The moment those words left Jiang Chen’s mouth, dead silence fell over the pavilion. Gu Jun’s brow instantly furrowed tight, while Madam Gu slowly turned around, her sharp eyes fixing on him!
What nerve this Jiang Chen had, speaking to her this way—since when did he have such gall?
“He is my nephew. From the moment he was in the womb until now—seven years—everything he’s eaten, worn, and used has come from my Gu family. I’ve personally looked after him. How do I not have the right?” Madam Gu demanded, word by word, no longer caring about sparing Jiang Chen’s dignity—she was genuinely furious now.
Ziqing watched silently, a complicated flicker hidden in her clear eyes—no one could say what she was thinking at that moment.
Faced with Madam Gu’s accusation, even Gu Meiting’s gaze wavered. This scheme seemed to have provoked her mother’s anger—would it end up costing them more than it gained?
But there was no turning back now. Having mounted the tiger, they had no choice but to keep riding it.
Jiang Chen, who had always been all bark and no bite, surprisingly showed no fear now, and shot back word for word, “Mother-in-law, when Meiting was pregnant, my parents sent people to invite her home three, five times over. Back then, she refused to go. What did the two of you say at the time?”
This question left Madam Gu momentarily speechless. The Gu family head said, displeased, “Jiang Chen, what’s the point of bringing that up now? Are you trying to settle old scores? Yuan’er is still sick! If you want to settle accounts, come to my study, and I’ll go through them with you one by one!”
“Fine, let’s settle them then! Until they’re settled, no one is taking Yuan’er anywhere!” Jiang Chen said angrily, and without warning, reached out and forcefully snatched Jiang Yuan from Gu Meiting’s arms!
“Yuan’er!” Madam Gu cried out in alarm, all trace of her earlier sharpness gone in an instant. Yuan’er was the very treasure of her heart—her most fatal weakness.
Jiang Chen held Jiang Yuan tight and said coldly, “Back then, the two of you said yourselves that the eldest young lady had a bad temper, and being pregnant only made it worse, so it was better for her to stay and recuperate at the Gu residence for the time being, so as not to disturb the pregnancy if her temper flared. Isn’t that what you said?”
Neither Madam Gu nor the Gu family head said anything. It was Gu Suying who finally spoke up. “Yes, so what?”
“And after the child was born? My parents came again and again asking to take her and Yuan’er home. What did you say then?” Jiang Chen pressed further.
Seeing that even Gu Suying had no answer, he couldn’t help but sneer coldly. “You said Yuan’er should stay temporarily at the Gu residence so he could learn some martial arts along the way, didn’t you?”
Faced with Jiang Chen’s furious glare, Madam Gu had no choice but to nod. “Yes.”
Suddenly Jiang Chen exploded with rage. “And then what happened? How did I end up as some live-in son-in-law? How did the descendants of my Jiang family end up having everything they eat and wear provided entirely by your Gu family?!”
Ziqing gave a cold snort, more or less able to guess what game this couple was playing. Jiang Chen truly had nerve, truly had a spine—putting up with this for a full seven years without a word of complaint, only to suddenly play the hero now. Who exactly was he trying to impress?
And yet, even though he was clearly putting on a show, he had genuinely left the Gu couple speechless. It was probably their own repeated indulgence of Gu Meiting over the years that had led to this unreasonable pushback today.
Madam Gu truly had no rebuttal left. She stamped her foot in frustration. “Then what exactly do you want? Give Yuan’er his medicine and acupuncture first, and we’ll discuss everything else afterward, won’t we?”
“I don’t want anything in particular. I can stay for now too—but I want to stay with things made perfectly clear, so people don’t have room to gossip about it later,” Jiang Chen finally relented.
“If you’re staying, then stay—why does it need to be made ‘perfectly clear’? Your father-in-law and I are the ones inviting you to stay—how is that not proper and above-board?” Madam Gu was so anxious she was nearly in tears, clearly able to see that the child in Jiang Chen’s arms had a fever bad enough that even his neck and little hands had turned red.
If they didn’t save him now, it would be too late!
“I want everyone in the Gu Shi household to make things clear to me!” Jiang Chen pressed further. He wasn’t a man who could simply let things go—he was a man who held grudges.
Now that he had the chance, why not settle the score from that last incident at the main hall with Han Ziqing while he was at it?
He wanted Han Ziqing to swallow back what she’d said before! He wanted her to personally admit that they hadn’t come to shamelessly cling to the Gu family!
Just then, Gu Meiting suddenly rushed forward to snatch her son back. Jiang Chen stepped back and easily dodged her.
“Give the child back to me, give him back! He’s dying, you bastard, give him back to me!”
