VBNWDW - Chapter 48
Chapter 48
The airport bustled with a surging crowd, the clamor of voices mingling with the sound of rolling suitcases. Some embraced in farewell, while others waited in boredom.
In a VIP lounge, insulated from the chaos, a family of three waited anxiously. Compared to the composed people around them, they looked far more nervous, standing up from time to time to glance toward the door. This drew quite a few stares.
However, their wait was soon interrupted by the sound of neat, heavy footsteps approaching from outside.
After presenting an arrest warrant, a uniformed police officer stated in a cold voice, "Mr. Xi Yunting, you are a suspect in a murder case. The police are now lawfully placing you under arrest."
"Mr. Xi Zhoukang, Ms. Luo Yiyi, you have been reported for contract fraud. Please cooperate with the police investigation and come with us."
At the same time, a disheveled Tan Xunwen had just stepped onto his balcony railing when a group of police officers kicked down his door. They rushed in, and one officer lunged forward, grabbing his arm and yanking him back. Pulled from the railing, Tan Xunwen nearly fell, his footing unsteady.
In the next second, the others seized him, and a pair of silver handcuffs snapped around his wrists.
"Mr. Tan, you have been implicated in a murder case. Please come with us."
The man who had once been impeccably dressed in suits and frequently featured in business magazines now had an ashen face. He muttered to himself, "Sister, sister."
He looked as if he had gone mad.
The two officers exchanged a glance but didn't lower their guard in the slightest. One of them barked, "Let's go!"
It wasn't uncommon for criminals to feign madness during their arrest in an attempt to evade punishment. They looked at Tan Xunwen with cold indifference, assuming he was no different from the others.
No one had expected the Xi Group to end like this. Old Master Xi, the formidable patriarch who had dominated the Imperial Star's business world for decades, had met such a wretched end. Smothered to death by his own son in the middle of the night, he was hastily buried the next day without any ceremony. Immediately after, the fruits of his life's work were sold off at an extremely low price.
But that wasn't the most tragic part. After the burial, someone reported the crime. The coffin that had been interred in the morning was exhumed that very afternoon and sent to the autopsy room. Even his old rivals felt a sense of unease upon hearing the news.
A man who had been dominant his entire life had met such a fate in his later years.
With evidence such as video recordings, the case that had shocked the Imperial Star quickly reached a verdict. Xi Yunting and Xi Zhoukang were found guilty of premeditated murder. Due to the heinous circumstances and extremely cruel methods, the former was sentenced to death, to be carried out immediately. The latter was stripped of his political rights for life, had all his personal assets confiscated, and was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve.
As for Xi Yunting's wife, she was implicated in embezzlement, contract fraud, and tax evasion. She was sentenced to ten years in prison, with all her personal assets confiscated.
In the future, even if Xi Zhoukang and Luo Yiyi earned a reduced sentence for good behavior and were released, they would have nothing. They would even be saddled with hundreds of millions in debt.
This was the price for the countless contracts Xi Yunting and Xi Zhoukang had hastily signed, only to delay the work and ultimately flee.
But these were minor details. The great tree that was the Xi family had finally fallen, and the long-waiting wolves rushed in to tear at and devour the fruits of their victory.
After a collective sigh, people swarmed to fill the void left by the fallen giant. Companies of all sizes sprang up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Among them, the most eye-catching was a company named Yuezhou. It was incredibly powerful, and its controlling shareholder was the long-disappeared Xi Zhoulu.
A silver wheelchair moved through a dark corridor. An iron gate was pulled open, and after a few whispered instructions, the person accompanying her turned and left.
Silver bars separated the two spaces. Inside was the dreaded darkness of the prison; outside was the warm winter sun of a rare, beautiful day.
A man in a prison uniform sat on a chair, his hands cuffed to the table. Without meticulous grooming, his ordinary face was left with only bloodshot eyes and rapidly hollowing cheeks. In just a few short days, he had become a skeleton with skin stretched over bone.
Hearing the sound, he lifted his eyelids and squeezed out a ferocious smile. "Xi Zhoulu," he called out.
The visitor didn't speak. The brilliant, warm sun streamed in through a small window, the beam of light falling upon her. Her porcelain-white skin was almost translucent, as if one could see the texture beneath. Her light gray-blue eyes were clear and serene, and the contours of her face were as exquisitely beautiful as ever.
She hadn't changed at all, yet one felt she was no longer the same Xi Zhoulu.
Completely transformed, reborn from the ashes.
These two phrases popped into Tan Xunwen's mind, and a flash of hatred crossed his eyes.
The doll that could be sculpted at will had finally broken free from its chains. She just sat there quietly, not saying a word, yet she seemed more alive than at any moment in her past.
