Chapter 428 The Truth That Year
Xi Muxuan's private yacht was rocking on the high seas.
Xunxun huddled in the corner of the cabin, holding the rabbit pendant with its ears torn off in her arms, her tears soaking a large area of her shirt.
"If you cry again, I'll throw you to the sharks."
Xi Muxuan leaned against the bar and drank, the scarlet liquid flowing from the corner of her mouth into her neck, like a winding bloodstain.
"Little friend, do you know why I want to take you away?"
Xi Muxuan walked up to Xunxun and wiped away his tears with a handkerchief, her movements so gentle that she didn't seem like a kidnapper.
"Because your grandfather owes my family a life, now it's time for you to pay it back."
Xunxun blinked her big eyes, looking at her as if she understood something.
Xi Muxuan's eyes suddenly became fierce.
She grabbed the phone on the table and dialed the number of the transnational criminal group.
Looking at the black waves surging outside the window, there was a poisonous smile in his smile.
"Don't worry, I just want to see how the Xuanyuan family's precious grandson should die in the most heartbreaking way."
…
In the study of the Xuanyuan family's old house, the scent of sandalwood filled the air.
The old man sighed.
Finally, he tapped the table lightly.
"What happened to you abroad has been reported back."
"I really didn't expect that girl from the Xi family to be so ruthless."
Xuanyuan Ge's expression was a little cold.
Staring at this grandfather whom he respected so much.
Maybe I watched it for too long.
He felt that the wrinkles on his grandfather's face seemed deeper than before.
And while he was talking, his body was shaking constantly.
"Are you afraid?"
The old man was stunned for a moment.
He looked over in surprise.
"What makes you think that?"
"When have I ever been afraid in my entire life?"
Xuanyuan Ge shook his head.
"What did you hide from me about the past with the Xi family?"
Xuanyuan Ge's words were like an ice cone, piercing the dullness of the sandalwood-wrapped study.
The old man was silent for a long time, tapping his knuckles on the rosewood table, making a light thud, each sound like knocking on an old scar.
"Your father passed away early. There are some things that you shouldn't have gotten involved in."
The old man finally spoke, and the trembling in his voice could no longer be suppressed.
"The secrets of the past weren't just the Xuanyuan family's business. It involved everyone from the highest echelons of government to the business world. If one person gets involved, a whole chain of events will be exposed."
He raised his cloudy eyes and looked at the century-old ginkgo tree outside the window. The leaves rustled in the wind, as if weeping for someone.
"The Xi family was just emerging at the time, with shallow roots and no complex connections. To put it bluntly, they were the easy target."
Xuanyuan Ge's Adam's apple rolled. "So you're slandering Uncle Xi? Saying that he leaked secrets and embezzled public funds?"
"If we don't slander him, we have to slander someone who is even more untouchable."
The old man clenched his cane so hard that the copper ornament on the top of the cane scratched shallow marks on the floor.
“If those people were to be dragged out, the Xuanyuan family would not only lose their foothold, but even their ancestral graves would be dug up.
Xi Zhengde (Xi Muxuan's father) is a smart man. He understands that as long as he admits it, the Xi family can be saved, and his daughter... can still have food to eat."
"So he retired?"
Xuanyuan Ge's voice tightened. "With such a bad reputation, you watched your company being eroded and your daughter being bullied?"
"He has a backup plan."
The old man closed his eyes. "He transferred the core assets of the Xi family to Mu Xuan's name and even asked me for a promise. As long as she behaved herself, the Xuanyuan family would never touch the remaining assets of the Xi family. I thought... she would understand that this was the livelihood her father had earned with his reputation."
But Xi Muxuan didn't understand.
In other words, she would rather tear that livelihood apart than not clear her father's name.
The old man suddenly looked towards Xuanyuan Pavilion, with a fierce look in his eyes.
"But things are different now. Xunxun is the eldest grandson of the Xuanyuan family. He's the root of your lineage and the face of the entire family. Xi Muxuan can seek revenge on me or on the Xuanyuan family's assets, but no one can touch a single hair on Xunxun's head."
He paused, and his tone softened, but with unquestionable majesty.
"I know about your relationship with Han Lingcui. I used to stop her because I was worried that her unclear background would break the family rules. But now... as long as you can protect Xunxun and bring her back safely, I won't stop Han Lingcui from entering the Xuanyuan family."
Xuanyuan Ge suddenly looked up and met his grandfather's eyes.
There was no more kindness and harmony as before, only naked transactions.
Exchange a woman's status for the safety of the eldest grandson.
“You are…”
"I'm not negotiating with you."
The old man interrupted him, slamming his cane to the ground. "I acknowledge the Xuanyuan family's debt to the Xi family. But Xunxun must not be harmed. This is the bottom line. If you can't even protect your own son, how will you support this family in the future?"
The sandalwood in the study suddenly became choking.
Xuanyuan Ge looked at the deep wrinkles on his grandfather's face. Hidden in those ravines were conspiracies, trade-offs, and the family's "law of survival" that he had never understood.
He remembered Xi Muxuan's poisonous smile on the yacht, Xunxun's frightened eyes when she was tied up, and Han Lingcui's tears that had dried up in the ward.
"What if..." Xuanyuan Ge's voice was very soft, "What if someone has to pay the price?"
The old man's body stiffened for a moment, then he sneered, "Then let the one who should pay pay. But it definitely can't be Xunxun."
The wind outside the window was getting stronger, and ginkgo leaves fell all over the ground, like a layer of broken gold.
Xuanyuan Ge slowly stood up, his fingertips turning white from the exertion.
He said nothing more and walked out of the study. The light in the corridor stretched his shadow, like a road with no end.
He knew that what his grandfather gave him was not a promise, but a shackle.
On one end is tied Xunxun's life, on the other is tied Han Lingcui's future, and in the middle is the "debt" that the Xi family father and daughter have never been able to pay off in their entire lives.
But he had no choice.
For Xunxun, for Han Lingcui, he must go on, even if he has to uncover more dirty truths with his own hands, even if he has to make enemies with the entire family.
The phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a message from Qi Moxun: "Xi Muxuan's yacht was spotted at the dock, heading deep into the open sea."
Xuanyuan Ge clutched his phone tightly and walked quickly towards the entrance. His battlefield had never been in this old house.
…
The roar of the engine tore through the night fog. Xuanyuan Ge stood on the deck of a private yacht, his shirt rustling in the sea breeze.
On the radar screen, the red dot representing Xi Muxuan's yacht was like a stubborn blood scab, moving slowly in the coordinates of the high seas.
Qi Moxun's phone was burning hot beside his ear: "This is the high seas. Our ship cannot cross the border. We can only rely on you."
"I know."
Xuanyuan Ge hung up the phone and pressed his fingertips on the cold railing.
The sea level in the distance was inky black, just like the hatred that could not be erased from Xi Muxuan's eyes.
He suddenly remembered that his father held his hand and said before he died, "There are too many bones buried beneath the family's glory."
At that time he thought it was just the nonsense of an old man, but now he understood that those bones had long since grown into chains wrapped around his ankles.
The cabin door was pushed open, and Xunxun's crying voice drifted over with the wind.
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