Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Lu Xiao Is Furious

The moment Jinbao said those words, the entire room fell silent.

Mr. Lu nearly choked, unable to catch his breath. Mrs. Lu’s hand, which had been patting his back, froze in mid-air. Her eyes went wide as she looked from Jinbao to Su Tang, and then to her own son.

Su Tang felt a rush of fury surge straight to her head.

The shock from moments before was completely consumed by this vicious blaze of anger.

She was trembling with rage, her finger shaking as she pointed at Jinbao. “You… You’re full of shit! Jinbao! You’re spouting malicious lies!”

Su Tang had been raised as a proper young lady from a respectable family. When in her entire life had she ever been subjected to such slander?

And in front of her husband and parents-in-law, no less!

’Besides,’ she thought, ’even if the original owner of this body was dramatic and foolish, she would never have done something like that.’

Lu Xiao’s face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot, his gaze cold enough to freeze a man to death.

He strode in front of Su Tang, completely shielding her behind him like an immovable mountain.

He didn’t immediately attack Jinbao. Instead, he turned back first, his eyes fixed on Su Tang.

The man’s voice was low, but every word carried his complete trust. “Tangtang, don’t be afraid. I don’t believe a single word he said.”

Lu Xiao’s words were like a calming balm, and Su Tang’s hands clenched into fists.

“Jinbao, you’re disgusting.”

Su Tang spat contemptuously. She, who never used foul language, had just let several curses fly.

Of course, Lu Xiao trusted his wife.

When he turned back to Jinbao, his expression was no longer one of anger, but the icy coldness of someone looking at a dead man.

“Jinbao.”

Lu Xiao’s voice was not loud, but quiet and calm, like the stillness before a storm.

“Say what you just said again. Word for word. Make it clear for me.”

Jinbao looked at Lu Xiao’s expression, then at Su Tang’s face, red with anger, and his courage began to falter.

Clutching his still-bleeding head, he stiffened his neck, but his voice was much quieter and his eyes shifted away. “It wasn’t me who said it. All their neighbors are saying it.”

“If she wasn’t damaged goods, would her family marry their daughter to you? Lu Xiao, your family is dirt poor! How could you manage to marry a professor’s daughter?”

This was nothing but baseless slander, him projecting his own filthy mindset onto others.

After all, Mr. Lu, Lu Zhenfeng, had never told anyone the real reason he had Lu Xiao marry Su Tang.

Why would he air his family’s private matters for all to hear?

“That’s a load of fucking bullshit!”

Mr. Lu had finally recovered his breath, and in a fit of rage, he grabbed the nearby broom handle and swung it.

“I’ll beat you to death, you piece of shit with a filthy mouth! Your own mind is twisted, so you think everyone is as dirty as you are!”

Mrs. Lu snapped out of it and quickly grabbed her furious husband, but her own gaze toward Jinbao had turned completely cold.

She might be a simple woman, but she was fiercely protective of her own, especially the daughter-in-law she had accepted.

“Jinbao! You’ve gone too far! How can you just say things like that? You’re trying to ruin a person’s reputation!”

Su Tang looked at Lu Xiao shielding her, and listened to her parents-in-law clearly taking her side. The suffocating feeling of injustice in her heart eased slightly.

But what followed was an even greater surge of anger.

She stepped out from behind Lu Xiao, her eyes locked on Jinbao. “You say I’ve been married before? Fine. Show me the proof. Where’s the marriage certificate? Who was the man? Where was the wedding banquet held? Are there any witnesses?”

“If you can’t produce any evidence today, I’ll report you and see you thrown in jail.”

The burden of proof lies with the accuser. Su Tang wasn’t going to be the one to gather evidence.

Why should she admit to something she’d never done?

“I have always conducted myself with integrity. In Shanghai, my family is respectable. My parents have lived their lives with a clear conscience, and I married with a clear conscience. I married Lu Xiao because he is worthy of it. Who are you to stand here gossiping and slinging mud?”

Hearing their accusations, Jinbao grit his teeth and shot back, “In the UK, you dated a foreigner!”

“You… you even lived with him!”

His words actually took Su Tang by surprise, but these events didn’t even hold a significant place in the original owner’s memories.

Su Tang figured that what Jinbao was saying was either completely fabricated, or something he’d overheard and then wildly exaggerated.

“If you can’t produce any proof, then stop spewing crap. My marriage application with Lu Xiao was approved by the organization. Do you really think my past could be hidden from them?”

’Was this an ordinary marriage?’

’To get over that threshold, they practically investigate three generations of your ancestors.’

“Jinbao, what else do you have to say? You animal!”

Mr. Lu truly wanted to give Jinbao two hard slaps across the face.

He knew what kind of person Jinbao was, but he had always believed it was better to guide someone toward good than to simply let them do evil.

Besides, Jinbao had handled all the arrangements for this trip to the Northwest.

Mr. Lu had thought Jinbao had turned over a new leaf and truly wanted to live a decent life.

Who would have thought that he’d never had such intentions from the very beginning.

He just wanted to pretend to be a good person so they would bring him to the Northwest, where he could then threaten Lu Xiao.

Mrs. Lu was also completely disheartened. She looked at Jinbao and just shook her head. “What a sin… what a terrible sin…”

Hearing Su Tang’s words, Jinbao was completely dumbfounded.

What did he know about any of this?

He had simply wanted to sicken Su Tang, get revenge on her, and create some leverage he could use to manipulate her into helping him.

Jinbao had assumed that a woman would be most afraid of such baseless rumors, unable to defend herself no matter what she said.

He never, ever expected Su Tang to be so confrontational.

Now, Jinbao was truly panicking. The hand covering his head dropped, revealing a face smeared with blood. He looked both pathetic and comical.

He looked at the murderous Lu Xiao, then at the trembling, furious Mr. and Mrs. Lu, and finally, reality hit him.

“I… I… I just… I just heard people spouting nonsense…”

Jinbao was babbling incoherently. He tried to back away, but his back hit the cold wall.

“Who did you hear it from?”

Lu Xiao sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. “Name, address. Spit it out. I’ll take you to confront them right now. If your stories don’t match, then that means you’re the one making up lies…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but his gaze said it all.

How could Jinbao dare to say? He had made it all up himself!

Terrified, he dropped to his knees. Forgetting the wound on his head, he began to kowtow in the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Lu and Su Tang.

“I was wrong! Uncle! Auntie! Sister-in-law! I was wrong! My mind was clouded by greed! I was spouting nonsense! I deserve to die! I deserve to die! Please spare me! I’ll… I’ll get lost right now! I’ll go straight back to my hometown! I’ll never come back!”

Lu Xiao watched his disgraceful display with disgust, feeling that even hitting him would dirty his own hands.

He roared toward the door, “Guards!”

The two young soldiers standing guard outside immediately ran in. They were startled by the scene inside but instantly snapped to attention. “Sir! Battalion Commander!”

“This man.”

Lu Xiao pointed at Jinbao, who was now a limp heap on the floor, his voice ice-cold.

“Take him to the train station now. Buy him a ticket on the earliest train back to his hometown and watch him get on it. Tell the train police that this man’s conduct is improper, and to ’look after’ him on the way.”

“After he arrives, call the local commune and brigade. Report everything he did here today, down to the last detail, exactly as it happened!”

Jinbao had wanted to drag Su Tang’s reputation through the mud, so Lu Xiao was giving him a taste of his own medicine.

“No, no, Brother Xiao, don’t! If you do this, my life will be ruined!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep