Because he had slept so well, he was beginning to wonder if something was wrong.
He hurried out, but everything at the hospital was as orderly as ever. The medical staff and bodyguards were all busy with their own tasks, and nothing seemed different from before he had returned to the room.
Jiang Chuling had gone back to sleep and woken up hungry, so she came out in her pajamas and asked the bodyguards to buy her breakfast.
When Steward Lin saw her, he was astonished. “...Seventh Miss, what are you doing here?”
“Grandpa Lin.” Her lips drooped. “You have no idea how dangerous things were last night. If Sister Xiaoqiu hadn’t been so alert, who knows where Grandpa might have been taken!”
!!
What?
Inside the VIP room, Jiang Yihua heard his daughter’s voice and hurried out. He told them exactly what had happened the night before and brought up the surveillance footage.
“I’ve already had Assistant Wei retain all the footage from here, but I had to keep one original copy so Dad could see for himself just how outrageous Second Brother has become!”
Butler Lin’s eyes darkened.
So that was why there had been an extra glass of milk with his late-night snack last night. They had drugged him!
What a piece of work!
“They should let Old Master Jiang know.”
After all, the old master was not actually on the verge of death. Were they really going to put on another ridiculous performance like this when that day truly came?
After breakfast, the phone Qiuyun had ordered through a same-city express delivery service arrived.
Since her old phone had died in the line of duty, her employer had said she could claim the cost back. But she was used to her previous phone and hadn’t wanted to switch, so she had bought an identical one.
Just then, the housekeeper in charge of Miss’s affairs, Assistant Chen, delivered her clothes. She also told them that Madam would be coming to bring lunch and asked what they wanted to eat.
After changing, Jiang Chuling was just about to find Sister Xiaoqiu and ask what she wanted for lunch when hurried footsteps suddenly echoed through the corridor. Several doctors and nurses rushed toward the intensive care room.
“Auntie Chen, you go back first. Tell my mom that anything is fine for lunch!” Jiang Chuling said before hurrying toward the intensive care room as well.
Seeing the chaos and commotion over there, Assistant Chen couldn’t help wondering if... the old master was about to die.
“What happened? What happened?” Taking advantage of her small size, Jiang Chuling quickly squeezed through to the front and reached Sister Xiaoqiu’s side.
Qiuyun looked down at her. “Old Master Jiang is awake.”
The nurses were busy drawing blood and checking the patient’s potassium levels again. Another doctor gently pressed the old master’s hands and feet, asking whether they hurt and whether he could feel anything.
Fortunately, there was a silver lining. The damage to his nervous system had not left him paralyzed. At the old master’s request, the nurses helped him sit up.
“Master.” Butler Lin asked all the medical staff to leave. Only Jiang Yihua, Qiuyun, and Little Seven remained in the intensive care room with him.
“How long was I unconscious?”
True to form for a man who had weathered countless storms, Old Master Jiang had barely regained consciousness before beginning to ask questions one by one.
Butler Lin answered, “One day and eleven hours.”
“Has there been any news from outside? How is the group?”
“We managed to keep it concealed at first, but somehow a rumor got out that you were critically ill and hospitalized. Fortunately, we held a press conference yesterday morning to clarify the situation, so the group wasn’t affected.”
“What poison did I ingest? Have you found out?”
“You were poisoned with aconitine. As for the server who handled the wineglass...”
Through this brief question-and-answer session, Old Master Jiang quickly gained a basic understanding of the important developments. He approved of Butler Lin’s decision to conceal the emergency treatment and instructed him to continue keeping it that way.
“There’s one more thing. Although it didn’t lead to any serious consequences, I still think you should know about it, Master.” Butler Lin took out a video. “This is what Mr. Yijie did last night.”
“You old rascal, since when did you become so hesitant?”
Old Master Jiang calmly took the phone, but after watching only two seconds, his fury exploded. He hurled the phone against the wall, smashing it to pieces.
“That bastard! I’m not dead yet! Cough, cough!”
Qiuyun lowered her head and exchanged a glance with Miss.
With such a temper, he must be recovering quite well.
Butler Lin hurried over to support his back. “Please calm down. Mr. Yijie only took the risk because he thought you had been poisoned too deeply to save.”
“If I really reached that point, that bastard would be the first one to rush in and make sure I was dead!” Old Master Jiang was beside himself with rage.
After all, he had held power his entire life, and the Jiang family and its group had always operated under his absolute control. He had never imagined that his own son would show him such disrespect in private.
They had treated him like an object, moving him around and putting him wherever they pleased!
It was utterly absurd!
“Call Lawyer Su! Cough, cough, cough! And call the notary as well!”
Unable to contain his anger, Old Master Jiang changed his will on the spot. He cut the second branch’s share in half.
He had no intention of leaving that half to the unfilial son, either. Instead, it would be placed under the names of his two grandsons.
The remaining portion would be divided into four shares. The first, third, and fourth branches would each receive one, while the last would be given privately to Qiuyun.
“Good girl, I have you to thank for this.” Old Master Jiang was sincerely grateful. This was a genuine lifesaving favor—and she had saved him twice!
The first time, she had saved his body. The second time, she had saved his spirit!
If she hadn’t stepped in to stop that foolish couple from the second branch, he would have ended up entirely at their mercy.
The dignified Old Master Jiang, who had commanded respect all his life, did his best to sound gentle. “From now on, if there’s anything you want or need, you can tell me.”
When wealthy people owed someone a debt of gratitude, they naturally didn’t like it when that person asked for nothing at all.
Because situations like that often ended with the benefactor making a request they had no way to fulfill.
So Qiuyun immediately agreed. “All right. I definitely won’t stand on ceremony with you!”
The old master’s mood improved somewhat.
He liked straightforward children.
The visiting period had lasted long enough. A doctor came in and knocked on the door, saying that the patient needed to rest.
Jiang Yihua led the two girls out, leaving Butler Lin alone with the old master in the intensive care room.
Old Master Jiang closed his eyes to rest while listening to Butler Lin give him a detailed account of everything that had happened after he collapsed the previous night.
When he learned that Qiuyun had confirmed the poisoning by tasting a bit of the substance herself—and that she had already been hospitalized for two days—he said, “Transfer another one hundred million from my personal account to her.”
These days, aside from the few loyal servants who had followed him since childhood, it was hard to find anyone who would show him such wholehearted loyalty.
Butler Lin was equally grateful for Qiuyun’s decisiveness at the time. He nodded and replied, “Understood.”
After hearing the report, Old Master Jiang arranged the next steps and soon fell into a deep sleep again.
As for what was happening outside the hospital...
Fishing required patience. The bait had been in the water for a full day and night already. Now it all depended on whether the fish below wanted to bite.
An entire day passed. That evening, someone from the third branch came to take over the night watch.
This time, Butler Lin wouldn’t be fooled again. He immediately doubled the number of bodyguards, stationing them at every strategic point along the corridor. No one else was allowed near the intensive care room, and all food and drinks had to be purchased by their own people.
They wanted to stay overnight and show their filial devotion?
They could go sit vigil in the VIP room.
As a result, Qiuyun didn’t stay at the hospital again, but she didn’t return to the estate, either.
Her employer had given her more than a month of paid leave so she could properly rest and recover. There was no need for her to return to work until after the New Year.
Paid leave?
To Qiuyun, it was practically a novelty.
This was bliss.
So she went home and slept soundly in her room. The next morning, Qiu Ze was startled when he saw that someone had suddenly appeared in the house.
