Chapter 266: The Gu Family Striking Back
“Confounded nonsense! Are you people up there completely blind, letting my daughter-in-law be terrorized like this?”
“The Liang family thinks they can lord over everyone just because of their rank! My daughter-in-law is heavily pregnant, and they have the absolute audacity to bully her!”
“I am ordering a full administrative review into the conduct and morale of your entire regiment! I want to see exactly how deep this culture of workplace tyranny and corruption runs!”
“Political Commissar Xie, how on earth are you managing your subordinates? Huh?!”
Political Commissar Xie could only offer frantic, clumsy assurances over the receiver, vowing that he would oversee the investigation personally and would never allow Comrade Sheng Wanyan to suffer an ounce of injustice. He promised that the regiment would immediately launch a strict rectification campaign to root out any toxic behavior or abuse of authority among the officers and their dependents.
“Humph! Words are cheap!” Father Gu barked, his voice vibrating with rage. “How many soldiers across this nation have had their lives saved by the emergency hemostatic powder my daughter-in-law developed, tell me?!”
“If I remember correctly, Chief of Staff Liang’s own sons carry those exact medical packets into the field whenever they deploy, don’t they?”
Political Commissar Xie nodded vigorously against the earpiece, cold sweat breaking out across his forehead. “Yes, Commander-in-Chief! You are entirely correct. Every unit is equipped with them!”
It was the absolute truth. Currently, every branch of the military relied heavily on Sheng Wanyan’s breakthrough hemostatic formula, and the central government was even finalizing logistics to export the medicine internationally to secure vital foreign exchange.
Father Gu let out a harsh, freezing scoff. “He uses my daughter-in-law’s genius to safeguard his sons’ lives on the battlefield, yet his own daughter tries to murder my daughter-in-law at home? Chief of Staff Liang truly runs a spectacular household!”
“For a senior officer who claims to serve the nation and its people, I don’t think there is a single chief of staff across any military region who matches his staggering lack of gratitude!”
Political Commissar Xie wiped his brow, his hands trembling. Although Father Gu’s scathing words were incredibly severe, he had to admit the old general was entirely correct. Chief of Staff Liang was truly cursed; through his daughter’s sheer stupidity, he had dragged his own name into the mud.
“Commander-in-Chief… regarding Liang Qian’s disciplinary action, what are your directives on how we should proceed?” Commissar Xie asked with extreme caution.
The next instant, Father Gu’s booming, gruff voice cut him off. “Do you take my Gu family for the same type of corrupt scoundrels who abuse their official titles to manipulate the law?”
Political Commissar Xie: “……” The rest of the Gu family might be beyond reproach, but you are currently doing exactly that, Commander-in-Chief!
Of course, the commissar didn’t dare breathe a syllable of that thought aloud. He could only stamp his feet and reiterate his total obedience. “Commander-in-Chief, I will oversee Liang Qian’s case with the utmost transparency. Everything will be handled strictly by the book!”
A heavy, suffocating silence stretched over the line. Political Commissar Xie held his breath, utterly unsure whether the patriarch was satisfied with his compliance.
After a long pause, Father Gu spoke again, his tone dangerously light. “I recall hearing that this Comrade Liang Qian who instigated the assault is a performer with the cultural art troupe?”
“And didn’t you mention a certain Captain Du in your unit who specialized in hijacking his subordinates’ military merits for personal gain?”
The underlying implication hit Political Commissar Xie like a physical blow. There was no room for misunderstanding—the Commander-in-Chief was systematically dismantling anyone who had ever caused Sheng Wanyan grief.
“For our military to harbor such fraudulent elements—”
Before Father Gu could even finish the sentence, Political Commissar Xie swiftly cut in to declare his stance. “Commander-in-Chief, I understand perfectly. I know exactly what needs to be done.”
“Excellent, Political Commissar. See that you don’t disappoint me!”
With a sharp click, Father Gu hung up. Political Commissar Xie slowly lowered the receiver, staring blankly at the wall for a long time, unable to steady his racing thoughts. He had a distinct feeling that the Gu family patriarch had no intention of letting the Liang household off with just a simple reprimand. The old man was famously unbothered by political friction; when provoked, he was the last person to back down from a fight.
What Political Commissar Xie didn’t know was that the moment Father Gu ended their call, he immediately placed several priority long-distance calls directly to the respective headquarters where Chief of Staff Liang’s sons were stationed.
Your Liang family has the nerve to terrorize my son’s wife while he is away risking his life on a covert mission? Fine. Then I will personally make your sons’ lives a living hell.
Who was supposed to be afraid of whom? In the military hierarchy, the Gu family’s shadow loomed far larger.
The unfortunate Liang family had no idea the hammer was about to fall, all because of Liang Qian’s unhinged selfishness.
A few days later, a series of catastrophic reports reached Chief of Staff Liang’s desk.
His eldest son’s highly anticipated promotion file had been abruptly frozen and suppressed by higher management. His second son had been issued a scathing formal critique by his commanding officers for a minor operational error, ruining his record. Meanwhile, his youngest son had been reassigned to an intensive, grueling winter survival drill, pushing the boy to the brink of absolute physical collapse.
Worse still, Captain Du’s previous merit-theft scandal was abruptly reopened. He was slapped with a severe disciplinary warning that was permanently entered into his military profile. The document explicitly stated that a single subsequent infraction would result in an immediate dishonorable discharge from the armed forces.
