Chapter 42 The answer to Li Mingyuan's question
Matter determines thinking. When Ruan Xingfeng had a strong desire to find out the truth, he immediately returned to the villa.
He didn't need any distractions at this moment.
"Everyone, get off work. Come back to work after I notify you." He instructed the servants in the house, his tone unquestionable and calm.
The servants looked at each other, somewhat hesitantly. Their duty was to take care of this gentleman's daily life, but Mr. Liao Feng had indeed given a death order: meet all his requirements and obey absolutely.
Finally, the leading butler bowed respectfully and said, "Okay, Mr. Ruan. If you need anything, please feel free to press the call bell and we will come right away."
"No need. I need absolute quiet." Ruan Xingfeng repeated.
Soon, he was the only one left in the villa, and the huge space instantly fell into a suffocating silence.
He turned off all the main lights in the living room and drew the heavy curtains tightly, completely isolating the bleak winter light of Elf from outside.
In the darkness, only the faint blue light from his laptop screen illuminated his tired yet extremely focused face.
On the screen, complex lines of code flowed, jumped, and changed like a waterfall, trying again and again to impact, bypass, and crack the ironclad network defense system of Chuangyu Group.
Once, twice, ten times... countless attempts ended in failure. The opponent's firewall was so strong that it even triggered multiple reverse tracking alarms, forcing him to frequently switch springboards and awkwardly cut off the connection.
He suddenly felt a little regretful. When Liao Feng was so obedient and full of guilt, why didn't he ask directly? Perhaps he could have gotten some information out of her, but now, with thousands of miles of ocean between them, the chances of that were slim.
Several days and nights of sleepless attempts only brought a deep sense of powerlessness and an increasingly intricate mystery.
Those news seemed to have been deliberately erased from the world by an invisible hand.
The living room was filled with a strong smell of coffee and a...faint sour smell. Ruan Xingfeng lowered his head and sniffed his shirt.
He had been wearing that piece of clothing for almost half a month. Due to constant thinking and staying up late, it had been soaked and dried by sweat, leaving behind an unpleasant smell. Energy bar packaging bags and empty coffee cans were scattered at his feet.
He seemed to be trapped in a self-enclosed cocoon, obsessively going in the wrong direction.
No, this can't go on.
This thought suddenly woke him up. He stood up suddenly. His vision was dizzy due to sitting for a long time and lack of sleep. He staggered and walked to the window. With a "swish", he pulled open the heavy curtains!
In an instant, although it was still a gloomy snowy day outside the window, the cool light still poured into the dim living room, dispelling some of the gloom.
He then pushed the window open with force, and the cold but fresh air rushed in instantly, diluting the foul smell in the house and refreshing him.
He looked at the messy living room, as if he saw his own equally confused thoughts.
He began to clean up, sorting the trash, wiping the desk, and organizing the scattered documents.
This process was mechanical and boring, but it unexpectedly freed his brain from a dead end.
It took him nearly two hours to finish all this. He was so tired that he collapsed on the floor, leaning his back against the sofa, breathing in the cold air outside the window.
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, like a high-speed spinning kaleidoscope. Suddenly, a very simple and direct thought, one he had always ignored, struck him like lightning!
Is he stupid?!
How could he stubbornly believe that the scandals and secrets of top predator families like the Liao family and the Song family could be found in the corners of the open or deep web through hacking technology?
Those powerful families who control the media and the right to speak are best at covering up and whitewashing the truth! Any negative news that is not in their favor will be completely nipped in the bud.
The real truth exists only in the memories of the parties involved and in the private conversations within their innermost and most trusted circle.
The Internet is clean, not because the incident does not exist, on the contrary, it is because the incident is so serious that it must be covered up so thoroughly!
Technology is not omnipotent. What he needs are people, clues, and the key to reach the inner circle.
He looked out the window again, but his expression was completely different. The previous anxiety and powerlessness had been replaced by a new, calmer determination.
If hacking methods don't work, then he will use an older and more direct method, starting with "people".
Ruan Xingfeng walked aimlessly on the empty, cold streets. The cool air helped him think, but the core question remained unanswered: from whom should he open a breakthrough? Liao Chen was full of lies and could not be trusted; the leader was unfathomable and would only use him as a pawn.
Just as his thoughts were in a mess, an unexpected figure came into his sight.
Not far ahead, Li Mingyuan was emerging from a luxury hotel. Snowflakes clung to the shoulders of his beige trench coat. He tilted his head slightly to listen to the conversation of his gentle assistant, clutching documents. His demeanor exuded a natural elegance and composure. Behind him followed a tall, imposing man with a piercing gaze, clearly a bodyguard.
He appeared to be in Elfie on official business.
