Chapter 333| Chapter 334| Chapter 335
Chapter 333: Investigate The Matter Thoroughly!
Political Commissar Xie was at his wit’s end. He certainly hadn’t wanted any of this to happen; it was entirely the fault of the wretched informant who had filed that anonymous report! Thanks to them, there hadn’t been a single day of peace around the barracks.
He simply couldn’t fathom why certain people in this residential compound didn’t know how to show a shred of gratitude to Comrade Sheng Wanyan. She was such an incredibly decent person! Just because she was exceptionally outstanding and successful, did they think it gave them a license to be ungrateful?
The informant hadn’t stopped to think about how many structural benefits the entire base had received solely because of Comrade Sheng Wanyan’s advocacy. Why on earth couldn’t some people bear to watch their neighbors live a comfortable life? What kind of severe, toxic jealousy was this?
Now, Comrade Sheng Wanyan had completely lost her temper, and a succession of powerful bigwigs from every major department in the capital was applying massive pressure on the local command. The high-level authorities had issued a strict directive: This matter must be thoroughly investigated and dealt with using the absolute maximum severity!
Political Commissar Xie let out a heavy, exhausted sigh. Was it truly too much to ask for him to just live a quiet, comfortable life?
The following morning, the neighborhood residents woke to find Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao relaxing safely at their cottage, completely unharmed.
The grapevine immediately hummed with the realization that the captain’s household was completely pristine. Someone had targeted them with a malicious denunciation, but the audit had proven they weren’t running a single shameful or illegal operation.
Furthermore, early that morning, Political Commissar Xie had issued a base-wide broadcast ordering every single dependent to assemble in the open clearing of the staff quarters immediately.
Standing on the raised platform, Political Commissar Xie glared down at the gathered crowd. He had marched out here today specifically to teach these people a brutal lesson!
“Do you have a single shred of understanding as to why I summoned you all out here today?” he bellowed into the loudspeaker.
The crowd shook their heads in silence. Political Commissar Xie scanned the ranks, methodically reading the expressions flashing across every face.
“We ordered this emergency assembly today to address a matter of extreme gravity! The military command is launching a full-scale, aggressive investigation to unmask the identity of the individual who filed that slanderous report targeting Captain Gu’s household!”
The exact second the words echoed through the clearing, Zhang Zhaodi’s face drained of all color, turning a stark, sickly white. A cold panic gripped her chest as she realized Sheng Wanyan had emerged from the interrogation completely unscathed. Worse still, the military administration was treating the false report as an act of internal sabotage. If the regiment discovered her handwriting on that letter…
Would my entire household be dishonorably discharged and kicked off the base?
Would my husband’s military career be permanently destroyed?
Terrified to her very bones, Zhang Zhaodi turned a trembling, frantic gaze toward her husband.
The moment Captain Wu caught the sheer terror fracturing his wife’s features, his heart instantly plummeted into a dark, bottomless abyss. He had cornered her in their kitchen the previous evening, demanding to know if she had authored the anonymous denunciation. She had sworn up and down on her life that she was entirely innocent—but looking at her pale, frozen face now, what room was left for doubt?
Captain Wu’s hands began to shake violently with unadulterated rage. If the high command verified that his wife was the architect of this administrative disaster, he would be stripped of his rank and forced to pack his bags immediately!
Zhang Zhaodi’s mother-in-law, entirely oblivious to the silent crisis unfolding between the couple, was actually gloating over the situation, a smug look on her face. “My, I wonder which miserable, unlucky fool is about to get caught,” she whispered loudly. “Once the regiment unmasks the culprit, I expect their entire family will be thoroughly damned and cast out, wouldn’t you say?”
The old woman turned to her son, expecting him to chuckle along, but Captain Wu’s expression was so pitch-black and murderous she immediately snapped her mouth shut.
“Silence!” Political Commissar Xie barked into the microphone, cutting through the rising murmurs of the crowd. “The regiment will hunt down the perpetrator of this malice down to the single decimal point! Whoever orchestrated this betrayal would be wise to take the initiative and confess your error to my office immediately! If you step forward voluntarily, there may be room for administrative leniency. Otherwise, once our investigators uncover your identity, you will bear the absolute, unmitigated weight of the consequences yourself!”
“I am granting the author of that report a strict, seventy-two-hour window. If no one comes forward to confess within three days, the military tribunal will take over the case and handle it according to the absolute rigors of martial law!”
