Qiang Ning knew Lin Dongruan was following her, but she had no way to find another temporary excuse to send her away.
She only hoped she could intercept her subordinates faster, so that Lin Dongruan would not have to face a murder scene directly.
While rushing toward Sister Zhou’s home, Qiang Ning was forced to summon her secret shadow guards in a corner alley. The shadow guards possessed the highest level of martial arts and skill; usually, they remained in the darkness, but once they struck, they took lives more swiftly than those on the surface.
These shadow guards were fine blades cultivated by Qiang Ning; they were rarely used for anything other than killing.
Now, she had to command them to rescind a death order—a move as absurd as using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken—but time was running out, and she had no other choice.
“Stop them. Leave her alive.”
As Qiang Ning gave the order, she felt a faint sense that it might already be too late. She had been entangled with Lin Dongruan back there for a long time. Ordinarily, the people she sent out would have killed Sister Zhou long ago; by now, Sister Zhou’s blood would already be cold…
After speaking, she slowed her pace, attempting to drag out the speed of Lin Dongruan’s following steps.
Of course, she was also doing this to buy time to think of an explanation.
If she didn’t make it in time and Lin Dongruan truly saw Sister Zhou’s dead body, she would have to shift the blame and promptly pull out a scapegoat.
For instance, some passing “beggar” went mad and killed her, or a “bandit” broke in to rob the solitary widow Sister Zhou and accidentally killed her… any reason would do, as long as Lin Dongruan was willing to believe it.
Beneath Qiang Ning’s overly beautiful skin lay nothing but sinister and unscrupulous tactics. She knew she was rotten to the core, so she simply discarded all conscience, leaving only a heart full of selfishness and harshness.
So be it.
She would hold on a little longer. If she truly couldn’t maintain the facade of peace, it wouldn’t be too late to reveal her true face before Lin Dongruan then.
In truth, she was also quite curious about what kind of expression Lin Dongruan would wear once she learned the truth.
Regret? Anger? Disappointment? Or… would she become hysterical for once?
Qiang Ning thought that Lin Dongruan was always so calm and indifferent; she had never seen that woman experience a moment of violent emotional upheaval.
Could a person like this saint actually possess the emotions of an ordinary human?
To delay time, her subordinates blocked the road ahead. Qiang Ning “naturally” took a slightly longer detour, leading the person toward the vicinity of the medical clinic.
There, Song Luo had already finished all preparations. The moment Lin Dongruan appeared, she was called into the clinic, forced to treat a patient who was “aching all over.”
A physician possesses a compassionate heart; it was impossible for Lin Dongruan not to save a person. Even if she was anxious to follow Qiang Ning to see the truth hidden beneath the mist, she still put the matter aside and went to see the patient first.
Qiang Ning utilized her soft-heartedness without a shred of guilt and successfully arrived near Sister Zhou’s house.
Her subordinates reported back: the good news was that Sister Zhou had gone to the market today. Because there were too many people in the market, her men never found an opportunity to strike, so they hadn’t been able to kill her immediately.
The bad news was—after Sister Zhou returned home, while the assassins and the shadow guards were deliberating, a little girl burst through the door.
It was Ruoruo.
Fearing the little girl would ruin their plans, the subordinates were forced to tie both mother and daughter up and gag them.
When Qiang Ning entered the house, this was the scene she saw—Sister Zhou’s graying hair was half-disheveled, looking like a madwoman, weeping with red eyes while glaring hatefully at the people who had bound them, seemingly questioning Qiang Ning’s betrayal.
“I didn’t intend to kill your daughter.” Qiang Ning entered the room feeling somewhat frustrated, found a relatively clean low stool, and sat down. Looking at Sister Zhou, she was at a bit of a loss as to how to handle this.
Ruoruo had seen everything. What now?
She didn’t want to kill the child, but children are mostly upright by nature. If she didn’t kill her today, the girl would surely find an opportunity to tell Lin Dongruan the truth.
“These ropes are tied too tight. She is still so small; there’s no need to use such force to bind someone.” Qiang Ning didn’t truly feel pity—she was never soft-hearted toward prey—but she still wanted to maintain the illusion of being “Sister A-Ning.” Thus, she spoke those hypocritical words and leaned down to help Ruoruo untie the ropes.
