The two women fought like madwomen, clawing, biting, and screaming curses at each other, the intensity of it easily matching any full-scale brawl between two rival gangs.

Outside the main hall, chaos reigned. Nearly all the Gu household’s attendants had crowded around, but with Meng Wanyue having been brought here by Jun Beiyue himself, they only murmured and buzzed among themselves, hesitating, none of them daring to actually step in.

Inside the main hall, Jun Beiyue sat composed in the seat of honor, his expression still cold and stern, his eyes deep and unreadable, utterly without emotion — like a statue carved of ice.

Ziqing sat holding Xiong Bao, and as she listened to the shouting and cursing outside, she couldn’t help but think of her own parents. Mu Ci had already passed away from illness; before she died, she had instructed Ziqing to never, ever peel away that thin membrane on her face. And her father — what of him?

Baili Weisheng had once said that a Lonely Isle orphan with the yin-type constitution immune to all poisons must have descended from the true direct bloodline of the Lonely Isle — meaning her mother might not necessarily have been from the Lonely Isle, but her father surely was!

Amid the vast sea of humanity, without a single clue to go on, where could she even begin to search for her father?

She had long had the people of the Secluded Pavilion making inquiries, but helplessly, over two years had passed now, and still not a single piece of news had come.

Ziqing sat obediently beside Jun Beiyue, while Baili Weisheng, restless as ever, leaned against the doorway with Baili Xiaosheng in his arms, watching the fight, occasionally letting out a delighted chuckle.

What a heartless fellow he truly was — Xiaosheng, though not in mortal danger, still hadn’t woken up, and no one even knew what was truly wrong with her.

Ziqing glanced at Jun Beiyue, then carefully rose and walked toward Baili Weisheng, only to see, outside the doorway, the Gu Family Head personally leading a physician, hurrying past Meng Wanyue and his wife with his head bowed low.

“Gu Jun, stop right there!” The wife, happening to spot her husband, immediately barked the order.

Gu Jun acted as though he’d heard nothing at all, continuing on his way. What a man he was — with a temperament like this, it was no wonder Meng Wanyue had been able to use him so thoroughly back then, leaving him with a reputation as a man who’d abandoned his wife and child.

“Gu Jun, aren’t you just impressive — your own wife being beaten like this, and you can just turn a blind eye? Let me tell you, even if I die right here today, I’m dragging this woman down with me!”

The wife still had a fistful of Meng Wanyue’s hair, forcing her head down, pinning her in place.

Yet Meng Wanyue was no less fierce, gripping the wife’s wrist and forcing it downward with all her strength — once she managed to press it down, the wife’s cause would be lost entirely!

“Gu Jun! Call your son out here!”

Compared to the Gu Family’s wife, Meng Wanyue’s fury was directed entirely at Jun Beiyue. “Beiyue, how could you be so cruel — Mother said not to come, and yet you insisted, and now Mother’s the one being bullied for coming with you! Beiyue!”

“Son, what exactly have I ever done to wrong you? Tell me, why are you doing this to me?”

…

Her son — that was, without question, the deepest ache in the wife’s heart. She yanked viciously at Meng Wanyue’s hair, pulling with such force it looked as if Meng Wanyue’s scalp might tear right off!

“Slut, so what if you managed to give him a son? Bearing a son only ever made you a concubine at most — I am his proper first wife, I am the true mistress of the Gu household. You shameless creature, forcing your way into this house — you shameless slut!”

“Let go! I’m warning you, let go!”

At this point, the pain had truly become unbearable for Meng Wanyue. She stopped pulling at the wife’s hand and instead shouted with all her strength, “Let go! This is my final warning — let go!”

But the moment she released the wife’s hand, the wife immediately seized the other side of her hair, pulling just as hard. “I won’t let go! Not unless you kill me, old woman — I will never let go, I’ll die together with you right here today!”

Watching this, a cold smile flickered in Ziqing’s eyes. Though the wife had struck first, Meng Wanyue was certainly not this weak — she still hadn’t turned the tables even now. Meng Wanyue must have been holding back her true abilities all along.

