Qin Yan drove alone.
Under the seat of her car, she kept only a small pistol. She always carried a dagger in her handbag for self-defense.
She never brought an adjutant or any other attendants with her.
When she arrived at the newspaper office, Qin Yan first called Ling Manyun into her office.
“Deposit this into my account for me.” She handed Ling Manyun the check.
Ling Manyun came from an excellent family and had never been one to make a fuss over money. But even she was a little surprised today.
“Is this your divorce settlement?”
It was more than she had expected.
“My husband gave it to me as living expenses,” Qin Yan said. “We’re not getting divorced. It was all a misunderstanding.”
Ling Manyun nodded. “All right. I’ll take care of it right away.”
Then she added, “Since you’re not getting divorced, you’d better pay more attention to what’s happening with the Nancheng Daily poaching our people.”
“You go ahead and get busy,” Qin Yan said.
Qin Yan’s newspaper had more than forty employees. They rented a three-story building on a busy street, and her office was on the third floor.
At first, she had written news articles herself. Later, she discovered that she was better at management and at creating opportunities that allowed her chief editors to make a name for themselves.
When it came to a sharp, biting, witty writing style, she was always just a little behind them.
Things had been relatively calm lately, and the newspaper was running smoothly.
If only Du Zhuojun hadn’t started poaching her chief editors…
Qin Yan thought to herself, Of the four chief editors, if I can keep even one, I’ll consider it a victory.
Whenever setbacks or disasters came her way, as long as she could preserve even the smallest spark, Qin Yan could always make a comeback.
She had never truly been defeated.
As for which of the four well-known chief editors would choose to stay, Qin Yan had no idea.
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand her employees. It was simply impossible to see through human nature until your interests were genuinely at odds.
She was preparing herself, mentally rehearsing what she would say when she spoke with each of the chief editors, when suddenly a commotion broke out outside.
“You can’t go in!”
It was the voice of another clerk.
Qin Yan raised her eyes and saw several burly men in blue cotton jackets push open the door to her office. Her clerk was trying to stop a young woman from entering.
“President, Miss Ling went to the bank, and then they barged in…”
The young clerk was nearly in tears. With Ling Manyun gone, there was no way she could stop these intimidating men.
Qin Yan waved her hand. “Go downstairs first.”
Six burly men stood at the doorway, surrounding Qin Yan’s office. Each had a conspicuous bulge at his waist—they were all carrying guns.
The young woman wore a pale yellow trench coat over a simple ivory-white dress. She stood before Qin Yan’s desk.
Qin Yan opened a drawer as she rose from her chair.
“Miss Du?”
“Young Madam Cheng, it seems you know who I am.” Du Zhuojun smiled. “You’ve been doing quite well, thanks to the benefits you’ve gotten from me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You still don’t know? It seems none of the ladies and young misses in Nancheng have told you the truth. You look three parts like me, and that’s how you were able to marry into the Marshal’s household.
“Otherwise, how could someone of unknown origins possibly marry Cheng Tianxun? You benefited from me. Is that clear enough?”
As Du Zhuojun spoke, her expression remained composed, and her voice never rose.
There was no smugness or anger in her manner. She simply stated it calmly, as though she were discussing an ordinary fact.
Her bearing was unmistakably refined.
“Since Miss Du knows my identity, why make such a public scene? Are you trying to set yourself against the Marshal’s household?” Qin Yan asked.
“You really are worthy of the woman who stole my teacher’s idea. You’re remarkably good at twisting right and wrong,” Du Zhuojun said.
Qin Yan looked at her in confusion.
“My teacher is Mr. Yu Shuhong,” Du Zhuojun said.
Yu Shuhong was the scholar who had first proposed establishing a vernacular newspaper to promote the use of vernacular Chinese.
“The idea of promoting vernacular Chinese and establishing vernacular newspapers has been discussed for many years. It wasn’t invented by Mr. Yu alone. If you insist on giving him sole credit, why don’t you ask the rest of the literary world whether they agree?” Qin Yan said.
“That’s just sophistry, Young Madam Cheng.”
“Since you came here today, Miss Du, why don’t you simply tell me what you want?” Qin Yan asked calmly.
“I came to tell you that since you stole something from someone else and made a fortune from it, you should at least have the decency to feel ashamed.