“Sister A-Ning, are you going to kill Ruoruu?” Ruoruo was young after all; seeing the scene in the room, her lips turned pale from fright. She trembled slightly, looking up at Qiang Ning. ” Ruoruo won’t go home anymore. If Sister A-Ning doesn’t want Ruoruo to go home, Ruoruo can just not go home. Can you let my mother go? I won’t go home… I won’t…”
How could a child understand the power struggles and disputes of adults? She only knew that it was because she had asked to go home that this consequence had been brought about.
Qiang Ning quietly gripped the blade in her sleeve, her expression softening slightly. “If Ruoruo is good enough, Sister can let you and your mother go. But Sister is truly worried that you and your mother won’t be obedient enough and will betray me immediately.”
Ruoruo shook her head while crying, hugging Qiang Ning’s leg. “I won’t. Ruoruo will never be disobedient again.”
Only then did Qiang Ning reach out and pat her head. ” Ruoruo is a good girl. When your Sister Lin comes later, don’t say anything you shouldn’t. In the future, when my affairs are halfway successful, I will take you to the Capital to play and guarantee you a life free of worry for food and clothing.”
Ruoruo nodded, looking up with some fear—her Sister A-Ning only had a gentle smile when in front of Sister Lin. When facing others, Sister A-Ning was always very stern and very frightening.
The windows of this house were covered with paper, so the sunlight could not filter in well. Half of Qiang Ning’s face was hidden in the shadows as she sat tall and upright to one side, looking like a towering and eerie ghost-god. Anyone who saw this scene would be afraid—afraid that her beautiful face would abruptly reveal a terrifying aura.
Soon, there was some movement outside. Qiang Ning knew her subordinates were alerting her that Lin Dongruan had arrived. She stood up in the room, feigning a look of panic.
Lin Dongruan stepped into the room, her body sensing the abnormality within before her mind did. She asked, “Why are there so many people in the house? What is going on?”
Qiang Ning turned her head. “Sister, the debt collectors have come. Sister Zhou couldn’t quite handle them, and Ruoruo was just tied up by them as well.”
Lin Dongruan asked Sister Zhou, “Do you owe a lot of money?”
Sister Zhou glanced timidly toward Qiang Ning.
Qiang Ning didn’t even give her a look; she simply stared into the air with her chin slightly raised. Although her gaze was vacant, the underlying threat was even more trembling.
Considering her daughter, Sister Zhou could only answer cautiously: “Ruoruo was very expensive to treat when she was sick before. Brother Geng borrowed a lot of money from the money lender; we are covered in debt.”
Lin Dongruan asked, ” Ruoruo isn’t hurt, is she?”
Qiang Ning said no, luckily, they arrived in time.
Lin Dongruan then questioned the debt collectors, telling them not to trouble the mother and daughter and that she could help repay the money.
Qiang Ning knew she had this kind of benevolent nature and truly didn’t know what to say anymore.
The “debt collectors” were, of course, very easy to talk to. After finishing their performance, they took the opportunity to prepare to leave the place.
Just then, Ruoruo suddenly reached out and pulled on one of them.
The man paused, looking down at the little girl in bewilderment.
Ruoruo: “I know about you and my mother.”
The man: ???
Qiang Ning also visibly froze, her brows furrowing.
Driven by the instinct to survive, Sister Zhou reacted quickly, hurriedly pretending to pull Ruoruo back to her side, “scolding” her for talking nonsense while showing an embarrassed smile.
To prove they were “trustworthy,” the desperate mother and daughter did not hesitate to tell such a lie to Lin Dongruan. In an act of survival, they couldn’t afford to care about humiliation.
Their initiative to keep one of Qiang Ning’s subordinates was merely to leave a watcher behind to show their loyalty.
Just like the clinic assistant years ago—if he wanted to live, he had to live under Song Luo’s strict control.
Qiang Ning was quite satisfied with this result, so she spoke magnanimously: “Since one of the debt collectors is an acquaintance of Sister Zhou, then there is no need for you or me to worry. By the way, Ruoruo is safe now, so stay at home from now on.”
Lin Dongruan, however, did not relax.
Walking out the door, she asked Qiang Ning: “If that person truly is an acquaintance of Sister Zhou, why did he tie up the mother and daughter just now? Do you actually believe such a clumsy lie?”
The situation had happened suddenly, and the lie wasn’t even one Qiang Ning had crafted; she could only go along with it.
Qiang Ning nodded and said seriously: “I believe it.”
If a forced explanation was needed, she could certainly provide one.