Chapter Sixty-Four: Wealthy and Powerful

As she approached, the butler asked softly, "Madam, how did the birthday banquet go? Did it go smoothly?"

Jiang Ran nodded slightly and replied, "It went fairly smoothly. By the way, keep an eye on the Ji family recently, and let me know as soon as there is any news."

Upon hearing this, the butler was taken aback and asked in confusion, "The Ji family? Have they offended you?"

"No," Jiang Ran said with a smile. "If Ji Xia comes, there's no need to stop her at the door; she can just come in."

The butler felt a slight familiarity upon hearing the name, and then realized that it was the one the old man had taken a liking to, and quickly replied, "Okay."

Jiang Ran turned and walked towards the room, looking somewhat tired. As soon as she entered the bedroom, she collapsed onto the bed.

Just as I was about to take a short break, my phone beeped with a message notification.

I picked it up casually, and after seeing the text message, I sat bolt upright in shock.

Silently counting the numbers on his phone screen: "Seven figures?!"

Jiang Ran couldn't help but admire Cheese's grandfather; he was indeed incredibly wealthy... Having taken someone's money, she felt all her fatigue vanish upon receiving such a large sum of money.

He got up, took out a blank talisman paper, sat down to the side, and gathered his spiritual power on the pen to draw talismans.

The medicine for Master Si requires this talisman to draw out the yin energy that has accumulated in his body for a long time. However, this is time-consuming, laborious, and somewhat cumbersome.

Just as he was concentrating on drawing the talisman, he suddenly felt the spiritual energy emanating from the surroundings permeating the air.

Jiang Ran frowned slightly, a hint of surprise flashing across her face.

This is……

He closed his eyes and probed with his divine sense, discovering that it was Si Yanxiao's spiritual energy spreading everywhere.

How could this happen?

This was the first time Jiang Ran had encountered such a situation. Driven by curiosity, she put down the talisman in her hand and walked towards Si Yanxiao's room.

After entering the room, he lay on the bed as usual, showing no signs of anything amiss, except that his spiritual energy was visibly dissipating.

Seeing this, Jiang Ran pursed her lips and took a few steps closer. Now she could only try to enter his consciousness to find out what had happened.

Thinking of this, she reached out and gently touched his forehead, but the instant she touched it, a large hand suddenly rose up and grabbed her neck.

Jiang Ran was caught off guard, and by the time she tried to back away, it was too late.

Her pupils dilated, but in that instant she saw the man's handsome face!

Si Yanxiao?!

Wasn't he in a coma?

Jiang Ran struggled reflexively, but found it was all in vain. She was completely suppressed by Si Yanxiao's power, and the two were not even on the same level.

"Hmm..." Jiang Ran tried to pry his hand open a little.

His thin body suddenly sprang up with an unknown burst of strength!

He rolled over and pinned that petite body beneath him!

Jiang Ran's breath hitched for a moment, and she tried to wake him with a hoarse voice: "Si Yanxiao! Wake up!"

But he didn't react at all, like someone without a mind, and unconsciously tightened his grip, which Jiang Ran resisted with all her might.

Looking up, I saw that his eyes were completely black, unfocused, just empty.

Jiang Ran was startled; this was definitely not a phenomenon that a normal person should exhibit!

She gathered spiritual energy at her fingertips and slowly extended her index finger to touch Si Yanxiao's forehead to probe his consciousness, but all she saw inside was a vast expanse of white; she could see nothing at all.

The pressure on his neck grew stronger and stronger, and Jiang Ran hurriedly pulled out a hairpin and stabbed it into the acupoints on the back of his neck!

In the blink of an eye, Si Yanxiao collapsed to the ground, accompanied by extremely piercing sounds from the instruments around him.

"drop--"

To ensure his safety, the device was connected to the villa's alarm system, causing chaos throughout the villa.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone rushed towards the room.

Jiang Ran seemed oblivious to the shrill noise beside her, staring blankly at the hairpin in her hand, still somewhat shaken.

She was powerless against Si Yanxiao just now. If it weren't for the hairpin she was wearing, she probably would have died here today.

When everyone came up, they saw this scene.

Si Yanxiao lay on the bed, blood flowing from the back of his neck, while Jiang Ran slumped to the ground, still clutching the "murder weapon" in her hand.

Everyone was shocked, as if they could vividly recall all the things she had done to Si Yanxiao before.

The butler's face turned grim. He rushed forward to help Si Yanxiao up, and seeing the erratic vital signs on the monitor, he shouted at the servants, "Quickly, go and fetch Dr. Zhou!"

