Chapter 91 Don't Hit Her Again
When Shen Jiaojiao was led away by the palace maid, a middle-aged man among the guests, who bore a striking resemblance to her, stared at the scene with a gloomy expression, his hand gripping the wine cup so tightly that it cracked.
This man was Shen Yujiao's father, Gu Nanxiao's biological mother's elder brother, and Gu Nanxiao's maternal uncle, Shen Yixing.
Beside the man sat a woman adorned with jewels, but with a very mean expression. She had been chattering incessantly since the beginning.
“Look at your good nephew, how could he treat Jiaojiao so cruelly? If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes today, I wouldn’t have believed that this is how he treats my daughter every day.”
If you don't go and demand an explanation for Jiaojiao today, I, as her aunt, will never let this go. The two haven't even gotten married yet, and they've already started fighting.
Even if Jiaojiao's dancing was inappropriate, as her fiancé, he should have covered it up. How could he...
"Enough!" Shen Yixing, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, stopping the woman's complaints and scolding her, "Don't you even look at how you raise your daughter?"
He was already furious that his own daughter would do such a shameless thing in public, but his wife was still criticizing others.
Even though his wife knew that their daughter had been sent to Dali Temple for poisoning someone a few days ago, she still managed to argue without any sense of reason.
What man could tolerate a woman who poisoned his concubines before even entering his household? Doesn't she see what the whole capital is saying now?
Now, the women in the clan who are of marriageable age are all dissatisfied with them. They believe that he, as the head of the family, has failed in his duty to raise his daughters and has brought shame upon their ancestors.
But who could understand his predicament? His wife was always stubborn and unyielding; someone of her social standing would never have been able to marry into the Shen family.
However, his wife's father had risked his life to save him on the battlefield, ultimately leaving him crippled in both legs. He had married her to repay that debt of gratitude.
Unexpectedly, his wife had an unreasonable personality, so he decided to settle for second best. He didn't care about being affectionate or clingy; he just wanted to be respectful and able to discuss things with her.
Who would have thought that such a low request would never be fulfilled in the twenty years of their marriage?
The inner quarters were constantly noisy and chaotic, and his concubines suffered daily torment from his wife. But he turned a blind eye to it all.
He thought that since they were husband and wife, he should give his wife more face, and naturally, all the affairs of the inner quarters should be left to her to manage.
I thought my wife had worked hard at home all these years, and even if she hadn't done anything particularly meritorious, she had still put in a lot of effort. But as soon as I returned from the border, I heard that our only daughter had done such a disgraceful thing.
He also guessed that Jiaojiao's personality had probably been spoiled by her mother, and now that she was eighteen, it would be difficult to correct it.
After such a shameful incident, she had already locked her daughter in the ancestral hall to reflect on her actions. Yet today, she inexplicably appeared at the banquet and caused this whole mess.
He figured it must have been his wife who released their daughter, and he didn't want to argue with her at the banquet. Shen Yixing picked up his wine glass and walked straight towards Gu Nanxiao's table.
As soon as he stood up, he immediately attracted everyone's attention. Firstly, because of his status, he was a very important person, in charge of 300,000 Tiger Roar Army soldiers. He was someone that the Emperor and several princes had tried their best to appease and win over.
Just now, his daughter danced in public and was almost strangled to death by Lord Gu. Everyone was thinking that he didn't say a word then, and that this time he must be going to settle accounts with Gu Nanxiao.
Therefore, everyone's gazes were subtly sweeping in their direction, and their ears were perked up. They all wanted to see how Lord Gu would deal with the reprimand from his own maternal uncle after hitting someone's daughter.
Gu Nanxiao immediately noticed Yunxi's discomfort. He looked at the girl's increasingly flushed face and glanced at the empty glass of wine on the table.
He figured Yunxi was probably just a little tipsy because she couldn't hold her liquor. Just as he was about to ask if they should head back early, he saw his uncle walking towards them from a distance.
Yunxi looked at the person who was bringing the wine, her expression somewhat unfriendly, but she didn't recognize him. Only after Gu Nanxiao called him "uncle" did she deduce that this might be Shen Yujiao's father.
Thinking that the two might have something to say, and that it wasn't appropriate for her, given her status, to listen in, and considering that she was feeling quite dizzy at the moment, she thought going out for some fresh air might help. So she told Gu Nanxiao that she needed to go out for some fresh air, and without waiting for his reply, she got up and left.
When Shen Yixing saw that Gu Nanxiao's maidservant didn't even greet him when he approached, he got up and left, which made him somewhat dissatisfied.
But thinking about what his daughter had done to others, he suppressed his anger and moved to the spot where Yunxi had been sitting.
He put one arm around Gu Nanxiao's shoulder, held a glass in the other, clinked it against Gu Nanxiao's glass on the table, and said with a hint of melancholy:
"Uncle knows you're angry, and I'm aware of the foolish things Jiaojiao has done lately. But I still hope you can let her off the hook for Uncle's sake."
"If you really dislike Jiaojiao, then keep your distance from her, but you mustn't hit her like you did today. If she does something wrong, talk to her uncle, and he will definitely discipline her for you."
Gu Nanxiao thought that his uncle had come to interrogate him. Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened his mouth, he admitted that Shen Yujiao was at fault. He even swallowed his pride and told him not to hold it against Shen Yujiao.
For a moment, Gu Nanxiao felt a little ashamed, after all, he had never given Shen Yujiao a kind look, and only regarded her as an annoying person who always bothered him.
Seeing my uncle today reminded me that this uncle, who is over forty, only has one daughter, and I felt a pang of sympathy for him.
He picked up the wine cup on the table and solemnly clinked it against his uncle's again. Then he promised, "From now on, as long as Shen Yujiao doesn't do anything to harm Yunxi, I can be rational about it. I might even help you out a bit while your uncle is stationed at the border."
As for our marriage, I believe Grandmother has already spoken to Uncle. But today, I, your nephew, wish to state my position in your presence.
Although my nephew agreed to take Shen Yujiao as a concubine under pressure from my grandmother, my uncle could also see that I had no affection for her whatsoever, only a growing aversion to her.
I believe my cousin won't be happy after marrying me. Therefore, I hope my uncle can persuade her to find a good man to marry while she's still young and not hang herself on my door.
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