The nanny exchanged a look with another servant, and the two moved quickly to restrain Shen Jianian from either side. In the struggle, the scarf around her neck fell to the ground.
"Let go of me, what are you doing?" Shen Jianian didn't expect Hu Yuzhi to be so deranged as to actually restrict her freedom.
"What are we doing? This is the consequence of defying your elders!"
Hu Yuzhi pointed at her nose, scolding her for being worthless, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit.
"Ask yourself if you even count as an elder?" Shen Jianian smiled, a smile full of despair, "What kind of elder gets their own niece drunk and sends her to the bed of a married old man? Elder? Ha, how can you even say that?"
"Shen Jianian!"
Hu Yuzhi clutched her chest, so angry that her vision turned black.
Yin Shuyao couldn't take it anymore and quickly stepped up to Shen Jianian, taking advantage of the nanny restraining her, and slapped her loudly across the face: "Who allowed you to talk to my mom like that?"
Shen Jianian's face turned to the side from the slap, her mouth numb as a metallic taste filled her mouth.
Hu Yuzhi regained her breath, unwilling to look at Shen Jianian another second, fearing she'd die from the rage, she commanded the nanny coldly: "Find a rope, tie her up and lock her in the attic, send someone to inform President Qin that Shen Jianian is found and he can do with her as he pleases."
Shen Jianian's wide eyes turned red, staring straight at the speaker, her lips trembling as she croaked hoarsely: "My parents are watching from above, you'll get retribution for treating me like this."
Hu Yuzhi's temples throbbed: "Why are you still standing there? Take her away!"
Shen Jianian bit her lower lip hard, turned her shoulder, and forcefully slammed backward, catching the nanny off guard, making her take a step back and release her hand. Shen Jianian took the opportunity to wrench her arm free and ran for the door.
She overestimated her stamina; in just a few steps she was short of breath, feeling as if she could collapse at any moment.
Hu Yuzhi shouted from behind: "Didn't eat lunch, did ya? Can't even hold one person with two of you."
The moment Shen Jianian's hair was pulled, her heart sank deep into an icy abyss, much like that night she woke up to find her wrists tied to the bed of a stranger...
The front door swung open, letting in the dim light from outside.
Yin Chengde hadn't stepped in yet but was stunned by the scene, pausing before shouting angrily: "Is it appropriate to make such a scene in our own home? Let her go, all of you!"
The head of the house naturally carried weight, and the nanny and servant simultaneously released their grip, retreating to the corners, no longer getting involved in their employer's family affairs.
Shen Jianian staggered back two steps, clutching the sofa's backrest beside her to stop herself from collapsing. Her face and lips were ghostly pale, accentuating the shockingly red and swollen side of her face, with blood oozing from her forehead and mouth corners, making her look like a rag doll.
Yin Chengde came forward, frowning deeply: "How did you end up like this?"
His hand was about to touch Shen Jianian's cheek when she turned her head away, not willing to trust anyone anymore, her voice indifferent: "Uncle, seeing as I'm still calling you Uncle, may I leave?"
Yin Chengde paused, retracting his hand.
Though he hadn't witnessed it firsthand, based on his understanding of his wife, he could imagine what had happened before his return.
"Don't say childish things, where could you go if you leave here?" Yin Chengde tried to comfort her, "Stay here in peace, leave the rest to your uncle to handle."
"You'll handle it? Nice words. How do you plan on dealing with President Qin?" Hu Yuzhi mocked his foolishness, "He called again this morning, and since you weren't home, I answered. He gave an ultimatum, and I'd love to see what good plan you have."
Yin Chengde's face froze, turning grave.
Hu Yuzhi sat furiously on the sofa, glaring at her husband, her attitude like she was going down with the ship: "We might as well call it quits, close the company, mortgage the house, and move back to our old rented apartment. You sell your hardware, I'll do hair for people, and your daughter, she can find a small company to work at and marry some useless man like you, just scraping by…"
"Can you just stop for a moment?" Yin Chengde snapped at her irritably, "It hasn't come to that yet."