When Chief of Staff Liang read through the stack of reprimands, his blood pressure spiked so violently he nearly fainted on the spot. Mother Liang, weeping over the sudden misfortune of her precious boys, completely ceased her usual coddling of her daughter.
The entire household was fully aware that this targeted administrative avalanche was the direct result of Liang Qian’s madness. Overnight, a deep, bitter resentment toward her infected the family. His daughters-in-law, in particular, were so thoroughly enraged by the sabotage of their husbands’ careers that they wished they could tear Liang Qian apart with their bare hands.
Throughout it all, Chief of Staff Liang remained completely oblivious to Gu Tingxiao’s true lineage. Within the northern regiment, only Political Commissar Xie and Pan Yue’s father were privy to the secret that the young captain was General Gu Ronglong’s biological grandson. Gu Tingxiao had never once relied on his grandfather’s legendary status to secure his advancements; every single stripe on his uniform had been earned through his own blood, sweat, and tactical brilliance on the front lines. The Gu family took immense pride in their independence, despising the notion of nepotism.
Though Chief of Staff Liang couldn’t deduce the exact source of the political pressure, he possessed enough administrative instinct to realize one terrifying truth: Gu Tingxiao and Sheng Wanyan were absolutely untouchable. They were backed by a shadow power far greater than any ordinary rustic family from the provinces.
His personal guard interrupted his spiraling thoughts, rushing into the office with the tribunal’s final verdict regarding Liang Qian.
“Chief of Staff, the military court has finalized the disciplinary action against Liang Qian according to standard regulations.”
“She has been sentenced to one full month of solitary confinement in the military detention facility, effective immediately, followed by an official, permanent dismissal from her position in the cultural art troupe!”
Hearing the verdict, Chief of Staff Liang’s face flushed a dangerous purple. He grabbed the porcelain teacup from his desk and hurled it violently against the concrete floor, shattering it into a hundred glittering shards.
“That wretched, ungrateful girl! I do not want to hear another syllable regarding her existence for as long as I live!” he roared, his chest heaving. “Liang Qian is dead to this family! Our ties are severed permanently!”
“Understood, Chief of Staff!”
The guard saluted sharply, recognizing that this time, his superior was entirely serious. When Chief of Staff Liang had signed that severance document in the lane, it could have been construed as a calculated political maneuver to shield his sons. But now, the estrangement was absolute.
Mother Liang sat in the corner, sobbing uncontrollably. Chief of Staff Liang glared at her, his irritation boiling over. “If you hadn’t spend her entire childhood indulging her every whim, would we be facing this ruin today?”
“You spoiled her until she forgot how high the sky is and how deep the earth runs! Now look at the fallout—the futures of our three brilliant sons have been permanently compromised because of her lunacy!”
Mother Liang could only bury her face in her hands, her heart breaking under the weight of his words. She had never imagined that humoring her daughter’s romantic obsession would destroy her sons’ military advancements. Had she known the catastrophic cost, she would have locked Liang Qian in her room years ago.
The news that Chief of Staff Liang had permanently disowned his daughter swept through the entire compound like wildfire. As the neighborhood gossiped fiercely over the scandal, the Du family—as Liang Qian’s new in-laws—found themselves drowning in panic.
With Captain Du currently saddled with a severe disciplinary warning and the Liang family remaining entirely silent instead of offering political protection, it was glaringly obvious that they had been completely cast aside.
“My son! What are we supposed to do now?” Aunt Du wailed inside their living room, wringing her hands in despair. “Your father-in-law has truly abandoned us!”
Captain Du paced the floor, his expression thoroughly grim. A single misstep, and he would be stripped of his uniform and kicked out of the army. “Mom, keep your mouth shut and stay inside for the next few months! If a single piece of drama originates from this courtyard again, I’ll personally have you packed up and thrown out!”
Terrified by the sheer fury in his eyes, Aunt Du clamped her mouth shut, her defiance evaporating instantly. “Son… why don’t you just divorce Liang Qian?” she whispered tentatively after a moment.
Captain Du shot her a look of pure exasperation. “Initiating a divorce the exact moment she is thrown into a military cell? That would make me look entirely ungrateful and calculated. Do you think the Liang family would ever let us survive that kind of public insult?”
“No matter how furious Chief of Staff Liang is right now, he and Liang Qian still share an unalterable bond of blood. There is no grievance between a father and daughter that cannot eventually be smoothed over with time. Once the dust settles, they will inevitably reconcile. We must hold onto her.”
Aunt Du turned his words over in her mind, realizing the pragmatic logic behind his calculations. With a bitter sigh, she resolved to swallow her pride and endure Liang Qian’s status as her daughter-in-law for the foreseeable future.
Back in the capital that very evening, the moment Mother Gu received confirmation regarding the administrative timeline, she immediately secured a train ticket bound for Bing City for the following afternoon.
With Grandpa Gu personally overseeing the internal bureaucratic channels, Mother Gu had walked into her department first thing in the morning to finalize her emergency leave of absence. Over the past decade, she had rarely utilized her vacation days, saving her time off except for a brief few days during the Lunar New Year celebrations each year. Consequently, her accrued leave was more than substantial, allowing her to depart for the northern base without a single administrative delay.
