Chapter 46 A Bloodstained Pledge of Allegiance
The air in the private room of Tangdixuan was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood.
Liu Sisi knelt on the cold gold brick floor, her fine fabric skirt crumpled up, oblivious to the dust that covered it.
She cried so hard her makeup was ruined, tears and snot mixed together, she had lost all semblance of a socialite's dignity.
"Miss Su, I... I really didn't mean to go against you! It's all that bitch Ye Manrou's fault! She forced me to do this!"
“In her eyes, I’m just a dog! A dog that she can summon and dismiss at will! When she’s in a good mood, she’ll give me a bone; when she’s in a bad mood, she’ll beat and scold me!”
She raised her tear-streaked face, her voice filled with resentment and hatred, "The Ye family has fallen, and I'm happier than anyone else! That kind of self-righteous rich girl deserves this end! I helped her come up with ideas, and in the end, she wanted to pin all the blame on me! Why should she!"
His words were delivered with tears streaming down his face, both playing the victim and clarifying his stance of distancing himself from Ye Manrou, thus absolving himself of any responsibility.
Su Wantang sat in the huanghuali armchair at the head of the table, holding a Jian kiln teacup in his hand, ignoring her cries.
She simply used the cup lid to rhythmically skim off the tea foam, one stroke at a time.
"Sizzle... sizzle..."
The crisp scraping sound gradually quieted Liu Sisi's crying, until only suppressed sobs remained.
Su Wantang finally raised her eyelids, her gaze cold and devoid of any warmth as she looked at Liu Sisi.
"Are you done talking?"
Liu Sisi shuddered and nodded hesitantly.
“Miss Liu,” Su Wantang put down her teacup with a soft sound, “tears and stories are worthless to me.”
"I have no interest in hearing about your feud with Ye Manrou. I just want to know what you have to offer to buy your own life and the life of your Liu family."
One sentence shattered all of Liu Sisi's hopes.
She then realized that the woman in front of her, who was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, had no heart at all.
Or rather, her heart is only warm for herself and the people she cares about.
She understood that if she continued to scheme, her fate would be the same as, or even worse than, that of the Ye family.
Liu Sisi kowtowed sharply, her voice trembling uncontrollably: "I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
“Lu Wenbo…Second Uncle Lu, he has an extremely secluded Zen temple near Jietai Temple in the suburbs of Beijing!”
Su Wantang tapped her finger lightly on the table, signaling her to continue.
"That Zen temple is ostensibly for quiet meditation, but in reality, it's where he keeps his black gold and secret ledgers! That place... that place is his lifeline!" To save her life, Liu Sisi spilled everything she knew.
"The person guarding the Zen temple is called Zhao Qiang! He's a retired soldier, extremely skilled, and Lu Wenbo's most trusted confidant! He's the secretary who went missing when Commander Lu was investigating the theft of military supplies!"
Zhao Qiang!
Su Wantang's gaze sharpened slightly.
The line has finally been connected.
“I’ve seen the layout of the Zen temple once before; Lu Wenbo took my father there.” Liu Sisi was afraid that she wasn’t valuable enough, so she hurriedly took out paper and pen from her small bag, lay down on the ground, and quickly drew from memory.
"This is the front yard, with two large ginkgo trees. The back yard is the key. Zhao Qiang lived in the east wing of the back yard, but I don't know if he's still there. The secret room is located underground in the west wing!"
Her hands trembled violently, and the lines she drew were crooked and uneven, but she marked every detail clearly.
“Their shift changes are very regular, every seven days. The guards responsible for the outer perimeter are all distant relatives that Lu Wenbo found from his hometown, and they are very tight-lipped. Tonight happens to be the day of the shift change, so the guards are at their most lax!”
After finishing the map, she seemed to remember something and added, "Oh, right! Miss Su, I... I also know a clue about one of Lu Wenbo's cronies! In the Urban Construction Department, Zhang Degong embezzled a huge amount of money, and the accounts were all in Lu Wenbo's hands. He's a very obedient dog under him!"