He had spent the whole day busy with work, already mentally and physically exhausted, returning home to no warmth was one thing, but only to find more trouble.
Hu Yuzhi crossed her arms and leaned against the pillow behind her, sneering: "Having offended the Qin Family, do you still hope to turn things around? Who doesn't know that Qin Zhongtian has Yicheng under his thumb?"
"It's all because of you!" Yin Chengde's blood surged with anger, suddenly shifting the blame to his wife: "You and Shuyao told me Little Nian went willingly, yet what happened? She was tricked by you! Don't you have any conscience? She is my sister's only surviving child, my last bit of kin left in this world. Yet you cruelly handed her over to someone you knew was a pervert. If you didn't come up with this rotten idea, how could we have gotten involved with someone like Qin Zhongtian?"
Facing her husband's accusation, Hu Yuzhi was first incredulous, but once she realized, she stood up abruptly as if ready for a street fight, tearing off the man's hypocritical facade mercilessly: "I'm cruel? Didn't you know what kind of person Qin Zhongtian was? Why didn't you stand up to stop it then? Now you play the good uncle in front of your niece. Yin Chengde, I hate you acting righteous because you can never pull it off, you're just a hypocrite!"
Hu Yuzhi has never been someone who could hold her tongue, letting everything out when her temper rises.
"Shut up!" Yin Chengde raised his hand, his face flushed red, but the slap didn't land.
Yin Shuyao was so frightened that her face turned a few shades paler, quickly stepping between the two to mediate: "Dad, Mom, stop arguing."
Hu Yuzhi was both sorrowful and furious, eventually bursting into tears: "Fine, let me be the villain, while you go on being the good uncle!"
Yin Chengde swallowed a breath of frustration, feeling regret once he calmed down a little; he shouldn't have quarreled with his wife in front of the younger ones and servants, giving others a show for nothing.
He cared about his image, rarely losing composure in front of others.
Yin Chengde pressed his brow with force, relieving his headache, and said to Shen Jianian: "Sit down and rest first, Uncle will find a doctor to come home and check your wounds later. It's all in the past now, don't dwell on it."
After witnessing the family drama, Shen Jianian felt her heart got a hole cut through it, leaking cold air.
Turns out Uncle knew everything.
Even as he said, being misled by his wife and daughter into thinking she willingly went with President Qin, with his intellect and experience, she didn't believe he didn't have even a shadow of doubt about the truth; he never sought to verify, just let things be, ultimately not wanting to bear the infamy.
Hu Yuzhi, being his wife for decades, indeed knew his nature well, describing it precisely—an ostentatiously moral hypocrite.
Shen Jianian thought about the past month, calling him "Uncle" over and over with heartfelt reliance on him as her only support in this world.
It's laughable.
"I've made up my mind." Shen Jianian slipped her hands into her coat pockets, her nails digging into her palms, her pale lips opening and closing, the words whispered but resolute: "After I leave this home, whether I live or die, it's none of your business."
"Little Nian..."
Yin Chengde opened his mouth to try to persuade her, but Shen Jianian didn't spare him a glance, leaving behind only a slender, paper-like silhouette.
*
After mediating the cold war between her parents downstairs, Yin Shuyao lifted her skirt as she ascended the stairs, closed her bedroom door, and found a number in her contact list to call.
After three rings, the other end picked up, and a lazy voice spoke: "Miss Yin, what's up this time?"
"Shen Jianian, you've met her, she's yours now." Yin Shuyao supported her right elbow with her left hand, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, with the light outside gradually dimming and the night about to fall, "She just left my house, she won't have gone far, gather some guys, don't hold back on her, after all, she's no noble lady."
A cold intent, worse than frost, flashed through Yin Shuyao's eyes.
If Shen Jianian is so high and mighty, unwilling to yield to President Qin, then let her taste an even worse fate.