Chapter 46 I’ll hit you if you want, I’ll try if you want

The soldiers standing nearby wished they could just block their ears. Cen Anguo’s face darkened completely. He hadn’t expected a young girl to speak so recklessly. Even though those present knew he was in the wrong, no one dared to speak like that. Cen Yue, the man being beaten, hadn’t said a word and obediently knelt through the reprimand. Who would dare challenge his authority like this?

Cen’s mother didn’t understand all these twists and turns. She could count the words she knew on her two hands. The reason she could say something resembling proper words was because over the years, influenced by her environment—surrounded by people with power and education—she deliberately imitated them. Years ago, when the whole family lived a hard life in the countryside, her greatest skill was arguing with the widow next door.

Now with Cen Anguo present, even if she didn’t fully understand, she felt confident. The “little bitch” babbled on, and all she heard was: “Why punish if he’s not at fault?!” Her eyes lit up immediately. She placed her hands on her hips and said, “So you admit our Wenwen did nothing wrong! Little bitch, if it wasn’t your idea, how could Cen Yue have forced my Wenwen to write a self-criticism?! You’re a fox spirit who bewitched my son and now you’re trying to seduce my younger son-in-law. Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson!”

Seeing that no one spoke, Cen’s mother thought everyone agreed with her and rolled up her sleeves to rush forward. She took two steps and was surprised to find herself still in place.

Turning around in astonishment, she found Cen Yue had stood up without anyone noticing, grabbing her collar.

“Dad!” Cen’s mother shouted, eyes shining with excitement, her voice sharper, “Look, look! Little brother is protecting her again! I told you, little brother wasn’t like this before. It must be that little bitch from the Song family who used some magic on him! Little brother has lost his sense of right and wrong. Wenwen was ruined by this witch…”

“Auntie Cen, please show some respect!” Gu Chengze interrupted coldly before Cen’s mother could finish, his warm expression now edged with a frosty chill. “If you keep slandering my sister without evidence, we won’t hold back anymore.”

“What?” Cen’s mother jumped up and down on the spot. “You want to hit me? Come on, come try!” She was certain Gu Chengze wouldn’t lay hands on an elder.

Gu Chengze had never encountered someone as unreasonable as Cen’s mother. His face darkened. “I’m no match for you in shamelessness, auntie, but the grievances Yiyi has suffered here, I will demand from your son!”

Fuming, Cen’s mother jumped up ready to curse loudly. Before anyone could react, Song Yiyi rushed forward in three quick steps and gave Cen’s mother a loud slap.

“Smack!”

The sound shocked everyone present. Only Cen Yue slightly raised an eyebrow. In fact, when Song Yiyi struck, he tightened his grip on Cen’s mother’s collar to steady her, making it easier for Song Yiyi to hit.

Song Yiyi gave Cen Yue a slight smile, then looked at Cen’s mother and said, “If I’m going to hit you, then I will. Try me if you want. If you have any other demands, just say them—I’ll meet them.”

The officers nearby were stunned. Gu Chengze’s sister was really bold—daring to hit the commander’s daughter-in-law, and right in front of the commander himself. It was as if she didn’t put the commander in the slightest regard.

And Commissar Cen, who just a moment ago appeared obedient to the commander’s decisions, how had he suddenly changed?

Several people tried to breathe more quietly, lowering their presence and praying the fire wouldn’t spread to them.

“Enough!” Cen Anguo, still clutching his whip, glared darkly as if ink might drip from his face.

Gu Chengze stepped beside Song Yiyi, quickly pulling her behind himself. Calmly, he said to Cen Anguo, “Commander, please don’t take it to heart. My sister is still young and speaks without thinking.”

Cen Yue released Cen’s mother’s collar, clapped his hands, and casually added, “Yeah, we’re all elders here, so let’s not quarrel with the young ones.”

He was still bare-chested, and his complexion looked not very good. When Cen Yue spoke, Cen Anguo finally noticed he had stood up, feeling somewhat dizzy from anger.

“Who told you to stand up?” Cen Anguo asked, showing no kindness.

Cen Yue snorted lightly. “Old man, you really are getting old. How’s your memory so bad? Didn’t your sister just say you hit me because I abused my power? But I didn’t.”

Cen Anguo’s deeply lined face twisted somewhat.

Cen Yue smiled instead, thin lips curling lightly with amusement, dragging out his voice in a sigh: “I’m not at fault, so why should I be punished? Old man, since you’re old, you don’t need to apologize to me. Just consider it your filial duty.”

Cen Anguo’s grip on the whip tightened, and he glared fiercely at Cen Yue. “How dare you!” he shouted, swinging the whip at him.

Everyone was shocked.

Before, the old man had whipped Cen Yue’s back; now he was aiming at his face!

Song Yiyi, holding onto Gu Chengze’s sleeve, couldn’t help but flinch.

The whip cracked through the air, but Song Yiyi saw that Cen Yue had caught the whip barehanded.

Cen Anguo, after several tugs, couldn’t pull it free and grew red in the face and neck from the effort.

Cen Yue’s mocking eyes held a cold light; his handsome face was filled with a gloomy aura.

With a strong pull, the whip flew out of Cen Anguo’s hand in a parabola, landing just ahead of Song Yiyi and Gu Chengze.

Without hesitation, Song Yiyi stepped on it.

Cen Yue glanced at it expressionlessly, curling his lips in a cold sneer: “Looks like it’s getting old too. Wonder how many more years it’ll last?”

Cen Anguo’s face was full of dark clouds. “Everyone out!”

“Comman—” Cen Anguo’s voice was harsh, as if squeezed through his teeth: “Get lost.”

The officers following Cen Anguo hurried away, running as fast as they could.

In an instant, only five people remained in front of the regimental office.

Cen’s mother was silent now, either stunned from the slap or frightened by the tense atmosphere between Cen Yue and Cen Anguo.

No one paid attention to her.

Cen Anguo’s dark eyes fixed heavily on Cen Yue. “You think just because I’m old, you can overturn everything?”

Actually, the recent farce was trivial to Cen Anguo.

But he would never allow Cen Yue to be insubordinate.

Cen Yue was his late-born son, and Cen Anguo always thought he had raised him by hand.

Without his thunderous methods, Cen Yue wouldn’t have achieved what he had.

When Cen Yue gave up running for political commissar in favor of a regular regiment commander promotion, Cen Anguo felt he was becoming uncontrollable.

Cen Yue stared at Cen Anguo’s old face for a moment, then suddenly smirked lowly.

“You really are old,” he said, glancing at Cen’s mother. “But you were never my sky. And those who grew up under your sky—how long can you protect them?”

“Old man, guess what? If your sky falls, what will happen to them?”