Zhang Cuihua’s sobbing stopped abruptly, and the room fell into a terrifying silence.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to the lower half of Xu Mingzhe’s body, hidden beneath the blanket.
Wen Wan lowered her head, using her hair to conceal the smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Heaven really was on her side. Weren’t they always complaining that she couldn’t bear children? Fine. She would make sure the entire Xu family line ended here and now. The charge of “ending the family bloodline” could finally be pinned where it belonged.
“Everyone out!” Xu Zhiguo suddenly roared. “Except the doctor, all of you get out!”
Wen Wan obediently left the room and encountered Xu Mingli hurrying over after hearing the news. The usually sharp-tongued young woman looked terrified.
“Sister-in-law, what happened to my brother?”
“The doctor says he needs rest,” Wen Wan replied softly, a trace of coldness flickering in her eyes. “But your brother’s lower half was torn apart by a dog.”
Xu Mingli sucked in a sharp breath and suddenly grabbed Wen Wan’s hand.
“Sister-in-law! You can’t look down on my brother because of this! Our Xu family has treated you well!”
Wen Wan nearly laughed out loud.
Treated her well?
When she had been driven out of the Xu family in her previous life, this “good sister” had been the first to grab her hair and attack her.
“Mingli,” Wen Wan said gently, as casually as if discussing the weather, “you’re twenty-two this year, aren’t you? How come you still don’t have a boyfriend?”
Xu Mingli’s face darkened.
“What does that have to do with you? We’re talking about you right now!”
“I’m just curious.” Wen Wan tilted her head innocently. “Given how wealthy the Xu family is, suitors should be lining up at the door. Yet…” She deliberately left the sentence unfinished.
“What do you mean?” Xu Mingli demanded, her voice rising sharply.
Wen Wan pretended to hesitate.
“It’s nothing, really. Just that some people say the Xu family’s daughter is ugly and brings bad luck to her husband.”
“Bullshit!” Xu Mingli trembled with rage. “Who said that? I’ll tear her mouth apart!”
“Don’t get so worked up.” Wen Wan smiled sweetly. “Besides, you’re not exactly pretty.”
“You!” Xu Mingli pointed at her, her finger shaking. “How dare you insult me!”
That single sentence completely ignited Xu Mingli’s temper.
She grabbed a teacup from the coffee table and raised it to throw at Wen Wan.
“Mingli!”
Zhang Cuihua’s voice suddenly rang out from the doorway.
Startled, Xu Mingli’s hand jerked. The teacup crashed to the floor and shattered into pieces.
“Mom!”
Xu Mingli instantly changed expressions and threw herself toward Zhang Cuihua, sobbing.
“Wen Wan said I’ll never get married! She even said my brother deserved what happened to him!”
Zhang Cuihua’s face darkened instantly. Her narrow eyes fixed on Wen Wan with venomous hatred.
“You little slut! How dare you curse my son?”
In the past, Wen Wan would have burst into tears and desperately defended herself against Xu Mingli’s lies. This time, she simply shrugged.
“Mother, you misunderstand.” She spoke calmly. “I was only thinking that now that Mingzhe is no longer capable, and I haven’t given birth to any children, perhaps you should be generous and let Father have children with someone else. They’d still be part of the Xu family.”
Zhang Cuihua’s face alternated between green and white.
“Y-you… say that again?”
Wen Wan sneered inwardly.
You think I don’t dare?
She continued.
“At your age, it’s probably no longer possible. But Father is still in his prime. Having ten or eight children shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Wen Wan!”
Zhang Cuihua lunged at her.
Prepared in advance, Wen Wan sidestepped effortlessly.
Zhang Cuihua missed and nearly fell to the floor.
Wen Wan gave a slight bow.
“Mother, I’ll be leaving now.”
With that, she returned to her room.
After a quick wash, she sat down to think.
The night was dark, and the Xu family’s guard was down. There was a cellar beneath the estate—a three-level underground vault decorated lavishly with gold and crystal. Inside were countless treasures: imported liquor, priceless paintings, antiques, and collectibles.
