Before Lady Gu could react, Deng Zheng grabbed her arm and struck her across the face in a fit of rage. Whether from the pain or the sheer terror, Lady Gu began to scream incessantly. The coachman, seeing Deng Zheng leap down from the roof, abandoned Lady Gu and tried to bolt, but Li Tianzhuo, who had been lying in wait outside the gate, hauled him back in.
"You treacherous shrew! You have deceived me so cruelly!" Deng Zheng roared. "Ask yourself, in our twenty years of marriage, how have I treated you? And yet... you actually committed such an atrocity! Our family is disgraced! What a wretched disgrace!"
Deng Zheng’s voice grew hoarse. Seeing that there was not a shred of remorse on Lady Gu’s face, he slapped her several more times until her face was swollen and she collapsed onto the ground. He moved to strike the coachman as well, but then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he looked at Deng Youning and glanced at Lord Li, pleading, "This is a private matter for the State Protector Estate. Youning, Lord Li, I beg you—do not let word of this get out."
Chapter 73