The military wives immediately began exchanging frantic glances, nudging one another as they tried to guess who the hidden informant could be.
“Who on earth do you think did it?”
“Don’t look at me!” a wife from a rural district snapped defensively. “I can’t read or write a single character. How could I possibly draft a formal letter of denunciation?”
“Oh, please,” a neighbor scoffed. “The base has been running mandatory literacy classes for the village dependents for over a year. Who’s to say you didn’t learn enough to scrawl a name?”
“Are you trying to slander the village wives? Perhaps it was one of you arrogant city women who orchestrated the plot!”
The clearing dissolved into a mutual crossfire of accusations, but Sheng Wanyan simply watched the spectacle with a cold, detached amusement. There was absolutely no reason for her to be anxious. With the massive pressure currently flooding down from the ministries in the capital, the local command was infinitely more desperate to crack the case than she was.
As Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao walked back toward their cottage, they noticed a high-ranking officer from the municipal division waiting along the path.
“Tingxiao,” the officer called out, his voice commanding but warm.
Sheng Wanyan looked up, her sharp eyes instantly identifying the man. It was the exact senior officer who had stood vigil against the back wall of the interrogation room the previous afternoon.
“Uncle,” Gu Tingxiao greeted him respectfully, offering a crisp salute.
Sheng Wanyan’s eyebrows arched in sudden realization. Uncle? No wonder the man had looked like he was about to suffer a cardiovascular crisis while watching her spar with the lead investigator yesterday. This was Lin Meng—the eldest son of Grandma Gu’s biological brother, currently serving as the powerful Division Commander for the entire Bing City military district!
Lin Meng strode across the snow, a wide, admiring smile breaking across his stern features as he nodded to the young couple.
“Wanyan,” Gu Tingxiao noted, introducing him smoothly. “This is my maternal cousin, Uncle Lin. He commands the municipal divisions out here.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Uncle,” Sheng Wanyan greeted him gracefully.
When the young couple had celebrated their wedding in the capital, Lin Meng had been locked down managing a highly sensitive border deployment, rendering him unable to attend the festivities. Their tense encounter in the spartan interrogation room yesterday had been their literal first introduction.
Lin Meng studied his cousin’s wife, his mind flashing back to the magnificent, unflinching dignity she had displayed while dismantling the municipal panel. His estimation of her was sky-high. “I was routed out here on emergency administrative orders and didn’t have the opportunity to secure a proper family offering,” he chuckled, his booming voice full of warmth. “Rest assured, I will personally manifest a grand wedding gift for your household before the month concludes!”
Lin Meng was an exceptionally tall, heavily muscled commander who carried the raw, formidable air of a frontline veteran, looking quite similar in age to Father Gu.
“Please don’t focus on formalities, Uncle,” Sheng Wanyan smiled. “We would be absolutely delighted if you would join us at our cottage for dinner tonight.”
It was a rare, beautiful coincidence to cross paths with an elite member of their own extended lineage in this remote region; as the younger generation, it was only proper to host the family elder.
Lin Meng didn’t indulge in useless politeness. His own father back in the capital had explicitly informed him months ago that Gu Tingxiao’s wife had delivered a beautiful baby girl, ordering him to inspect the nursery the exact second his operational schedule allowed. “Splendid! In that case, I will happily accept your hospitality!” he roared. “I’ll route back through the city center this afternoon to secure a few items for my granddaughter; there’s still more than enough time before the evening watch.”
“We will be waiting for your arrival, Uncle,” Sheng Wanyan replied.
Gu Tingxiao quickly coordinated a precise rendezvous time near the main security gates, worried his cousin might struggle to navigate the identical concrete residential blocks. Lin Meng nodded, confirmed the hour, and strode back toward his staff vehicle with a commanding step.
Once they returned to the warmth of their kitchen, Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao enjoyed a quick lunch before she began raiding her spatial domain, retrieving an array of premium, gourmet ingredients to construct a feast worthy of an elite family elder.
Gu Tingxiao departed for the afternoon drills a short while later. Word around the active barracks was that Captain Wu had been pushed to the absolute brink of physical collapse the moment he returned to duty. Gu Tingxiao had engineered a grueling sequence of specialized training exercises for his platoon, personally stepping into the ring to execute a series of intense, high-impact tactical demonstrations with Captain Wu.
