Chapter 90: Huan Yan, I Am the Head of the Family

When Lord Nan Gong first proposed the marriage alliance, it was Gu Qinghe herself who personally came to the door.

So the two of them naturally knew each other.

At that time Gu Qinghe's attitude was very good, after all she was the girl her younger son had chosen.

And Qiao An was young, looking well‑behaved, so naturally likable.

In her own home, when Qiao An learned that she had been struck by such a huge, earth‑shattering stroke of luck, she was completely stunned.

Afterwards she also became somewhat reserved.

But now, in order to get close to Gu Qinghe, she appears much more enthusiastic than that first meeting.

She believes that her proactive enthusiasm and demureness will make Gu Qinghe like her even more.

But who would have known!

Gu Qinghe actually… didn't pay any attention to her at all.

Even when she reached out to take Gu Qinghe's arm, Gu Qinghe subtly avoided it.

Qiao An was left standing dumbfounded on the spot.

The few young ladies had originally been very happy, unable to suppress their eagerness to see Song Huan Yan's momentary embarrassed look.

Now their expressions also changed…

They also froze.

Gu Qinghe continued to step forward.

Originally, Nan Gong Yu should have stood up to greet.

However, he didn't move, merely watching Gu Qinghe approach.

Song Huan Yan was a bit unsure what this meant.

It seemed something was off with the etiquette?

After all, under everyone's watchful eyes.

Song Huan Yan thought for a moment, then moved close to him and whispered, "Should… we go greet mother?"

Nan Gong Yu turned his gaze toward her, a relaxed smile at the corner of his lips, and leaned close to her ear, saying, "Huan Yan, I am the Head of the Family."

Song Huan Yan was momentarily stunned.

Then her face flushed uncontrollably.

It was too close.

The heat sprayed onto her ear.

It felt as if his lips brushed her ear faintly as he spoke.

She didn't know… if it was just her illusion.

For a couple of seconds, Song Huan Yan's heart fluttered.

She quickly steadied herself, nodded, "Oh, um."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Head of the Family of a household, even when the mother arrives, may not need to personally go forward to greet.

This… is the rule.

And the current setting is not a lively, festive occasion.

The main reason is that they are dealing with matters.

In such a situation, one must not step forward to personally greet.

Qin Zi Mo saw the two's intimate interaction.

His fists clenched tightly.

They…

Why so intimate?

Qin Zi Mo vaguely knew that the two families were on good terms.

They were indeed close!

Not only did Nan Gong Yu personally come to back Song Huan Yan, but the matriarch also arrived!

But… backing is still backing.

Why such intimate behavior?

Qin Zi Mo's complexion turned completely dark.

As Gu Qinghe stepped forward, reaching a certain distance.

Chu Yue, who had been kneeling and dared not stand up without Nan Gong Yu speaking, now stood up on her own.

Nan Gong Yu also said nothing.

After Chu Yue stood up, Meng Zhangfeng gave her a glance, and the two of them stepped forward together.

Four bodyguards followed behind them, and later the Hotel Manager also led several bodyguards to trail behind them.

Song Huan Yan understood.

Meng Zhangfeng and Chu Yue were to represent Nan Gong Yu in greeting Gu Qinghe.

Song Huan Yan slowly raised an eyebrow.

Sang Wan, standing beside Song Huan Yan, whispered, "I'll go, Yan Yan, your family's lord's rule is really something!"

Song Huan Yan pursed her lips, as if… a bit.

One must admit, there were so many people from the company present.

It was, in a way, the first time seeing the rules of a Great Family, a top‑tier conglomerate.

That was truly quite meticulous.

Meng Zhangfeng and Chu Yue stepped forward to greet Gu Qinghe, and Gu Qinghe walked toward Song Huan Yan.

But Qiao An and the others were still standing there, unable to recover.

Just by Nan Gong Yu's rule, this arrangement made people feel a few degrees of dread.

An inexplicable, trembling fear rose in their hearts.

Seeing Gu Qinghe about to walk past, Qiao An finally snapped out of it and immediately stepped forward.

The few younger sisters behind her could only follow her forward.

But they couldn't help complaining to her.

At the same time they were quite scared; the future mother‑in‑law ignored Qiao An, clearly not taking her side?

So later they…

still have to be forced to drink?

Force‑drink, then gastric lavage, then force‑drink again, until they are convinced both in heart and mouth?

Oral intake should be there.

But heart‑convinced, definitely not.

Only anger!

Just thinking about being slapped in the face again.

These younger sisters could no longer hold back; while following Qiao An they muttered lowly, "Aren't you saying she's your future mother‑in‑law? Why does she ignore you! Your face is all ruined! With so many eyes watching, you'll never be able to lift your head at the company!"

"Yeah, An An, what on earth is happening? First a big brother ignores you, then a future mother‑in‑law still ignores you? Are you really in a marriage alliance with Nan Gong Jue? You're not just pretending, are you?"

These sisters have never seen Qiao An's marriage partner; they only heard her talk about it.

Now the situation presses down layer by layer; Qiao An has no advantage at all, and everyone even ignores her, let alone giving her face or backing her.

This makes the younger sisters doubt.

After all, if Qiao An has no one to back her, it means they'll be in trouble soon!

"Exactly. What's the situation?" a younger sister said. "Qiao An, you made us do this. If we truly offend Nan Gong Yu because of this… we'll have nowhere to be buried!"

"Yeah. That's Nan Gong Yu, an invincible being worldwide! I don't want to die…"

Saying that, they actually became scared.

Qiao An was slapped in the face again, feeling terribly upset.

