There was a deadly silence in the air. Lihua stared at her in horror.

Jiang Li froze. "What!? Are you kidding me!?"

The Old Madam narrowed her eyes. "Li! Do you think that I am in the mood for kidding around right now?"

He coldly laughed. "It sure seems to me that way. Why the hell would you bring Lanying into this?"

The Old Madam angrily clenched her jaw. "So what do you want? Let the world think less about the Jiang family? You are the son of this family! Do you know how much everybody holds us in high regard? You can already see that by how everybody is cursing you! Even if your problem might be the truth, we cannot admit to this. It will only pour oil on the fire. It is more believable when a woman cannot become a mother. I am saving the family's reputation here!"

"By harming Lanying's reputation?" With his icy tone, the temperature plummeted in an instant. "You want to save this family's reputation by making her the target of everyone's ridicule? Isn't she a part of this family? Like hell I will let you do that!"

"Lanying is your wife! It's her job to support you and she can only do that by taking the blame. In the end, Lanying is not blood-related to the Jiang's. She is just a daughter-in-law. So if she has problems, it has got nothing to do with us."

"You-"

"What is wrong if a man has some issues?" Lihua shot back as she felt disgusted by Old Madam's claims. "A child is made by both a man and a woman. The woman doesn't do it herself nor the man. Why should only a woman have problems? Why is it justifiable when a woman cannot bear a child but it becomes a sin if a man cannot?"

Jiang Ninghong slowly nodded. "I disagree with this too. We will not put any false blame on Lanying."

The Old Madam thundered. "Ninghong. Since when did you dare speak against me?"

She stared at her mother-in-law. Usually, she always stayed away from confrontations and observed everything from the side. She was used to doing things in a neutral way that would benefit her.

But in this matter, she felt that there was no middle ground. She would definitely not allow Lanying to suffer needlessly.

"Old Madam. Lanying is innocent. She should support Li and that is true but not in this way. She needs to be his emotional support not by taking the blame."

Jiang Weiyuan nodded. "Lanying is our daughter-in-law. We won't let her suffer."

"You two have gone crazy! This is the only way we can save Li."

Jiang Li glared at her. "Whatever it is, I won't let Lanying into this mess."

"You…"

Lihua said, "We cannot sacrifice Jiang Lanying for this. It's not even about sacrificing Jiang Li. We have to make people understand that having fertility problems is not embarrassing be it a man or a woman. It's not only him who is suffering but this is an insult to all the men out there who are hiding their problems exactly because of this. We shouldn't think about keeping this under the wraps anymore. In fact, we should stand up for Jiang Li."

"I don't care! We will make an official Weibo post that Lanying pinned the blame on Li to protect herself. There are no problems with Li at all."

Jiang Li sneered. "Try to do this and just watch what I will do. Lanying is my wife. I would-"

"I agree," Jiang Lanying announced.

Everybody looked at her dumbfounded. Lihua gasped. "Jiang Lanying. What are you saying?"

Jiang Li stared at her. "Lanying. Don't be an idiot. You won't do any such thing!"

She trembled and wiped her tear-stained cheeks. "I have to do this Li...I...I cannot see the whole world insulting you like this…If it's me, then you won't have to bear anything."

"And do you think that I want the world to humiliate you when you are not even at fault!? Stop saying crazy things, Lanying!"

She bit her lip and she broke down. The netizens' comments were too much for her to handle. She had never thought that the matter would blow out of proportion and they would ruthlessly humiliate Jiang Li. Reading all those comments broke her heart.

Lihua held her hand and anxiously said, "Jiang Lanying. I understand what you are worried about and as his wife, you are surely finding all this heartbreaking. But trust me. Taking the blame is not the solution here."

Jiang Ruiling said, "Sister-in-law Lixue is right."

Jiang Lanying shook her head. "This is the only way," she gasped. "Even at the banquet last night, everybody was mocking Li and now the whole world is doing that. I cannot watch this anymore. I will do what the Old Madam has said."

The Old Madam smirked. "Better that you understand your position. Now that Lanying has agreed, I don't want any meaningless discussions on this anymore."

She left in a huff.

Jiang Li took a deep breath. "Lanying. I am saying this for the last time that I won't let you do anything like this."

She trembled but her silence was a clear answer.

Jiang Ninghong urged. "Li is right. We are all here to think about this matter. You don't have to take everything on your shoulders."

She faintly smiled. "Mom. I am willingly doing this. Please let me-"

Jiang Li burst into laughter. "I see. I get it now. I was right after all. You are ashamed of me."

She froze. "Of course not!"

"Then why would you think about doing this shit!?" His voice roared in the villa. "Let me tell you one thing. I don't need your fucking protection! If you insist on doing what the Old Madam has said then don't ever show your face in front of me again!"

Jiang Lanying stiffened.

"Li!" Jiang Weiyuan narrowed his eyes on him. "This is not any way you talk to your wife. If you cannot talk nicely to her, then get the hell out of here. Go somewhere and calm down."