In other words, the clues stopped here.

Yan Beicheng could not do anything but leave him to do what he was best at; perhaps he would be able to find some detail that they could trace and investigate. Thus, he hung up the phone call for the time being.

As he came out of the study and returned to the living room, he saw that Lin Chu"s expression did not seem right as she looked at him in great shock. 

"What"s wrong?" Yan Beicheng sat down beside her before skillfully picking up a gr.a.p.e from the plate and peeling it for Lin Chu.

After Lin Chu got pregnant, her palette had become increasingly tricky, almost to the level of a food critic. If the gr.a.p.e was not peeled, she could even taste the sour and astringent taste of the gr.a.p.e skin. However, this was a problem as the pulp of the gr.a.p.e was normally firm and stuck tightly to the skin. 

All this made it very difficult to peel. Whilst attempting to do this, Yan Beicheng focused so hard that he nearly became cross-eyed.

Both of his hands and elbows rested on top of his long legs as he continuously peeled away the skin of the gr.a.p.es for Lin Chu. At the same time, Lin Chu had hooked her arm into his.

"I saw some news just now about the police wanting to eliminate p.o.r.nography and arresting a group of people from a private room in a KTV bar. Zhao Zhide and Zhu Hexuan were inside the private room." Lin Chu said. She felt that this matter was somewhat related to Yan Beicheng.

Yan Beicheng did not reply to her. After peeling off the skin, his wet fingers pinched the glossy pulp of the gr.a.p.e and fed it into Lin Chu"s mouth. Then, he spread out his palm in front of her mouth, waiting for her to spit out the seed.

He explained simultaneously, "Although you say that you don"t care about her, you kept looking at your phone this week. You even pulled Zhu Hexuan"s phone number out of the blacklist. Zhu Hexuan doesn"t want to strive hard; she didn"t sue Zhao Zhide because she needed to protect her appearance. In that case, I decided to lend her a hand. This incident happened yesterday. I knew Zhao Zhide would be talking business with someone last night and that the appointment was scheduled to be at the KTV bar. Zhao Zhide had never cleanly discussed business, so p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es were bound to be present during every meeting. I was uncertain whether he would call Zhu Hexuan this time around, but catching him in the act would be sufficient. Thus, I had someone make an anonymous call to report to the police to get them arrested. However, I didn"t expect Zhu Hexuan to genuinely be present. By the time the police catches them, they"ll be able to extract the pictures from them, negating the risk of the pictures being leaked. Thus, Zhu Hexuan will be free from their clutches, even if the cost is that the event has to be publicized. After all, it"s difficult to avoid this incident making the news."

The faces of Zhu Hexuan, Zhao Zhide, and others were pixelated in the photos on the news. They were not very easy to identify, but nothing it cannot be helped if there were busybodies who insisted on using the human flesh search engine to figure out their ident.i.ties. (TN: Human flesh search engine is a Chinese term for the phenomenon of distributed researching using Internet media such as blogs and forums. You can read more about it here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_flesh_search_engine).

The several pictures Lin Chu saw were posted by the official news account in Weibo, and there seemed to be many people who had been arrested. In the dimly lit KTV bar, the women did not appear to wear revealing clothing. The men and women were detained by the police, then lined up and walked out of the bar. They lowered their heads as they exited the building in an attempt to avoid the cameras. 

Although the people in the photos tried their best to cover their faces, Lin Chu could still recognize Zhu Hexuan.

"What will happen to them?" Lin Chu ate the gr.a.p.e that Yan Beicheng had fed her.

"This is conclusive evidence. They are to be locked up for at least half a year according to the county regulations. If Zhu Hexuan has the guts to reveal that Zhao Zhide belongs to a prost.i.tution ring, then he"ll serve a heavier sentence. Besides this, it"ll also be cla.s.sified as coerced prost.i.tution since Zhao Zhide had been blackmailing Zhu Hexuan with pictures and videos of her." Yan Beicheng narrowed his eyes. "If Zhu Hexuan has a bit of brains and ambition, she"ll seize the opportunity to drag Zhao Zhide down. She won"t be sentenced for long as I"ve asked Lawyer Zhou and he said that it should be for half a year. Zhao Zhide"s criminal charge, however, is significant. It"ll be pointless even if he knows people from all walks of life."

Lin Chu pondered for a while and nodded. "Whatever, this is something she needs to decide by herself."

They had already presented Zhu Hexuan the opportunity. Now it was up to Zhu Hexuan to decide what to do with her life.

