Jiang Yijie roared, “Big brother! Something this serious happened, and you actually kept it from the family! What exactly is wrong with Dad? Explain yourself!”
Ge Furen sobbed, “Yihua, is what they’re saying online true? Is Master really… really not going to live much longer?”
?
Jiang Yihua was startled!
He had sealed off the information so thoroughly. He had even made arrangements at the hospital and the police station. So how had the news still ended up online?
At Qiuyun’s words, she immediately opened a social media app. Sure enough, the hashtag #ChairmanJiangCriticallyIll was trending.
She handed her phone to her husband.
Jiang Yihua took it and scanned the posts from top to bottom. He found no mention of poisoning or injury. It sounded as though the old man had simply been hospitalized because his advanced age and chronic illnesses had taken their toll.
He was just about to tell them the truth when Qiuyun beat him to it.
“Old Master hasn’t made it through the critical period yet. We were about to call the blood bank for a blood supply when everyone arrived.”
The ghosts outside were beyond her reach, but she could at least test whether there was a ghost among those inside.
“I’ll do it!” Jiang Yijie was the first to roll up his sleeve. “Draw my blood!”
A look of surprise flashed through Jiang Yihua’s eyes, but it vanished almost at once. He cooperated by barking, “Does the blood bank lack the few hundred cc’s you can give? Why would we need to draw your blood? All of you, settle down!”
“All right, Second Brother.” Jiang Yicheng stepped in to smooth things over. “Let’s go see Dad first.”
As the group began to move, Jiang Yihua deliberately fell a step behind and signaled to Qiuyun with his eyes, telling her to inform Butler Lin.
Qiuyun understood at once. She immediately found Butler Lin and relayed her husband’s thoughts.
Butler Lin’s brows relaxed slightly. “Don’t worry. I’ve already instructed the doctors and nurses at the hospital to keep their mouths shut. No one is to reveal Master’s true condition.”
Because of his legs, Old Master Jiang rarely left the estate throughout the year.
If the culprit had been one of the family, they would have made their move at home long ago. That meant the murderer had to be someone from outside.
But an outside culprit would be difficult to find.
However, if they concealed the fact that Assistant Qiuyun had performed emergency treatment and that Old Master Jiang had recovered from his critical condition, then they could use the claim that he was dying to lure the culprit out. That way, they could see who would take the bait.
Qiuyun gave a soft cough. “Understood.”
As expected of the chief steward who had served at Old Master Jiang’s side for decades—he had arrived at the same idea she had.
The group arrived outside Old Master Jiang’s ICU room.
Although he was out of danger, the hospital was worried that his condition might deteriorate again, so his bed remained in the intensive care unit. Oxygen tubes, IV lines, a urinary catheter, an ECG monitor, and all sorts of other equipment were attached to him. In short, he was covered from head to toe in tubes.
Seen through the glass window, he looked terribly ill.
Ge Furen immediately covered her mouth, pressed herself against the glass, and began wailing. Several of the sons also sighed heavily and chased after the doctor, asking how their father was doing.
The doctor wore a grave expression and shook his head, saying that the situation was not optimistic.
The group looked as though they had been struck by lightning. A faint sense of crisis rose in their hearts.
Ge Furen’s voice trembled as she asked, “Master… Master, how long does he have? How many days can he live?”
Of everyone present, the person who most desperately hoped that Old Master Jiang would be all right was Ge Furen.
As long as Old Master Jiang was alive, she was the lady of the estate, managing every matter large and small.
But once Old Master Jiang died, unless one of her sons took over, how could anyone allow her—a stepmother without even a marriage certificate, someone who had merely been in a de facto marriage with their father—to continue throwing her weight around at the estate?
If her earlier sobbing had contained an element of performance, then after learning that Old Master Jiang might not have much time left, Ge Furen truly broke down.
She was sobbing so hard she could barely speak!
