Beneath the Marriage Pact

Chapter 5: Uncle Er's Feast at Hongmen (1)

The scent of sandalwood in the old Ling house was much stronger than that in the Shen house. Shen Zhixia followed Ling Xu 'an in, her fingertips grasping the hem of her dress - the off-white dress that Ling Xu 'an had specially taken her to buy yesterday, he said, "Don't wear it too conspicuous. Uncle Er is very smart."

The redwood round table in the main hall was already set with dishes, and Ling Zhengxiong sat on the armchair beside the main seat, with a string of beeswax beads in his hand. As soon as he saw them come in, he stood up, his smile lines piled up and his eyes crowded together: "Xu 'an is back? This is Zhixia, right? Sit down, sit down. I just asked the kitchen to make pigeon soup to boost blood and qi."

As he spoke, he put his hand on Shen Zhixia's shoulder, and Ling Xu 'an, without showing any sign, turned sideways to cover it, placed the car key in the corner of the table with a soft "click" : "Why did Uncle Er suddenly think of having a family dinner? Grandpa said you were in Southeast Asia last week."

"How could the investigation be more important than family affairs?" Ling Zhengxiong pulled Shen Zhixia towards the table. "Isn't it heard that you two are going to get engaged? The elders have to keep an eye on it. Look at this dish, it's all made according to what Xu An loved when he was a child - squirrel mandarin fish, you used to be able to finish a whole one."

Shen Zhixia followed his gaze and saw the shiny mandarin fish lying on the plate. Ling Xu 'an's chopsticks paused beside him and did not touch it.

"Uncle Er, thank you for your trouble." Ling Xu 'an served Shen Zhixia a bowl of soup. "Zhixia doesn't like sweet food. I asked the kitchen to cook some seasonal vegetables."

Ling Zhengxiong's smile froze for half a second, then relaxed quickly: "Look at my memory, I was so preoccupied with Xu 'an. Zhi Xia, don't mind. Girls should eat more plain food." He picked up the wine glass. "Come on, uncle's first toast to you, wishing you... Well, good things are coming."

With a crisp clinking sound, Shen Zhixia took a sip of juice and, out of the corner of her eye, caught sight of Ling Zhengxiong's phone on the edge of the table, with a screen saver of two - he was standing on the left, and the man on the right was in a dark suit with a silver badge pinned to the collar, looking somewhat familiar.

"Come to think of it," said Ling Zhengxiong, who put down his wine glass and used serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish for Ling Xu 'an, "Xu 'an, you too. Why didn't you say such a big thing as engagement earlier? The Lin family asked me about it two days ago, saying Miss Lin likes you."

Shen Zhixia tightened her fingers as she held the cup. Lin is in the new energy business and has a partnership with Ling. Miss Lin, whom she has seen in financial magazines, is an investment banking elite who graduated from Harvard and smiles with eyes that are indeed more impressive than her.

"Miss Lin?" Ling Xu 'an wiped the corner of his mouth with a tissue, and his tone did not convey emotion. "Does Uncle Er think that my engagement with Zhi Xia is not secure enough?"

"I didn't mean that." Ling Zhengxiong waved his hand and laughed, "I just think that marriage alliances, in the end, are all about interests. The situation of the Shen family now... Zhi Xia, don't be so careful. I mean the truth - the Lin family holds lithium resources in Southeast Asia. If you marry Miss Lin, the project over there..."

"Uncle is teaching me how to do things?" Ling Xu 'an stroked the rim of the wine glass with his fingers, his voice a little colder. "Or do you think the project I'm in charge of is inferior to yours?"

Ling Zhengxiong's face darkened: "I'm doing this for your own good! Every time you've been president of the Ling family, I've been backing you up. Who flew in the middle of the night to talk about cooperation when the North American market fluctuated last time?"

"Was it Uncle who flew there overnight and held up the approval documents for the Southeast Asian project by half a month?" Ling Xu 'an raised his eyes, his gaze as cold as ice. "Or did Uncle Er need me to bring out the bill for the five million loss of the Southeast Asia project last week and remind you how you paid an extra 30 percent deposit on the raw materials?"