Captain Wu’s muscles were screaming, but his mind was trapped in an even deeper hell. He understood with absolute clarity that this punishing drill session was merely the opening salvo of Gu Tingxiao’s counter-offensive. There was absolutely zero universe where the captain would allow a strike against his wife and daughter to slide. If the investigation officially verified Zhang Zhaodi’s handwriting on that denunciation, his military career would be permanently dismantled.
The exact second he clocked off from his shift, Captain Wu stormed through his own front door, grabbed Zhang Zhaodi by the arm, and dragged her into the center of the parlor. “Look me in the eye and speak the absolute truth, Zhang Zhaodi! Did you or did you not author that letter of report?!”
Zhang Zhaodi tried to pull away, weeping and refusing to confess. Even Captain Wu’s mother stood by the table in absolute, stunned disbelief. She couldn’t wrap her traditional mind around the possibility that her daughter-in-law had actually committed a crime this monumental. If the girl had truly executed that raid…
“Speak to me, you wretched woman! Did you write it?!” the old mother shrieked, her panic boiling over as she snatched a heavy porcelain water cup from the table and hurled it directly at Zhang Zhaodi’s head. Did this country girl truly intend to completely destroy her son’s life?
She had explicitly warned her son years ago that marrying a low-born girl from a backward village would only drag their household into disaster, but her youngest boy had been thoroughly bewitched by Zhang Zhaodi, stubbornly insisting on signing the marriage certificates. Now, his brilliant professional trajectory was on the absolute verge of being reduced to ashes.
The heavy cup struck Zhang Zhaodi squarely across the temple, a sharp cry of pain tearing from her throat as she cowered against the wall, her hands flying to her bruising skin. She was too terrified to answer her husband’s furious glare. When she had sat in the clearing this morning and listened to Political Commissar Xie announce a full-scale, aggressive state investigation, the raw reality of martial law had finally shattered her arrogance.
“I… I…” she stammered, her voice cracking as she averted her eyes.
Watching her stumble and fail to mount a single word of denial, Captain Wu and his mother received their absolute confirmation. The final embers of hope evaporated from the room.
“You absolute demon!” the old mother howled, her voice full of agonizing despair as she lunged forward to strike her. “Do you truly intend to systematically murder our entire family?!”
Chapter 334: Uncle Lin Meng
Captain Wu’s mother lunged directly at Zhang Zhaodi, and a frantic, messy scuffle broke out between them. The children huddled in the corner of the room, trembling with fear and not daring to utter a single word.
“Are you completely out of your mind? How dare you write a anonymous letter of report!”
“You absolute curse! You are destroying my son’s entire future!”
Captain Wu’s mother broke down completely, weeping bitterly as she shouted that her youngest son had fought tooth and nail, risking his life on the battlefield to earn the rank he held today. And now, every bit of it was on the verge of being ruined by this unpresentable, short-sighted woman!
“Old Wu! I did all of this for you!” Zhang Zhaodi shrieked through her tears, collapsing to the floorboards and grabbing the cuff of Captain Wu’s trousers. “I truly thought that if Captain Gu fell from grace, the department would have to promote you to fill his seat… I… I really didn’t calculate that it would blow back on us like this!”
Zhang Zhaodi sobbed hysterically, anchoring herself to his leg.
Captain Wu squeezed his eyes shut, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles turned white. He remained entirely silent.
Watching his quiet stiffness, a cold dread settled deep into Zhang Zhaodi’s chest. Her husband had never reacted like this before. Whenever she had blundered or stirred up trouble in the past, he would unleash a roaring, explosive argument—but he had never maintained a heavy, suffocating silence like this.
Captain Wu finally opened his eyes, leveling a cold, detached gaze down at the woman weeping on the floor.
“Zhang Zhaodi,” he delivered flatly. “Let’s… get a divorce.”
The words struck Zhang Zhaodi like a physical blow. She froze, her breath catching in her throat as she sat paralyzed on the ground, her eyes wide with unvarnished shock. She couldn’t process the reality that her husband had just demanded a dissolution of their marriage.
The exact second Captain Wu turned his back to march out of the room, her paralysis shattered. Panic and absolute desperation took over, and she lunged forward, locking her arms around his thighs.
“Old Wu! I was wrong! I was so incredibly wrong!!!”