She still wore her prim and proper coat and shirt, but she was holding a tiger-shaped plush hot water bottle. Her scarf was tied in a clumsy knot, looking rough but wrapped tightly, not letting a single wisp of wind through. She looked very well cared for.
It's because of that Alpha.
Their marriage isn't just a contract. Xi Zhoulu has truly found a partner she loves.
This realization was unbearable for Tan Xunwen. He clenched his intertwined hands and said coldly, "You're very pleased with yourself, aren't you, Xi Zhoulu?"
"Everyone fell into your trap, following your script."
He wasn't a fool like Xi Yunting. The moment he entered prison, he had figured it all out. Every decision he had made was prompted by bait Xi Zhoulu had dangled in front of him. She was the most patient angler, casting her line and watching coldly as the big and small fish fought and tore at each other, only revealing her net at the very end to scoop up the exhausted fish.
Xi Zhoulu leaned back slightly in her chair, her posture relaxed, as if she didn't know what he was talking about. She simply said, "Uncle."
Hearing this extremely rare form of address, Tan Xunwen froze for a moment before frowning deeply. "What tricks are you playing at?" he said. "Xi Zhoulu, what else haven't you schemed?"
Xi Zhoulu replied, "Are you doing alright in here, Uncle? Do you need me to spend some money to make things more comfortable for you?"
Though the words were of concern, her tone was flat and devoid of any emotion.
Tan Xunwen sneered. "No need to worry about me, my dear niece. Uncle is getting out soon. Didn't you know?"
He had a long history of mental illness. According to a doctor's evaluation, these issues had severely affected his daily life and work. Therefore, it was determined that his criminal acts were committed while he was not of sound mind and unable to control his actions, allowing for a reduced sentence and release for observation.
He couldn't help but feel smug, the madness in his eyes undiminished. "You thought you had calculated everything, but you didn't expect this, did you?"
"Do you know when I became unwell? It was your Xi family! It was your Xi family that forced my sister to marry into it! It was your good-for-nothing father who couldn't even protect his own wife! It was your grandfather who forced her to get pregnant! It was you, the wretched spawn of the Xi family, who killed her!"
He tried to lunge forward but was held back by the iron chains. The handcuffs bit into his wrists, leaving bloody marks. He laughed maniacally. "This is all karma! If it weren't for your Xi family, if you hadn't driven her to her death!"
He stared fixedly at her, his eyes completely bloodshot. "Xi Zhoulu, I lost this time, but that doesn't mean your luck will hold forever. As long as I'm alive, you will always have to live in fear."
The person opposite him seemed unaffected by his madness. She waited patiently for him to finish before speaking. "Twice."
This nonsensical reply made Tan Xunwen pause.
Xi Zhoulu had to explain. "It was twice. I've escaped from your hands twice now."
A police officer standing not far away saw Tan Xunwen's movement and shouted a warning.
Tan Xunwen glanced in that direction, then clenched his jaw and sat back down obediently. He asked in a hoarse voice, "When did you find out?"
He thought he had hidden the past so well. The scapegoat was already in prison, and the only one capable of finding out, Old Master Xi, had refused to investigate further for his brother's sake, even helping to destroy the evidence. That was why this arrest only targeted his recent schemes. How could Xi Zhoulu, who was just a powerless child back then, have possibly found out?
"Basic deduction," Xi Zhoulu answered simply.
"Oh?"
"In that basement, I smelled burning joss paper."
"You were suspicious even back then?"
"Yes, but I had no proof. So I had someone look into your whereabouts during those few days."
Tan Xunwen scoffed. "And what did you find?"
"Nothing. As everyone knows, President Tan takes a three-day leave every year on the anniversary of his sister's death. So I found nothing. But…"
Xi Zhoulu's tone shifted. "But I then had someone exhume my mother's grave. The urn inside had been taken."
"To risk being discovered just to force me to kneel and atone, to insist on burning joss paper in a damp basement, and to steal the urn… I figured it was unlikely that anyone from the Xi family would do such a thing."
"An excellent line of inquiry," Tan Xunwen commented.
There wasn't a trace of regret on his face. Even if he could do it all over again, he would do the same, perhaps just being a little more careful to ensure he killed Xi Zhoulu before the Xi family arrived.
He added, "Then, my clever niece…"
Xi Zhoulu suddenly spoke, cutting him off. "By the way, Uncle, I think I forgot to tell you. Because of your unstable condition, you require a blood-related guardian to accompany and supervise you."
"What?"
"Unfortunately, my maternal grandparents have passed away, so I, as your closest living relative, am the only one who can act as your guardian."
