“Dad!” Jiang Yijie protested.
“Shut up!” Old Master Jiang thundered. “Do I have to call Ge Qingyang over and make the two of you explain, right in front of me, exactly what you were plotting behind the shrubbery that day before you’ll be satisfied?!”
At the mention of that, Jiang Yijie could only fall silent.
“Get out.”
Old Master Jiang let out a long breath. “All of you, get out.”
Jiang Yihua was deeply unwilling to let the matter go. He couldn’t understand why, with the evidence so conclusive, the old man not only refused to punish them but intended to smooth things over and suppress the whole affair.
Qiuyun answered first. “Yes.”
Then she withdrew from the study.
There was nothing Jiang Yihua could do but follow.
One by one, they filed out and stood in the spacious corridor.
Jiang Yifeng exhaled in relief and leaned back in his wheelchair with his eyes closed, though his complexion was far from good.
After what had happened, the brothers had completely fallen out. Jiang Yihua did not want to share an elevator with his two ill-intentioned younger brothers, so he turned and went down the stairs.
Qiuyun followed him.
“Assistant Qiu.”
Jiang Yifeng opened his eyes and looked over at her, his gaze heavy. “I’ll ask you one last time. Is there anything I can promise you that would change your decision?”
Qiuyun stood on the step below him, meeting his eyes at the same level. This was also the last time she would give him a serious answer.
“No. Nothing.”
The corners of Jiang Yifeng’s lips lifted into a faint smile. “Don’t regret it.”
“What is there to regret?”
With that, Qiuyun followed her employer out of the main building and into the study on the lower first floor.
The moment they entered, Jiang Yihua demanded in confusion, “We have irrefutable evidence. Why didn’t we press our advantage and finish them off? Why let him off instead?”
In truth, it had been obvious ever since Qiuyun joined the eldest branch that, while her employer was sharp, capable, and invincible in the business world, he knew absolutely nothing about managing a household. When it came to the inner workings of the family, he either resorted to cutting everything off at the root or left Assistant Sun to handle matters as he saw fit.
Over the years, he had managed to drive a wedge between husband and wife, set father against son, and leave the entire household in disarray.
Qiuyun sighed. “Old Master Jiang spent his whole life dominating the business world. You could even call him a winner in life. But now, in his declining years, with death approaching, making him face the disaster of his own sons turning against one another is the last thing he wants to see.
“Right now, we are the clear-cut heirs. As the weaker parties, the second and fourth branches can challenge us, and Old Master Jiang may spare them out of fatherly affection. But we can’t beat a drowning dog when it’s down—not in front of Old Master Jiang, at least. We can’t leave him with the impression that we intend to wipe them out completely.”
She was right. That was indeed the logic behind it.
Jiang Yihua was still frustrated. “So we’re just letting them off? I really can’t swallow this.”
Qiuyun continued to console him. “Just because Old Master Jiang is choosing not to expose the matter publicly doesn’t mean he won’t investigate it thoroughly. He must already have some idea of the truth. Besides, we still have the photographs, don’t we?”
Earlier, in the main building’s study, she had avoided mentioning any affair or betrayal. She had repeatedly framed the matter as the second and fourth branches conspiring to frame them.
For one thing, she was still an outsider. The matter was disgraceful, and having her be the one to expose it would only upset Old Master Jiang.
For another, all three of his sons had been present. A humiliating matter like this was something he certainly did not want laid bare in front of them.
Qiuyun naturally intended to preserve the old man’s dignity.
At the thought of those photographs, the anger in Jiang Yihua’s chest eased somewhat. “Ha. Only the second son would be stupid enough to volunteer to be someone else’s weapon.”
Qiuyun glanced at the injury on his forehead. “Would you like me to call a doctor to treat that?”
“No need.” Jiang Yihua dabbed at it carelessly with a piece of tissue. “I’ll just have my wife put some medicine on it.”
Qiuyun studied his expression. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to share her deduction.
“I have a feeling Old Master Jiang doesn’t have much time left.”
“What?” Jiang Yihua straightened in astonishment.
Qiuyun knew a little about traditional Chinese medicine. During her two visits to the study that day, she could clearly tell that Old Master Jiang’s spirit was scattered and his vital energy was failing. His cheeks had also begun to look slightly sunken.
All of these were signs that his life force was nearing exhaustion.
It seemed that the poisoning incident had accelerated Old Master Jiang’s physical decline. On top of that, the power struggles among his sons had left the household in turmoil and inflicted wounds that never had time to heal, draining his vitality and spirit as well.
Constant troubles and a poor appetite were hardly signs of longevity.
Jiang Yihua was momentarily stunned by Qiuyun’s analysis. After all, the old man was his father, and he couldn’t help feeling moved.
Qiuyun said calmly, “If he truly doesn’t have much time left, then Mr. Jiang has very little time remaining to make a last stand.”
That was true.
Jiang Yihua thought of how the Fourth Brother had aggressively questioned Assistant Qiu in the stairwell just now and warned her not to regret her decision.
As expected, brothers who didn’t share the same mother could be the most ruthless rivals of all.
By the time they left the lower first floor, it was almost nine o’clock.
Only then did Qiuyun have time to take out her phone.
After she had switched it to silent, Pei Cizhou had called once every half hour without disturbing her further.
She hurriedly called him back, and he answered immediately.
As she hurried along, Qiuyun said, “I’m sorry. Something came up at the young miss’s home. I’m on my way now.”
There was no telling whether Pei Cizhou was angry from his tone. He merely reminded her, “Take your time. Don’t rush, and be careful on the road.”
“Okay.”
Qiuyun took the company shuttle to the parking lot beneath the employee dormitory, got into her car, and set off. Half an hour later, she arrived at the restaurant Pei Cizhou had chosen.
At the entrance, she found a puppy that had apparently been abandoned there for several hours.
“Why are you standing outside?”
Pei Cizhou placed the cake and boxed-up dinner on the back seat before coming around to sit in the passenger seat.
“The private room was reserved from six-thirty to nine-thirty.”
The restaurant had other customers waiting afterward, so there was no way for them to extend the reservation. They had naturally been forced to leave.
“I’m sorry. I really had something important to deal with.” Qiuyun felt terrible. After all, she had stood him up twice now—once on his birthday and once on her own.
But the matter had already happened, and there was no point dwelling on it.
Pei Cizhou took the opportunity to ask for compensation. “Then… is there any compensation?”
“There is. I can agree to one request.” Qiuyun glanced at the food and drinks on the back seat in the rearview mirror. She happened to be hungry, so she decided they should find somewhere quiet to eat dinner first.
Pei Cizhou raised an eyebrow. “One request? Anything I want?”
“Of course not.” Qiuyun laughed. “It has to comply with the law and be reasonable.”
Tsk.
“Then I’ll really have to think carefully about this one.”
It was obvious that Pei Cizhou had prepared extensively for the dinner. Not only was he dressed impeccably, he had clearly taken special care with his hair as well. Besides the cake and dinner, there was also a bag of little decorations for the room on the back seat.
Unfortunately, the private room he had thoughtfully decorated had been dismantled without her ever getting the chance to see it.
Qiuyun’s heart softened. “If it’s a very small request, I might be willing to increase it to two.”
“So reasonable? If I make them even smaller, could I ask for three?” He was an expert at taking advantage of an opening and pushing his luck.