The beeswax beads in Ling Zhengxiong's hand dropped to the ground with a "plop" and rolled to Shen Zhixia's feet. She lowered her head to pick it up, and just as her fingertip touched the bead, she heard Ling raise his voice: "You're checking me? "!"

"Not checking." Ling Xu 'an leaned back in his chair, relaxed as if chatting about the weather. "Chen Mo happened to see your signature when he was sorting out the reports. Uncle Er also knew that Ling's accounts were never a mess."

The hall was so quiet that one could hear the wind outside the window. Ling Zhengxiong's face turned red and then pale, and the veins in his hand, which was grasping the tablecloth, were stretched out. Shen Zhixia placed the beeswax beads at the corner of the table and quietly moved the chair towards Ling Xu 'an.

"Well, I've grown up." Ling Zhengxiong suddenly laughed, smiling even more kindly than before, "It was Uncle Er who talked too much. Come on, eat, eat, the dishes are getting cold." He picked up chopsticks of green vegetables for Shen Zhixia. "Zhixia, don't be scared. We uncle and nephew are just joking."

Shen Zhixia hummed, not daring to respond. She glanced at Ling Zhengxiong's phone - the screen had lit up when it dropped to the ground, and the man's badge in the group photo was seen more clearly, almost the same as the old "Qin Group" badge hanging on the wall of the office of Qin Zheng Logistics Company.

"By the way, Zhi Xia," Ling Zhengxiong suddenly turned to her, "I heard from your father that you used to stay in the small town for quite a long time? Life over there must have been tough, right? It's good to come back and enjoy yourself with Xu An." He paused, as if casually mentioning, "Come to think of it, your mother was quite close to the Qin family back then? I even saw her having dinner with Qin Zheng."

Shen Zhixia's hand, which was holding the chopsticks, trembled and the food dropped into the bone plate. Ling Xu 'an's hand rested on the back of hers, and the warmth made her calm.

"I'm not sure." She raised her head, trying to make her tone natural, "My mother passed away early and didn't tell me this."

"Really?" Ling Zhengxiong squinted his eyes to look at her. "I thought you came back to Qin Zheng this time for..."

"Second uncle." Ling Xu 'an interrupted him, his voice as cold as winter, "If we finish our meal, we'll go first. I won't have to worry about the engagement. I'll tell Grandpa myself."

He pulled Shen Zhixia out, and when Shen Zhixia turned back, she saw Ling Zhengxiong holding his phone and dialing, looking gloomy and completely different from before.

After getting into the car, Shen Zhixia finally let out a sigh of relief, his back drenched in sweat. "Your second uncle..."

"He's testing us." Ling Xu 'an started the car. "The loss in the Southeast Asia project was a deliberate trap he set up to frame my men. And Qin Zheng - the person on his screen saver is Qin Zheng's cousin, who was in charge of raw material procurement before the Qin family went bankrupt."

Shen Zhixia was stunned: "You knew it all along?"

"I guessed." Ling Xu 'an turned a corner, the street lamp outside the car window blinding his eyes. "My second uncle has always wanted to take over Ling's new energy business. Qin did new energy materials back then. It's not strange that they colluded." He paused and grasped the steering wheel. "I used to think he was just greedy for power. I didn't expect..."

I never thought it had anything to do with my mother's death. Shen Zhixia didn't respond, feeling as if a stone was weighing on her heart. The look in Ling Zhengxiong's eyes when he mentioned his mother just now clearly knew something.

"Don't worry." "Chen Mo has gone to check the accounts of the Southeast Asia project, as long as there is evidence of his collusion with the Qin family..." Ling Xu 'an gave up one hand to rub her hair.

Before he could finish speaking, his phone rang. It was Chen Mo calling. Ling Xu 'an picked up the phone and his face changed abruptly after hearing a few words: "What did you say? The warehouse is on fire? !"

Shen Zhixia's heart tightened - it was the secret warehouse they had visited yesterday!

When did it happen? Ling Xu 'an's voice tightened. "Have you found the person who set the fire? The evidence inside..."

"It was extinguished by the nearby fire department as soon as it started, but the documents were almost burned." Chen Mo's voice was broken over the phone. "We found a few footprints on the back wall of the warehouse, as if the lock had been broken..."