“I refuse to get a divorce! What on earth am I supposed to do if you cast me out?”
“Think of our children! We have two growing sons who cannot survive without their mother!”
Regret tore through Zhang Zhaodi’s soul, and she anchored her weight to his leg, flatly refusing to let go. She had fought so hard to marry a man from the city, elevating herself into a civilian woman that everyone in her home village envied. Because of her metropolitan status, her own maiden family continuously managed to curry favor with her, allowing her to hold her chin high in every circle. If she were reduced to a divorced outcast… how could she possibly survive?
Bitter, useless regret consumed her. She should never have targeted Sheng Wanyan; she should never have allowed her toxic jealousy to dictate her hands! She had never envisioned that her petty trap would trigger an absolute landslide that would bury her own household.
Yet, no matter how desperately Zhang Zhaodi wept or begged him to reconsider, Captain Wu’s expression remained as cold as stone. His mind was locked down; this marriage was over. It had to end.
Hearing her son’s declaration, Captain Wu’s mother practically wanted to applaud and throw a festival. She aggressively marched forward, prising Zhang Zhaodi’s fingers away from his uniform to break her hold on her son.
“Get your filthy hands off him! Our lineage cannot afford to harbor a toxic, malicious curse like you!” the old woman roared. “My son will file the administrative divorce papers first thing tomorrow morning!”
Operating with total efficiency, Captain Wu’s mother physically dragged Zhang Zhaodi toward the porch, throwing her completely out of the cottage. She slammed the heavy timber door shut, sliding the iron bolt securely into place, flatly barring her from ever setting foot inside the property again.
Zhang Zhaodi collapsed against the exterior frame, weeping hysterically as her fists pounded against the painted wood. The commotion echoed down the corridor, prompting the neighboring military wives to filter out of their apartments to enjoy the public disgrace. Yet, no matter how frantically Zhang Zhaodi wailed or made a scene on the porch, Captain Wu refused to pull the latch. He simply retreated into the back bedroom, his face a mask of absolute ice.
Sheng Wanyan remained entirely oblivious to the spectacular drama unfolding across the residential block; her attention was fully dedicated to hosting their distinguished family guest.
Division Commander Lin Meng had arrived heavily laden with premium holiday provisions: a massive two-pound slab of fresh pork, a selection of high-grade children’s garments, and a large tin of imported malted milk powder. The sheer volume and luxury of the offerings left Sheng Wanyan hesitant to accept the basket. He was a senior family elder, after all; accepting a gift this extravagant felt inappropriate.
“It’s basic merchant stock, nothing of real value. Everything is explicitly intended for my granddaughter,” Lin Meng barked, dismissing her protests with a wave of his large hand.
Gu Tingxiao smoothly accepted the parcels without a single shred of hesitation. At the end of the day, this was a transaction between members of his own maternal bloodline; it would look incredibly awkward to indulge in useless social politeness.
Seeing how smoothly his cousin cleared the basket, Lin Meng leveled a mock-glare at him. The items weren’t even intended for him, yet the boy was acting entirely entitled.
“Please make yourself comfortable in the living room, Uncle,” Sheng Wanyan smiled, stepping forward to ease the dynamic. “I’ll brew a fresh pot of tea while the final dinner dishes finish stewing.”
She retrieved a stash of premium loose-leaf tea from her private reserve, brewing a fragrant pot to stimulate conversation between the two commanders in the parlor.
Gu Tingxiao stepped into the nursery nook to collect little Yi Yi, who had just awoken from her afternoon nap. Lin Meng raised a sharp eyebrow as his cousin re-entered the room carrying the vibrant infant. He truly hadn’t expected his notoriously cold, rigid cousin could father a daughter this exceptionally beautiful.
“Yi Yi, look here,” Gu Tingxiao murmured, settling onto the sofa. “This is your Uncle.”
Yi Yi blinked, her wide eyes locked onto Lin Meng’s formidable frame. Unaccustomed to a massive stranger suddenly occupying her living room, her natural baby shyness kicked in, and she rapidly buried her face against Gu Tingxiao’s chest.
“I must admit, it’s quite a shock to see an absolute brute like you deliver a child this exquisite,” Lin Meng noted, taking a slow sip of the tea. The aroma was incredibly rich; he had no idea where Gu Tingxiao had managed to source a blend this fine in the north.
