Seeing his son's strong reaction, Jiang Yangxu had already weighed the situation in his mind. He quickly formed a plan and said, "Zhao, don't worry. I do want to take back the Jiang family's assets, but I will never hurt your sister. We can use the Long family to get the Jiang family back, and then find a way to fake your sister's death to fool the Long family. Isn't that saving your sister too?"
Fake her death?
That was impossible.
He was merely deceiving his son to prevent him from acting impulsively and getting in the way when the time came.
Seeing Jiang Zhao's apparent disbelief, Jiang Yangxu continued, "You know that after what happened with your third aunt, your sister offended Second Master Long. The Long family will never let her go. Last night's trending searches were just the beginning of their revenge against her. It will be a fight to the death."
"If we side with the Long family, we can mediate from within. Not only can we save the Jiang family's business, but we can also find a way to save your sister's life."
Jiang Zhao was half-convinced. "Dad, is what you're saying true?"
Jiang Yangxu nodded earnestly. "Of course. I won't force you to do anything. You just need to continue making amends to your sister without hesitation and get her to trust you as much as possible. Let me and your older brother handle siding with the Long family."
Jiang Zhao said, "Dad, do you dare to swear on it?"
Jiang Yangxu almost choked, then put on a bitter smile. "Why wouldn't I dare? I swear, if I hurt your sister again, I will die a horrible death!"
The family business was almost gone; what was so hard about making a vow?
He didn't believe that breaking an oath would actually result in a horrible death anyway.
Hearing his father not hesitate to swear on his own life, Jiang Zhao finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Dad, I believe you. I will also work hard to gain Xiao Li's trust, so that Xiao Li can cure the poison in my brother's body."
...
The Long family fell into an eerie atmosphere.
Old Madam Long slept early and didn't pay much attention to the internet. It wasn't until she woke up this morning that she learned from the butler about the rumors spreading wildly online last night concerning an incestuous affair between her grandson and her son.
To avoid being laughed at by the other old ladies, she didn't even attend her mandatory morning prayers.
Old Madam Long's expression remained poor until her grandson, Long Yuan, returned from the company.
Holding a string of prayer beads, she sat in her armchair and looked at her highly regarded grandson with a complicated expression. "Yuan, to think that even you would capsize in the gutter that is Jiang Youli."
Long Yuan sat on the sofa, his face equally grim. "Grandma, I was too careless. I shouldn't have easily handed over the task of dealing with Jiang Youli to someone else."
He also told Old Madam Long about Jiang Youli calling to provoke him last night.
Old Madam Long grew serious this time. "It seems we ultimately underestimated this little brat."
Long Yuan, however, said, "I actually think my methods were too gentle. Why bother with AI face-swapping? We should have just done it for real, given her some strong drugs, and found a few men to turn her into a slut. Let's see what kind of waves she can make in the Beijing circle then. Once Qi Huan cancels his engagement with her and no one cares anymore, we can find a way to use our channels to send her to Myanmar to become a sex slave for thousands."
"Have you sent someone to thoroughly investigate her background?"
"I did," Long Yuan said. "Combining what has happened since she returned to Beijing, we know her medical skills are quite brilliant, and for some unknown reason, she can control venomous insects and snakes. Also, the video exposed online of Jiang Zhao tampering with the brakes was likely provided by Mimi's Hometown, a fairly well-known restaurant in Beijing. The boss behind this restaurant is Chairman Zhou Wang of the Zhou family, who has been retired for a long time. At Jiang Youli and Qi Huan's engagement banquet last time, Chairman Zhou and his son Zhou Yi both attended. Besides Chairman Zhou, there were two other leading figures in the medical field: Meng Yao, who developed a miracle anti-cancer drug, and Qin Lang, a top academician in the medical world."
Old Madam Long narrowed her cloudy eyes and said, "This little wench has excellent medical skills. She probably studied under these medical bigwigs. That means trying to drug her silently probably won't work."
Long Yuan said coldly, "Since I'm already going to use forceful methods, why would I bother acting covertly?"
Old Madam Long had no objections. "If you're going to do it this time, do it cleanly. Absolutely do not leave any leverage for others to use against us."
Her hand gripped the prayer beads tightly. "That little wench keeps claiming she knows the bottom line of our Long family. This old woman simply doesn't believe that a little girl like her can stir up any waves in our Beijing circle!"
At that moment, Long Yuan's assistant called.
"Young Master Long."
"What is it?"
"Our people received information from Qi Shaoxiong's subordinates. Qi Yue is on a flight back to Beijing from Ethiopia, and it will arrive very soon."
Long Yuan's eyes darkened. This meant Qi Yue had previously been taken to Africa by Qi Shaoxiong, but why let Qi Yue return safe and sound now, and purposely let his assistant know about it?
"Qi Shaoxiong said he learned about the matter with Second Master Long, so he intends to do a favor in passing and hand over Qi Huan's biological brother, Qi Yue, to you to deal with, Young Master Long."
"Sounds nice, doing me a favor? Qi Shaoxiong just wants to borrow my hand to deal with Qi Huan so he can become the heir of the Qi family," Long Yuan sneered. "But it's not a bad idea. Have someone capture Qi Yue."
"Understood."
...
After exiting the Shangjing Airport, Qi Yue was tossed onto the side of the road by Zhang Tieya, Qi Shaoxiong's trusted aide who had brought him back.
"Young Master Qi Yue, good luck," Zhang Tieya said before getting into the car and speeding away.
Qi Yue struggled to his feet. He knew that his whereabouts had already been leaked to Long Yuan. If he was caught by Long Yuan and used against Qi Huan, his life would be even more miserable than when he was in Qi Shaoxiong's hands!
He had to escape as quickly as possible!
Unexpectedly, Qi Yue hadn't staggered more than a few dozen meters when a Porsche stopped right next to him.
The car door opened, and before Qi Yue could react, two bodyguards stepped out and forcefully dragged him into the vehicle.
With a slam, the car door closed, and the vehicle quickly drove off.
Just as Qi Yue was panicking about how he would survive falling into Long Yuan's hands, he saw that the person in the driver's seat was none other than Cheng Jing.
"Assistant Cheng, it's you! My brother sent you to save me, didn't he?" Qi Yue acted as if he had grasped a lifeline, his tone incredibly excited. "My brother still worries about me and cares for me... This is wonderful..."
Cheng Jing ignored Qi Yue. He simply looked through the rearview mirror at Long Yuan's men, who had pounced on nothing and were glaring in their direction in exasperation, and let out a cold snort.
Trying to snatch someone from the Young Master? It seemed Long Yuan had truly forgotten that he had never once won against the Young Master.
Qi Yue didn't mind Cheng Jing's disregard. He merely leaned against the back of the car seat, closed his eyes, and exhaled a deep breath.
Thank goodness, he was saved.
For the sake of their brotherhood, Qi Huan would forgive him!
...
After posting the second update on her newly registered Weibo account, Jiang Youli decided to temporarily ignore Jiang Zhao's fans, who were currently causing a ruckus all over her page. Once she got off work, she planned to head over to the Qi Group to give Qi Huan her medical treatment.
To her surprise, just as she stepped out of the office, she received a phone call from Qi Huan.
"Xiao Li, come to our usual place today."
Qi Huan didn't explain why, and Jiang Youli didn't bother to ask. She simply replied, "Alright."
Hanging up the phone, she left Starlight Entertainment, got into her car, and drove straight to the old spot where she and Qi Huan usually had their dates.
An hour later.
Jiang Youli parked her car and walked the rest of the way. Before she even reached the pavilion, she faintly caught the sound of a woman's suppressed moan.
"Mmh..."