Ruan Xingfeng paused. Time seemed to have been especially kind to 29-year-old Li Mingyuan, shedding his youthful immaturity and imbued with a deeper, innate elegance and charm. He was like a meticulously crafted oil painting, calm and warm, a stark contrast to the icy landscape and the swirling undercurrents of conspiracy.
At this moment, Ruan Xingfeng suddenly understood Liao Feng a little.
It's understandable why he couldn't forget Li Mingyuan. With such a family background and temperament, the 18-year-old Li Mingyuan must have been dazzling and beautiful, like the warm sun in winter, enough to attract everyone's attention, including Liao Feng, who was probably equally young and proud at the time.
Li Mingyuan seemed to sense the gaze and looked up, his gaze meeting Ruan Xingfeng through the falling snow. A flicker of obvious surprise flashed in his eyes, but it quickly faded into a gentle, slightly complex expression. He whispered something to his assistant, then walked towards Ruan Xingfeng alone.
"Mr. Ruan?" Li Mingyuan's voice was as gentle and magnetic as he was. "I didn't expect to meet you here. Are you... okay?" His greeting was appropriate, but there was a subtle hint of inquiry in his eyes. Obviously, he had also heard about the turmoil at the wedding and the news that Ruan Xingfeng was "recuperating abroad."
Ruan Xingfeng looked at him and instantly made a decision. Perhaps Li Mingyuan was the breakthrough point. He seemed the most normal person in that chaotic circle, the one most likely to communicate.
"Mr. Li." Ruan Xingfeng nodded, his tone flat and emotionless. "I'm here to rest for a while. How about you? Business?"
"Yes, some family business matters." Li Mingyuan smiled slightly and answered perfectly. However, looking at Ruan Xingfeng's slightly pale and tired face and solitary figure, he asked gently, "Are you alone? It's very cold here in winter, so take care of yourself."
Ruan Xingfeng was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his eyes and looked directly at Li Mingyuan, asking a question that seemed almost rash, but seemed logical in the current situation:
"Mr. Li, do you know...Liao Chen?"
He stared intently into Li Mingyuan's eyes, not missing a single subtle reaction. He wanted to know what kind of presence Liao Chen held in this circle, and how Li Mingyuan would react.
This question, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly broke the polite yet distant atmosphere of greeting between the two.
When Li Mingyuan heard his question, he frowned slightly, as if searching the depths of his memory for the name carefully. He did not answer immediately.
Instead, he whispered a signal to his assistant and bodyguard, who then respectfully stepped back a distance, ensuring they could see them but not hear the conversation.
"It's snowing heavily outside and a bit cold. If you don't mind, let's go in and sit down and chat?" Li Mingyuan invited Ruan Xingfeng, his tone still gentle and appropriate.
Ruan Xingfeng nodded and followed him into the warm and luxurious hotel lobby. They sat down on a sofa by the window, snowflakes swirling outside. Li Mingyuan considerately ordered two cups of hot tea. He held the warm cups in his hands, seemingly just to absorb the warmth, his demeanor relaxed, not eager to speak.
Ruan Xingfeng was anxious. The clue was right before his eyes, but the other party's unhurried attitude made him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles. Just when he was about to speak and urge again, Li Mingyuan finally raised his eyes slowly.
"As for Liao Chen..." He seemed to have finally salvaged the name from his memory bank, his tone filled with an uncertain sense of recollection, "I remember. He's Liao Feng's younger brother, two years younger than him."
He paused, blew gently on the steam in the teacup, and said a fact that almost froze Ruan Xingfeng's blood:
"I heard Liao Feng mention it before... It seemed like it was when they were very young, around... When Liao Chen was six? In winter, he pushed the eight-year-old Liao Feng into the frozen river."
This sentence was like a heavy hammer, hitting Ruan Xingfeng's mind hard, making him dizzy and almost unable to think!
Was it Liao Chen who recommended Liao Feng? !
This was completely contrary to the "truth" he had heard from the leader and Liao Chen! What the leader and Liao Chen had hinted at, or even explicitly stated, was that Liao Feng had murdered his brother because of a fight for the family fortune!
Who is telling the truth?! Who should he believe?
A huge sense of confusion and betrayal swept over Ruan Xingfeng. He felt as if he was standing in the center of a huge vortex, surrounded by contradictory lies.
However, before he could recover from this first explosive piece of information, Li Mingyuan's next words followed like a second, heavier thunderclap:
"But," Li Mingyuan said calmly, as if discussing the weather, but the content was thrilling. "When he was pushing Liao Feng, he slipped and seemed to have fallen into the glacier as well."
"Liao Feng was later rescued by Xu Nuoyan and Song Xuexi, who happened to be nearby at the time. However, Liao Chen..." Li Mingyuan paused slightly, as if weighing his words, before finally delivering a conclusion that chilled Ruan Xingfeng's spine.
"He's dead."
Dead?!