Xi Zhoulu seemed to smile slightly. "But my legs are also inconvenient, and I might be neglectful at times. So, I've found a psychiatric hospital with excellent medical facilities and experienced staff for you, so you can receive proper treatment the moment you are released from prison."
The man across from her was completely stunned.
Then he saw Xi Zhoulu add, "Don't worry. I've invested a lot of money in this hospital. It's enough for you to receive treatment there for the rest of your life."
As her words fell, she didn't wait for Tan Xunwen's reaction. She turned her wheelchair and left.
"Xi Zhoulu, get back here!"
"The Xi family! I want the entire Xi family dead! You're all trash! Trash!"
"I want all of you to kneel and atone to my sister!"
"Xi Zhoulu!"
"Ahhh!!!"
The light that had just been on the floor struggled to pierce the darkness, stopping at the bars. The man inside completely broke down, screaming and slamming his cuffed hands on the table with loud thuds. But soon, someone rushed over. With a swing of an electric baton, Tan Xunwen trembled a few times and collapsed, unconscious.
Xi Zhoulu didn't look back. She was just thinking that learning Luo Yueqing's way of speaking wasn't bad. It could really infuriate people when necessary, like now.
She slowly wheeled herself to the entrance. Before she could leave, a police officer approached her with a troubled expression and said in a low voice, "CEO Xi, your father is demanding to see you…"
Xi Zhoulu raised an eyebrow, unsurprised. She knew what he would say. It would either be hateful curses or pleas for his wife and son.
But Xi Zhoulu didn't want to hear any of it. She thought for a moment and refused. "I don't want to see him."
The officer was instantly at a loss. It was a death row inmate's final wish, and they felt troubled that they couldn't fulfill it.
"But I can leave a message for him."
At her words, the officer's eyes lit up. That could work!
Xi Zhoulu saw what he was thinking, merely smiled, and said, "Tell him that the Old Master favored him the most. Even as he was dying, he never blamed him. He only wanted to remind him to retrieve the will, in which he left eighty percent of his assets to their family."
The Xi family's affairs had caused a huge uproar, and everyone in the Imperial Star was talking about it. How could this officer not know? But it was precisely because he knew that he stood there, stunned.
Was Xi Yunting really that stupid…?
But… but this wasn't the message he wanted. If he delivered these words, wouldn't Xi Yunting cause an even bigger scene?
He was caught in a dilemma. But Xi Zhoulu paid him no mind and left on her own.
The officer wrestled with himself for a long time before gritting his teeth and heading back inside.
He couldn't stand what Xi Yunting had done either—smothering his own father.
Pah! What a beast.
By now, Xi Zhoulu had reached the entrance. Several consecutive days of heavy snow had covered the streets and houses in a thick layer of white cotton. The warm sun fell upon it, soft and sparkling.
But that wasn't enough to hold her gaze. She looked into the distance, where someone was leaning against a car, smiling in her direction.
Xi Zhoulu smiled back at her. Unlike the coldness she had shown inside, this smile was softer than the snow on the ground.
Luo Yueqing ran over to her and lifted her into a princess carry, grumbling with dissatisfaction, "I told you to stay at home, but you insisted on coming out. What's there to see? Just a few pieces of trash."
She then felt Xi Zhoulu's hands, which had been tucked under the hot water bottle, and found they weren't the least bit cold.
Yet Luo Yueqing still frowned and said, "Too cold."
Xi Zhoulu laughed, wrapping her arms around the other's neck. She leaned in and whispered by her ear, her voice warm, "Then you can warm me up when we get back."
"Then it won't just be your hands I'm warming," Luo Yueqing's voice dropped, and ripples appeared in her beautiful peach-blossom eyes.
"Oh? For instance?" Xi Zhoulu asked with great interest.
"When serving CEO Xi, one must naturally give it their all, without a single omission," Luo Yueqing replied with perfect logic, the smile at the corners of her eyes growing wider.
And so, the legally married couple began to flirt right at the prison gates.
Duan Jia, who had run over to help with the wheelchair, quickly covered her ears, repeating, "I didn't hear anything, I didn't hear anything."
Butler Chen, who had followed her, could only shake his head. He simply picked up the wheelchair with one hand and Duan Jia with the other, then turned and walked away.
Luo Yueqing and Xi Zhoulu looked at each other and smiled.
Luo Yueqing said, "Let's go. Home."
Xi Zhoulu tightened her hold on her neck. Though the road was icy, the person carrying her walked steadily, holding her securely in her arms as they moved slowly forward.
The System's voice, which hadn't appeared for a long time, sounded in her mind.
Before it could ask, Luo Yueqing answered directly, "I've chosen to stay."
The cold, electronic voice vanished, leaving only the footprints in the snow, deep and resolute.
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