Clutching at Straws

After the assistant shut the door of her office, Lin Ruoxi made sure there was no one else outside before she carefully took her takeaway box of glutinous rice balls out. She started to munch on one as she tore open the envelope.

Receiving an envelope like this one was nothing new for her at this point. Being the head of a huge corporation, there were many people trying to get their voices heard.

Lin Ruoxi opened it as a pastime before withdrawing a thick stack of information from within.

She frowned while scanning through the cover page. It was a personal information booklet, one that had recorded an individual’s noteworthy moments of their lives since young.

As Lin Ruoxi flipped to the first page, an old photo caught her attention and made her facial expressions flicker back and forth. Right in the center of the picture were a man and a woman.

She was caught in a spectrum of thoughts and was only brought back to the present when the rice ball she had in her mouth hit the carpet.

Lin Ruoxi had an array of conflicting emotions as she held her hand over her rapidly beating heart. Her lips turned pale as her previous moment of serenity had instantly dissipated.

With her trembling right hand, she managed to bring herself onto the next page.

In the spacious office, the woman sat alone on the fluffy coach as she felt into a series of haunting flashbacks.

Meanwhile, in the living room of the beachside mansion, the environment was tense.

“Ahh!”

Wu Yue who was still in Li Minghe’s embrace quickly reacted towards the gun pointed at the both of them. Due to her feeble physical capabilities and the mental stress she had experienced for the past few days, she immediately passed out after her scream.

That deafening scream, however, acted as a wakeup call for the dejected Li Minghe. His pupils were fixated upon the gun by his forehead as his heartbeat galloped.

“Please don’t kill me, I beg you…”

Li Minghe curled his head in a defeated position, with no priority given to the woman fainted in his embrace, staring at Luo Cuishan in shock and hysteria.

He had not given up just yet, but he was fully aware that he stood no chance against her. So he instinctively surrendered in self-preservation.

Luo Cuishan pulled out the safety pin of the pistol as she sneered, “You’re just a worthless pile of shit. You were destined to crash and burn. I gave you the opportunity of a lifetime to succeed, but you instead became Lin Ruoxi’s stepping stone. Since you must wish you were dead, I wouldn’t mind assisting you one last time. After all, what is the world really going to lose?”

She played with the trigger while taunting him with her words. The only reason she had yet to shoot was that she enjoyed the desperation in his eyes.

However, Li Minghe seemed to have thought of something as he yelled, “Wait, I have something to say!”

Li Minghe whilst yelling let go of Wu Yue as he kneeled in front of Luo Cuishan. He could not have degraded himself any lower than this.

Disgusted, Luo Cuishan taunted, “Are you trying to buy time? Do you think anyone would save you?”

“No.” Li Minghe lifted his head as he anxiously replied, “I know a secret, one that can leave the Yang clan in ruins. It will tear them down with no mercy. I’m offering it to you in return for my life!”

Luo Cuishan seemed to be interested in the cards he was about the play. “Oh, is that so? Now how would you expect to convince me to accept it? I know the Yang clan’s capabilities far better than the likes of you. Don’t challenge my patience.”

“Don’t you worry, you know too ma’am, that my great-grandfather was once a trusty general under the Yang clan’s predecessor Yang Ye. I once peeked into his memoirs and discovered a staggering revelation about the Yang clan. It was so significant that my great-grandfather made sure I carried it to my grave. He even went to the extent of burning his memoir, once again proving how significant this secret is.”

Luo Cuishan seemed to be in consideration. She then said, “Alright if there really is something of worth, spit it out now. In exchange, I promise to keep you alive. But the condition is that you have to tell me right here right now. Or else, I’ll take it as your final play to waste my time and end you right here.”

Li Minghe was deeply conflicted until he saw that stern gaze from Luo Cuishan before he gulped and gave in. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But only because I believe a noble person like you would keep your promise.”

Upon finishing his sentence, Li Minghe stood up and brought himself by her ear as he rambled.

Even when they were the only ones in the villa, excluding Wu Yue who was still passed out, Li Minghe nonetheless acted cautiously, in hopes that Luo Cuishan would value himself more.

After she heard all he had to say, a glimpse of excitement flashed through her stoic face.

“You swear that it is the truth?” Luo Cuishan squinted her eyes.

Li Minghe rigorously nodded. “Given your means, it shouldn’t be too difficult to prove the validity of that statement. All you need is to track down the old maids of the Yang clan, or the soldiers led by Marshal Yang Ye during his time. I’m sure some of them are still alive. You can even pay his previous opponents a visit. You’ll certainly find clues!

“Besides, now that the technology is so advanced, looking for Marshal Yang Ye’s remains and making some tests shouldn’t be too difficult…”

Luo Cuishan glanced at Li Minghe before she let our a charming smile. “Li Minghe… oops my bad, it’s Xue Minghe from now on. You really are a cunning one, aren’t you? When the day comes that the Yang clan loses its place among the four dominant clans, I will surely reward you nicely.”

Excited, Xue Minghe replied, “No no, all I want is for you to leave me with a backup route. That’s all I need, I can live like a pet to you ma’am!”

“Oh no, that’s not fair for someone who has just exposed a phenomenal revelation, isn’t it?” Luo Cuishan took two steps back before she turned and offered, “Say, what would you like as a reward?”

Xue Minghe hesitated a little and looked at Wu Yue who was still unconscious. Softly, he demanded, “Can you send the both of us off to America? She now bears my child. I just wish for us to settle down in the States. For now, all I need is to disappear…”

“Oh, this woman has your child?” Luo Cuishan strangely glanced over at Wu Yue. “Have you given up on taking everything off your cousin sister? The things you always thought you deserved?”

Xue Minghe clenched his teeth and replied, “She’s not my cousin. She’s just a daughter of that wrench born out of wedlock. I am who I am today because those bitches made me this way. Right now I want to hide from the storm. Once the child is born, I will return to claim what is rightfully mine.”

“Hahaha…”

Luo Cuishan screeched as she laughed, “Xue Minghe, you truly are the carbon copy of your father, a loser. At least your father realized how useless he was, which prompted him to make his way out. But you, always so boastful, with your ability you are absolutely no match to that little wrench and Yang Chen!”

Upon finishing, Luo Cuishan once again lifted her gun and pointed it right at Xue Minghe.

Xue Minghe collapsed as he wept. “You… you promised didn’t you? You told me you would let me go.”

Luo Cuishan sneered, “Your naivety alone has already put you inferior to your cousin. Even a child would know that the sheep are worthless in the eyes of a wolf.”

Xue Minghe could only stare as Luo Cuishan pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The sound of a deafening blast came from the doors of the mansion being shattered open!

Amidst the darkness of the night, a silhouette with both hands in his pocket leisurely strolled into the mansion.

The ‘guest of honor’ was none other than the man teleported from Yu Lei International just a moment ago. It was Yang Chen!

Since the villa was located within urban grounds, Yang Chen could track it down in a blink of an eye. But since most of the villas in the area were roughly similar in their layout and looks, it was down to Yang Chen to make an individual search.

As soon as he found Luo Cuishan and Xue Minghe, Yang Chen instantly came down towards the entrance of the beachside mansion, maimed the guards patrolling around it, and slammed down the door down with a kick.

“Just in time.” Yang Chen side-glanced Wu Yue on the ground, before looking over at the grumpy Luo Cuishan, and eventually over the stupefied Xue Minghe. He then let out a small chuckle. “Oh the premier’s wife, you seem to be really busy these days. I just met you in Beijing recently and now you’re here babbling in Zhonghai. Why are you always doing things that piss me off? Is it because you think that I won’t kill you?”

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