After Aunt Zhuang had finished cooking at night, she took some food and packed it into a lunch box. Then, she had the two elder"s driver, Xiao Deng, deliver it to Aunt Chen.

Aunt Chen made a phone call to the house after eating. Yan Zhiqing was still not awake yet whereas Jiang Changdai had been there the whole time. Although she was watching over Zhu Hexuan, she had fallen asleep during the afternoon. She did not even take a single step out of the ward and simply called for takeout when it was dinnertime.

"I don"t think she"s looking after Ms. Yan. It"s more like she"s keeping a close eye on Ms. Yan. She did not dare leave the ward for even a moment. I don"t even know what she"s so afraid of." Aunt Chen revealed her observation.

Yan Beicheng nodded understandingly and said, "Aunt Chen, I"m sorry for making you go through such trouble. You must be tired since you"ve been watching over her in the hospital all day. Once this period pa.s.ses, I"ll let you take some time off for a holiday so you"ll have a good rest."

"What is so tiring about this? I don"t have to do anything in the hospital. All I have to do is watch her. There"s a caretaker here who constantly tends to her, so all I have to do is keep an eye on Ms. Jiang. When it"s time to eat, someone will even deliver food for me. Don"t worry, it"s not tiring at all." Aunt Chen smiled and said.

Early on Sunday morning, Yan Beicheng received Wen Ren"s phone call.

There must have been a result at Wen Ren"s so Yan Beicheng decided to make a trip to T City to discuss things personally.

Since Lin Chu"s tummy was quite big, Yan Beicheng did not let Lin Chu travel with him. Besides, Lin Chu also knew that he was going to do handle matters, unlike when he went to meet them last time. There was really a result this time around. Yan Beicheng would not dilly dally at T City for long as he had to come back immediately after obtaining the information, making the timing of the round trip very rushed.

Therefore, Lin Chu did not mention that she wanted to tag along. She merely recalled the view of the Lanshan Inst.i.tution in her head and told Yan Beicheng, "I"m not going this time. Let"s go there just to visit them and hang out for a couple of days when we"re free in the future. We go the next time around, it won"t be for any particular purpose."

"Alright." Yan Beicheng nodded as Lin Chu adjusted his tie. Then, he lowered his head and gave her a quick kiss. "I can return by today afternoon, I presume."

"I want to visit Zhiqing today." Lin Chu said. Both of her soft and pale hands spread across his s.h.i.+rt, straightening the fabric for him.

"Sure, I"m sure we could use a few more eyes." Yan Beicheng nodded and said.

Lin Chu broke into laughter. "Exactly."

Yu Zi came over some time after Yan Beicheng had left. She had arranged with Lin Chu to go to the hospital together to visit Yan Zhiqing.

Since Old Lady Yan was old, both of them did not let Old Lady Yan go to the hospital. Thus, Old Lady Yan only made them promise to tell her if Yan Zhiqing was awake. She would still be able to go there when the time arrived.

Old Master Yan naturally kept Old Lady Yan company at home. Since they had just moved in yesterday, Old Master Yan went for a stroll in Sheng Town first thing in the morning to familiarize himself with the terrain. 

After getting a feel for the place, he returned and went to the area of their backyard where the joint between the three walls and the floor was. Lin Chu left some s.p.a.ce there to plant flowers and plants so that they would surround the swimming pool. 

After seeing Yan Huaian"s swimming pool which had been excellently excavated, in that one of them was big that would be used by the a.d.u.l.ts, while the other was small and shallow for the children, Yan Beicheng had planned for his kid too, even though the child had not yet been born. He would bring the child to play in the small and shallow swimming pool during the summer, but they would play indoors when the weather became cold.

When Old Master Yan saw that the circular flower bed by the base of the wall was still devoid of plant life, he immediately became spirited. He carried his wallet in his hand and had Xiao Deng bring him to the flower market so that he could buy soil and seeds to plant. He even bought a shovel, spade, and other tools in order to turn up the earth once he returned.

With her hands clasped behind her back, Old Lady Yan took a stroll to the backyard and clicked her tongue twice. Then, she went out to make new friends. 

As Yu Zi and Lin Chu left the house, right before they got into the car, they coincidentally saw Xu Moyan and Zheng Yuntong coming over.

"Are you guys going out?" Xu Moyan saw them from afar, so he and Zheng Yuntong both sped up and ran toward them.

