Hearing the mention of the Qin family, Chen Yan felt somewhat reassured.
“Mr. Qin agreed to help?”
“I already contacted him.”
Chen Xuan picked up the business card Qin Zhenghai had left behind.
“The owner of Imperial Court is Zhao Tianxiong, and he knows Mr. Qin. Mr. Qin said that if Imperial Court refuses to let you go, he’ll step in and say a word.”
That wasn’t entirely a lie.
Qin Zhenghai had indeed offered to help, and he had clearly said that Zhao Tianxiong wouldn’t dare refuse the Qin family. Chen Xuan, however, had declined. He had no intention of directly involving the Qin family.
“Mr. Qin will also send people to wait near Imperial Court. If anything happens, they won’t stand by and do nothing.”
The latter part was meant to reassure his family.
Chen Xuan had saved Qin Baichuan, and Qin Zhenghai had personally delivered two hundred thousand yuan in cash, along with medicinal herbs worth several hundred thousand yuan. In his parents’ and sister’s eyes, the Qin family clearly valued their lifesaving benefactor, so it was only natural that they would send people to protect him nearby.
Sure enough, Zhou Lan let out a sigh of relief.
“If Mr. Qin’s people are going with you, then nothing should happen.”
Chen Jianguo added, “Since the Qin family is willing to step in, the people at Imperial Court will have to show them some respect.”
Chen Xuan nodded and offered no further explanation.
He didn’t tell his family that he had asked Qin Zhenghai about Imperial Court’s background not because he intended to rely on the Qin family’s protection.
Imperial Court had no firearms. At most, it had a group of ordinary thugs carrying knives. With his current cultivation at the first level of Qi Refinement, Chen Xuan was already more than capable of dealing with them.
The Qin family was merely a trump card he could use to reassure his parents and sister.
Even if things truly exceeded his expectations, all his parents had to do was contact Qin Zhenghai, and the Qin family could intervene immediately. Chen Xuan had no intention of using this favor, but that didn’t mean he would cut off every possible way out.
Chen Yan said, “Since the Qin family is sending people there, I’ll go with you. I’m the one who signed the contract. There are some things I’ll have to explain in person.”
“You can’t go.”
Chen Xuan refused without hesitation.
“Why not?”
“What if you run into one of your former clients? If they find out that the Qin family is forcing Imperial Court to let you leave, you should know that the people Imperial Court entertains are all influential figures. Wouldn’t that mean making the Qin family offend someone else as well?”
“But if I don’t go, how could they possibly let you handle the contract on my behalf?”
“I’m going there to look over the contract and confirm the outstanding debt. If there are any procedures that absolutely require your presence, then after Imperial Court explains the matter clearly, we’ll arrange for you to sign the documents in a public place.”
“Then I’ll go with you.” As soon as he heard that they would be discussing the matter, Chen Jianguo immediately spoke up.
Chen Xuan looked at his father.
“Dad, you can’t go either.”
Chen Jianguo frowned.
“I’ve been out in society for all these years. I have more experience negotiating than you do.”
“Mr. Qin’s people agreed to look after me. If you and Yanyan go along, Imperial Court may think our entire family is showing up to cause trouble. If word gets out, it would damage their reputation badly. People in those circles care most about saving face. Even with the Qin family backing us, we still have to take their dignity into consideration.”
This time, no one in the family could find another excuse to go with him.
Chen Xuan raised his hand and gently rubbed his sister’s head.
“Stay here and keep Mom and Dad company. Once I resolve this matter, you won’t have to go back to Imperial Court anymore.”
Chen Yan looked at him.
“Will the Qin family really have someone waiting for you at Imperial Court?”
“Really.”
Chen Xuan answered without the slightest hesitation.
“You’ve already seen who Qin Zhenghai is. No matter how many connections Zhao Tianxiong has, he wouldn’t offend the Qin family over a mere one hundred and eighty thousand yuan. And even if they stubbornly insist on that amount, the Qin family has already casually given me two hundred thousand. What difference would another one hundred and eighty thousand make? At most, the Qin family would decide that I’m insatiably greedy, and this favor between us would be severed completely.