Liao Chen... is already dead?!
Then who is this "Liao Chen" who is in Elfe, meeting him, working with him, and has a tiger claw scar on his neck?!
Ruan Xingfeng sat in the warm hotel lobby, yet it felt even colder than outside in the snow. A bone-chilling chill shot up from his spine all the way to his head.
If what Li Mingyuan said was true...
So, did the leader know about this? If so, why would he use a "dead man" to cooperate with him? Who is this "Liao Chen" now? Why did he pretend to be Liao Feng's brother?
Or is Liao Chen not dead? What is his relationship with the leader? Are Song Xuexi and Xu Nuoyan the witnesses and rescuers back then? What role did they play in this whole incident?
In an instant, more questions, like fragments after an explosion, madly impacted Ruan Xingfeng's cognition.
He originally thought he was digging for the truth, but he found himself at the entrance of a darker, larger and more terrifying maze of lies.
Li Mingyuan looked at his instantly pale face and the expression of shock that made him speechless. A very faint, imperceptible emotion flashed across the depths of his gentle eyes. He gently put down the teacup.
"These things happened a long time ago, and they are fragments that Liao Feng only occasionally mentioned. The specific details are probably only known to the parties involved." His tone was gentle, as if he was just sharing an insignificant piece of old news, but it completely overturned Ruan Xingfeng's world.
"Mr. Ruan, why do you suddenly ask this?" Li Mingyuan finally showed just the right amount of curiosity with a hint of concern.
Ruan Xingfeng was brought back to reality from his great shock by Li Mingyuan's calm voice.
He forced himself to digest the horrifying facts of "Liao Chen is dead" and "Liao Chen still exists", shook his head, and tried to sort out his thoughts.
Then, he asked the question that had been tormenting him and was the root cause of his escape from Liao Feng in the first place: "Mr. Li, is it true that Liao Feng killed Dr. Xu and Mr. Song's parents? If so, why... why are they still so close?"
Among the information Liao Chen revealed to him that day, this one was the most fatal, and it directly destroyed all his trust in Liao Feng.
When Li Mingyuan heard this question, Wen Ya's face showed a deeper and more complicated emotion than when she recalled Liao Chen just now.
There was pain, helplessness, and even a hint of heavy sorrow in it. It seemed that he had only recently gotten a glimpse of the truth of the matter.
He was silent for a moment, as if weighing the pros and cons, and finally sighed softly.
"Mr. Ruan, this is... a long story." He glanced at his watch, which showed he was running out of time, but he still decided to get to the point. "I can only tell you that he was wrongly accused. He didn't kill anyone."
"At that time," Li Mingyuan lowered his voice, as if afraid to disturb some sleeping nightmare, "Liao Feng, for some reason, didn't get into a top university. This was a huge blow to him, a proud and arrogant man with high hopes from his family, and his mental state was extremely unstable. For the Lion Clan, especially those at the higher levels who controlled the rules, a powerful, young, but out-of-control lion was an extremely dangerous potential threat."
He paused, his eyes sharpening. "They couldn't find a suitable reason to 'control' or 'tame' him. And just at that time," Li Mingyuan emphasized the words "at that time" and "coincidentally," full of irony, "Xu Nuoyan and Song Xuexi's parents died 'accidentally' one after another."
Ruan Xingfeng held his breath instantly! He understood what Li Mingyuan meant. It wasn't an accident at all, but a carefully planned murder! And the murderer was obviously one of those "higher-level people"!
"So," Li Mingyuan said with a cold calmness, "a ready-made, perfect charge was fabricated. All the 'evidence' pointed to Liao Feng, who was mentally unstable at the time and had a 'motive'. He had no way of defending himself."
Ruan Xingfeng felt cold all over and couldn't utter a word. He imagined how the young Liao Feng was framed, how he struggled, but was eventually crushed by that huge force.
"At that time... I broke up with him." Li Mingyuan's voice was filled with a subtle hint of guilt and pain. "The pressure from my family, the situation at the time... I'm sorry. I don't know the details of what he went through in prison afterwards."
He raised his eyes, looked at Ruan Xingfeng, and told the cruelest part: "All I know is that he stayed in there for two years. When he came out... he was barely recognizable as a human, barely alive. One of his eyes... was also gouged out... in there. From then on, he was completely expelled from the Lion Tribe and driven out. He went from being a child of destiny to falling into the mire."
Ruan Xingfeng sat there blankly, as if all his strength had been drained away.
Wronged, framed, imprisoned, tortured, blinded, expelled from the family...
All of this suffering stemmed from a ruthless conspiracy against him! And he, Ruan Xingfeng, believed the leader and the imposter who orchestrated this conspiracy, rubbing salt in his wounds and even exploiting his guilt to deliver the most fatal blow at his most triumphant wedding...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