“Naturally,” Gu Tingxiao responded smoothly, his chest swelling. “The credit belongs entirely to my magnificent wife.”
Hearing that eight out of every ten sentences exiting his cousin’s mouth were engineered to praise his wife, Lin Meng flatly refused to engage him further on the topic. “You are indeed a lucky man, Tingxiao. You secured an exceptional partner.”
Gu Tingxiao caught the underlying compliment, proudly tilting his chin. “My wife is naturally the absolute finest in the land.” He possessed zero restraint when it came to celebrating Sheng Wanyan’s brilliance, boasting about her capabilities to every single soul he encountered.
Lin Meng ignored his arrogance entirely, his focus shifting back to little Yi Yi. The baby was now sitting upright in her father’s lap, happily swinging her rabbit doll back and forth with an adorable, rhythmic focus. Watching her plump cheeks, Lin Meng felt his own grandfatherly instincts twitching.
Yi Yi, however, could sense an intense gaze locking onto her frame. When she tilted her face up, she ran straight into Lin Meng’s battle-hardened visage. His features were remarkably rough, anchored by a distinct, jagged scar slicing through the tail end of his eyebrow. He looked profoundly intimidating, and his heavy command aura only magnified the terror.
Yet, despite her underlying panic, Yi Yi was an exceptionally curious baby. In modern terminology, she was a classic case of having zero courage but an absolute addiction to playing with danger.
Pfft—!
Yi Yi suddenly blew a tiny, provocative bubble of saliva straight toward him. Lin Meng’s eyes narrowed into a dangerous squint at the defiance. Well, look at that, he mused. This little thing has quite a bit of steel in her bones.
Catching his narrowed glare and assuming the big bad giant was preparing to launch an offensive strike, Yi Yi instantly dove back into the safety of Gu Tingxiao’s jacket. But once she was safely under cover, she couldn’t stop herself from constantly peeking out, her wide eyes tracking Lin Meng to see if the threat had cleared the sector. Finding his gaze still pinned directly to her face, she buried her nose right back into her father’s uniform.
“Tsk… the little thing’s temperament is a flawless copy of yours when you were a boy,” Lin Meng noted with a booming chuckle. They both possessed that exact same, illogical streak of raw courage that refused to bow to intimidation.
“She is my daughter, Uncle. Naturally, she mirrors my baseline.”
Lin Meng: “…”
He silently vowed to stop initiating conversation with this man altogether! The boy either systematically praised his wife or aggressively complimented his daughter. Did he possess absolutely zero individual identity outside of his nursery?
Lin Meng’s eyes drifted back to Yi Yi’s fair, chubby features. A daughter this perfectly radiant and sweet was indeed a luxury his own branch had failed to produce.
Gu Tingxiao unbuttoned his heavy uniform coat, tucking the infant securely inside the wool to insulate her from any stray drafts. The tiny ball of fluff peeking out from beneath his lapel was undeniably precious.
Sheng Wanyan completed her kitchen operations a short while later. Gu Tingxiao stood up to help her carry the heavy serving platters into the dining room, seamlessly transferring little Yi Yi directly into Lin Meng’s massive arms before he left.
Lin Meng froze, staring down at the tiny girl nestled against his chest, his posture stiffening as he leveled a stern look at her. Recalling how she had blown bubbles to provoke him minutes prior, he injected a trace of his natural, authoritative division-commander gravity into his eyes.
Yi Yi didn’t hesitate for a single fraction of a second—she instantly erupted into a frantic, earsplitting wail!
Mom…! There is a terrifying giant exploiting the system to bully your child!
Lin Meng’s tactical composure vanished, panic hitting him as he clumsily tried to bounce and soothe the screaming infant. But Yi Yi refused to grant him a single shred of face, maintaining her dramatic performance until Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao emerged from the kitchen bearing the final dishes.
The exact second Gu Tingxiao reached down to scoop her back into his arms, Yi Yi’s cries ceased instantly. She let out a few soft, rhythmic hiccups, her eyes completely clear of actual teardrops. It was screamingly obvious to everyone in the room that the little thing had orchestrated the entire tantrum on purpose; she hadn’t been in genuine despair, she had simply weaponized her tears to terrify Lin Meng and secure her father’s immediate return.
Safely back in Gu Tingxiao’s possession, she transformed right back into a perfectly serene, angelic creature.