She raised her head, like a small animal begging for its master's mercy, her eyes filled with both pleading and fear.
...
VIP ward at the General Hospital of the Military Region.
Lu Jingyan leaned against the hospital bed, his face still pale, but his deep black eyes no longer showed any weakness, only a wolf-like sharpness and coldness.
He held the encrypted military telephone, his voice low, yet each word carried immense weight.
"Jianjun, listen up."
"Immediately keep a close eye on Lu Wenbo's old subordinates in the logistics department, especially the one surnamed Wang. Don't let him out of your sight, 24 hours a day."
"Also, cut off all possible communication with the outside world. He's like a tiger with its teeth pulled out. I'm going to make him deaf and blind."
"Yes, Commander!" Gao Jianjun's voice on the other end of the phone was filled with barely suppressed excitement.
After hanging up the phone, Lu Jingyan put the receiver back in its place. The door to the ward was gently pushed open, and Su Wantang walked in, bringing with her a refreshing fragrance.
"Have all his people been arranged?" Su Wantang walked to the bedside and spread out the crookedly drawn map in front of him.
"Hmm." Lu Jingyan's gaze fell on the map. He only glanced at it before memorizing all the key points. "The net has been cast; we're just waiting for the fish to come up."
Su Wantang relayed all the information Liu Sisi had given her, word for word, including the clue about Deputy Director Qian.
"It seems my second uncle has quite an appetite." A cold smile curled at the corner of Lu Jingyan's lips.
“So,” Su Wantang pointed to the cross mark on the map that read “Secret Room,” “tonight, we’ll raid his hideout and cut off his supplies.”
Their eyes met in the air, without any extra words, yet they shared a tacit understanding that no one else could match.
This is a true alliance, based on each other's strength and targeting a common enemy.
Su Wantang turned and walked out of the ward, a playful smile on her face.
...
Back in the private room of Tangdixuan, Liu Sisi remained kneeling, every second an ordeal.
Su Wantang didn't look at her, but called out to the outside world, "Qin Zheng."
"Young Miss".
Qin Zheng's figure appeared silently at the doorway, like a mountain.
Su Wantang handed him the paper with the layout of the Zen temple drawn on it.
"Take people there tonight, according to this." Her voice was soft, but it clearly reached every corner of the room and struck Liu Sisi's heart heavily.
"Retrieve everything inside, leaving nothing behind."
She paused, then added, "Be quick and clean, don't leave any loose ends. If the guards know what's good for them, tie him up. If they don't..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but the murderous intent in her unfinished words made the temperature in the room drop even further.
"Understood." Qin Zheng took the map, didn't ask a single question, just nodded emphatically, and turned to leave.
Swift and decisive, ruthless and decisive in killing.
Liu Sisi watched as the intelligence she handed over was transformed in a short period of time into an action that was about to be carried out and would bring Lu Wenbo to his doom.
She was scared.
She was genuinely scared.
This Su Wantang is a hundred times more terrifying than she imagined, even more terrifying than Lu Wenbo!
She dragged Liu Sisi onto this crazy chariot right in front of her, not even giving her a chance to regret it.
After Qin Zheng left, the private room fell into a deathly silence.
Liu Sisi was so frightened that her whole body went limp, and she even forgot to breathe.
Su Wantang slowly walked up to her, squatted down, and gently lifted her terrified chin with her slender fingers.
She chuckled softly, like a seductive enchantress.
"Miss Liu, are you scared?"
Liu Sisi's teeth were chattering, and she could only nod frantically.
"That's right." Su Wantang withdrew her hand with satisfaction, stood up, and looked down at her with a mocking gaze.
"This map of the Zen temple can be considered a deposit, at best."
"However, Miss Liu, you must remember this."
Her voice suddenly turned cold.
“A deposit can’t buy the safety of your entire Liu family of dozens of people. Your ‘pledge of allegiance’ is far from enough.”
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