Vernon Spann's face darkened, and he looked deeply embarrassed. Jacqueline Spann was telling the truth; if he hadn't been so useless at manual labor, he wouldn't have ended up marrying a woman from the countryside.
"Dad, go up there and protect Mom. She'll be grateful, and Grandpa and Grandma will see you in a new light."
Jacqueline Spann gave Vernon Spann a hard push. Time was of the essence. If they waited any longer, Phoenix Golding might actually be beaten to death. The mountains were high and the emperor was far away; no one would investigate if one or two people were killed. In recent years, there had been many incidents in villages where mobs had beaten people to death, and nothing ever came of them.
Seeing his daughter's tear-filled, pleading eyes, Vernon Spann's heart softened, and he started toward the stage. Jacqueline Spann breathed a sigh of relief and followed him. 'No matter what Phoenix Golding did, as her daughter, I have to protect her. It's my filial duty.'
