Chapter 35 Uncle Lu Hosts a Banquet
Su Wantang raised her head, but instead of answering Lu Jingyan's question, she threw the question back at him in a soft, gentle voice.
"Do I have as many secrets as Lieutenant Colonel Lu?"
She lightly tapped the drawing with her fingertip, "For example, Qin Zheng's file. How did a highly decorated soldier end up disabled and retired just because he was 'betrayed'? This plot... sounds familiar."
Lu Jingyan's tall body trembled violently, and the air pressure around him instantly dropped.
She mentioned "betrayal".
Two words were inserted into his past with Qin Zheng.
He stared at her, his gaze sharp as a knife, trying to discern something from her face. But her expression remained calm and composed, with only a faint hint of mockery hidden in her eyes.
After a long silence, he turned and left the study without saying a word.
There are some things he'll look up himself without her having to tell him.
...
In Lu Wenbo's study, wisps of smoke curled upwards.
He held a black chess piece in his hand, deep in thought as he looked at the chessboard.
"All ruined?" he asked, his voice gentle, revealing neither joy nor anger.
The man hunched over, cold sweat pouring down his back: "Yes. The bald-headed gang, a dozen or so, are all down. The bald-headed man's leg was broken, and the rest either had broken arms or legs, none of them were alright. It's said that it was that lame bodyguard who did it, one person, three minutes."
Lu Wenbo's hand, which was holding the chess piece, paused slightly.
One person, in three minutes, crippled more than a dozen people.
It seems he underestimated his niece-in-law from Shanghai.
I thought she was a delicate canary, but she turned out to be a female leopard with sharp claws and teeth, accompanied by a hungry wolf that had recovered from its injuries.
"Interesting." Lu Wenbo smiled, gently placing the chess piece in his hand onto the chessboard with a crisp "tap".
The game of chess came alive in an instant.
He waved his hand at his subordinate: "Alright, you can go now. If you can't even handle this small matter, you don't need to come back again."
The attacker, feeling as if granted a pardon, scrambled out of the room.
Lu Wenbo was the only one left in the study.
As he looked at the deadly situation on the chessboard, the smile on his lips deepened.
Since the covert approach doesn't work, let's try the overt one.
Some things cannot be obtained by force. For example, status, position, and... people's hearts.
He picked up the phone on the table and dialed a number.
"Hey, Brother Ye? Hehe, it's me, Wenbo... Yes, it's been a long time since we got together. Are you free this weekend? I'll treat you to the Moscow Restaurant. Bring Manrou along too... Oh, and Jingyan and his new wife as well. Young people should see each other more often and get to know each other."
On the other end of the phone came Minister Ye's hearty laughter.
A scheme targeting Su Wantang has already been set up.
...
The next evening, at a Moscow restaurant.
The most upscale Western restaurant in Beijing; an average person's monthly salary would only be enough for one steak here.
The enormous crystal chandelier, the heavy red velvet curtains, the silver cutlery—every detail exudes its extraordinary and expensive nature.
When Lu Jingyan and Su Wantang arrived, Lu Wenbo and the Ye family father and daughter were already there.
At the long dining table, Lu Wenbo sat at the head of the table, with Minister Ye to his right. Ye Manrou sat next to her father, Minister Ye, wearing a well-fitting white dress and exquisite makeup, like a proud white swan.
Upon seeing them enter, Lu Wenbo immediately stood up enthusiastically.
"Jingyan, Wantang, come and sit down!" He smiled and pointed to the two empty seats next to Ye Manrou. "We've been waiting for you."
The placement of this location is very meaningful.
Su Wantang seemed oblivious to the intricacies of the situation, sitting down casually and giving Ye Manrou an impeccable smile.
Lu Jingyan sat down beside her expressionlessly, his tall figure like a wall, invisibly separating everything.
"Come, let me introduce you." Lu Wenbo adopted the demeanor of a patriarch. "This is Uncle Ye, and this is Manrou. You young people should get to know each other better in the future."
Minister Ye maintained his airs, giving Su Wantang only a slight nod before his gaze fell on Lu Jingyan, his eyes filled with the scrutiny and expectations of an elder towards a junior.
