The younger sister mistakenly identified her brother when visiting relatives and was kissed by the c

Qiao Shouguo trembled with fright, and cold sweat poured out of his forehead and streamed down his cheeks.

"No... Lao Zhou, listen to me, Xin Xin is talking nonsense..." He hurriedly forced out a dry laugh that looked worse than crying, and was about to reach out to pull Zhou Zejun to explain.

"Uncle Zhou!"

Qiao Xinxin suddenly raised her voice, directly interrupting Qiao Shouguo's sophistry: "I know I shouldn't have used the word 'fire pit,' but there's a reason why Mingzhu doesn't want to marry into this family!"

"Shut up! What nonsense are you trying to spout, you brat?!"

Qiao Shouguo's heart pounded, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and an extremely ominous premonition rushed to his head.

His intuition told him that what this jinxed daughter was about to say would absolutely shatter the Qiao family's reputation!

He roared and reached out his large hand to cover Qiao Xinxin's mouth.

Qin Fangfang and Qiao Lijun, who were standing nearby, were also frightened and rushed over to stop her.

But how could Qiao Xinxin give them the chance to succeed?

She abruptly stepped back, using the momentum to forcefully pry open Qiao Shouguo and Qin Fangfang's hands. Like a small animal fiercely protecting its young but cornered, her chest heaving, she angrily questioned the Zhou family:

"Don't think I know nothing just because I just got back! Zhou Liguang beat up Mingzhu!"

Upon hearing this, the entire room fell into a deathly silence!

Qiao Xinxin, her face full of righteous indignation, bombarded her with juicy gossip: "Although I used to live in the countryside and don't know what kind of person Comrade Zhou Liguang was before, in the few days I've been back, I've heard Mingzhu crying and complaining at home! She says that even before they're married, Zhou Liguang has repeatedly hit her and lost his temper! Once they're actually married, wouldn't he, a soldier trained in the army, beat her to death?!"

Qiao Xinxin turned and stared intently at Qiao Mingzhu's bloodless face, shouting, "This man has such a violent temper and is always hitting women! Mingzhu is the apple of our Qiao family's eye! How could my parents and older brother let her marry a man who abuses women?!"

"Bullshit!"

Zhou Zejun was so angry that he even swore. His face was ashen, veins bulging on his forehead, and he pointed at Qiao Xinxin, demanding, "What right do you have to slander him like this?! I know my son best! Even if he broke his leg, even if he was heartbroken and desperate, he would never do something as beastly as laying a hand on a woman! You say he hit her, did you see it with your own eyes or hear it with your own ears?!"

"Mingzhu said this herself at home, how could it be false?!"

Qiao Xinxin remained unyielding, stubbornly raising her pointed chin slightly, her eyes filled with unwavering determination: "My older brother is also a soldier. As a soldier's sister, I sincerely admire Comrade Zhou Liguang for being wounded while protecting our country. I also believe that a hero is unlikely to hit a woman. But all of this was said by my sister, Qiao Mingzhu! Would she lie about her own innocence and her fiancé's reputation?!"

At this moment, Qiao Mingzhu was completely dumbfounded!

It felt as if all the blood in her body had been drained in an instant, leaving her feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cave, and her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her throat!

When she met the sharp gazes of Zhou's parents, who seemed to want to tear her to pieces, Qiao Mingzhu was so frightened that her legs went weak and she almost collapsed to the ground.

It's over! She's offended the Zhou family, and they even accused her of slandering a retired hero. She's finished!

As if sensing her panic, Qiao Xinxin immediately turned around and comforted her with a "well-meaning" expression: "Mingzhu, don't be afraid! Just tell me! Although he is very brave and respectable, no matter what, you can't hit someone! This is a new society, we can't suffer this kind of injustice!"

"You...you shut up..." Qiao Mingzhu's lips trembled, her teeth chattering.

Zhou Zejun and Liu Hongmei exchanged a glance, and both of them simultaneously let out an extremely cold sneer.

"Great! That's wonderful!"

Liu Hongmei, usually mild-mannered and never one to argue with anyone in the courtyard, now glared at the trembling Qiao Mingzhu with venomous eyes, her voice low and menacing: "Qiao Mingzhu, you'd better tell everyone today how my Li Guang bullied you and beat you! When did he do it? Who was there? Who saw it?!"

Liu Hongmei pressed on, her words ringing with conviction: "If I remember correctly, ever since my son Li Guang was injured and hospitalized, and then transferred home to recuperate, you, Qiao Mingzhu, have only condescended to visit him once! And that one time, not only were Lao Zhou and I there, but the attending physician and nurses were also present! The other times we met, it was all just a brief encounter at the gate of the compound!"

"I want to ask you this: in front of everyone, under the watchful eyes of all, how did my Li Guang, a man in a wheelchair who can't even stand up, get the chance to hit you?!"

Liu Hongmei's clear and forceful questioning was like a series of sharp knives, stripping away Qiao Mingzhu's hypocritical facade completely!

Upon hearing these words, Qiao's father and mother, who had just been desperately covering for their sister, as well as Qiao Lijun, who kept saying that his sister had been wronged, were all instantly stunned!

They never imagined that the truth would be like this!

Qiao Mingzhu barely even visited Zhou Liguang a few times. So all those things she said at home, like "Brother Zhou has a bad temper and throws things at me when he gets angry," were just lies?

"Oh……"

A low, deep laugh, laced with endless mockery, suddenly broke the stalemate in the living room.

Zhou Liguang, who had been silent all along, turned the wheels of his wheelchair with both hands and slowly came to Qiao Mingzhu's side.

He stopped less than half a meter away from her.

His chiseled face, with its icy gaze like that of a demon crawling out of hell, was fixed on Qiao Mingzhu's panicked, evasive eyes, which dared not meet his gaze.

"You said I hit you, that I was violent towards you."

Zhou Liguang's voice wasn't loud, but it carried the chilling aura of someone who had long held a high position and constantly walked the line between life and death: "Comrade Qiao Mingzhu, when and where did I hit you? And under what circumstances and for what reason did I lose my temper and become violent towards you?"

His long, slender fingers gently tapped the armrests of the wheelchair, each tap feeling like a blow to Qiao Mingzhu's fragile nerves: "What evidence do you have? Or rather, what witnesses can testify to what you said? If you can't utter a single word today..."

Zhou Liguang leaned forward slightly, his powerful aura pressing down on Qiao Mingzhu like a mountain crashing down: "Then you should know very well that what you're doing is spreading rumors and maliciously slandering veterans!"

"Although I'm now disabled and confined to a wheelchair because of a broken leg, I was still wounded while on a critical mission on the border, protecting my comrades! I am a soldier, even though I've already retired."

Zhou Liguang narrowed his eyes, his deep black eyes radiating extreme coldness, as if they could materialize into a long sword and instantly pierce through Qiao Mingzhu's face, which was filled with hypocrisy and affectation.

"But guess what? Even now, crippled as I am, would I obediently sit here and let you throw this baseless filth at me?!"