Gu Tingxiao carried her over to her wooden crib, setting her down with her toys so she could entertain herself while the adults gathered around the dining table. The moment Lin Meng’s eyes swept across the magnificent banquet Sheng Wanyan had constructed, he recognized that his cousin’s wife had spent the entire afternoon pouring immense care into honoring his arrival.
Chapter 335: Zhang Zhaodi Is Divorced! ! !
The three of them sat down to a magnificent spread of three meat dishes and two vegetable sides, anchored by a rich soup and premium liquor.
Sheng Wanyan had outdone herself, preparing melt-in-your-mouth braised pork, savory stir-fried rabbit, and a perfectly glazed braised whole fish, with a hearty white radish and pork bone soup simmering on the side. For the cold plates, she set out crisp, marinated cucumbers and roasted peanuts—the absolute blueprint of perfect drinking snacks.
She had retrieved the liquor from her spatial domain earlier, leaving a few bottles out in the pantry to look like part of their regular household stock.
Sheng Wanyan stood up to ladle the hot broth into everyone’s bowls, but Gu Tingxiao smoothly took the ladle right out of her hand. “Let me handle it.” The soup was steaming hot; he wasn’t about to risk his wife scalding her fingers. Sheng Wanyan simply smiled and sat back down, perfectly happy to let him take over the task.
Lin Meng took an appreciative sip of the broth, and his eyes lit up instantly. The flavor was remarkably sweet, deep, and savory. As a military man who thoroughly enjoyed rich meats and strong liquor, today’s menu was tailored exactly to his tastes.
“Your cooking is truly extraordinary, niece,” Lin Meng praised, shaking his head in admiration. “I daresay even the executive chefs at the luxury state-owned restaurants in the city can’t hold a candle to your flavor profiles.”
Sheng Wanyan offered a modest smile, dipping her head politely. “You’re far too kind, Uncle. It’s just standard, rustic home cooking. I’m simply relieved it suits your palate.”
How could Lin Meng possibly dislike it? If it were up to him, he would happily move into their courtyard just to enjoy this level of culinary genius every single day. He couldn’t help but feel a wave of secondary regret. What an absolute waste… How did an unromantic, rigid brute like Gu Tingxiao manage to lock down a magnificent wife like this? My own son is an exceptional lad; why didn’t he have this kind of luck? What a pity… what an absolute pity.
Realizing he couldn’t exact daily access to her kitchen, Lin Meng threw his focus entirely into the feast, digging into the platters without a single shred of hesitation. At the end of the day, he felt absolutely zero guilt about burning through Gu Tingxiao’s grocery allowance.
Gu Tingxiao systematically fished out the choice cuts of lean meat from the serving plates, piling them high into Sheng Wanyan’s bowl. Given the sheer terror of yesterday’s administrative raid, he was fiercely determined to feed his wife well tonight to restore her energy.
Once the dinner concluded, Sheng Wanyan slipped into the nursery to nurse little Yi Yi. After the baby drained her milk, Sheng Wanyan prepared a basin of warm water to gently wipe her skin clean.
Out in the parlor, Lin Meng and Gu Tingxiao were steadily matching each other drink-for-drink, their low voices rumbling as they analyzed the logistics of the investigation. Sheng Wanyan left them to their strategy, quietly humming to her daughter until the infant drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Little Yi Yi was down for the night, her tiny, chubby fingers still instinctively wrapped around Sheng Wanyan’s thumb, stubbornly refusing to break her hold even in slumber. Sheng Wanyan spent a tender minute gently extracting her fingers, carefully smoothed the edges of the small blanket around her shoulders, and quietly slipped back out into the living room.
The two commanders had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol by now, their dialogue heavily centered on the political factions hunting the Gu family line. The strategy from the opposing capital network was glaringly obvious: they were aggressively trying to suppress the Gu family’s rising influence. The patriarchs in the Capital held too much authority and blocked too many paths; if the Gu family line collapsed, the rival factions would instantly absorb a massive share of state power.
Furthermore, with several of the nation’s older founding leaders currently facing failing health, the opposition was terrified of the Gu family securing absolute control during the imminent structural transition. Unable to find a single crack in the capital defense, they had chosen to strike at Gu Tingxiao out on the border. Yet, before their city operatives could even finalize a flawless trap, Zhang Zhaodi’s anonymous letter had dropped right into their laps. It was a golden ticket delivered straight to their doorstep just as they were looking for a wedge. The hostile faction had simply seized the domestic grievance, weaponizing protocol to dismantle the Gu family’s standing.