“As long as you’re safe, Yanyan, everything will be fine for our family.”
Those words completely dispelled the three of their doubts.
The Qin family had casually given away two hundred thousand yuan in cash and a wild ginseng worth four hundred and eighty thousand yuan. Clearly, they were a truly powerful family in Jiangzhou.
No matter how difficult Imperial Court was to deal with, it was still merely an entertainment venue.
Besides, even if the Qin family hadn’t sent anyone, what Chen Xuan had said made sense. He had saved the life of the Qin family patriarch. Asking the Qin family for another one hundred and eighty thousand yuan would be a simple matter.
“When you get there, call us first and let us know you’re safe,” Zhou Lan reminded him. “If you can settle it peacefully, then do so. Don’t get into an argument with anyone.”
“I know.”
Chen Yan sent the bank transfer records and screenshots of their conversations to Chen Xuan’s phone.
Chen Jianguo, meanwhile, handed his son a bank card containing eighty thousand yuan.
“If the negotiations go nowhere, come straight back. Since the Qin family is willing to help, there’s no need for us to clash head-on with the people from Imperial Court.”
“Okay.”
At eleven-thirty in the morning, Chen Xuan left the hospital alone.
Zhou Lan stood at the ward entrance, watching her son enter the elevator, yet she still couldn’t stop worrying.
“Old Chen, Little Xuan just recovered. Is it really all right for him to go alone?”
“Mr. Qin’s people will look after him.”
Chen Jianguo gripped Qin Zhenghai’s business card.
“Besides, Little Xuan saved the life of the Qin family patriarch. The Qin family won’t stand by and watch him get into trouble at Imperial Court. Little Xuan put his finger on the heart of the matter—their reputation.
“Little Xuan only just saved the Qin family patriarch. If something happens to him within the next few days, the Qin family’s reputation will suffer as well. People at that level care most about their reputation. Even if it’s only for the sake of their reputation, the Qin family will take action.”
Chen Jianguo truly was an experienced man of the world. He had seen through the essence of the situation at a glance.
Even if Chen Xuan didn’t take the initiative to call in the favor, Qin Zhenghai couldn’t really sit back and do nothing.
If something happened to Chen Xuan, Old Master Qin would not only berate them once he heard about it—the Qin family would also be subjected to criticism if word got out.
After all, Jiangzhou was the Qin family’s home base. If they couldn’t even protect the man who had saved their patriarch in their own territory, it would be humiliating.
Inside the elevator, Chen Xuan watched the numbers steadily descend, his expression calm.
With his years of experience in the cultivation world, he had long since realized that Qin Zhenghai would certainly send people to wait for him at Imperial Court.
But he didn’t need anyone’s protection.
With his family there, he would still have to split his attention to look after them. Going alone now meant he had nothing to worry about.
The elevator descended slowly. The advertising screen inside the cabin was silently playing a commercial for a new-energy vehicle. Chen Xuan watched the footage of its automatic parking, voice control, and assisted self-driving features, and his gaze lingered for a moment.
Ten years ago, he had carried a phone with him whenever he went out, but back then, phones were mainly used for making calls and sending messages. Mobile payments had only just begun to appear. At the time, he could never have imagined that they would become so widespread.
Back then, when buying a bottle of water, taking the bus, or eating a bowl of noodles at a roadside stall, most people were still accustomed to using cash.
Now, hospital bills could be paid through a phone, while ordering food, registering for appointments, and calling a taxi required only a few taps on a screen. The nurses in the ward had even told him that many examination results no longer needed to be collected at a service counter; they could be viewed directly on a phone.
“The marvels of technology are no less astonishing than the strange and wondrous spells of the cultivation world.”
Chen Xuan couldn’t help but sigh at the thought.