“Chief Editors Song and Ge want to leave, but you threatened their personal safety. I came here to ask you not to be so overbearing and interfere with the chief editors’ freedom.”
Qin Yan said, “Neither of them has ever spoken to me about resigning. If they tell me they want to leave, I’ll naturally agree.”
Du Zhuojun couldn’t help laughing.
“That’s wonderful. I knew that anyone with even a little conscience would have some self-awareness.
“Since that’s the case, I won’t say anything more about how you used me to enter the Cheng family or stole my teacher’s idea.”
She turned to leave.
“Miss Du…”
Du Zhuojun turned back. “Is there something else?”
“You barged into my office, slandered me, accused me of theft, and claimed that I used underhanded methods to imprison my employees—and you think you can simply walk away like that?” Qin Yan asked.
Du Zhuojun frowned slightly.
Qin Yan walked around her desk and approached her.
Then, in the blink of an eye, she grabbed Du Zhuojun and slammed her face down onto the desk.
The sudden turn of events happened so quickly that Du Zhuojun couldn’t help screaming.
Her attendants immediately rushed forward, cocking their guns and aiming them at Qin Yan.
At the same time, Qin Yan’s pistol was pressed against Du Zhuojun’s head.
“Let Miss Seven go!”
“Young Madam Cheng, don’t act on impulse!”
Du Zhuojun was trembling with fear. “Y-You… take the gun away.”
“Tomorrow, you’ll publish an apology to me in the newspaper,” Qin Yan said.
Du Zhuojun gritted her teeth.
One of her attendants remained relatively calm.
“Fine. Miss Seven will apologize to you tomorrow. Young Madam Cheng, let her go first. If this really gets out of hand, even the Marshal’s household won’t be able to clean up the mess for you. Why put yourself through this…”
Qin Yan raised her hand.
Bang!
The bullet struck the man in the shoulder. His pistol fell from his hand, and the force of the shot knocked him backward, sending him crashing to the floor.
Qin Yan’s aim was fast and deadly accurate.
Even as she fired, her elbow remained pressed against Du Zhuojun. The instant the shot was fired, she smoothly reloaded.
Then she pointed the gun at Du Zhuojun’s forehead again.
“Tell your men to put their guns down,” Qin Yan said to Du Zhuojun. “Otherwise, I’ll shoot through your leg first and make you a cripple. Then I’ll put a bullet through your hand…”
“Put them down! Put the guns down!” Du Zhuojun screamed.
She was utterly humiliated.
The elegant, dignified woman she had been moments earlier was nowhere to be seen.
Pinned beneath Qin Yan, she could feel her pride being trampled beneath the other woman’s feet.
“You know who my father is. You know who my uncle-in-law is. If you dare hurt me…”
Du Zhuojun tried to frighten her into backing down.
“You know who my husband is, and who my parents-in-law are,” Qin Yan cut her off.
Du Zhuojun trembled violently.
At that moment, Secretary Ling Manyun returned.
She was stunned when she saw the scene.
“What happened?”
Five burly men stood with their hands raised in surrender. One attendant had blood pouring from his shoulder. Pistols were scattered across the floor, and Du Zhuojun was pinned beneath Qin Yan.
Without saying a word, Ling Manyun immediately kicked the guns on the floor one by one toward Qin Yan, leaving only one behind.
She picked that one up and fired a clean shot toward the window.
Afterward, she expertly reloaded.
“Kneel!”
The attendants exchanged a few glances before dropping to their knees.
They no longer had guns, while it was obvious that both women knew how to use them. There was no reason to put up a pointless fight.
A wise man knows when to yield.
“All right. Kill her,” Ling Manyun said to Qin Yan. “Then we’ll never have to worry about her again.”
Hearing this, Du Zhuojun seemed to go mad with terror. She struggled desperately, fighting for her life and desperately searching for a way out.
Just as Qin Yan was about to lose her grip on her, she pulled the trigger.
The office fell silent.
Du Zhuojun collapsed limply onto the floor.
Only the echo of the gunshot lingered in the air for a long while.
The wounded attendant’s eyes widened in horror. The other five were so terrified that they could barely remain kneeling.
If Miss Seven died, their master and madam would tear them apart alive.