SGEIRS -Chapter 338 The Revolting Truth

As soon as the words fell, Gu Xuanyi stared at her father in disbelief. Even though her father’s previous behavior had already chilled her heart, seeing him now—upon witnessing her being beaten—first questioning what she had done wrong instead of seeking justice for her—it turned out there was no such thing as “the most heart-wrenching,” only “even more heart-wrenching.”

Madam Zhang was stunned, feeling her husband had gone too far. No matter what Xuanyi had done wrong, her son-in-law had no right to lay a hand on her, much less harbor murderous intent. If it had been a quarrel with a younger sister-in-law, there might have been some psychological consolation—at least it wouldn’t have been the son-in-law beating her; it would just be a conflict between sisters-in-law.

Both Gu Jingsong and Madam Chen frowned at the same time, elbows jutted outward. Who was actually their biological child? Or did the eldest only see the benefits of being allied with the Wu’an Marquis household?

Even though the Old Madam Gu wasn’t related by blood to this granddaughter, she had raised her like her own child. She was furious now and scolded loudly: “Eldest son, even if Xuanyi did something wrong, no matter how angry your son-in-law is, he mustn’t lay a hand on her. If he’s willing to strangle her, he intends to kill!”

Gu Jingsheng opened his mouth but ultimately didn’t dare argue. In his heart, however, he was unwilling. Without a connection like the Wu’an Marquis family, how else could he find a suitable alliance? He lacked the ability to pave the way for his sons. Having a prestigious in-law could at least help, otherwise, relying on his upright and strict third brother—who despised meddling in such matters—it would be impossible to arrange a good future for his two sons.

The Old Madam Gu ignored him and spoke again, addressing her eldest granddaughter: “Xuanyi, continue. Whatever the matter, the elders will make a decision for you.”

Gu Xuanyi nodded and continued, “Actually, that beast never hit me before, and he treated me fairly well. This time he hit me only by chance. I discovered a secret he wanted to hide—he… he was secretly entangled with two male performers, completely unclothed, fooling around together.”

She had never imagined that her vile husband had such a perverse taste, and that it involved three people at once: one performer behind him, another in front of him.

Front and back, he was caught in the middle, being played with by men and playing with men simultaneously. Remembering the scene she had seen and the ecstatic, indulgent expression her husband wore while with the men, she felt sick to her stomach.

Previously, she only knew he liked watching theater, so he kept performers to sing when he wanted entertainment. She never imagined it wasn’t just for theater. She could tolerate her husband keeping concubines, but she could not accept him keeping men and fooling around with them.

Those present were shocked by Xuanyi’s words. It quickly dawned on them—her eldest son-in-law secretly cavorting with two male performers, implying homosexual indulgence.

Some men are more promiscuous and play with both women and men, but that’s others. If it’s their own son-in-law, that’s unacceptable. They could accept a son-in-law taking concubines—men having multiple wives was normal—but not a son-in-law keeping men. That would be a disgrace to the Gu family. Their daughter wasn’t the kind who couldn’t marry—why should she marry such a scoundrel?

Madam Zhang was furious. She had originally thought Xuanyi’s hardships with her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law were tolerable since her son-in-law treated Xuanyi well. She had always believed their son-in-law was a rare good man, hard to find even with a lantern.

However, Gu Jingsheng, though shocked, began weighing the pros and cons. The Wu’an Marquis family had owed them, perhaps this could be exploited. He spoke earnestly: “Xuanyi, you are the wife of the heir. Those two performers are merely amusements. As long as you bear a legitimate son, your status will be secure. Why do you care who he fools around with? Just raise the child so that the child can become the heir and inherit the title.”

Xuanyi was completely stunned. She had held onto a faint hope that her father, knowing the truth, might side with her. She never expected him to say something like that.

Immediately, Gu Jingsheng also received disapproving and condemning looks from everyone else.

Madam Zhang scolded him: “Is what you’re saying even human? How can someone like that be allowed to continue living with Xuanyi?”

Xuanyi suddenly stood up and shouted at him: “Am I really your biological daughter? You know he’s like this, yet you still want me to stay with him? Was I picked up from the roadside?”

Gu Jingsheng’s face turned pale and flushed alternately as he replied, “Nonsense! Of course you’re my biological daughter. But if you divorce, can you guarantee marrying someone better than him? Divorce also brings shame. He treated you fairly well before; if you turn a blind eye, life can still go on.”

The Old Madam Gu felt a headache from anger. Though this eldest son wasn’t clever and was easily instigated by Madam Zhang, he still cared about benefits. He usually dared not take overtly outrageous actions to seize advantage—but Xuanyi was his own daughter, and he wouldn’t hold back, using his authority recklessly.

She said sternly: “Eldest son, the fault isn’t Xuanyi’s. We should fight to get her out of the Wu’an Marquis household, not send her back to hell.”

Gu Jingsheng hesitated: “But…”

Gu Jingxi cut in decisively: “Eldest brother, what shame? How can a Gu family daughter tolerate such humiliation? He can beat Xuanyi now—next time, who knows, he might even kill her. I say we let Xuanyi divorce him. They did wrong first and will agree to a divorce.”

Gu Jingsheng was intimidated by his third brother. Seeing him staring so sternly, his sharp gaze made Gu Jingsheng fearful. For a moment, he didn’t dare argue and only pretended to think, saying: “But if she divorces, what about the child she’s carrying?”

Gu Jingxi answered without hesitation: “If there’s a child, our Gu family will raise it ourselves. It’s not like we can’t afford a child.”

Xuanyi quickly interjected: “There’s no child! Absolutely no child!”

Everyone looked at her in confusion—how could she be so certain? Well, after being beaten by the son-in-law, if there were a child, it would likely miscarry. She didn’t appear to be pregnant.

Xuanyi added hesitantly: “I… I’m still intact.”

Madam Zhang was shocked: “What did you say?!”

Everyone else was stunned. Married for so long and still intact? Her eldest son-in-law being with men proved he had no problem in that regard—so why hadn’t he touched Xuanyi?

Xuanyi instinctively glanced at her third uncle, then lowered her head and whispered: “On our wedding night, he confessed that he couldn’t perform, so we never consummated the marriage. He even said that since we had no children, we could adopt one later.”

Madam Zhang frowned tightly, her voice trembling with emotion: “Xuanyi, how could you hide something so serious for him? Don’t you know if you can’t conceive, everyone will think it’s your fault? Even if you adopt a child, it won’t matter. You can’t hold your head high in your husband’s family. Your mother-in-law would torture you more, all the rumors would attack you, and yet he would gain the reputation of a loving husband. If you hadn’t discovered his filthy deeds, your whole life would have been ruined by him.”

Xuanyi was stunned, suddenly realizing her mistake, and tears of regret streamed down again.

At that time, she had been foolish, really believing her husband’s words and helping him cover it up. She had seen that her third uncle couldn’t perform either, but he and his wife lived happily. She thought she could be like them with her husband.

But now she realized she had been stupid. She had sincerely erred in giving herself to someone worse than a beast.