“Now that Fourth Brother’s leg is crippled, and if Eldest Brother is no longer among the living, won’t you be the Old Master’s only heir?”
Jiang Yicheng hesitated.
Ning Zhi continued, “Even if Old Master Jiang eventually discovers that you were behind it, so what? The others are either dead or disabled. Unless he plans to hand over the family fortune he spent his entire life building to an outsider, he can only leave it to his own son.”
She went on persuading him. “Tsk. Haven’t there been coups throughout history, like the Xuanwu Gate Incident? Power has always belonged to whoever is capable of wielding it. Think about your position in the family. Eldest Brother is the firstborn, Fourth Brother is the youngest, and Second Brother is your own brother. All three of them have always held you down. Don’t you want to stand up and trample them beneath your feet?”
Jiang Yicheng’s face was full of irritation.
The logic made sense.
But…
“What if Old Master directly gives the inheritance to Lin’an?”
Ning Zhi fell silent.
That possibility had never occurred to her.
Old Master Jiang’s eldest grandson would turn twenty-one next year—old enough to gradually take over the family business.
Ning Yue clicked his tongue. “You mean that kid who ran away from home?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that easy to deal with? Just make sure he ‘runs away from home’ one more time.”
In any case, things had already progressed this far. There was no reason to stop halfway. Even if Jiang Yicheng wanted to call it off, Ning Yue and Ning Zhi would never agree.
The Ning family had provided money, manpower, and taken part in the risks. Naturally, they intended to claim their share of the spoils.
Ning Yue said, “This matter must be handled sooner rather than later. Tonight, while they can’t make it over, we’ll strike decisively and get it done.”
Jiang Yicheng asked, “What exactly are we going to do? Poison him again? That would be too obvious.”
“Of course not.” Ning Zhi thought for a moment. “All we need to do is make the wound split open and cause massive blood loss.”
There had once been a news report about a patient who suffered severe bleeding after surgery. It happened to be lunchtime, so the family members had gone out to eat. The medical staff assumed someone was watching over the patient and failed to check on him in time. In the end, the patient died from excessive blood loss.
An accidental medical mishap like that would be very easy to disguise as murder, especially since Jiang Yihua was already in the postoperative recovery period.
“Fine.” Jiang Yicheng agreed. “You arrange the people. I’ll have Li Jiang sneak them in.”
—
Qiuyun followed Madam and Miss back to the estate.
As their car passed along the main road, she noticed that the lights in the main building were blazing. It seemed Old Master Jiang was furious over what had happened today.
She wondered how the investigation was going. If they really discovered that it was the Third Branch couple, then even if Old Master Jiang didn’t take his life, he would probably beat him half to death.
At midnight, Assistant Qian sent word that everything had gone smoothly. Qiuyun replied with a simple “Got it,” then drifted off to sleep.
Who could have expected Assistant Qian to call at three in the morning?
“Assistant Qiuyun! Just as you predicted—someone really did come to finish him off!”
Although they had secretly moved Mr. Jiang elsewhere, the security guards left behind were still keeping up appearances and guarding the room.
Since it was not on the top floor and there were other patients on the same floor, a doctor came by at three in the morning to make his rounds. He entered one of the rooms, but five minutes later, he still hadn’t come out.
Normally, a doctor making rounds in the middle of the night only needed to check a patient’s blood pressure, heartbeat, and other vital signs. It shouldn’t have taken that long.
Jiang Linzhi immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Ten minutes later, the man hurried out of the room, only to be caught by the security guards.
That was when they discovered footprints on the balcony. The man had climbed over from another room, intending to sneak in, only to find an inflatable dummy lying on the hospital bed. Realizing at once that he had been tricked, he panicked and tried to flee, but was caught.
Now that the man had been apprehended, Qiuyun didn’t make another trip in the middle of the night.
The next day, she returned to the hospital with Miss, Madam, and Eldest Young Master.
