muttering under her breath.
"My parents didn't raise you well, so as the eldest sister-in-law, I'll teach you a lesson for them."
Just as the slap was about to fall, a deep voice, laced with urgency, interrupted Fan Cuiying.
"Stop!"
Everyone looked towards the source of the voice and saw Gu Youcai approaching with a determined stride, as if he were walking on meteorites.
The women controlling Shen Lu felt an inexplicable panic and fear, and immediately let go of Shen Lu.
Fan Cuiying, afraid Shen Lu would escape, grabbed Shen Lu's arm.
Gu Youcai walked closer, grabbed Fan Cuiying's wrist, and flung it away.
Gu Youcai's strength was immense. Fan Cuiying was thrown off balance and fell onto the hillside, her palm scraped by the rough gravel.
She lay on the ground, ignoring everything, and shouted.
Gu Youcai ignored Fan Cuiying, who was wailing on the ground, turned to Shen Lu, and asked with concern.
"Second sister-in-law, are you alright?"
Everyone present was astonished. It was common knowledge that the eldest son of the Gu family was a man of few words; he had never even shown such active concern for his own wife.
Now, he was publicly showing concern for Shen Lu, his younger brother's wife who had eloped with someone else.
Everyone sensed something was amiss, except for Fan Cuiying, who was still furious and continuously cursed at Gu Youcai.
"Gu Youcai, you shameless old man, how dare you yell at me for a vixen who committed adultery!"
Fan Cuiying felt she was in the right, her sharp, acrimonious face upturned, her voice shrill and full of confidence.
Gu Youcai's expression turned grim. He didn't care what Fan Cuiying said about him.
However, hearing Shen Lu, who had just made great contributions to the country by sacrificing herself, being spoken of so harshly by Fan Cuiying, Gu Youcai couldn't help but reprimand her.
"Shut up!"
Seeing her husband defending Shen Lu at every turn, Fan Cuiying's already surging anger intensified, and her extreme rage made her speak without restraint.
"You're defending her so much, could it be you've taken a liking to her? When no one's home, you and this slut are often together..."
Gu Youcai's patience snapped. He turned and walked in front of Fan Cuiying, raised his hand, and delivered a swift, accurate, and forceful slap.
"I told you to shut up!"
Fan Cuiying's face was violently turned to the side, leaving two streams of blood from her nose. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
How dare Gu Youcai hit her, and in front of so many people!
Most people present were on good terms with Fan Cuiying, and they sighed at the sight.
Fan Cuiying usually acted very smug when chatting with people, relying on the fact that she was the factory manager's wife.
Now, being slapped in front of so many people, everyone sighed.
Intense hatred erupted in Fan Cuiying's eyes. She cared most about her image, and being publicly humiliated by her husband was worse than death!
Gu Youcai looked at Fan Cuiying, who still showed no sign of remorse, took a deep breath, and commanded.
"Apologize to Shen Lu."
Fan Cuiying screamed loudly, "You dream! For me to apologize to this little slut? On what grounds!"
"On what grounds?"
"On the grounds that Shen Lu, disregarding her reputation, contributed to our country! On the grounds of the wound on her neck, she is a hero of our country," Gu Youcai said sternly.
He did not mention Shen Lu catching the spy, subconsciously knowing that this matter could not be spread before it was clarified.
"Impossible, how could that little slut Shen Lu have such capabilities?"
Hearing this, Fan Cuiying's body swayed, her imposing manner weakened slightly, and she argued in disbelief.
However, her eyes were filled with panic.
Fan Cuiying knew in her heart that she had been married to Gu Youcai for nearly ten years, and she knew his character well. This man was taciturn and would never lie.
But Fan Cuiying couldn't accept Shen Lu transforming from a universally condemned adulteress into a universally praised great hero.
"We came here precisely to cooperate with Shen Lu. If you don't believe me, go ask the Captain of the Guard. They are waiting ahead. Little Shen, let's go."
Gu Youcai felt fortunate that he had returned the way he came to find Shen Lu.
Otherwise, with Fan Cuiying's temperament, Shen Lu would have undoubtedly suffered much more injustice.
Before leaving, Gu Youcai warned everyone not to spread this matter, or everyone present would face severe consequences.
Only Fan Cuiying and the bewildered women were left behind.
It was only then that they realized, belatedly, that they had been instigated by Fan Cuiying to attack Shen Lu, a hero who had contributed to the country.
If the higher-ups were to hold them accountable, none of them would fare well.
Therefore, to distance themselves, everyone turned their anger towards Fan Cuiying.
"Fan Cuiying, we all believed your lies and came here to catch a cheating couple. We didn't expect you to push us into a fire pit."
"Yes, we usually treat you well, don't we? How could you harm us like this?"
"We trusted you so much!"
The crowd spoke one after another, shifting all the blame onto Fan Cuiying, and then left the mountain as if nothing had happened.
In the end, only Fan Cuiying remained standing there, her face pale.
She couldn't understand how things had escalated to this point.
Fan Cuiying stood frozen for a long time, confusion flashing in her eyes.
She didn't know how she would face the Gu family and her colleagues.
However, soon, her confusion turned into hatred.
It was all Shen Lu's fault, that little slut deliberately set her up to lose face in front of those women.
If Shen Lu had told her from the beginning that she was going up the mountain to contribute to the country, she would never have brought people up to catch a cheating couple.
Fan Cuiying thought madly, her complex emotions within her heart all transforming into hatred for Shen Lu.
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