On the other side.
After being lectured by He Yan, Chu Qinzhī was sent back to the Chu family.
Seeing him covered in bruises, Chu Tiankuo felt a slight stir in his heart. He slammed the teacup heavily onto the table.
“Who did this?”
He didn’t want to mention Gu Tangzhou.
Afraid his father would think he deserved it.
So he pushed everything onto Luo Jin.
“Isn’t it the good daughter-in-law you arranged for me? Even though I’m like this now, I still carry the Chu surname. The Gu family is really going too far!”
Hearing this, Chu Tiankuo, who had spent half his life on the battlefield, also darkened his expression.
Back then, he had casually agreed to the Gu family’s request, never expecting they would use a woman like Luo Jin—so “loose” and disgraceful—to deal with them. Chu Qinzhī had already become a laughingstock in Haicheng, and now this incident only poured fuel on the fire.
“Qin’er, with me here, I won’t let you suffer this humiliation for nothing!”
The Gu family was truly bullying others with power. How dare they lay a hand on his precious son because of an adopted girl!
Then let old and new grievances be settled together!
“Let’s go.”
Taking Chu Qinzhī with him, Chu Tiankuo stormed straight to the Gu Fifth Master’s villa, completely ignoring etiquette.
“Gu Wu, look at what your girl has done!”
Gu Fifth Master looked at Gu Qinghan beside him, completely confused.
“Brother Tiankuo, look, Qinghan has been by my side the whole time. How could she possibly cause trouble?”
“You’ve forgotten you still have another daughter, haven’t you?”
Hearing this, Gu Fifth Master immediately understood—it was Luo Jin again.
“Luo Jin that girl…”
But upon seeing Chu Qinzhī’s bruised face behind Chu Tiankuo, Gu Fifth Master immediately shut his mouth.
It looked like there was no room left to salvage the marriage with the Chu family.
“She really went too far. Even if our Chu family doesn’t want a woman like her, there’s no need to strike in the dark like this. If she’s ashamed, she should control herself!”
His words made Gu Fifth Master’s face alternately flush and pale.
“Brother Tiankuo, the engagement has already been canceled. There’s no way Luo Jin could have done something like this.”
Gu Fifth Master still tried to defend himself, which only further enraged Chu Tiankuo.
“What, are you saying Qin’er is lying? Your girl is indecent in private and still beat Qin’er. If you refuse to admit it, I’ll have to ask the old master to intervene.”
Hearing him bring up the old master, Gu Fifth Master panicked.
“Brother Tiankuo, there’s no need to trouble the old master. I can handle this myself.”
He stepped forward and examined Chu Qinzhī’s injuries carefully.
This didn’t look like it was caused by a woman—more likely Luo Jin had gotten involved with some unsavory men outside.
“Since Young Master Qin is so badly injured, we should take him to the hospital.”
“No need. Our Chu family isn’t here for money. We want an explanation. We’re the ones canceling the engagement. If you have grievances, come at me directly! What does bullying my son mean?”
Ever since the Gu Fifth Master had “dumped” Luo Jin onto him, and now with this incident after the engagement cancellation, even his son was being targeted. He had clearly been too lenient with them!
“Brother Tiankuo, that’s not fair. That girl Luo Jin hasn’t been home recently. I truly don’t know what happened.”
Gu Fifth Master quickly distanced himself, shifting all blame onto Luo Jin.
“Luo Jin and Qin’er were never meant to be. Our two families still have ties. About what happened to Qin’er, as his uncle, I apologize.”
Gu Fifth Master stepped forward and bowed to Chu Qinzhī.
Performing politeness was his specialty—this was exactly how he had once pleased the old master.
But a fool was still a fool; he couldn’t fool someone as shrewd as the old master.
Chu Qinzhī felt extremely uncomfortable.
“What are you doing? You’re an elder, after all.”
Chu Tiankuo pulled Chu Qinzhī behind him with a stern expression.
This was practically shortening his son’s lifespan!
“Brother Tiankuo, give me some time. I’ll personally bring that girl Luo Jin to your door to apologize!”
“No need. I came only to remind you to discipline your daughter. If this continues, sooner or later someone else will discipline her for you!”
Chu Tiankuo left with a harsh warning, then departed with Chu Qinzhī.
Watching the car disappear around the corner, Gu Fifth Master’s expression immediately turned cold and vicious.
“That damned girl! She’s brought trouble into the house. She’s asking for death!”
Gu Qinghan, who had been hiding nearby, leaned in and fanned the flames.
“Dad, those injuries don’t look like they were caused by a woman. Could we have wrongly blamed sister?”
She deliberately mentioned a man, intending to smear Luo Jin’s name further.
In Haicheng, even if everyone had conflicts with Chu Qinzhī, no one would be stupid enough to beat him—after all, there was still the Chu family’s authority behind him.
Gu Fifth Master had already noticed that the injuries were likely caused by a man, but the instigator was undoubtedly that damned girl!
“Dad understands. That Luo Jin girl is getting more and more lawless, relying on the old master’s favor.”
Gu Fifth Master narrowed his eyes, a flash of cruelty in his not-so-bright gaze.
Back then, if not for fear of Luo Jin’s identity being exposed, he would never have adopted this burden. He had originally planned to take advantage of her when she came of age, but instead she turned into such an ungrateful traitor.
He picked up his phone and called Luo Jin.
“Damn girl! Do you still remember you have a home?”
Receiving Gu Fifth Master’s call, Luo Jin felt helpless.
She had clearly told him yesterday that she would be staying at Gu Tangzhou’s place for a few days, and he had agreed—so why was it now her fault again?
“Dad, Second Brother already told you yesterday. I’m staying at his place to recover.”
She mentioned Gu Tangzhou, hoping to remind him.
“You’re at your second brother’s place and still causing trouble!”
“I didn’t do anything.”
She would not accept this baseless accusation.
“Look at what you did to Young Master Chu! How can a girl behave so shamelessly?”
“So what if the engagement was canceled? When you were doing those things, why didn’t you think about how I taught you? Now you’ve even embarrassed me!”
He ranted on.
“What do you mean?”
She still didn’t understand why she was being yelled at.
From his words, it sounded like Chu Qinzhī had been beaten—but what did that have to do with her?
“You’re still pretending? You beat Young Master Chu, and they’ve come to our house!”
This was absurd. As a woman, even if Chu Qinzhī were useless, he was still a Chu heir—someone she could never possibly touch.
She suddenly remembered the last time she saw him was at the hospital, and then He Yan had taken him home.
He Yan?
She immediately understood—He Yan must have done it, probably on Gu Tangzhou’s orders.
But why would he hit Chu Qinzhī?
Was it to stand up for her?
She curled her lips and let out a faint, mocking laugh at her own unrealistic thought.