Ye Manrou didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, and instead stirred her coffee with a silver spoon.
The meal was fraught with tension.
Lu Wenbo, true to his old fox nature, never mentioned the previous unpleasantness, only reminiscing about the past.
"Jingyan, I remember you used to love following Manrou around when you were little. Once, you even fell from a tree and broke your head trying to get a kite for Manrou, hahaha!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Manrou blushed slightly and gave Lu Jingyan a reproachful look.
"Second Uncle, why are you bringing this up again? It happened so many years ago."
Lu Jingyan's face was ashen; he neither admitted nor denied it.
Lu Wenbo then turned to Minister Ye and raised his glass: "Brother Ye, our two families have been friends for so many years. Jingyan and Manrou have been childhood sweethearts, inseparable since they were little."
That's quite a straightforward statement.
Minister Ye put down his knife and fork, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and then spoke slowly and deliberately. His voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable air of authority.
“Jingyan, you are a good boy, capable and promising. We, as your elders, have all seen it.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Su Wantang, a flash of contempt in his eyes.
"But how to walk the path, and who to walk it with, is crucial. Marriage is a major life event, and it's all about matching social status and strong partnerships. One wrong step can affect your whole life. In the military, some support doesn't come out of thin air."
A blatant threat.
The translation is: Kid, if you don't distance yourself from this woman of unknown origin, don't expect the Ye family to help you in the military anymore.
The atmosphere at the dinner table froze instantly.
A victorious smile appeared on Ye Manrou's lips.
She refused to believe that, given the future of the Lu family and the support of the Ye family, Lu Jingyan would still protect that vixen.
However, Su Wantang, who was targeted by everyone from beginning to end, acted as if nothing had happened.
She smiled throughout, quietly cutting her steak and eating it in small bites, her demeanor elegant and poised, as if she weren't the protagonist of this treacherous banquet.
Just as Lu Wenbo raised his glass again, preparing to say something to bring this "reprimand" to a satisfactory conclusion.
Su Wantang put down her knife and fork and gently dabbed her lips with a napkin.
She raised her head and looked at Lu Wenbo, her face showing just the right amount of admiration and curiosity that belonged to a junior.
"Second Uncle, this restaurant is really grand. It's my first time here."
Her sweet voice broke the silence.
Lu Wenbo smiled smugly: "Of course, this is the best place in Beijing."
Su Wantang nodded, her gaze sweeping around the restaurant before finally settling on Lu Wenbo, her eyes innocent and naive.
“My mother used to come here all the time.” She tilted her head, as if trying to remember. “According to Aunt Wang, her favorite spot was…”
Her voice paused for a moment, and she gently raised her slender fingers, pointing at Lu Wenbo.
"It's the one you're sitting in right now."
In short.
The entire room fell silent.
If it was solidified before, it is now frozen.
Lu Wenbo's smile froze instantly.
His hand holding the wine glass jerked suddenly in mid-air, spilling the red wine and dripping it onto the snow-white tablecloth.
His face turned deathly pale in an instant, then ashen. His eyes didn't look like he had heard some past events, but rather like... he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
This extremely subtle change lasted for less than a second, so fast that the Ye father and daughter had no time to react.
But Lu Jingyan saw it.
His sharp, hawk-like eyes were fixed on Lu Wenbo's face, capturing all his momentary loss of composure, fear, and guilt.
The banquet naturally ended unhappily.
The jeep ride back was silent.
The air inside the carriage was so oppressive it felt like it was about to explode.
Lu Jingyan slammed on the brakes as the car was about to enter the military compound, stopping it under the shade of a tree by the roadside.
In the darkness, he turned his head and looked at Su Wantang without saying a word.
Su Wantang quietly returned his gaze.
Suddenly, a large, hot hand reached out and, for the first time, took her hand tightly.
His palms were hot, calloused, and his grip was so strong it felt like he was about to crush her bones.
"My second uncle..."
Lu Jingyan's voice was terribly hoarse, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of his throat.
"Is it really... related to your mother's death?"
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