After saying that, he turned his head and glanced at Jiang Ran, his expression somewhat unfriendly.

He had been surprised that she had changed a lot recently, so he had let his guard down. He never expected that such a mistake would happen!

Sensing the disbelief of the people around her, Jiang Ran lowered her eyes as if she hadn't seen them.

As Jiang Ran braced herself against the ground to stand up, Lin Yu stepped forward to help her. Jiang Ran nodded slightly to her and said, "Thank you."

Just then, Si Zuochen and Si Youlin also rushed upstairs. Seeing the scene before them, their expressions changed, and they quickly approached, noticing the wound on Si Yanxiao's neck.

"What happened?"

The butler's gaze fell on Jiang Ran, his tone cold: "You'll have to ask Madam about that; she was there as soon as we came in."

Upon hearing this, Si Zuochen turned to look at Jiang Ran, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes: "You want to kill him?"

Jiang Ran was slightly taken aback by his question, then replied, "Take what? The hairpin in my hand?"

He chuckled coldly, "If I wanted to kill him, I'd just stab him in the heart. Who would stab him in the back of the neck?"

Faced with her explanation, Si Zuochen's face turned ashen. Jiang Ran looked to the side and saw that the expressions of the people around him were exactly the same.

"You don't believe me?" Jiang Ran suddenly let out a bitter laugh.

"Do you believe me? You came in holding a weapon, and Father had wounds. You're saying it wasn't you? Could there be a third person?"

"You disappeared underground as soon as you saw us come in?" Si Zuochen sneered, his words full of sarcasm.

Jiang Ran knew they had misunderstood her, but in the current situation, she was truly unable to defend herself.

Although it was for self-preservation, they were unaware of the truth. In their eyes, their actions were tantamount to premeditated murder, not to mention the original owner's "precedent".

Thinking of this, she pursed her lips and continued to explain, "There are people everywhere in the villa. If I wanted to harm him, why wouldn't I choose a safer way? Why would I have to be caught red-handed by all of you?"

“I could easily choose to secretly add some organophosphates to his medicine without anyone noticing.”

The housekeeper was somewhat moved by her words, but Si Zuochen maintained an attitude of indifference. "Fine." Si Zuochen nodded, then said coldly, "Then let me ask you, are the wounds on Father's body because of you?"

Jiang Ran looked up at him and replied, "Yes."

"The reason?" Si Zuochen asked casually, yet every word he uttered was pointed.

The crowd stood around him, and despite his young age, he already possessed a certain air of authority.

"He suddenly sat up and grabbed my neck hard. I was just trying to protect myself, I had no other choice."

"Moreover, I used the hairpin to prick his acupoints, which has a dizzying effect. The pricks were not deep, so there was no danger to his life."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a cold sneer came from outside the door: "You know about this?"

Hearing this voice, Jiang Ran turned around and saw Zhou Jinyan walking quickly closer, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes as he looked at her.

"Uncle Zhou." Si Zuochen and Si Youlin looked at him and nodded slightly in greeting.

When Zhou Jinyan saw the two of them, a hint of gentleness appeared on her face. She responded softly and then walked to Si Yanxiao's side to examine his body.

When she saw the wound on the back of his neck, it was clear to the naked eye that the wound was not very deep. As she said, it was indeed an acupoint that caused unconsciousness.

Seeing this, a hint of surprise flashed across her brow. Did she know medicine?

Then they bandaged his wound and watched his vital signs gradually stabilize after connecting the medical equipment, which put their minds at ease.

Turning to look at Jiang Ran, his expression displeased, he asked, "How do you know about the acupoints here?"

"I learned it on my own," Jiang Ran replied casually.

"Self-taught?" Hearing her answer, Zhou Jinyan looked her up and down and sneered, "Then you are indeed exceptionally talented."

Jiang Ran didn't care about the sarcasm in his words or whether he believed her, and simply replied, "I admit it."

"Heh..." Zhou Jinyan was amused by her inability to distinguish between good and bad words.

Si Zuochen then spoke up coldly, "You really think this is a compliment?"

Jiang Ran glanced at him sideways: "Have you seen how good my medical skills are?"

Upon hearing this, Si Zuochen's expression changed. Even though he didn't want to believe it, he had to admit that the scene of her treating his grandfather at the banquet was witnessed by everyone.

Thinking of this, Si Zuochen glanced at her, then turned to Zhou Jinyan: "Uncle Zhou, has Father shown any signs of waking up?"