Jiang Shu was standing in the backlight at this moment, subtly coughing. His fingers, hanging by his side, were noticeably cold and pale, and his eyes were filled with a chilling look.
An Ling was speaking while showing her swollen red cheek to him, clear marks of two slaps visible on her face.
Qing Yi, utterly angry, was about to retort when Su Luo grabbed her hand.
Aside from those in the room, there was no one else; Su Luo had no way of proving her innocence. Saying more would only give others more ammunition.
An Ling wanted to shake the man's arm, yet she was intimidated by his icy look. She withdrew her hand and pitifully said, "Cousin, you have to stand up for me about these two slaps!"
Jiang Shu asked in a soft voice, "What would you like me to do about it?"
An Ling sniveled, looking like a crying pear blossom, "I also did wrong in this matter; it shouldn't be blown out of proportion. Just avenge my slaps for me, cousin!"
Jiang Shu slightly nodded, his demeanor still depicting some sleep deprivation.
An Ling had a triumphant look on her face for a moment, but she quickly suppressed it; retaining the same pitiful expression as before.
She always knew her cousin, although not particularly close to her, cared for her more than that barbarian.
Su Luo had been fooled by countless white lotuses in her previous life. Seeing this act now instinctively made her want to slap An Ling twice more.
However, she wasn't mindless, even though she could be assertive. She knew the timing wasn't right to vent her anger, with the situation still unclear.
In her resentment, Jiang Shu stepped out from the shadows and stood under the bright light. Only then did Su Luo realize that he was quite tall. His long shadow, cast by the sunlight, laid itself all over her.
Su Luo was gazing up into his cold and stern eyes, for a moment feeling unexpectedly entranced, as if they had once stood face to face in such a stance before.
In the moment she zoned out, his cool hand had already lifted her chin and glanced at her a couple of times. He coughed once, his eye corners slightly reddened. Although he looked a bit sickly, his gaze still held a chill. He lightly touched the slap mark on Su Luo's cheek and asked, "How did this happen?"
For some reason, Su Luo even felt a little wronged.
She was flooded with memories of her past life while in this moment, she too had once been slapped, but it was someone else's chin that her husband had lifted.
Su Luo forgot to respond for a moment.
Jiang Shu then looked at Mother.
Mother, in a bit of panic, promptly responded, "I wasn't in the room earlier, I know nothing!"
He then turned to An Ling who, covering her face, accused, "She must have slapped herself! I have nothing to do with this!"
Jiang Shu licked his reddened lips caused by the coughing, "How do you know she slapped herself?"
This counter-question left an originally assertive An Ling somewhat dumbfounded!
Jiang Shu stepped forward, gently embraced Su Luo, and turned to An Ling, "She is my wife, whom I married lawfully. Regardless of what she did last night, I never laid a single finger on her, yet you did. How should this matter be resolved?"
His gaze was icy cold, like that of a winter chill.
An Ling was so cold that she started shivering. She fell to her knees and stammered, "Cousin, I, I didn't..."
Jiang Shu ignored her and turned to Su Luo instead, "How would you like to handle this?"
Su Luo regained her senses and was somewhat surprised at Jiang Shu's decision.
Without responding, she walked two steps forward to An Ling, swung her hand round, and slapped her on her delicate face.
There was a crisp sound of a slap.
"You slapped me once, I return one to you!"
An Ling's face seemed to freeze, and she was able to taste the metallic flavor of blood in her mouth. She looked at Su Luo incredulously. Perhaps she didn't expect Su Luo's response to be so simple and brutal.
Su Luo was not soft, having strength enough to eat three bowls of rice in a meal, and to drag Jiang Shu on the strets all the way home.
However, before she could recover, 'slap!' came the sound of Su Luo's hand striking her face once again.
Su Luo glanced at An Ling with satisfaction. "One slap for each cheek, neither more nor less. This is quite fair!"
An Ling's face had swollen so badly that it resembled that of a pig's, and her whimpering went off the pitch. Mother couldn't bear to watch and turned away her face.
Jiang Shu coughed lightly and commanded, "Mother, Miss An is merely a guest in the house. Yet you're obedient to her every word and put the lady of the house in a dangerous situation. Go get ten strokes of the cane!"
Mother was stunned.
Is the Princely Heir blind? The new lady of the house is simply a shrew. It's good enough that she hasn't endangered others. Who would dare to put her in danger?
She would lose a layer of skin with ten strokes of the cane on her old body.
She pleaded time and again, yet Jiang Shu was merciless, "Every word you say earns you another stroke!"
So Mother ceased speaking.
Su Luo, hearing the sound of caning outside, cheerfully let Qing Yi to do her makeup. However, just as she settled in front of the bronze mirror, she was picked up by Jiang Shu and tossed onto the bed.
Qing Yi thought the Princely Heir's eyes were quite frightening. Were all men's eyes like a mountain tiger's when they wanted to 'do things'?
Su Luo gritted her teeth in pain, watching Jiang Shu as he kept approaching. She finally sensed the danger. If she had known earlier, she would have pulled out fewer of his hair. She quickly moved to the farthest edge of the bed, stuttering, "What, what are you trying to do?"