"Zhiqing had fallen down the stairs so she"s in the hospital. She hasn"t woken up yet but we"re going to visit her." Lin Chu said, "Are you guys looking for me to hang out?" 

Zheng Yuntong nodded. "Yes. We don"t have anything to do today so we came over to drop in and experience the convenience of living in the same neighborhood. We"ll go back for now since you guys are occupied. We"ll come again another day."

Xu Moyan"s was much sharper than Zheng Yuntong. Although Lin Chu did not say it, something grave had definitely happened as the mention of Yan Zhiqing rolling down the staircase without any further reason sounded quite worrying.

Now that Lin Chu"s body was in a fragile state, and she was going to the hospital with only Yu Zi for company, Xu Moyan became slightly worried. It was not to say that Yu Zi could not protect Lin Chu, but who could know what would happen if an upheaval occurred. 

"Do you mind if we go together?" Xu Moyan asked.

Lin Chu felt that it did not make any difference. Although Xu Moyan and Zheng Yuntong did not have any relation to Yan Zhiqing, it was not a big deal if they wanted to see her. Besides, she and Xu Moyan had been close friends for many years, so she guessed that Xu Moyan wanted to follow her so that there would be an extra person to protect her. So, she turned her head and looked at Yu Zi.

Yu Zi did not mind either. Thus, the four of them went to the hospital together.

Inside the ward of Chu Tian hospital, Jiang Changdai used an excuse to send the caretaker away. Aunt Chen had originally been watching over Jiang Changdai but for some reason, her stomach became uncomfortable after having breakfast. Her stomach had grumbled for about an hour, continuously demanding to be let out, but Jiang Changdai was still inside the ward. Because of this, Aunt Chen had felt embarra.s.sed to release her gas. 

There were a few times when she really could not help but pa.s.s some gas, but it had been really loud and stinky. Under Jiang Changdai"s disgusted gaze, Aunt Chen felt somewhat embarra.s.sed, yet this was not something she could control. In truth, she had wanted to hold it in while she went to the washroom and released it there. Unfortunately, she could not do it in time. Without allowing her the luxury of time, her gas freed itself once more.

When this happened, Jiang Changdai waved her hand to fan her nostrils and suddenly entered the washroom. However, Aunt Chen"s stomach rumbled and felt increasingly unwell, so she went into the washroom a short while later too. Aunt Chen quickly stood up, bent over, then rushed toward the washroom. However, the door to the washroom had been locked from the inside by Jiang Changdai. She did not open it regardless of Aunt Chen"s knocking.

"If you can"t hold it in, you can go to the public toilet outside as I"ll still be here for a long time. I"m not feeling well either. You can"t expect me to hold back halfway through and vacate the place for you, right? Judging from your situation, who knows how long you will occupy the bathroom?" Jiang Changdai said bluntly from inside the washroom. 

At this moment, she was actually standing in front of the washroom sink, calmly looking at the mirror amidst the chaos and observing the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Then, she took out a cus.h.i.+on foundation from her bag to touch up her makeup as well as apply some lipstick.

After she finished packing her makeup, she pressed her ear to the door, listening attentively to the noise on the other side. The sound of rapid footsteps was heard from outside, immediately followed by the sound of the door of the ward being closed.

Jiang Changdai thought that Aunt Chen had already left but did not dare be sure and open the door. 

A while later, she heard someone knocking on the door of the washroom again.

Jiang Changdai said impatiently, "I"ve already told you to go out and use the public toilet. I"m still in here!"

"It"s me." Lu Zhenghang"s voice replied from outside the door.

Delight spread across Jiang Changdai"s face as she instantly opened the door and saw Lu Zhenghang standing outside. "I"ve put the medicine you gave me in her breakfast. Are you sure that the medicine is effective?"

"Yeah, she won"t be able to come out of the toilet for a while." Lu Zhenghang nodded as his gaze turned toward Yan Zhiqing who was still lying on the hospital bed.

However, Jiang Changdai was still afraid. "There won"t be any issue arises, right?"

"Don"t worry, this is a hospital. Even if there really is an issue, she"ll be treated in no time." Lu Zhenghang said, no longer paying attention to Jiang Changdai. He turned around and went to the bed before stretching out his hand toward the needle attached to the back of Yan Zhiqing"s hand. 

Jiang Changdai was in a daze, but she snapped back to attention and hurriedly grabbed his wrist, preventing him from moving. "What are you planning to do?"

