His wife got scared

His cold, razor-sharp gaze raked inch by inch over the three pale-faced members of the Ji Family. He had heard every word of how they had pressed Ji Mingzhu into a corner.

Even surrounded by all three, however, Ji Mingzhu had held his own. He had said little, but just a few remarks had made Ji Yonglin stamp his feet in fury. Unable to win the argument, Ji Yonglin had even tried to hit him.

The moment the man appeared, Ji Mingzhu's little face lit up, and he immediately sidled up to him, all sweet and obedient. "Hubby!"

"Hubby, they were being mean to me!" the boy complained.

Ji Yonglin could only swallow his bitterness in silence. Who exactly had been bullying whom?

Ji Yonglin had already been terrified that Gu Shang would hold him responsible. Now, seeing Ji Mingzhu put on an act as though he feared Gu Shang wasn't angry enough, he was both furious and anxious, yet he dared not say a word against Ji Mingzhu.

Eager to distance himself from any blame, Ji Yonglin wiped the sweat from his forehead and hastily said, "Mr. Gu... how could I dare hit anyone? I wouldn't dare. I was only pretending. I didn't expect Mingzhu to actually believe it..."

Gu Shang didn't even look at him. He simply straightened Ji Mingzhu's slightly rumpled hem and said coolly, "I heard everything perfectly clearly from outside."

The sweat Ji Yonglin had just wiped away began beading again. "I only said those things in anger! How could I bear to hit my own son? What parent in this world could be so heartless? You're giving me far too much blame! We went through so much to finally bring Mingzhu back into the family. He's our precious boy. How could we bear to lay a finger on him?"

Cao Wanhua hurriedly chimed in. "Exactly, exactly! Ever since we brought Mingzhu back, we haven't laid a single finger on him!"

Gu Shang turned a deaf ear. His narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes were dark and piercing.

Ji Zhian, who had remained silent all this time, stared in a daze, his heart beating a little faster.

The man's presence was indeed just as the rumors described, so overpowering that no one dared even breathe too loudly. But... but he really was handsome. Thinking about it carefully, his rumored viciousness didn't seem like such a big deal.

After all, only powerful people had the right and the confidence to lose their temper, didn't they?

Ji Yonglin was still struggling to explain himself. Afraid that Gu Shang would mercilessly expose him on the spot again, he hurried to cover his tracks. "Yes, I did tell him to hand it over. But that didn't mean I wanted to keep his wedding ring for myself. Even if he offered it to me, I'd be too embarrassed to accept it."

"My dear son-in-law, you know what business our family is in. I only wanted to borrow it for an exhibition! I could even have someone make a special plaque stating that it's the wedding ring you gave him. That would surely draw plenty of visitors eager to see what the wedding ring of the man in charge of the Gu Group looks like. Think how prestigious that would be!" Ji Yonglin said.

"Plenty of people are already curious about your marriage. Doing this would give them such a lovely story to talk about."

The man slowly let a smile curve his lips, but his gaze remained chilling. "But with some things, even blood brothers need to keep their accounts straight. Especially when..."

Gu Shang's gaze rested briefly on Ji Zhian, the false young master. Everyone present understood his meaning without him having to say it.

Especially when they weren't even blood brothers.

Ji Zhian's face drained of color, little by little.

"My dear son-in-law, that's hardly fair..."

Gu Shang lifted his eyes. His gaze bore down like an immense weight, leaving the members of the Ji Family unable to raise their heads.

At this, Ji Yonglin secretly glanced at his younger son, feeling a little resentful.

Was this boy trying to screw over his own father?

Hadn't he said Gu Shang hated Ji Mingzhu? Did this look like hatred?

And Ji Zhian was such a good talker, usually so eloquent and skilled at dealing with people. Now that they were in such an awkward position, why wasn't he stepping in to smooth things over? What was he doing?

Little did he know that Ji Zhian's mind had already wandered elsewhere.

The more forceful Gu Shang became, the dreamier Ji Zhian's gaze grew.

...A man this powerful should have been matched with me.

Right, if I remembered correctly, Gu Shang and Ji Mingzhu hadn't registered their marriage yet, had they?