Guo Ziyan was also a bit startled when he saw her. Then he frowned slightly and said unpleasantly, "Why are you here..."
Sun Miaoqing didn't say a word. She just stared fixedly at the graceful woman.
The woman had a beautiful face and a cold expression. Her pomegranate - red long dress was embroidered with gold and silver patterns. It was clearly a high - class garment, but she didn't wear it properly. The collar was wide open, revealing half of her snow - white chest.
— She's clearly no decent woman!
Sun Miaoqing let out a soft snort, and a sneering smile curled up at the corner of her mouth. "You don't come home for days on end. I thought some vixen had bewitched you. Now that I've seen her, she's just such a low - class thing..."
Before she could finish speaking, there was a sharp cracking sound!
Sun Miaoqing instantly fell to the ground, with five bright red finger marks appearing on her face.
She stared with wide eyes, seemingly unable to believe that Guo Ziyan would hit her.
"You..."
Guo Ziyan had used a great deal of strength. Her ears were buzzing, her face was burning with pain, and a strong smell of blood filled her mouth. It seemed that several of her teeth had been loosened.
After slapping her, Guo Ziyan still wasn't satisfied. He pointed at her nose and shouted abuse:
"What do you think you are!"
"Letting you enter our Guo family's gate is already giving you enough face. A low - born slut from a declining family, do you really think you're the young mistress of the Guo family?"
Sun Miaoqing was truly stunned.
What was going on?
Why was this different from the adultery - catching scene she had imagined...
Wasn't it supposed to be that shady slut screaming and hiding?
Why was she the one getting beaten instead?
Moreover, Guo Ziyan's attitude...
Why was he so fierce?
It was as if she, the legitimate wife, had done something wrong.
In the past year, although Guo Ziyan had been cold to her and was often away from home, he had never been so ferocious.
But today, he actually fought against her for a vixen...
This was Lakeside Retreat. There weren't many people, but after all this commotion, many people in the teahouse still stood up and looked over.
Sun Miaoqing felt embarrassed.
Seeing this, He Shi quickly walked over and said in a conciliatory tone, "Oh, my grandson - in - law, what's going on? Even if Miaoqing has done something wrong, she's the daughter - in - law who was married into the family through proper channels. How could you use so much force?"
She grabbed Guo Ziyan's sleeve and tried to pull him towards Sun Miaoqing. "Listen to your grandmother's advice. Quarrels between husband and wife are just like fights at the head of the bed and reconciliations at the foot of the bed. Just apologize to Miaoqing and it'll be fine. There's no need for the two of you to quarrel over an outsider..."
Neither the He family nor the Sun family had any ancestors who had held official positions. For three generations, they had been farmers working in the fields. He Shi didn't understand the principle that a higher - ranking official could bully a lower - ranking one.
In her eyes, her son was now a sixth - rank interpreter, and her granddaughter had married into the Guo family as the young mistress. They were on an equal footing with the Guo family.
She even thought she could act as an elder in front of Guo Ziyan.
Now that she saw Sun Miaoqing being humiliated, He Shi's first reaction was to assume the airs of a grandmother and give this unruly junior a good education...
"Ha..."
The woman in red let out a soft sneer.
Guo Ziyan's expression changed.
Sweat trickled down his forehead, and his face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He kicked He Shi hard in the waist!
"Who do you think you are as a grandmother! What kind of grandmother are you!"
"Do I need you, this stupid woman from who - knows - where, to interfere in my affairs?"
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Aren't you just coveting my family's power and influence? Do you think that by selling one of your daughters into my family, you can act like an elder in front of me?!"
...
He Shi was also stunned.
Wasn't the Guo family a family of scholars?
Why... did he even hit her?
She had come out just now, planning to mediate the disputes among the juniors in the capacity of a grandmother, to gain some face!
On the one hand, she wanted to support Sun Miaoqing. On the other hand, she could scold Guo Ziyan a few times as an elder, so that she could have both face and dignity.
Anyway, that woman seemed to be just a prostitute from a brothel. How could Guo Ziyan hit her for such a person...
Unexpectedly, he really did!
Not only did he hit, but he also hit very hard.
This kick almost cost her half her life.
She couldn't help but turn to look at Sun Miaoqing, as if asking, "What's going on? Aren't you the young mistress of the Guo family? Why did it end up with grandmother getting beaten?"
Sun Miaoqing already felt embarrassed. Now, being looked at like this, blood rushed to her face.
It was okay for him to hit her, but he even hit her grandmother?
If He Shi told the people in the Sun family about today's incident, how could she still act like the young mistress of an official family in front of her relatives?
Sun Miaoqing stared fixedly at Guo Ziyan, and her whole body trembled uncontrollably.
All the grievances and embarrassments she had endured in the Guo family in the past year erupted at this moment.
What a life she had led in the Guo family!
It was okay that Guo Ziyan was cold to her, but no one in the Guo family regarded her as the young mistress. Everyone spoke to her coldly, as if she didn't exist.
Not to mention being a master, even the servants laughed at her, saying that she was a daughter from a declining family trying to climb up the social ladder, a shameless woman who had climbed into a man's bed...
Sun Miaoqing could only swallow her humiliation. She became even more submissive, carefully serving the people in the Guo family, and even had to flatter the servants...
Only in this way could she barely gain a little dignity when she returned to her natal family.
As long as she had the title of the young mistress of the Guo family, she was not afraid of suffering more.
But now, Guo Ziyan's punches and kicks had completely shattered the little dignity she had carefully maintained.
It was almost a public announcement that she was nothing.
What young mistress? It was all a lie!
The more Sun Miaoqing thought about it, the angrier she became. Her head went blank with a buzzing sound. She let out a scream and rushed forward, not caring about anything else...
But before she could get close, several big men suddenly rushed out from the side. They twisted her arms and pressed her firmly to the ground.
Sun Miaoqing couldn't struggle free. She was even more furious. She opened her mouth and shouted, "You two adulterers..."
Before she could finish, a dirty, smelly rag was stuffed into her mouth. It smelled so bad that she almost vomited.
He Shi was startled and quickly rushed over to stop them.
But how could an old woman stop them?
She could only kneel on the ground and try to pull at the men's arms. At the same time, she cried and bowed to Guo Ziyan, pleading for mercy.
Guo Ziyan's face was very ugly.
He seemed a bit flustered. He looked at the woman beside him, as if seeking her instructions.
But the woman didn't say a word. She just stood quietly on the shore, looking at the mountains and waters in the distance. Her expression was cold, as if everything in front of her had nothing to do with her.
Big beads of sweat appeared on Guo Ziyan's forehead.
"Beat them!"
He gritted his teeth and said, "These two sluts who came out of nowhere, beat them hard!"
Fists as big as sandbags rained down. He Shi's vision went dark, and she couldn't see anything.
She only felt pain all over her body.
It seemed that her bones had been broken.