Lu Zhenghang pursed his lips and did not reply. Suddenly, Jiang Changdai"s eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at him in an appalled manner. 

"You only told me that you have something to tell me and that I have to give Aunt Chen laxatives because you"re afraid of Yan Zhiqing waking up when I go out to meet you. You"re supposed to tell me something, but what are you doing now?" Even though she knew that Yan Zhiqing was in a coma at the moment, Jiang Changdai still lowered her voice in fear. 

"I can"t let her wake up. You know what my plan is; we at least can"t let her wake up now!" Lu Zhenghang said quietly. 

"No! No matter what, she is my daughter. I can"t just watch on while she suffers!" Jiang Changdai said softly. She continued to grip his hand, not letting go of Lu Zhenghang"s wrist. 

"It"s not like I want her dead. I merely can"t have her wake up soon, that"s all!" Lu Zhenghang shook off Jiang Changdai"s hand but did not immediately touch Yan Zhiqing, "She"s heard what we said. If she wakes up, our plan will fail. I can"t have her destroy the plan that I"ve been preparing for so long. Think about it!"

Jiang Changdai paused for a moment and took a deep breath but did not say anything. Her eyes revealed a look of hesitance. 

"I"m not killing her. She"s only unconscious now. Even if she doesn"t get the supply of medications and nutrients, she"ll still be fine. At most, all it"ll do is prolong the amount of time needed for her to wake up. This is the break we need for our plan to work. Think about the injustice I"ve suffered all these years. What right does Yan Beicheng to single-handedly destroy everything?"

"But ⸺" Jiang Changdai hesitantly lowered her head and looked at Yan Zhiqing. 

Her face was not as pale as it was yesterday. In fact, some rosiness had already returned to her face. It was evident that the IV injections the doctor gave her were effective. 

Moreover, she could not eat since she was currently unconscious. Hence, the injections included some medications which maintained Yan Zhiqing"s bodily functions alongside standard nutrition.

"You saw her att.i.tude yesterday. She won"t let this thing slip once she wakes up!" Lu Zhenghang interrupted Jiang Changdai, "Just think about it, she"s fine now. We"re going to slow down her recovery, but she"ll be alright as well. You"ll just need to change her medication every day while Aunt Chen isn"t paying attention. Once our plan is successfully completed, then we"ll wake her up. We will absolutely not make Yan Zhiqing suffer."

"This…" Jiang Changdai took a look at Yan Zhiqing. Her heart was hesitant and could not decide. 

Lu Zhenghang looked at her sincerely and called out, "Mom!"

Jiang Changdai flinched, then looked at him with teary eyes. 

"Lend me a hand, okay?" Lu Zhenghang looked her straight in the eye. 

Jiang Changdai gritted her teeth, but only nodded quite a while later before saying in a quiet voice, "Alright then."

Both of them did not notice the two streams of tears running down the corner of Yan Zhiqing"s eyes. Although she did not seem to be awake, she was still conscious. 

She could even clearly hear what Lu Zhenghang and Jiang Changdai were discussing. 

Though she could not see it, she sensed that Lu Zhenghang seemed to be approaching her right now as if he wanted to pluck the needle from the back of her hand. 

However, what disappointed her the most was Jiang Changdai"s att.i.tude. 

Jiang Changdai did not mind sacrificing her in order to help Lu Zhenghang achieve his greedy goal!

Lu Zhenghang was Jiang Changdai"s son but was she not Jiang Changdai"s daughter?

Her mother was now helping the son of her illicit lover harm her very own daughter!

At this moment, Yan Zhiqing really wanted to open her eyes and stare into Jiang Changdai"s eyes before asking her, "What exactly do the children of Yan Huaiyuan mean to you?"

In Jiang Changdai"s eyes were they not even worth a strand of Lu Zhenghang"s hair?

They were all her children, so why did she have to be like this? Why did she not consider her and Yan Beicheng humans as well? 

If it was for Lu Zhenghang, then it did not matter how much Jiang Changdai sacrificed. 

Yan Zhiqing wanted to move just a little a bit so that she could get away from Lu Zhenghang and his cruel scheme. 

She was obviously conscious but she could not move. Yan Zhiqing felt extremely anxious. If only she could move just one of her fingers at this moment!

Nevertheless, Yan Zhiqing could not do it no matter how much she tried. Lu Zhenghang still had not noticed the tears shed at the corner of Yan Zhiqing"s eyes as his hand extended to grab the tube. Just as he was about to pull it out, the door of the ward suddenly flung open.

