The butler hesitated. "Sir, Jiang Guoqiang and his wife came along too..."
Father Song thought nothing of the couple. "What business is it of theirs if I discipline my own daughter? Get going."
Helpless, the butler could only steel himself and turn away.
Outside the gate, Song Yutang, Jiang Guoqiang, and his wife had already gotten out of the car.
After hearing the butler's message, Li Xiulan took her hand, angry and heartbroken. "Yutang, this... did they bully you like this before too?"
Jiang Guoqiang also said gruffly, "Daughter, if the Song Family doesn't want you, we do. Come on, let's go home. We don't have to put up with this."
Song Yutang immediately felt a little guilty.
Her parents-in-law had kindly accompanied her on her first visit home after marriage, only to suffer such humiliation.
She patted the back of Li Xiulan's hand reassuringly, then turned a casual gaze on Butler Wang. "Does our Jiang Family carry so little weight in Cloud City? The eldest young madam has to kneel outside the gate when she visits her natal home? Is the Song Family slapping my face, or the Jiang Family's?"
In all his years at the old master's side, Butler Wang had never suffered such a monstrous humiliation either.
He respectfully lowered his head. "Your orders, eldest young madam?"
Song Yutang sneered, sweeping her gaze over the tightly shut ornamental iron gates. "Ram them open."
Butler Wang immediately waved a hand. "Ram the gates."
The Jiang Family's bodyguard vehicle had been specially modified. With a thunderous crash-
The seemingly imposing wrought-iron gates, along with part of the gateposts, collapsed on the spot.
Hearing the commotion from the living room, Father Song sprang to his feet. "What's going on?"
The butler ran into the living room, his face white. "Miss Yutang... had someone ram the gates down."
Father Song froze, then a vicious fury shot straight to the crown of his head. He snatched up a golf club by the door. "Song Yutang, you shameless little bitch! You really think that because you've perched on a higher branch, you can climb over my head and run wild? Today, I'm going to knock some sense into your worthless bones and teach you how high the heavens are-"
But all his fury and abuse cut off abruptly when he charged to the doorway.
The dust had yet to settle completely.
Dressed in a pale blue-green qipao, Song Yutang slowly stepped over the twisted wreckage of the gates and walked inside.
Jiang Guoqiang and Li Xiulan followed with their heads held high and chests out, like two guardian deities glittering with jewels.
Butler Wang and more than a dozen bodyguards formed two lines, every face cold and stern, radiating an intimidating pressure that chilled the heart.
Her father's club-wielding hand froze in midair. The filthy insults he had been halfway through lodged in his throat, and his face alternated between green and white.
Li Xiulan, however, was truly angry. She glared at him. "Mr. Song, how could you... how could you make Yutang kneel for so long? And call her such awful names? She's your daughter, not your enemy!"
The Song Family knew Jiang Guoqiang and his wife.
Because the Jiang Family looked down on the Song Family, they had treated the marriage agreement with indifference over the years.
Later, after Jiang Guoqiang and his wife had been acknowledged and brought back into the family, the original prospective groom had immediately pushed the engagement onto Jiang Muyan, on the grounds that Jiang Muyan was the true eldest young master of the Jiang Family.
Since Jiang Muyan was reasonably accomplished, the Song Family had reluctantly agreed to the switch.
But they still held the simple, honest Jiang Guoqiang and his wife in complete contempt.
Seeing Father Song at a loss for words, Sun Meifang immediately swayed forward with a false smile. "Mr. Jiang, Mrs. Jiang, Yutang's mother was just a country woman who taught her all the wrong things. I thought your family would teach her better once she married into it. I never expected that, just like her short-lived mother, you two... have no idea how to raise a child."
Jiang Guoqiang and Li Xiulan could tell she was pointing at the mulberry tree to curse the locust, but the two honest souls had no idea how to argue back.
They could only stare helplessly in embarrassment.
Song Yutang raised an eyebrow, stepped forward, and delivered two hard slaps. "Concubine Sun, the Song Family's proper in-laws are visiting. What right does a kept mistress like you have to interrupt? A foot-washing maid will always be a foot-washing maid. You have no manners whatsoever."
Stunned by the blows, Sun Meifang clutched her face and shrieked in disbelief. "You... you... you dare hit me again?"
Song Ruowei cried out and rushed over to support her. "Sister, why are you still so crude? My mother is your elder!"
Song Yutang did not even look her in the eye. "Does a concubine-born daughter like you have any right to speak here? The legitimate daughter has returned to her natal home, and honored guests have arrived. Instead of bowing and offering your greetings, you dare question your legitimate elder sister? Butler Wang, slap her."
Butler Wang froze for a moment, then signaled a bodyguard with his eyes.
The tall, burly bodyguard immediately stepped forward and slapped her twice across the face.
Seeing his mother and sister struck, Song Mingzhe roared and started to charge forward. "Song Yutang, you've fucking gone too far..."
At a look from Butler Wang, two bodyguards behind her darted forward like lightning and pinned him to the ground.
Song Yutang looked down at Song Mingzhe. "Even a concubine-born son represents the family's face. Such wild, rude behavior deserves punishment all the more. Beat him hard. Keep beating him until he learns the rules."
The bodyguards' fists slammed into flesh, and Song Mingzhe immediately squealed like a pig being slaughtered. "Ah... ah... ah..."
Father Song trembled with rage, pointing at Song Yutang. "You... you're rebelling! This is a new era, yet every other word out of your mouth is 'concubine' or 'concubine-born son.' What exactly are you trying to do?"
Just then, Jiang Guoqiang suddenly straightened his back and spoke bluntly. "Even in a new era... people should still have manners, shouldn't they? Mr. Song, you were the ones who started insulting people and made our daughter kneel outside the gate first."
Li Xiulan quietly chimed in. "Th-that's right... when you made Yutang kneel, you followed the old customs, but when Yutang fought back, suddenly it's a new era. How can your skin be so thick?"
Butler Wang also gave a smile that did not reach his eyes. "Mr. Song, our old master also considers the eldest young madam someone who understands proper etiquette. If you have any objections, you can raise them with the old master in person."
In truth, he did not think much of Jiang Guoqiang and his wife either.
But today, he had accompanied the couple here.
By looking down on others through a dog's eyes, the Song Family was also slapping his face as the butler of a wealthy household.
"I..." Father Song instantly resembled a quail with its neck clamped shut.
"Dad, Mom, let's talk inside." Song Yutang stopped looking at them and led her parents-in-law inside to sit down.
Still badly shaken, Sun Meifang and her two children followed them in and instinctively moved to sit as well.
Song Yutang frowned and slammed the teacup in her hand onto the coffee table with a sharp crack. "Insolence! I, the legitimate daughter, have returned to my natal home. What rule allows a kept mistress and concubine-born children to sit in attendance?"
Several bodyguards immediately stepped forward and forcibly pulled the three aside to stand.
Only then did Song Yutang pick up her teacup again and say unhurriedly, "But according to the old rules, on the day the legitimate daughter returns to her natal home, concubines and concubine-born children may come forward to pay their respects if they wish. Since you're all so eager, begin. There is an order of seniority. My concubine-born elder brother goes first. Concubine Sun is lowly and unworthy of being called an elder. You go last."