Ling Xu 'an hung up the phone, slammed the steering wheel hard, and the horn made a shrill sound. "It's Ling Zhengxiong! He must know we've found something in the warehouse!"

"What now?" Shen Zhixia was so anxious that her palms were sweating. "If the evidence is burned, will Qin Zheng and him not be convicted?"

"And the voice recorder." Ling Xu 'an took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "We still have the voice recorder and the final draft in Grandpa Ling's hand. Just..." He frowned. "Ling Zhengxiong dares to set fire so blatantly. There must be a trick up his sleeves."

When the car reached the entrance of the villa, Zhao Shuzheng stood under the street lamp waiting for them, looking even worse than Ling Xu 'an. "Boss, Miss Shen, there's a call from the old house saying... Say the old man fainted just now!"

Ling Xu 'an pushed open the car door and rushed towards the old house, followed closely by Shen Zhixia, whose high heels made a rapid "dada" sound on the bluestone pavement, making her eardrums hurt.

As soon as he rushed into the main hall, he saw Grandpa Ling lying on the sofa, his face as pale as a sheet of paper, the butler squatting beside him and pinching his philtrum, and Ling Zhengxiong standing beside him, spinning in a hurry, shouted at the moment they came in: "Xu 'an, you're here!" Just now he was fine, saying he would call you to inquire about the engagement, and suddenly fainted!"

Ling Xu 'an ignored him, crouched down to check Grandpa Ling's breath and felt his pulse, his fingertips trembling: "Did you call an ambulance?"

"Yes, yes, on the way!" The butler's voice trembled. "The old man just had a cup of ginseng tea. I watched him drink it. Nothing unusual..."

Shen Zhixia's gaze fell on the glass cup on the coffee table, which had some dark brown residue at the bottom, not like the color of ordinary ginseng tea. She quietly touched Ling Xu 'an's arm and gave the cup a look.

Ling Xu 'an glanced at the cup, rolled her Adam's apple, said nothing, just took off her suit jacket and put it over Grandpa Ling.

The siren of the ambulance grew louder and louder, and as the medical staff carried the stretcher in, Ling Zhengxiong suddenly stopped: "Wait! In case... What if the old man had a stroke and couldn't move?"

"Don't waste time!" Ling Xu 'an pushed him away, his voice as cold as ice. "If anything happens, I'll take responsibility!"

Ling Zhengxiong staggered a little, his face changed, and he stopped him.

The ambulance roared towards the hospital, and Ling Xu 'an sat beside the stretcher, clutching Grandpa Ling's hand, his knuckles pale. Shen Zhixia, sitting in the passenger seat, turned her head and saw Ling Zhengxiong standing at the door of the old house on the phone, his fingers poking rapidly on the phone screen, and his profile looked particularly ** under the street lamp.

"That cup of ginseng tea just now..." " Shen Zhixia lowered her voice and said to the driver, "Could you please keep that cup? We suspect something is wrong, "he said.

The driver, an old driver of the Ling family, nodded immediately: "I'll go back and tell the butler to keep it safe. No one is allowed to touch it."

When they arrived at the hospital emergency room, the doctor had been busy around Grandpa Ling for half the night until dawn before coming out, taking off his mask and rubbing his forehead: "The old man has an acute drug allergy. Fortunately, it was delivered in time. Another half an hour later..."

"Drug allergy?" Ling Xu 'an suddenly stood up straight. "He didn't take any other medicine, just drank a cup of ginseng tea!"

"Something was mixed in the ginseng tea." The doctor handed over the test results, "a trace amount of veratrum was detected, which would cause anaphylactic shock when it came to the antihypertensive drugs the old man usually took."

Veratrum? Shen Zhixia felt a jolt in her heart - she had seen this medicine in her mother's medical books, which was cold and poisonous, usually used externally to repel worms, and few people would take it internally, let alone mix it into ginseng tea.

"I'm going to see my second uncle." Ling Xu 'an turned and walked out, his eyes fierce as if he were going to eat someone.

"Wait!" Shen Zhixia grabbed him. "It's no use going now. He surely won't admit it. We have to find the evidence first." "Can the hospital detect the origin of the veratrum?" she pointed to the test results. For example, what kind of preparation?"