“The political climate in the capital is exceptionally volatile right now; maintain an absolute, armor-clad profile out here,” Lin Meng instructed gravely, setting his glass down. “the Capital cannot strike at the old man directly, so they will continuously attempt to leverage your sector to manufacture a scandal.”
The Lin and Gu families were deeply bound by blood and shared a unified political baseline; maintaining an impenetrable defense was a matter of mutual survival.
“I understand completely, Uncle,” Gu Tingxiao responded, his expression grim.
“Your wife is a remarkably brilliant, steady creature,” Lin Meng noted, a flash of genuine respect in his eyes. “As long as you two maintain an absolute, hyper-vigilant front, navigating the remainder of this turbulent year safely will be well within your parameters.”
Lin Meng had to admit that his cousin’s choice in a life partner was the ultimate saving grace of his career. Had Gu Tingxiao married an ordinary, easily intimidated woman, yesterday’s aggressive municipal tribunal could have turned catastrophic. Very few civilians possessed the sheer psychological grit and calculating intellect required to maintain total, freezing composure under a hostile state interrogation.
After finalizing a few confidential logistics, Lin Meng stood up to take his leave. Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao immediately set to work clearing the dining table together.
“Go ahead and wash up for bed, sweetheart,” Gu Tingxiao murmured, lifting the heavy wash basin. “I’ll handle the kitchen dishes tonight.” He carried the hot bathwater into the washroom for her, and Sheng Wanyan offered an appreciative nod, slipping inside.
However, having consumed an immense amount of strong liquor, Gu Tingxiao’s physical energy was running entirely too hot when he finally climbed under the heavy winter quilts. He became incredibly restless, his powerful frame continuously crowding her space.
Sheng Wanyan rolled over and delivered an annoyed, sharp kick against his shin. Why on earth did this man transform into a needy, overbearing brute the exact second he had a few drinks?!
“Sweetheart… my chest feels incredibly tight and uncomfortable,” he rumbled into her neck, his voice thick and low.
“Go march outside and stand under a cold shower then,” she hissed, refusing to play along. She fiercely attempted to roll away from his heat, but her physical strength was completely laugh-able compared to his advanced conditioning.
Within seconds, his massive, powerful frame pinned her flat against the mattress. His muscular arms locked around her waist like iron bands, anchoring her beneath his weight until her defenses shattered completely. At moments like this, she truly had to marvel at the man’s bottomless endurance.
It was an evening defined by absolute, unadulterated passion.
Sheng Wanyan didn’t open her eyes until nearly ten o’clock the following morning. When Gu Tingxiao returned from the active barracks for his noon break, he hand-delivered a massive piece of official intelligence.
Captain Wu had personally marched a thoroughly broken Zhang Zhaodi straight into the administrative headquarters to confess her crime. Simultaneously, the captain had formally filed an emergency application for an immediate dissolution of their marriage.
The exact second Political Commissar Xie unmasked Zhang Zhaodi as the author of the anonymous denunciation, his temper ruptured completely, and he had unleashed a savage verbal lashing right there in his office. Yet, upon learning that Captain Wu was aggressively pushing for an immediate divorce, the Commissar had felt logistically obligated to deploy standard administrative mediation. After all, the Wu household contained several young children; fracturing the domestic unit and cutting them off from their maternal provider was a heavy, serious move.
But Captain Wu’s resolve was iron-clad; he flatly refused to retract the application. Political Commissar Xie privately conceded that Zhang Zhaodi’s toxic malice had completely sabotaged her husband’s career, but as the presiding officer, he was required to perform the standard, official motions of marital reconciliation. Divorce within the ranks was an immense, highly scrutinized blemish on a unit’s ledger!
Worse still, Captain Wu couldn’t escape the professional fallout of his wife’s actions. The regiment command issued a base-wide disciplinary notification, publicly censuring his household for undermining military solidarity. Captain Wu was stripped of his rank, demoted directly down to a deputy company commander, and slapped with a permanent, severe warning on his record. If his household caused even a microscopic ripple of disruption in the future, he would face an immediate, dishonorable discharge from the armed forces.
