The scene fell deathly silent.
No one had expected her to be here—the Chu Family's most famous beauty, Chu Yan!
Chu Yan was known as the number one beauty in all of Jiangnan. Not only were her looks and figure outstanding, but she was also incredibly intelligent.
She had studied abroad since she was young and, though only in her twenties, had already graduated with a master's degree from a prestigious international university of finance.
In her first year back with the Chu Family, she led them to secure the rights from a major foreign corporation!
It was said she was now one of the most promising candidates to become the next Patriarch of the Chu Family!
Chen Li had once heard Han Jiancheng mention that the Han Family had recently landed a major project with the Chu Family—one that Chu Yan herself was in charge of.
'It seems news of the Han Family's troubles has reached the Chu Family.'
'This beautiful Miss Chu must be here to back the Han Family!'
Chen Li laughed triumphantly and hurried over to Chu Yan. "Miss Chu, I am Han Jiancheng's wife. When he was alive, whenever he mentioned you, he would give a thumbs-up and praise you as a truly capable woman."
"It's a tragedy. He always admired you, yet he was bullied in his own home and died a miserable death."
"Now that you are here in person, Miss Chu, I beg you to stand up for the Han Family, for me, a daughter-in-law of the Han Family, and demand justice from the murderer!"
"That madman, Xiao Ye, is responsible for the deaths of several Han Family members and has also killed many from my Chen Family. He must pay with his life!"
Beside her, Chen Peng remained silent. From the moment Chu Yan appeared, his eyes were glued to her, unable to look away.
He had long heard of Chu Yan's beauty, and seeing her now in person, he was practically drooling with desire.
'If I could get my hands on a peerless beauty like her, it would save the Chen Family a hundred years of struggle!'
Thrilled, Chen Peng cleared his throat and extended a hand toward Chu Yan. "Hello, Miss Chu. My name is Chen Peng. I'm related to the Han Family by marriage."
"This scum, Xiao Ye, is arrogant and tyrannical. Not only did he wipe out the entire Han Family, but he also killed over a dozen of my Chen Family's top fighters."
"That's why I brought my men here. I'm determined to subdue this punk and make him pay his blood debt in blood!"
"Oh?"
Chu Yan didn't take his hand. Instead, her lips curled as she looked at Chen Peng. "I'd like to know what you plan to do."
It was just a faint smile, but Chen Peng felt his bones turn to jelly.
This strengthened his resolve to use the excuse of avenging the Han Family to get closer to Chu Yan.
"Miss Chu, the Chen Family's losses are nothing. The main issue is our in-laws, the Han Family. They've been almost completely wiped out! By both sentiment and reason, my Chen Family cannot just stand by and watch!"
"No matter the cost, I will take Xiao Ye's worthless life today! I will use his blood as a sacrifice to the spirits of the dead!"
Chen Peng felt his speech was magnificently heroic and waited for Chu Yan to flash him another smile.
However, Chu Yan showed no sign of approval. Instead, she turned to Xiao Ye with great interest.
Her bright eyes scanned him carefully from head to toe.
Chen Peng waited a long time for Chu Yan's response and felt he had lost a great deal of face.
He wanted to lash out, but the thought of the Chu Family's power forced him to swallow his frustration.
The nearby Chen Li, however, didn't have his patience. She shouted at Chu Yan, disgruntled, "Miss Chu, what are you hesitating for?"
"The bodies of the Han Family members are not yet cold, and the murderer is standing right in front of you! You should deliver justice for the Han Family and kill that bastard Xiao Ye immediately!"
"Oh, and the Lin Family! We can't let them off either!"
"That bitch Lin Chuyue was supposed to be married into the Han Family. But that shameless seductress went and hooked up with that wild man Xiao Ye!"
"That shameless pair! They're responsible for so many deaths—neither one of them should be allowed to live!"
SLAP!
Chu Yan raised her hand and slapped Chen Li across the face, her expression full of disgust. "You're too noisy. The one thing I hate most is people telling me what to do."
Chen Li froze, clutching her face in utter frustration. "You... you dare to hit me?"
"With my status as Chu Yan, hitting you is a compliment."