Aunt Chen returned while hunched over her stomach. Lin Chu, Yu Zi, Xu Moyan and Zheng Yuntong were also trailing after her. 

Aunt Chen got a bad feeling when she was crouching over the toilet. Ignoring her stomach that was still rumbling uncomfortably, she discharged as quick as she could before hurriedly returning while covering her stomach and holding it in as best as she could. She b.u.mped into Lin Chu and others in the corridor and they rushed back together. 

When they pushed open the door, they were shocked to see Lu Zhenghang there as well.

He was standing beside the hospital bed, and they were not sure what he was doing with his outstretched hand. Nevertheless, Aunt Chen got the feeling that Lu Zhenghang was up to no good.

Furthermore, Jiang Changdai, who was standing by the side, looked particularly guilty and disturbed. When they entered, Lu Zhenghang was standing by the bedside and reaching out his hand toward Yan Zhiqing, whereas Jiang Changdai had turned her face in the other direction, seeming as though she could not bear to watch.

Their sudden entrance startled Jiang Changdai and Lu Zhenghang, making them instinctively look over.

Since Aunt Chen had walked at the front of the group, her eyes caught Jiang Changdai"s reaction despite her upset stomach. She did not miss the nuances in Jiang Changdai expression before she turned her head. 

When she saw them entering, the guilt had clearly flashed across her eyes.

Aunt Chen was not the only one who saw this, the four of them, including Lin Chu, also caught sight of this. Zheng Yuntong was not very meticulous and had a careless character, yet she could also tell that something was fishy. 

Yu Zi immediately walked forward and faced Lu Zhenghang while separating him from Yan Zhiqing. "Why are you here? Leave at once. You"re not welcome here!"

Jiang Changdai"s expression quickly changed as if she could not bear to see her own son being mistreated like this. She said in a cold voice, "Zhiqing has had a good relations.h.i.+p with Zhenghang ever since she was young - they are like biological siblings. Zhiqing had an accident so what"s the big deal if Zhenghang wants to visit her? Be more polite!"

"Zhiqing only has one brother, Beicheng. As for this other person who supposedly surpa.s.ses her biological sibling, he can visit after Zhiqing wakes up." Lin Chu said coldly, "Since he"s an outsider, he"s not allowed to visit on the premise of being her foster family."

The last bit of guilt Jiang Changdai disappeared upon hearing this. Her originally exquisite and graceful appearance became distorted. "Zhiqing is my daughter, so what I say goes! This includes who can come to see her. Who do you think you are? You"re no more than an outsider, but you want to drive my guest out once you come in. Who are you to do this?" 

Yu Zi suddenly chuckled and sneered. "Have you forgotten, Zhiqing bears the Yan family name. She belongs to us, the Yan Family. Both of our husbands have Yan as their surnames, but what about you? I beg your pardon, we, the Yan Family, do not welcome you guys. Please leave at once!"

"I am her mother. How dare you kick me out!" Jiang Changdai peeled off her upper-cla.s.s woman façade and pointed fiercely at Yu Zi. "That makes no sense! You"re merely Yan Huaiyuan"s wife. The relations.h.i.+p you have with Zhiqing is nothing! You"ve never even really spoken to Zhiqing, yet you now outrank her mother?"

At the same time, Xu Moyan quietly withdrew from the ward. She went to the nurses" station at the end of the corridor and told the nurse to ask the security guard to come up. 

The nurse was aware that a member of the Yan Family was staying in the ward, so she did not dare delay it. She immediately contacted the security department and asked them to send a guard over.

Xu Moyan was worried about Lin Chu so she hurriedly returned and heard Jiang Changdai yelling in the ward. "You don"t have the right to do this!"

"Ms. Jiang, you"re Zhiqing"s mother, and I know we don"t have the right to remove you, but we don"t want Zhiqing to be disturbed by this outsider. Because of this, we are still going to do this." Lin Chu curled her lips and said in disdain, "Also, Ms. Jiang, since you know that Zhiqing is your daughter, why are you making a racket in the ward and stopping Zhiqing from resting? What"s the meaning of this? Did you ever think that what Zhiqing needs right now is to properly rest and recuperate, especially since her condition is unknown? You cast your dignity aside and clamor all about. You can do whatever you want as it isn"t the Yan Family who is embarra.s.sing themselves at the moment. Even so, surely you can"t disregard Zhiqing"s health, right?"