Gu Meiting wailed loudly, “It’s been dragged out too long, Yuan’er can’t hold on any more! Give the child to me first—whatever the issue is, go argue it with them! Please, I’ll listen to everything you say from now on, please!”
Doctor Hua, standing to the side, couldn’t help but urge as well, “Son-in-law, whatever needs saying can be said properly—saving the child comes first! A little one this young can’t hold out much longer!”
But Jiang Chen remained firm. “Since none of you will give me a clear answer, I’m going back to the Jiang family.”
With that, he actually turned to leave.
“Stand right there! I say you’ll stay, so you’ll stay! Today, it is I, this old man, who invited you and Meiting to be guests at the Gu residence! Let’s see who dares say a word about it!” the Gu family head finally roared.
“Yes, yes, yes, you’re here as guests! Stay as long as you like!” Madam Gu quickly agreed as well. Gu Suying chimed in too. “Sister, brother-in-law, please stop this. Since you’ve come all this way, of course you should stay a few days before leaving!”
Jiang Chen took a deep breath and looked toward Ziqing. Though he said nothing, his meaning was plain—his real target was her, wasn’t it?
Ziqing met his gaze without flinching, the corner of her lips curling into a cold smile. Was it her turn to speak now?
Sorry—she’d used up all her good mood back in the east wing. She had no interest in keeping up the act anymore.
Far from speaking, Ziqing simply crossed her arms and leaned back lazily against the railing, utterly at ease, unbothered.
Madam Gu and the Gu family head were sharp enough people—they had already seen through Jiang Chen’s intentions long ago, or they wouldn’t have hesitated in the first place!
If they had any choice in the matter, they truly did not want to see another conflict between Jiang Chen and Han Ziqing. But now, it seemed unavoidable.
Someone had to yield. Jiang Chen was using Yuan’er as leverage, and they simply couldn’t afford to let this drag on—they had no choice but to try to persuade Han Ziqing.
“Qing’er, your elder sister and brother-in-law rarely come to visit—surely you welcome them too, don’t you?” Madam Gu quickly urged.
“Ziqing, Yuan’er is sick. Why don’t you go ask Imperial Physician Gu to come take a look as well?” the Gu family head also urged.
Before, Ziqing might still have had reservations—after all, her status as the young madam wasn’t yet formally recognized, and more importantly, Jun Beiyue hadn’t woken up.
But now, the young master of the Gu Shi was waiting up at the mountaintop main hall. Only she and that scheming young master knew that Jiang Chen’s illness posed no real danger to life. So what did she have to fear?
Ziqing didn’t move an inch, simply saying flatly, “Imperial Physician Gu is busy.”
The moment those words came out, the Gu couple’s faces instantly turned deathly pale. A flash of hatred crossed Jiang Chen’s eyes, and he turned decisively to leave!
“Stop him!” the Gu family head roared angrily. Even Doctor Hua couldn’t help himself. “Son-in-law, this has already dragged on so long—if you go back to the Jiang family now, the young master, he—he’ll—”
Doctor Hua didn’t dare finish the sentence, but everyone understood.
“Jiang Chen, don’t you feel any love for Yuan’er at all? Is there really nothing that can wait?!” Madam Gu scolded furiously.
Gu Meiting didn’t even dare make a sound anymore. She had to admit she’d been too impatient—she really had dragged this out too long. She never expected Han Ziqing would actually—
“I’ve made myself perfectly clear. My Jiang family’s people are right outside. Don’t make them come looking for me. This is right at the foot of the mountain—if this turns into a scandal, I’ll simply tell everyone on Liuxian Isle that Yuan’er’s surname is Jiang, not Gu!” Jiang Chen cut things off completely. He was gambling—gambling that Madam Gu could never bear to lose Yuan’er.
Sure enough, Madam Gu burst out furiously, “Han Ziqing! This is not how a young madam of my Gu Shi household ought to behave! This is not how one treats guests! If you continue like this, don’t blame my Gu family for disowning you!”
Ziqing sneered inwardly. Fine—she might as well use this opportunity to let the Gu couple understand: compared to the Jiang couple, she, Han Ziqing, was far harder to persuade.
If they ever wanted her to endure something, to swallow some grievance in the future, they shouldn’t come to her—they should go persuade the Gu couple directly.
She smiled faintly and said, “Madam Gu, I am nothing more than Jun Beiyue’s wife. If certain people want something clean and proper from me, I have none of that to offer here. If you insist I give something, I can certainly show you the door instead.”
If it hadn’t been necessary to confirm that Jiang Yuan’s illness required that particular red, yang-natured medicine, she wouldn’t have wasted her time on such tedious people at all.
If you have the nerve to ride the tiger, you’d better have the nerve to get off it too. Today, she would simply be patient and see how this played out.