In a spectacular twist of fate, Qiao Hehua—the wife of Deputy Company Commander Feng, whom Zhang Zhaodi had relentlessly looked down upon and mocked for years—suddenly found herself elevated to the status of his direct superior’s wife. The social inversion within the staff quarters was staggering.
Zhang Zhaodi had foolishly assumed that confessing her error to the commissar would mark the end of her punishment, but her nightmare was only beginning. Directly following the noon watch, Captain Wu grabbed her by the arm and dragged her straight down to the municipal civil affairs bureau to finalize the legal divorce certificates.
Zhang Zhaodi wailed, fought, and made a spectacular, hysterical scene along the lanes. In a final, desperate bid for survival, she broke away from her husband and came sprinting straight to Sheng Wanyan’s porch, frantically screaming for her intervention.
Sheng Wanyan remained safely behind her bolted door, ignoring the pounding completely. She harbored absolutely zero desire to look at the woman’s face, and there was zero universe where she would offer a single drop of forgiveness to a malicious actor who had deliberately attempted to have her entire household shipped off to a desolate reform farm.
“Sheng Wanyan! How can you possibly be this utterly petty and small-minded?!” Zhang Zhaodi shrieked from the porch, her voice cracking with pure venom when she realized the door wasn’t going to budge. Her terror rapidly devolved right back into raw, unadulterated spite.
In her twisted, self-absorbed mind, Sheng Wanyan hadn’t suffered a single structural loss from the raid—she was perfectly fine! So why on earth was she being this incredibly tight-fisted, refusing to step outside and offer a simple character plea to preserve her neighbor’s marriage?
Sheng Wanyan’s temper flared. She threw the bolt, strode onto the porch, and before Zhang Zhaodi could even register her silhouette, she delivered a savage, echoing slap squarely across her face.
Smack—!
The blow was immensely powerful, a sharp, crisp crack resonating down the lane. Zhang Zhaodi staggered back, clutching her bleeding lip as she stared at her in absolute, unvarnished shock.
“Let me lay down the reality for you once and for all!” Sheng Wanyan delivered, her voice freezing the air. “You actively orchestrated a plot designed to destroy my entire family’s survival. The mere fact that I am allowing you to pack your bags and clear these gates with your limbs intact is the absolute limit of my mercy!”
“And you honestly possess the sheer, unmitigated audacity to demand that I plead for your leniency? You certainly have a lot of nerve!”
Sheng Wanyan shredded her character right in front of the gathering crowd of neighbors. Zhang Zhaodi was vibrating with pure, murderous rage, her hands shaking violently. She lunged forward, her fingers clawing at the air as she attempted to strike back, but Political Commissar Xie materialized down the path, his guards aggressively interceding to pin her arms.
“Drag this woman beyond the outer perimeter immediately!” the Commissar roared to his men. “The military residential compound is strictly barred to hostile civilians! Clear her out!”
As the guards physically hauled her toward the main gates, Zhang Zhaodi continued to twist in their grip, screaming blood-curdling curses over her shoulder at Sheng Wanyan.
“Sheng Wanyan! You absolute bitch!”
“I swear to heaven you will die an agonizing, miserable death!”
“You cold-blooded, heartless monster! Sooner or later, the King of Hell will march down this lane and drag your soul straight to damnation!”
No matter how hysterically she shrieked her venom, the armed soldiers maintained a brutal, efficient clip, dragging her past the security checkpoints and casting her permanently out of the sector. As for where she would drift or how she would survive on the winter roads, it was completely outside of Sheng Wanyan’s ledger.
Certain toxic individuals are simply biologically incapable of self-reflection; they will march straight to their graves fully convinced they have never committed a single error. They only calculate their own immediate losses, completely indifferent to the reality that their malicious hands had nearly brought down an absolute catastrophe upon an innocent household.
Having already survived a physical death in her previous life, Sheng Wanyan’s heart remained completely steady, experiencing absolutely zero emotional turbulence as the curses faded down the lane. Her conscience was entirely pristine. Even if the legendary King of Hell genuinely chose to knock on her door tonight, she stood entirely justified!
Political Commissar Xie stepped onto her porch, wiping the cold sweat from his brow as he offered a deep, apologetic bow. “Comrade Sheng Wanyan… the regiment has officially executed the structural penalties against Deputy Company Commander Wu.”
