom!"
Mengyao forcefully pulled Song Jiaping away. "I don't need your protection." She took Wu Xiufang's hand and comforted her, "Mom, don't be like this. If you've done wrong, you must bear the consequences. It's okay, I'll go to the police station with you. If you sincerely repent, perhaps there's still a chance to atone for your sins..."
"Enough!" Wu Xiufang suddenly yelled at her, then gripped her waist. She pulled out a sharp fruit knife from her handbag and held it to Mengyao's neck. "You actually called the police! Tell those police officers to leave and let me go!"
Tianyi wanted to rush forward to subdue her, but Song Jiaping stopped him.
Song Jiaping, afraid Wu Xiufang would really harm Mengyao, said to her, "Let Mengyao go, and we can discuss anything."
Mengyao was still in shock, never expecting her mother to take her hostage. She cried, "Mom, don't be so stubborn! Put down the knife and surrender..."
"Don't think I won't slash your neck! You are my daughter, and you treat me like this? I've raised you for nothing!" Wu Xiufang pressed the knife tighter against her. "Do you really want to see me go to jail and be sentenced to death!"
Mengyao certainly didn't want that. She didn't struggle, allowing Wu Xiufang to pull her, allowing the knife to be held against her neck.
At this moment, Su Kangxi arrived with police officers. Upon seeing the scene, he and his subordinates immediately drew their weapons and aimed them at Wu Xiufang.
Mengyao tilted her head, pushing herself towards the knife. She cut her neck, and blood began to well up.
Startled, Song Jiaping immediately shouted at Kangxi, "Officer Su, let Wu Xiufang go, or she will hurt Mengyao!"
Wu Xiufang's eyes were already red. Seeing Mengyao's neck bleeding, she showed no pain. Like a cornered dog, she grabbed Mengyao's hair and shouted, "All of you, get out of the way, or I'll kill her!"
Kangxi put away his weapon and signaled his men to clear a path.
Wu Xiufang, holding Mengyao, retreated. She backed all the way to the car she had driven, pulled open the car door, pushed Mengyao inside first, then got into the car and immediately started it to escape.
One of Kangxi's subordinates wanted to shoot at Wu Xiufang's car, but Kangxi stopped him. "Be careful of the hostage's safety. Follow immediately."
"Yes." They got back into the police car to chase Wu Xiufang's car.
Song Jiaping also got into a car without a word to pursue them. Tianyi immediately followed him into another car, ready to help if anything happened.
Wu Xiufang drove at breakneck speed, ignoring traffic lights. The incident happened so suddenly that she didn't know where to flee. She just drove wherever there was a road, as long as she could shake off the police cars behind her.
Mengyao sat in the passenger seat, feeling tossed around. She clutched the grab handle above her right side tightly, feeling uncomfortable.
"Mom, I beg you, calm down! You can't escape like this. Why don't you surrender..."
"Shut up! I raised you for nothing, and you turned out to be such an ungrateful wretch!" Wu Xiufang yelled. "You don't understand anything! I can't be caught, I can't!"
Mengyao knew what she was afraid of. She advised, "Don't worry, my sister and I will hire the best lawyers for you. We definitely won't let you be sentenced to death! We will help you, help you with all our might!"
"You can't help me, you can't help me!" Wu Xiufang was still driving frantically but felt a chill from behind.
She looked back and saw the crazy woman she had seen at the cemetery. Frightened, she swerved the steering wheel violently, suddenly changing direction.
Mengyao also looked at the back seat, but saw nothing. She didn't understand why her mother was reacting so strongly.
"Stop! Mom, stop the car!"
"I can't stop, I can't let them catch me!" Wu Xiufang had already driven onto the bridge spanning the river.
Mengyao asked her, "Mom, where exactly are you going?"
Wu Xiufang didn't know where she was going, but she was sometimes lucid and sometimes collapsing, always feeling that Zhu Qin was in the back seat, telling her to die, to die quickly!
"I want to go back to the countryside, to my old home in the countryside. The scenery there is truly beautiful."
Mengyao never knew where her mother's old home in the countryside was, but she noticed her mother turning the steering wheel to one side again, as if to turn back.
However, Wu Xiufang did not turn the car around. Instead, she turned left, heading straight for the bridge's guardrail.
Mengyao sensed something was wrong and tried to grab the steering wheel, but her mother held onto it tightly.
Just as the car crashed through the guardrail, Wu Xiufang seemed to regain consciousness and shouted at Mengyao, "Open the door and jump out!"
"Mom!"
"Jump quickly!" Wu Xiufang released the steering wheel and pushed Mengyao's car door open, forcefully pushing Mengyao out.
Mengyao instantly rolled out of the car and onto the ground. She was blocked by a stone pier by the bridge's guardrail, and watched in stunned silence as Wu Xiufang plunged into the river with the car.
The police cars behind them had caught up, but they could do nothing to stop it.
Kangxi got out of the car and stood by the bridge, looking at the car that had fallen into the river, which was quickly swept away and submerged by the current.
He ordered his subordinate, "Quickly have the water police conduct a search and rescue."