Being told that by her own younger sisters made it even worse.

"Why panic? Even if the big brother and my mother‑in‑law side with Song Huan Yan because the two families are friendly, I'm still half a member of the Nan Gong family now! They can't do anything to me. Moreover, Nan Gong Jue hasn't arrived yet, and you're already losing your temper!"

The only thing Qiao An can hope for now is for Nan Gong Jue to come quickly.

She has no idea what he's actually doing!

Such a delay!

Gu Qinghe arrived at the Main Seat.

Nan Gong Yu stood up.

Song Huan Yan hurriedly stood up as well.

Nan Gong Yu said, "Mother."

Song Huan Yan also said, "Mother."

Gu Qinghe nodded, smiled at Song Huan Yan, and said, "Sit quickly."

She said so while stepping forward, pushing Nan Gong Yu to another seat, sitting beside Song Huan Yan, and holding Song Huan Yan's hand very attentively.

"Let me see," Gu Qinghe examined her. "Are you okay? Someone from the hotel called me, saying you were being troubled here. I rushed over as soon as I heard. I'm not late, right?"

"No," Song Huan Yan shook his head. "I'm fine. You're not late either. Now that Lord Yu is here, I won't be at a loss."

"That's good," Gu Qinghe finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But she suddenly grabbed Song Huan Yan's hand, furrowed her brows, and said, "Injured? Who did it?"

Gu Qinghe instantly became angry.

Song Huan Yan lowered his eyes and saw that she herself hadn't noticed.

Her hand had been twisted by the bodyguard, and when he forced her to pour wine at the table, it got pinched.

There was clearly a reddened pinch mark on a finger.

Song Huan Yan hadn't spoken yet, when Sang Wan stepped forward to defend her, "It was probably that Miss Qiao and her sisters ordered the bodyguard, and when he pressed the three of us to force‑drink, that's how it happened."

Nan Gong Yu hadn't noticed at first.

Now, after looking again, he saw it.

His expression instantly darkened, extremely stern.

The young lady really is delicate; she was also pinched last time.

At this moment Qiao An arrived at the front with her sisters.

Nan Gong Yu hadn't spoken, Gu Qinghe was the first to get angry, looking at Qiao An and shouting, "Are you crazy? Why force‑drink Huan Yan and the others?"

Qiao An's face flushed bright red at Gu Qinghe's scolding.

She truly lost any face.

"I… I didn't." Faced with Gu Qinghe's humiliating rebuke, Qiao An felt aggrieved, and tears streamed down in a string.

Gu Qinghe frowned, "No? Yan Yan never lies; you definitely did."

Being so mistrusted, Qiao An's tears fell even more heavily.

The sisters beside her could only explain again.

Gu Qinghe's face darkened as she listened.

After listening, she said, "Yan Yan doesn't want to drink with you for a reason. She's not a reckless child who drinks just because someone offers. Even if she doesn't drink, that's no excuse for you to force‑drink her! What? Do you think having Nan Gong Jue lets you act arrogantly?"

"No, it's not." Qiao An shook her hands, crying as she explained.

At that moment, the girls could only shift all responsibility onto Xin Xin, who had been carried away.

They said, "It's all Xin Xin's fault. But Xin Xin just has that temperament; actually there's no real malice."

Gu Qinghe snorted coldly, "They forced drinking, and you don't call that malice? Then explain to me, what counts as malice?"

The girls were cornered and could not speak.

One of the girls also had a short temper.

Seeing this situation, she was so angry she could barely contain herself.

One after another, they both forcefully sided with Song Huan Yan, regardless of right or wrong!

Clearly, Song Huan Yan's side was at fault first, yet they all blamed the girls, saying they were wrong.

What kind of logic is that?

Moreover, some remarks were unsuitable for Qiao An to say.

After all, she has been playing the good‑person role in this First Courtesy Then Force scheme.

The sisters could no longer hold back and erupted, saying, "Aunt, we understand you want to protect the child of a long‑standing family friend. But have you been fooled? An An is the Marriage Alliance partner for your family; President Song is an outsider! You protect an outsider so fiercely, even to the point of turning right and wrong upside down? Even if we are at fault, they were at fault first! They repeatedly provoked and humiliated us, and only then did the conflict escalate to Forced Drinking!"

"If they just lifted their glasses and put on a show, at least give us some face—after all, today An An and the Second Young Master are hosting the banquet, and we wouldn't make things difficult for them. But not only did they refuse to give us face, they outright said they look down on us! Aunt, would you just let it go? Moreover, they claimed it was Forced Drinking, yet in the end, wasn't it never actually forced?"

"Do you really need to make such a big fuss over this? It's as if they were the ones who took the biggest offense! If the Nan Gong Clan is such an unreasonable family, as An An's best friends we should also advise her to think more carefully!"

This final sentence from the girls clearly brings up the marriage alliance between Nan Gong Jue and Qiao An.

It means that if the Nan Gong Clan insists on such favoritism toward Song Huan Yan,

then Qiao An's marriage alliance with Nan Gong Jue could fall through!

After all, from the surface it seems this in‑law family really isn't a good one, that they would actually criticize their own marriage‑alliance partner over an outsider.

Who would still want to marry into it?

Moreover, Gu Qinghe certainly wouldn't truly let her own daughter‑in‑law run away just because of a child of a prestigious family friend.

She can clearly tell which matters more.

Perhaps Gu Qinghe is merely putting on a show, going through the motions, so as not to have a hard time explaining to the Song Family matriarch.

That's why the girls deliberately brought up the marriage alliance to threaten Gu Qinghe and to remind her.