For a moment, the entire room fell silent. Even the agitated Madam Gu was unconsciously overwhelmed by Jun Beiyue’s silent fury.

Only the Patriarch, slumped dejectedly in his seat, couldn’t help but let out a series of bitter, helpless laughs.

Jun Beiyue coldly regarded the fragments in his hand, his clenched fist slowly opening as the powder trickled away bit by bit. It felt as though the entire world had frozen along with his slow movements.

After a long, long moment, he finally withdrew his hand and turned slowly to look at Madam Gu. Madam Gu couldn’t help but shudder—only now did she realize her own fear of this young man, but it was already too late!

“Yu Meixiang, you want to see my mother?”

Jun Beiyue suddenly gave a cold laugh, a laugh that sent chills down the spines of everyone in the room. Even Ziqing, still held in his embrace, felt a faint sense of unease—she had no idea what this man might do once truly provoked!

“No…” Madam Gu blurted out involuntarily, unable to control herself.

Unfortunately, Jun Beiyue paid her no mind at all. His voice, thin and cold, was chilling. “Yingzi, go and fetch my mother’s memorial tablet. Tell her that Madam Gu wishes to see her.”

At these words, Ziqing was instantly shocked. He… he had even brought the memorial tablet with him? He… had he prepared for this all along?

He had just handed authority over to the Patriarch, and now this… it truly seemed as though he intended to take over the Gu clan!

Even held so intimately and affectionately in this man’s arms, Ziqing still couldn’t fathom his thoughts, couldn’t guess what he was planning.

At this, the Patriarch too was stunned, his mouth hanging wide open, unable to utter a word.

Madam Gu retreated again and again, finally colliding with a chair and collapsing into it. How could this be happening…

Then, when Yingzi approached, respectfully cradling a memorial tablet containing ashes in both hands, everyone felt a chill run down their spine involuntarily. Only Jun Beiyue remained composed, his handsome face cold and expressionless throughout.

The characters inscribed on the memorial tablet matched exactly the stone tablet Ziqing had seen at the Realm of Three Boundaries—just four characters, “Wife of the Gu Clan,” with no surname, no date, and no name of whoever had inscribed it.

Strictly speaking, this could not be considered a complete memorial tablet, but at this moment, no one paid attention to that detail. The Patriarch abruptly stood up and approached step by step!

This woman—the one he had loved on impulse in his youth, the one who had borne him a son, the one he had abandoned. He had thought he would never see her again in this life, yet unexpectedly, this was how they would meet again.

His hands trembled instinctively as he reached out to take it, but Jun Beiyue said coldly, “Patriarch Gu, isn’t it time you gave my mother a proper status?”

He had just entrusted this matter to the Patriarch to handle—it was both a test and a chance given to Madam Gu and her daughters. But the outcome had truly exceeded his expectations!

If others showed him no kindness, then he owed them no loyalty in return!

He had originally not intended to touch Madam Gu’s position as lady of the household. Now, he would settle it once and for all!

“You’re right!” the Patriarch answered without the slightest hesitation. He had been waiting all along—waiting for Jun Beiyue to acknowledge his roots and return to the family, waiting for the Gu clan to have an heir!

Once Jun Beiyue was willing to have his birth mother’s memorial tablet enshrined in the Gu clan’s ancestral hall, it would mean he had also acknowledged his own identity!

Having said this, he immediately issued the order, “Someone, open the ancestral hall, summon the priest—this old man will personally enshrine the Lady’s memorial tablet in the hall!”

The Lady?

Hearing these words, Madam Gu suddenly wailed loudly and threw herself forward. “My lord! My lord, I was wrong, my lord, I know my mistake, I shouldn’t have indulged the children, I shouldn’t have caused you trouble. My lord, for the sake of all these years I’ve devoted myself wholeheartedly to the Gu clan, please forgive me!”

Gu Meiting and Gu Suying were equally shocked—this wasn’t a fight to the death at all, but Jun Beiyue seizing the opportunity to take everything away from them!

The two sisters rushed forward as well, embracing the Patriarch’s legs, weeping and wailing. Jiang Chen, still shaken with lingering fear, didn’t dare say a word out of turn.

But the Patriarch no longer softened. “Someone, Madam is unwell—help her down and send for Physician Hua to treat her!”

