Madam turned to look at Liu Yutong, who had been standing by her side without starting to explain herself.
“Girl,” she said.
“What do you think of what she just said?”
Liu Yutong’s expression was calm. She showed no panic, no urgent desire to defend herself, and certainly didn’t cling to Madam crying out for mercy.
But what she said next left everyone stunned.
“Madam, would you like to see the evidence she has?”
“If you wish, I don’t mind letting her present it. In fact, I’m curious myself—how dark do you all really think I am?”
The moment these words left her mouth, the entire room was shocked.
“She’s not afraid?”
“Not afraid? It’s all an act, right? But pretending to be this calm under such pressure requires some serious composure.”
“I don’t think it’s an act. If she’s faking this level of cool, her scheme runs deep.”
“...”
Madam watched Liu Yutong with an enigmatic smile, as if pleased with her response.
This girl, heh, she really is bold and straightforward.
“Let’s take a look, then.”
Hearing Madam give the go-ahead, Zhou Yun couldn’t contain her excitement. She rushed forward clutching the photos, nearly tripping over herself in her eagerness.
But she didn’t care.
Her mind was consumed by a single thought: make Madam see this bitch’s true face!
Make everyone see it!
Ruin her reputation!
Drag her into the abyss!
“Madam, look! These are the pieces of evidence I mentioned. All these men in black are her underlings. Look at this scene—thousands of them gathered together. Isn’t that the hallmark of a gang boss?”
Madam took the photos and flipped through them one by one.
The first showed a long street lined densely with men in black suits, stretching endlessly into the distance.
The second captured them all standing at once, their chilling aura palpable even through the image.
The third featured Liu Yutong standing in the center of the crowd, looking exactly like a underworld overlord surrounded by her men.
The fourth, fifth, sixth…
Each photo was more shocking than the last, each more visually imposing than the previous.
Zhou Yun continued fanning the flames beside Madam.
“Madam, I also know what she did in Pearl City. She clashed with the underground forces there, took out several gang leaders, and supposedly had their bodies thrown into the river to feed the fish.”
“She even cruelly locked her own father behind bars—defying all morality and filial piety!”
“She’s a complete gang chieftain, a heartless female demon!”
“And she beat up my brother and assaulted me! Madam, look at my face!”
“Madam, you must seek justice for us!”
“...”
Hearing Zhou Yun’s accusations, everyone present felt their hearts pound.
If what she said was true, then this stunningly beautiful girl was far too sinister!
She sent her own father to prison and didn’t flinch at violence? Absolutely lawless!
But no one spoke up.
They waited.
They waited for Madam’s final verdict.
If Madam said she was guilty, they would all gang up on her.
If Madam said she wasn’t, then even if she was guilty, she’d be deemed innocent.
Madam finished looking through the last photo, raised her head, and gazed at Zhou Yun.
“Done? Anything else to add?”
Zhou Yun shook her head. “Madam, I’m done. Nothing more.”
Madam nodded, then signaled a hand.
A bodyguard dressed in plain clothes stepped forward immediately.
He was in his mid-thirties, with a rugged face and sharp eyes—clearly an elite guard of the highest caliber. Even Liu Yutong could tell at a glance that this man could outmatch even Cloud City’s Chu Yang.
Most frighteningly, at least four or five guards of this same caliber were present today.
Madam whispered something to the bodyguard, who then replied in a highly respectful tone.
Because of the low volume, no one nearby could make out what was said.
All they saw was Madam’s expression shift from calm to mild surprise, and then from surprise to thoughtful contemplation.
Everyone was baffled, unable to guess what Madam was thinking or planning.
After the guard finished his report, he stepped back to his original position.
Madam then rose to her feet.
As she stood, everyone in the room followed suit in unison.
Madam walked over to Old Madam Jiang, took her hand, and said, “Aunt Jiang, today is your eightieth birthday. I came to wish you well. Seeing you in such good health puts my mind at ease. I have some urgent matters to attend to, so I must leave now. Take care.”
Old Madam Jiang felt both flattered and nervous. She quickly replied, “Madam, you’re busy, you’re busy. I’m already honored that you came.”
Madam nodded, then turned to Liu Yutong and said, “Girl, come visit me at my place when you have time.”
With that, she departed in a grand procession, surrounded by her security team.
The crowd wanted to see her off but were stopped by the guards, left standing on tiptoes, straining their necks to watch her leave.
Only after Madam had gone did they all exchange bewildered glances.
Wait, that’s it?
What exactly did Madam mean?
No one could decipher Madam’s intentions.
All they witnessed was her reviewing the evidence, hearing the accusations, asking nothing and pronouncing no punishment—then leaving without fanfare.
Oh, and she also invited that girl over for a visit.
This…
Lin Dong and Jiang Lu were just as dumbfounded.