The only problem was that she didn’t have the key.
Only her father-in-law, Xu Zhiguo, possessed it.
And that old fox would never hand it over easily. Even in her previous life, she had never discovered where he kept it.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded outside her door, interrupting her thoughts.
Wen Wan immediately lowered her head and pretended to be organizing clothes.
“Young Madam!”
Xiao Tao rushed in anxiously.
“The Master wants to see you in the study immediately! But he looks very angry.” She lowered her voice. “It seems to have something to do with the young master.”
Wen Wan’s heart tightened.
Could Xu Mingzhe’s injury be permanent?
No. If that were the case, Zhang Cuihua would already be screaming the house down.
Then what was it?
She straightened her hair and followed Xiao Tao downstairs.
Outside the study, Old Chen stood waiting, his expression unusually grave.
“Young Madam,” he said quietly, “the Master is furious. Be careful.”
Wen Wan nodded and pushed open the door.
Inside, Xu Zhiguo stood before the window with his back to the entrance, a document in his hand.
Hearing the door open, he slowly turned around.
His face was so dark it seemed capable of dripping water.
“Father, you wanted to see me?” Wen Wan asked softly.
Xu Zhiguo did not answer.
Instead, he slammed the document onto the desk.
“Explain this!”
Wen Wan stepped closer and looked down.
It was a telegram.
The message made her pupils contract.
“Plans have changed. Dispose of the ledger immediately. Military investigators have become involved. — Lin”
Lin?
Lin Xiaoman?
The military?
Wen Wan’s thoughts raced, but her face remained confused.
“Father, what is this?”
“Stop pretending!” Xu Zhiguo suddenly exploded, slamming his palm onto the desk so hard that the inkstand jumped. “Mingzhe said he hid the ledger in your room, and now it’s gone! Who else could have touched it besides you?”
So Xu Mingzhe had come clean to his father?
Wen Wan’s heartbeat accelerated, though she revealed nothing on her face.
“What ledger? I don’t know anything about it.”
“Bullshit!”
Xu Zhiguo cut her off roughly.
“That ledger concerns the life and death of the entire Xu family! If it falls into military hands—”
He abruptly stopped himself, realizing he had said too much.
The military.
Wen Wan instantly seized upon the key phrase.
In her previous life, powerful military-connected figures had indeed intervened when the Xu family fled. Many wealthy families had been swept up in political campaigns, yet the Xu family escaped with astonishing speed.
There had always been something suspicious about that.
This time, however, not a single member of the Xu family would get away.
“Father,” she said sincerely, “I truly don’t know anything about a ledger.”
She paused deliberately.
“Should we search the entire house? Maybe even the cellar? Perhaps Mingzhe hid it somewhere and forgot.”
Xu Zhiguo stared at her for several seconds.
Then he suddenly pressed the bell on his desk.
Old Chen entered immediately.
“Search the entire estate,” Xu Zhiguo ordered coldly. “Every room. Pay special attention to books, papers, and documents.”
Old Chen acknowledged the order and left.
Wen Wan stood still, her palms damp with sweat.
Perfect.
This would give her the opportunity to empty the cellar.
“Father,” she said, “I’ll go check on Mingzhe.”
Just as she turned to leave, Xu Zhiguo spoke again.
“Wait.”
He opened a drawer and removed an envelope.
“Tomorrow, go to the Military General Hospital and deliver this to Commander Li in Room 308.”
Wen Wan accepted the envelope, her heart skipping a beat.
Commander Li?
In her previous life, she had never known that the Xu family had connections to a military commander.
Could this be the powerful backer behind the Xu family?
“Remember,” Xu Zhiguo said, his eyes sharp as knives, “hand it to him personally. Do not let it pass through anyone else’s hands. If anything goes wrong…”
He left the threat unfinished, but the meaning was perfectly clear.
Wen Wan nodded obediently.
“I understand, Father.”