Qiuyun told Assistant Qian, “I’ve already informed Steward Lin. Old Master Jiang said to hand the man over to them for interrogation.”
Assistant Qian was surprised. “They’re going to interrogate him?”
He had connections across all kinds of circles. Could it be that…
“Ahem.” Qiuyun tactfully explained, “That’s right. Judging from what Steward Lin said, they should be professionals who are even more professional than you.”
Assistant Qian regarded them with solemn respect.
Those people clearly had serious connections.
With such a crucial breakthrough, they didn’t need seven days. In fact, the young tycoon didn’t even have to get involved. The young master had needed less than half a day to trace the man’s identity.
It was just that apprehending him took two days.
To be honest, Assistant Qian had been startled when he received the news.
He never expected it to be a case of the Dragon King’s temple being flooded—one’s own people attacking one another.
The man was delivered bound hand and foot.
Li Minghui quickly made an excuse about needing to investigate the person who had poisoned Old Master Jiang, then slipped away.
In the study, Jiang Yicheng had a towel stuffed in his mouth, while his hands were bound tightly behind his back. The rope was wrapped over his shoulders and secured him firmly.
Steward Lin came over, pulled the towel from Jiang Yicheng’s mouth, and then left the room, giving the father and son some privacy.
Old Master Jiang sat in a high-backed armchair with his eyes closed, rapidly rolling a pair of walnuts in his hand. He did not speak.
Jiang Yicheng knelt impassively on the floor. He accepted that the victor was king and the loser was disgraced, and had no intention of offering excuses.
After a long while, Old Master Jiang stopped rolling the walnuts and clenched them tightly in his hand.
“Nothing to say?”
Jiang Yicheng swallowed the blood in his mouth. “There’s nothing to say. Whether you want to beat me or kill me, I’ll accept your orders.”
“How bold.”
In Old Master Jiang’s eyes, committing such an offense and still stubbornly refusing to admit fault was tantamount to defying him.
So he reached into the drawer and took out a silenced pistol, then shot Jiang Yicheng in the thigh.
The bullet passed through his thigh and lodged in the bone of his lower leg.
The instant he was shot, Jiang Yicheng felt as if something had slammed heavily into his leg. His body, already unsteady from kneeling for so long, immediately collapsed. His vision turned red before the pain had even registered.
“Ah!”
When the effects of the adrenaline finally faded, excruciating pain surged through him like a burst dam, as though thousands of steel needles were being driven into his body.
Jiang Yicheng’s senses gradually blurred and twisted. His hearing, sight, taste, and sense of smell were all overwhelmed by the agony of touch.
He only vaguely felt several people in white coats crouching down to carry him away. Then he lost consciousness.
When he awoke from the surgery, it was already dark.
An alarm began to buzz, and the doctor staying by his bedside immediately notified Old Master Jiang.
Jiang Yicheng’s face was pale. A nurse helped him sit up, after which everyone else withdrew, leaving only father and son in the room.
Old Master Jiang placed the pistol on the chest of drawers, then slowly lowered himself into a chair using the armrests. He leaned back and looked at his son.
“Now, do you have anything to say?”
The anesthetic had worn off, but Jiang Yicheng had taken painkillers, so all he felt was a dull, swollen ache in his leg. He hadn’t even asked the doctor whether he was crippled or merely left with a limp.
“Dad, you really are biased.” Jiang Yicheng gave a self-mocking laugh. “Fourth Brother’s leg is crippled, so you’re taking mine to make it up to him? Then why weren’t you so fair when he took my things before?”
Old Master Jiang frowned. “What did he take from you?”
“Everything.”
Jiang Yicheng was filled with resentment. “Eldest Brother is the firstborn. I never fought him for anything. Second Brother is my own brother, so I never fought him either. But what right did Jiang Yifeng have? Why was he exempt from observing the order of seniority? Why was I, as his older brother, always ordered to give way to him, while none of my other brothers were ever told to yield to me?”