A suffocating atmosphere, accompanied by her cries, settled over everyone. It was nearing nine o’clock. Jiang Yihua and the others still had to go to the group headquarters for work. Rumors and speculation about the old chairman’s condition were spreading everywhere online, and they also had an emergency press conference scheduled for eleven.
The other brothers left, each harboring his own thoughts.
In the end, only Ge Furen, Qian Yuqiong, Qiuyun, and Jiang Chuling remained outside the hospital room.
“Why is Little Seven still here? Aren’t you going to school?” Qian Yuqiong asked.
Jiang Chuling shook her head. “Grandpa is this sick. How could I possibly have the heart to go to school?”
Tsk.
Remembering how her niece had tricked her a few days earlier, Qian Yuqiong hurriedly called her two sons and told them not to go to school either, but to come and keep watch outside their grandfather’s room.
What if the old man woke up halfway through and saw only the grandchildren from the eldest branch at his bedside? How would that look?
While the Second Madam was in the stairwell making the call, Qiuyun sat down beside Ge Furen and softly comforted her. “Don’t worry. Old Master will surely pull through.”
Ge Furen wept bitterly. “I hope so, I hope so… Otherwise, what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do? Wuu…”
Qiuyun leaned slightly closer and whispered into her ear, “Since you’re so worried, why don’t we settle this privately?”
?
Ge Furen abruptly stopped crying and looked up in astonishment.
Facing her shocked expression, Qiuyun’s eyes curved faintly at the corners. In a low voice, she reminded her, “Old Master was poisoned and fell critically ill, but Butler Lin didn’t notify anyone. He informed only my husband. Even you found out about it from the internet the following morning. Surely I don’t need to explain what that implies.”
At those words, the hairs on Ge Furen’s body stood on end!
That was right!
Butler Lin was Master’s trusted confidant. Whatever Butler Lin intended, it must also be Master’s intention!
Ge Furen was about to speak when Qiuyun placed a hand on her wrist.
“This bracelet has a lovely quality to it. The color is just a little pale, but that makes it look youthful. It would suit a young lady very well.”
Among wealthy society women—especially elegant ladies with years of experience and refinement—jade jewelry was practically standard whenever they went out.
After all, gold had a fixed price, but jade was priceless.
No matter how high the price of gold climbed, a gleaming gold bracelet weighing at most a hundred grams would be worth perhaps a little over a hundred thousand yuan. Anyone who glanced at it could roughly estimate its value. It was too vulgar and cumbersome, and hardly befitting of a refined lady.
Jade was different. Unless one was an expert, it was impossible to accurately assess its price. Even a piece with decent translucency and color started at several million yuan. To truly highlight their pampered, privileged status, these society ladies had to wear pieces worth several million—or even tens of millions—on their wrists.
The rounded, thick jade bangle Ge Furen wore today had been purchased by Master for her at an auction house in Hong Kong when she was young.
Its color was a clear spring green, and its base was exceptionally pure, without any cottony inclusions or impurities. Under a light, it seemed to burst with radiance, like a pool of limpid spring water.
More than twenty years ago, colored jade was more fashionable. Although jade prized for its translucency and texture was rare, its price had not yet been inflated to today’s levels. The bracelet had cost four million yuan at the time, but now it would probably start at ten million.
Seeing Ge Furen hesitate, Qiuyun arched a brow. “Or would you rather I tell my husband about this and let him know what you’ve been doing behind his back?”
Of course not!
Jiang Yihua was clearly the heir apparent. If she let him find out that she had made things difficult for his daughter and harbored malicious intentions at such a crucial moment, he might well use it as an excuse to bar her from even participating in Old Master Jiang’s funeral arrangements.
Ge Furen steadied herself and began sliding the bangle off her wrist.
After all, it had been with her for more than twenty years. Although she rarely wore it and it was not her favorite or most expensive piece, she still felt a pang of reluctance at giving away a bracelet worth eight or ten million yuan.