“My lord, I was wrong, you can deal with me however you wish, my lord, I’ll listen to everything you say, everything, just don’t abandon me! My lord…”

Madam Gu cried out, still hoping to fight to the bitter end—after all, they were husband and wife, after all, they were father and daughter, surely her husband couldn’t do anything to them!

She never imagined it would end like this. With a proper Lady now in place, she would become nothing more than a concubine—and a concubine was merely a servant of higher standing!

Despite Madam Gu’s wailing, the guards still led her away. Watching her mother’s retreating figure, Gu Suying shuddered again and again. When the Patriarch uttered the words “carry out the family punishment,” it nearly made her heart leap out of her chest.

“Father…” she choked out, not daring to raise her voice.

“I, Gu Jun, have no daughter as venomous as you. Gu Suying, one who exploits family bonds for their own gain commits the gravest sin under heaven!” the Patriarch scolded furiously.

These words left Gu Suying unable even to call him “Father” again, tears streaming down her face. But the guards ultimately restrained her—the guards and matrons from the Discipline Hall arrived at her side, one holding a short whip, the other a pair of scissors!

Gu Suying wept until she nearly broke down completely. The Patriarch gritted his teeth, took the scissors, lifted a lock of her long hair, and cut it off ruthlessly!

“Hair cut, bond severed. Gu Suying, you are no longer my daughter, no longer a member of the Gu clan!” The Patriarch spoke each word loudly and clearly, then took up the short whip, striking blow after heavy blow across her back!

With each crack of the whip, Gu Meiting and Jiang Chen stood in silence, not daring even to breathe loudly!

In that vast hall, there was nothing but the sound of the whip and the sound of pleading and weeping.

Finally, after ten lashes, the Patriarch didn’t even spare her another glance, snorting coldly, “Get out!”

Gu Suying’s face was streaked with tears. It took her a long while to stand up. She looked at the Patriarch, her eyes filled with nothing but hatred, but the one she hated most was Han Ziqing. She turned toward the door, then glared viciously at Ziqing, spat “Feh!” with venom, and fled in disgrace, terrified that Ziqing might chase after her!

Ziqing had no intention of chasing her—anyone expelled from their clan became the very lowest of the low on the Isle of Immortal Retreat. No one would dare take them in; they would only be reduced to beggars.

The Patriarch took a deep breath and finally turned to look at Jiang Chen. Jiang Chen shuddered violently and immediately dropped to his knees. “Father-in-law, this unworthy son-in-law knows his mistake. This unworthy son-in-law was also threatened by Bai Feiyao and had no choice. I beg you, in consideration of the fact that this unworthy son-in-law realized his error and honestly exposed Gu Suying and Bai Feiyao, please spare me!”

Gu Meiting watched coldly, already disappointed beyond measure. She had been waiting, waiting for her father to say the word so she could demand a divorce letter from Jiang Chen. How fortunate she was that she hadn’t been dragged into this mess—if Gu Suying had approached her to collude on the poisoning, she surely would have agreed!

Since she hadn’t been dragged in, she could still remain in the Gu clan. Even becoming the daughter of a concubine would be better than returning to the Jiang family—if even Madam Jiang could tolerate Jiang Chen’s affair with Bai Feiyao, it was clear this mother-in-law would never truly treat her well. Going back, she would surely never know peace again!

But who would have thought the Patriarch would say coldly, “You are not a member of my Gu clan. This old man has no time to deal with you. Go back to the Jiang family.”

Having said this, he looked seriously at Gu Meiting. “As for the matter between you and your husband, handle it yourselves. Meiting, remember this—no daughter of my Gu clan will ever be divorced!”

Hearing this, Gu Meiting nearly fainted. What! She had to go back to the Jiang family? And Jiang Chen was struck with terror—being told to handle it themselves, with no divorce granted, meant that once this eldest young lady was brought back home, would the Jiang family ever know peace again?

The couple sat there dejectedly. The Patriarch paid them no more attention, turning instead to speak earnestly to Jun Beiyue. “All these years, I have wronged…”

Before he could finish, Jun Beiyue cut him off, rose, and personally took the memorial tablet, saying flatly, “Lead the way.”

Back then, hadn’t his mother left him the dagger, Liuguang, precisely so that he would acknowledge this identity?

Now that her soul had returned to the Gu clan, perhaps this could be considered a kind of resolution.