Liu Guifen saw Jiang Mian shrinking like a little quail, neck hunched, not daring to make a sound.
She assumed her earlier words had intimidated the country girl, and her arrogance soared even higher.
She didn’t even bother to enter the room, instead planting her hands on her hips at the doorway and raising her voice, making sure the neighbors could hear:
“Little Jiang, I’m just speaking the truth for your own good. That man—if that leg of his is useless, he’s no different from a cripple! Even if it’s a ‘third leg,’ it’s useless too!”
Two soldiers behind her covered their mouths, letting out meaning-laden snickers.
“Exactly,” another sister-in-law chimed in. “Captain Huo hurt his spine, and I hear he has no feeling below the waist. How’s that any different from a eunuch in the palace? You’re young, just married, and now you’ll have to live like a widow. How will you survive these long lonely nights?”
“I think it’s only because the Huo family is rich. Otherwise, which girl would throw herself into this fire pit? It’s just trading youth for money!”
Every word was like a needle, cruel and humiliating.
Jiang Mian shivered in the cold wind, shoulders trembling. She bit her lip hard, tears spilling like broken pearls, but she didn’t dare to retort. She could only clutch at her clothes, looking utterly pitiful.
But beneath that “helpless” facade, her mind was a storm:
[I spit on you, you busybody! Mind your own business!][Live like a widow? I’m delighted! I’d rather sleep hugging money than a sweaty, stinky man! You wrinkled old prune, what do you know?!][Calling him a eunuch? A cripple? I think your whole family came out of the trash heap! Mouths so foul, did you brush your teeth with manure this morning?!][Even if Huo Jingchuan is disabled, he’s a hero protecting the country! Who are you to gossip behind his back? Careful, Huo the King of Hell might just jump up and crush your skulls, and your ancestors will crawl from their graves to be ashamed!]
Inside the house, Huo Jingchuan’s dark expression gradually shifted as he listened to the rapid-fire inner monologue.
He’d heard countless people gossiping about his disability—some pitied him, some mocked—but he thought he was numb to it.
Now, hearing a seemingly fragile woman outside defending him (even if it was partly for her money), tearing those gossipy women apart in her mind with exquisite creativity…
His chest, once heavy with resentment, felt strangely relieved.
Even… satisfying.
Outside, Liu Guifen, seeing Jiang Mian still silent, assumed the girl was completely scared.
Brimming with triumph, she poked Jiang Mian on the forehead: “Hey, I’m talking to you! Cat got your tongue? You’ll need me in this compound…”
“Bang—!!!”
A thunderous crash rang out.
The tightly closed wooden door to the main room was slammed open with a tremendous force, banging against the wall and sending dust from the frame fluttering down.
Liu Guifen’s finger froze mid-poke, her body trembling, nearly biting her tongue.
Everyone turned, terrified.
In the dim doorway, Huo Jingchuan rolled forward in his wheelchair.
His thin military shirt sleeves rolled up, revealing rigid, cold muscles. His handsome yet grim face bore no expression, and his black eyes, like the depths of a frozen abyss, locked onto Liu Guifen.
Even seated, his gaze made everyone feel as if a predator had awakened from slumber, a killing aura born from a battlefield pressing down on them.
The air froze.
The gossipy women, chattering just moments ago, were now like chickens with their necks clutched, pale and silent.
“Huo… Captain Huo…” Liu Guifen’s calf cramped, and she stammered, “We… we just… just came to show concern…”
“Concern?”
Huo Jingchuan’s voice was low, but carried a terrifying authority.
His gaze sliced across Liu Guifen’s terrified face like a knife, a cruel arc tugging at the corner of his lips:
“Since Sister-in-law Liu is so idle and has time to concern herself with my private life…”
“Looks like Liu Dazhu has been slacking off in training lately.”
Liu Guifen’s face drained of color.
Liu Dazhu was her husband, formerly a soldier under Huo Jingchuan’s command. Even though they were no longer in the same regiment, Huo Jingchuan’s prestige remained. To punish her husband would be easy.
Huo Jingchuan lightly tapped the wheelchair armrest, casually saying:
“I’ll call the guards and suggest Liu Dazhu run ten kilometers with weights every morning and evening, so he’ll have no energy to listen to you gossipy women at home.”
“Ten… ten kilometers?!” Liu Guifen went black in the eyes, nearly fainting. Her husband would kill her if he found out.
“Go.”
Huo Jingchuan’s thin lips parted, issuing one word.
It was not loud, but it brooked no opposition.
“Y-yes! We’ll leave immediately! Right now!”
Liu Guifen didn’t dare linger another second. Terrified, she grabbed the other two soldiers and scrambled away as if ghosts were chasing them.
In an instant, the compound fell silent.
Jiang Mian stood in place, watching the fleeing backs, then at Huo Jingchuan, still radiating murderous energy in his wheelchair.
She blinked, still with tears clinging to her lashes, and weakly called: “Brother Jingchuan…”
Inside Huo Jingchuan’s mind, her fervent, fangirl-like cheering rang:
[Wow!!!][So handsome! Amazing! Captain Huo is majestic! That was a savage takedown! Insane skill!][Even disabled, his aura is two meters eight! Look at those old gossips turning green! Hahaha!][For this act of defending (even partly for himself), I’m giving tonight’s dinner an extra egg! Big thumbs up!]
Huo Jingchuan looked at her red-rimmed but sparkling eyes, and the corner of his usually tight mouth twitched, almost imperceptibly.
An extra egg?
Hmph, this woman really is easily pleased.