“Won’t the fox’s tail show itself soon? Heh, does she really think Madam Gu doesn’t dare kill her?”

Baili Weisheng laughed. But who could have known, at that very moment, a shrill, grating woman’s scream suddenly rang out — “Mother—!”

At the sound of that voice, the corner of Ziqing’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch several times, while Baili Weisheng’s smile only grew more radiant.

That voice… it was the Gu family’s eldest daughter, Gu Meiting, who had been sent back to the Jiang family!

What perfect timing for her to come visit her mother’s family!

“Mother! What in the world is going on here?”

Gu Meiting suddenly burst out from a side door, and seeing her mother locked in combat with another woman, she didn’t hesitate for a second, immediately rushing over and grabbing hold of Meng Wanyue’s hair from behind as well!

“Don’t—”

The Gu Family Head sucked in a sharp breath of alarm, but the words caught in his throat, unable to come out. He wasn’t a fool — Jun Beiyue’s attitude had been so obvious that speaking up to stop things without understanding the full situation would only bring trouble down on his own head.

Meng Wanyue, it seemed, hadn’t died after all — and coming back now, of all times, there had to be some reason behind it!

What exactly had happened all those years ago?

She hadn’t died — so why had she abandoned Jun Beiyue, and why had she made it impossible for him to ever find her, no matter how hard he searched?

Gu Meiting fought far more viciously than her mother, and her insults were even fouler.

“You shameless old hag, daring to run wild in my Gu family’s territory — do you even know whose turf this is? Are your eyes full of shit? Damn woman!”

“You dare hit my mother? Today I’ll show you what a real beating looks like!”

With that, Gu Meiting gave a vicious yank, forcing Meng Wanyue’s head to tilt back. Meng Wanyue was just about to warn her, “Let go, this is the last—”

But before she could finish, Gu Meiting’s fist came flying even faster and far more viciously than her mother’s — “Smack!”

An incredibly heavy slap, right up close, right across her face!

Meng Wanyue was genuinely stunned senseless, her whole body knocked sideways.

Meng Wanyue froze — no, to be precise, she fell silent, her hair in disarray, blood seeping at the corner of her lips, her phoenix eyes turning icy cold enough to chill the soul, fixed unwaveringly on Gu Meiting.

She had been enduring this the entire time, hiding her strength — never expecting she would actually lose in a bare-handed brawl against this mother and daughter!

She truly could bear it no longer — never in her entire life had anyone struck her like this!

Two slaps in a row!

At this moment, bent forward at a ninety-degree angle under the pressure, she lifted her head slightly to look at Gu Meiting, both hands immobilized, yet her internal power was gathering within her. In a low, deep voice, she said, “You all… you all can go die!”

But just as Meng Wanyue was about to unleash the full force of her Gu family internal cultivation, Gu Meiting, either failing to notice the strange look in her eyes or simply ignoring it entirely, struck again in that same split-second, lightning-fast instant — unstoppable, relentless — landing yet another vicious slap across Meng Wanyue’s face. “Smack!”

This time, it thoroughly ignited Meng Wanyue’s killing intent. “You all… you’ll die for this!!!”

With that furious cry, in an instant, an overwhelming, purest form of Gu family internal cultivation power erupted from Meng Wanyue’s body!

“No!”

The Gu Family Head suddenly cried out. Even from such a distance, he could feel the familiar signature of Gu family internal energy — instantly recognizable, and instantly he could tell just how terrifyingly powerful that force was.

He had no time to consider why Meng Wanyue possessed such formidable Gu family internal cultivation. Instinctively, he lunged forward — but it was already far too late to stop it. In an instant, the wife and Gu Meiting were sent flying by the tremendous force of that internal power.

Gu Meiting hit the ground first, blood pouring from all seven orifices of her face, while the wife crumpled to the ground right after, her eyes wide open in death, refusing to close even in death.

The Gu Family Head froze in his tracks, taking a long while to recover, before finally murmuring, “You… you… Meng Wanyue, how could you possibly know Gu family internal cultivation… you… how is this possible? Just who exactly are you?”