The doctor shook his head: "It can only be confirmed to be veratrum extract. Whether it's powder or liquid, it depends on the container you found."

Just as they were talking, the nurse rushed over: "Mr. Ling, your grandpa is awake!"

When Ling Xu 'an followed the nurse into the ward, Grandpa Ling was coughing by the bedside. Seeing him come in, his emaciated hand waved at him. "Xu An... Come here."

Ling Xu 'an crouched beside the bed and held his hand, his voice hoarse: "Grandpa, how do you feel?"

"I won't die." Grandpa Ling panted and smiled, his eyes swept over Shen Zhixia who was standing at the door, and waved to her too, "Zhixia, come over."

Shen Zhixia went to the bedside and saw Grandpa Ling take out a small brocade bag from under the pillow and stuff it into her hand: "This is... Qingyao left it here with me back then, saying that if something happened to her, then... I'll give it to you when you and Xu have settled down."

The brocade bag is made of dark blue silk, with the edges and corners polished white. Shen Zhixia opened it and found a withered gardenia flower and a folded small note inside.

There was only one line of words on the note, in mother's handwriting: "Zhengxiong Study, third floor, Hidden compartment, stars not extinguished."

Shen Zhixia and Ling Xu 'an exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes - had her mother long expected Ling Zhengxiong to harm her?

"Qingyao back then... I was suspicious of Zhengxiong." Grandpa Ling coughed twice, his voice broken, "She said Zhengxiong looked at her in the wrong way, always inquiring... Inquiring about the core data of the Starlight Project. I didn't believe it... It was I who wronged her..."

"Grandpa, don't get excited." Ling Xu 'an patted him on the back to soothe him, "We'll find out and give you and Zhixia's mother an explanation."

Grandpa Ling nodded and held Shen Zhixia's hand tighter: "Zhixia, don't blame Xu 'an... When he was a child, he was stubborn and soft-hearted..."

Before he could finish speaking, he began to cough again. The nurse rushed over and asked him to lie down and rest.

It was already dawn when he came out of the ward, and the light from the corridor window fell on the ground, blinding. Shen Zhixia held the brocade bag, her fingertips aching from the dry petals of the gardenia.

"Go to your second uncle's house." Ling Xu 'an's voice was as cold as ice. "Go now."

Ling Zhengxiong's villa was halfway up the mountain, not far from the Ling family's old house. As they drove over, they saw Ling's driver moving boxes out of the garage with the words "Southeast Asian Specialty" printed on them, but sealed tightly with tape.

"The boss has instructed that these are samples to be sent to the Southeast Asian branch and must be sent away quickly." The driver, seeing them come in, was a little flustered and hurriedly tried to close the box.

Ling Xu 'an said nothing and kicked the box with his foot. The box cracked open, revealing what was inside - not samples, but stacks of documents with the logo of "Qin Group" printed on them.

"What about Ling Zhengxiong?" Ling Xu 'an grabbed the driver's collar with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Here, in the study!" The driver was so scared that his legs went weak. "He said he would take something and leave!"

Ling Xu 'an let go of him and turned to rush towards the study. Shen Zhixia followed behind and had just reached the second floor when she heard a "clang" sound from the study, as if something had fallen to the ground.

When the door was pushed open, Ling Zhengxiong was standing in front of the bookshelf, holding a black USB drive in his hand. His face changed when he saw them come in, and he turned to run towards the window - his study had a floor-to-ceiling window and a small balcony outside.

"Want to run?" Ling Xu 'an took a swift step forward, grabbed his back collar and pulled it back. Ling Zhengxiong fell to the ground, the USB drive flew out of his hand and rolled to Shen Zhixia's feet.

Shen Zhixia bent down to pick up the USB drive and was about to hand it to Ling Xu 'an when Ling Zhengxiong suddenly pulled out a fruit knife from his pocket and thrust it towards Ling Xu 'an's back!

"Be careful!" Shen Zhixia, without a second thought, lunged forward and blocked Ling Xu 'an with her body.

The moment the tip of the knife pierced her arm, Shen Zhixia heard her own gasping sound, and the pain made her vision go black. Ling Xu 'an turned and saw this scene, his eyes turned red, and he punched Ling Zhengxiong in the face, knocking him out.