In fact, moments earlier, Lin Dong had been thinking about how he could speak up for Liu Yutong if Madam really pressed the matter. He’d even steeled himself for the worst—ready to throw caution to the wind and invoke his long-deceased elder to plead with Madam.
But after all his mental preparation, Madam just… left?
Still, for Lin Dong and his family, this was incredibly good news.
At the very least, Madam showed no intention of punishing anyone. On the contrary, she invited Liu Yutong to her residence.
What did that mean?
It meant Madam still acknowledged Liu Yutong!
It meant Madam did not see Liu Yutong as a gang boss’s daughter.
Lin Dong was now profoundly grateful he had agreed to Liu Yutong’s terms in Pearl City and latched onto this powerful ally.
The Lin family’s revival was looking bright!
Zhou Yun stood frozen in place. Seeing Madam leave, she felt a wave of panic.
“Madam… Madam, why are you leaving?”
“You haven’t punished her yet! She’s a gangster! She’s evil!”
No one answered her.
No one paid her any attention.
She was like a clown who had screamed and performed on stage, only to realize that the audience had either left or didn’t care about her act in the slightest.
Meanwhile, after watching Madam depart, Liu Yutong walked over to her, took the photos from Zhou Yun’s hands, and looked through them once more.
Then, holding them up to the crowd, she said, “I’m sure you’re all wondering whether these photos are real.”
“Let me tell you—they are real.”
The moment she said this, the entire room erupted into chaos.
“Wait, she confessed?”
“What the hell is she doing? Pulling a kamikaze?”
“Could she really be a gang leader?”
“But Madam didn’t say anything. Why is she admitting it? Isn’t that suicide?”
“...”
When they first saw those photos, everyone present instinctively thought the girl was definitely “in the underworld.”
Because people tend to be easily deceived by their own eyes when they don’t know the full story—especially when the figures in black in the photos looked so intimidating!
But since Madam hadn’t done anything to her, they couldn’t just label her as shady.
What they didn’t expect, however, was that the girl would just blow herself up on the spot, not even afraid that Madam might turn around and arrest her again.
Anyway, they couldn’t make heads or tails of her move.
When Zhou Yun heard this, her eyes, which had been on the verge of despair, instantly lit up.
“Did you hear that? She admitted it herself! She confessed! She’s a gangster! She’s in the underworld!”
But Liu Yutong’s next sentence made Zhou Yun’s smile freeze on her face.
“Everyone, I’d like to ask you a question.”
“If the employees of a legitimate company have a gathering, and it just so happens there are a lot of them, and they just so happen to be wearing the company’s uniform, and they just so happen to sit together... does that make them gangsters?”
When she asked that question, no one answered. They all fell into deep thought.
What she said made sense, didn’t it?
Who said a company can’t have everyone wear the same uniform?
Who said employees can’t sit together for a meal?
Judging someone as a gangster based solely on a photo of an employee gathering was indeed hard to justify.
They would need much more solid evidence.
Just as they were about to say something,
Suddenly!
A chaotic and noisy commotion erupted from outside, along with someone’s screams.
“Stop! Don’t run!”
“Catch him for me! Beat him to death!”
“Ahhh!”
The people in the banquet hall instinctively looked outside to see what was happening.
“What’s going on?”
“What’s happening out there?”
“Sounds like someone’s fighting.”
“Fighting? Who? Are they out of their minds? Daring to start a fight at the Jiang family’s doorstep—must be tired of living.”
“...”
Before they could react, a figure came crawling and stumbling toward them.
It was Jiang Yuan.
As he ran, he shouted at them.
“Help! Help!”
“Someone’s trying to kill me!”
“Cousin, someone’s trying to kill me! Help!”
Before anyone could figure out what was happening, a crowd of fierce-looking men rushed in behind Jiang Yuan.
They were all in black suits with dragon-shaped badges on their chests, wielding batons, looking menacing and murderous.
Over a hundred people surged into the Jiang family courtyard, caught up with Jiang Yuan, knocked him down with a single swing of a baton, and surrounded him, beating him like a stray dog.
“Run! Go ahead and run now, you bastard!”
“Dammit, once the Wanlong Society sets its sights on you, you think you can get away? Do you have what it takes?!”
The leading girl kicked Jiang Yuan hard again, and he let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
“Ahhh!!!!”
The banquet hall fell dead silent.
Everyone stood there stunned, gaping at the scene.
Soon, someone noticed that the black-clad figures looked familiar—they seemed to be dressed exactly like the people in the photos someone was holding.
When it clicked, they all turned to look in the same direction.
Liu Yutong.
The girl in the smoke-green dress was still holding the photos of the black-clad people gathering.
Then, as if to confirm they weren’t seeing things, they looked again at the black-clad men beating Jiang Yuan, then back at Liu Yutong. Their minds went blank.
So much for it being an employee gathering?
So much for it being a legitimate company?
We really fell for that one, didn’t we!
