Since taking power, Zhong Rentao has never been so humiliated.
He suppressed his anger, forcing a smile of apology: "The bastard did such a terrible thing, I..."
"You didn't know anything?" Bai Yan said calmly, "Yes, you didn't know anything. You didn't know that your son and the Mu family's daughter had secretly pledged their lives to each other."
"I didn't know your son verbally insulted me in the newspaper, nor did I know that my mother and I were bullied by our clansmen back in our hometown."
"As one of the organizers of this banquet, you didn't even know that your son and Mu Jinzhi were attending together."
"Mu Jinzhi was utterly dissolute. Knowing that Zhong Yunsheng had a fiancée, she still used the guise of 'true love' to have an affair with him. She didn't learn anything good from studying abroad, but she learned all the decadent things foreigners did."
"Mu Yunsheng didn't want to bear the infamy of being ungrateful, so he wanted to throw mud at me."
"General Zhong is deaf and blind, he can't see anything, and he doesn't know how to discipline his own son. Yet, when I just started to be tainted, he jumped out to punish me and my mother?"
"General Zhong is truly a man of great loyalty and righteousness!"
Zhong Rentao's face turned red, then dark, then red again.
"There's no need to feel embarrassed." Bai Yan chuckled, seemingly trying to defuse the situation for him: "After all, it's perfectly normal to encounter a few ungrateful people in one's life."
Hearing this, Zhong Rentao could no longer contain his anger. He took two steps forward and said through gritted teeth in a low voice, "Bai Yan, don't go too far. Do you really think I can't do anything to you?"
"Tearing off relations will benefit no one!"
Bai Yan looked up at him, raised an eyebrow and said, "No, if things get ugly when we tear off the mask, you'll be the one who suffers."
She looked at Zhong Rentao and mouthed, "You want to slander me and my mother in this kind of setting, you want to use me as a stepping stone, you want to make Zhong Yunsheng and Mu Jin's legendary love come true, you want to use their marriage to grovel before the British, you can't do that."
His secret plot had been exposed, and Zhong Rentao was furious and about to draw his gun from his waist.
"Wow, there are quite a lot of people here," a male voice said.
Immediately afterwards, two rows of soldiers in Fengyi Army uniforms entered from both sides, followed by tall men in military uniforms and wearing military caps who appeared in the banquet hall.
He raised his head, his already striking features appearing even more handsome in the dimly lit banquet hall.
Bai Yan's red lips curved slightly as she met his gaze.
A smile flickered in Xu Shengtian's eyes, but his gaze quickly fell on Zhong Rentao: "Knowing that you, Elder Zhong, have organized a banquet, I was so busy on my journey that I didn't even have time to tidy up my residence. I didn't expect to be late."
Zhong Rentao's face stiffened slightly.
"However, I must thank Elder Zhong for organizing the charity dinner for the people and soldiers of Xicheng. This medicine has saved many lives!" Xu Shengtian said, "Don't worry, I will ask Premier Bai to write a report later, and we will definitely not forget Elder Zhong's contribution."
As Xu Shengtian spoke, he looked at the surprised and uncertain expressions on the faces of everyone in the banquet hall and chuckled, "Since the banquet is over and it's getting late, I won't keep you any longer. There will be plenty of opportunities to get to know each other in the future."
"Thanks to everyone's great help today, I will repay you all properly after the mansion is renovated tomorrow."
Xu Shengtian cupped his hands in greeting and glanced at Bai Yan on the stage: "Premier Bai, there is an emergency meeting tonight. You can't rest; you have to come with me to the government office building."
Xu Shengtian said, "The contributions made by everyone at tonight's gathering to the future medical needs of the soldiers and civilians of Xicheng should be registered and compiled, and published in the newspaper tomorrow."
Bai Yan chuckled, "Of course."
Xu Shengtian reached out, and Bai Yan placed her hand on his arm. She then nodded to the crowd before turning and leaving.
Meanwhile, Zhong Rentao, who was still at the banquet, was trembling all over. By now, how could he not see that Bai Yan was doing it on purpose? She knew everything!
She came here specifically to put on this show, just to make Zhong Rentao lose face in front of all the powerful and influential people in Xicheng!
Enraged, Zhong Rentao reached for his gun and aimed it at the two men's heads, but his trusted aide held him back: "Commander, you mustn't..."
Xu Shengtian now has a reputation and troops. If they make the first move, Xu Shengtian won't even need to explain anything to his superiors; he can simply swallow them up.
Zhong Rentao was pulled away by his confidant and took heart medication before even getting home.
...
In the car, Xu Shengtian held Bai Yan's hand and said, "If you're not happy with those people from your hometown, I'll go and take care of them."
What kind of creatures are these, bullying orphans and widows?
If he had known back then, he would have killed them all!
“No need.” Bai Yan’s red lips curled slightly. “I have exposed Zhong Rentao’s mask of loyalty and righteousness. The Bai family used to be his benefactors, but now they are his enemies.”
"But he can't get revenge on me, so who do you think he'll get revenge on?"
"The Bai family."
He had to clear his name as an ingrate, otherwise he would lose face, and the Bai family was the best tool for that.
"Let them fight like dogs," Bai Yan said. "I can't be bothered with it."
Looking at Xu Shengtian, she smiled and said, "Besides, I have more important things to do now."
"What?" Xu Shengtian asked.
Bai Yan moved closer to him, her beautiful eyes crinkling at the corners: "General seems a little different today?"
His military cap was off, and his hair was neatly combed and styled. Although it was a slicked-back hairstyle, it gave him a very imposing presence when paired with his sharply defined face.
"Your hair is styled, and your clothes are new." She stroked his chin again. "Did you trim your stubble too?"
That playboy surnamed Zhong was said to be quite handsome, and fearing he'd be outshone, he'd even had someone at the Marshal's mansion fuss over him for a while. Now that she'd pointed it out, Marshal Xu, who'd been harboring thoughts of competing with her, was somewhat embarrassed.
"It's just... a quick tidying up, is it alright?" Xu Shengtian pretended to be indifferent, but his gaze never left Bai Yan.
Bai Yan's lips slowly widened as she held his hand: "Beautiful, even more beautiful than movie stars."
"So beautiful that I don't want to leave you tonight, Commander." She slowly moved closer to him, her red lips getting closer and closer.
Xu Shengtian's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. Could it be that what she said was so important...?
"So tonight, let's go to the government building for a meeting."
Xu Shengtian: ...
His face instantly turned ashen, as if he had lost his parents.
Bai Yan gently scratched his palm: "After you finish dealing with business, then do other important things."
Bai Yan and Xu Shengtian soon held a meeting at the government building. Bai Yan was a newly appointed official who had risen to power purely through military merit and did not yet have his own governing team.
In the past, Zhong Rentao's people were either used if they were capable or dismissed if they were not. All related policies and public statements had to be drafted by tomorrow morning.
Bai Yan had already prepared for this. She was adept at doing this kind of thing and clearly arranged it to her secretary. Even so, she was still busy all night.
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