Chu Yan tilted her chin up slightly and turned to Lin Chuyue. "So it was you who had Xiao Ye wipe out the entire Han Family?"
A bitter taste filled Lin Chuyue's mouth. First she'd angered the Han Family, which brought the Chen Family running—all of them were vicious demons, difficult to deal with.
And now, the arrogant and tyrannical Chu Family had appeared.
'It seems the Lin Family truly isn't going to make it through this!'
'So be it!'
'If this is how it is, why bother bowing and scraping any longer!'
Lin Chuyue took a deep breath, straightened her back, and looked directly at Chu Yan.
"Miss Chu, what happened to the Han Family did indeed start because of me. I was the one who asked Xiao Ye for help, the one who asked him to act."
"I will take full responsibility for everything. It has nothing to do with Xiao Ye."
"Kill me or torture me, do as you please. Just please don't harm an innocent person."
Lin Chuyue's words made Chu Yan's eyes flash. "You've got personality. I like that."
With that, she turned to Xiao Ye with a playful grin and asked teasingly, "For an ice queen like her to risk her life to protect you... Xiao Ye, you're quite the ladies' man!"
"But alas, of three thousand streams, one can only take a single scoop."
"Xiao Ye, I'll give you a choice. Do you want her, or do you want me?"
The moment she said this, everyone was stunned.
Chen Peng stood frozen. "Miss Chu, what do you mean by that? He killed the entire Han Family! We should be dealing with him, avenging them!"
The smile on Chen Li's face also froze. "Miss Chu, don't be fooled just because this mutt is handsome! Don't forget, the entire Han Family died at his hands!"
SLAP! SLAP!
Chu Yan raised her hand and delivered a slap to each of them.
"I'll say it again: the one thing I hate most is people telling me what to do."
"It's not your place to question how the Chu Family does things!"
Having been slapped, Chen Peng gritted his teeth and lowered his head. "Miss Chu, don't misunderstand. That's not what we meant."
"I understand. Miss Chu must want to handle this personally. Very well, the Chen Family will no longer interfere."
"However, you came alone, and this kid knows some kung fu. For your safety, you should let our Chen Family members protect you."
"Not necessary. I don't want to repeat myself a third time. You're annoying me."
Chu Yan looked away in disgust, her sharp gaze once again falling on Lin Chuyue.
It had to be said, with Chu Yan's aura on full display, Lin Chuyue felt the pressure on her multiply.
She could only do her best to straighten her back and maintain the dignity befitting a member of the Lin Family.
"Miss Lin, have you thought about how you're going to bear the consequences? There are some people you can't handle. When it's time to let go, you must let go."
Lin Chuyue didn't understand the last part of Chu Yan's words and looked completely baffled.
"Don't understand?"
Chu Yan laughed and said bluntly, "Your Lin Family is weak now. You can't even beat the Han Family of Jiangcheng, yet you want to make enemies of the Chen Family, and even my Chu Family?"
Lin Chuyue nodded silently. "Yes, the Lin Family has indeed fallen into decline. But a person cannot abandon their bottom line."
"Xiao Ye has saved the Lin Family several times. By both sentiment and reason, I cannot let him die here."
"As long as you are willing to let him go, you can do whatever you want with my life."
Xiao Ye was overjoyed to hear this. 'That's my wife!'
'She's willing to give up her life for me!'
"Wifey, hearing you say that makes my whole life worthwhile!"
Xiao Ye dramatically threw his arm around Lin Chuyue, then looked at Chu Yan. "Alright, that's enough. Don't really piss off my wife."
"If she's scared to tears, none of you are going to have a good time."
"Insolent! Xiao Ye, what kind of cur are you to dare speak to Miss Chu like that?"
Chen Peng immediately glared and shouted, "If you disrespect Miss Chu again, I'll take your worthless life!"
"You, shut up!"
Chu Yan cut Chen Peng off, walked to Xiao Ye's side, looped her arm through his, and smiled with enchanting charm. "He's my fiancé. He can speak to me however he wants."
"As for the Han Family, they were blind. They made my fiancé unhappy, so what if they were wiped out?"