The room fell silent in an instant, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The Ye family trio couldn't fathom it, but the backgrounds of these two people were more formidable than the other! Three pairs of shocked eyes fixed on Chen Jinzhao and his companion, their breaths becoming rapid.
One was a young general, the other, the daughter of a super-family!
Regardless of which, the Ye family could not afford to offend!
Qian Deshui's eyes, bloodshot, were wide open as he looked at Chen Jinzhao. He had considered Chen Jinzhao's identity, considered countless possibilities, but he had never once imagined Chen Jinzhao to be a general!
Such a young general had a bright future ahead of him.
It was terrifying.
"How can he possibly be a general? Look at him, he's barely in his twenties!" Ye Zhengnian's voice was panicked, still unwilling to believe the truth. Li Zengqi said casually, "If you don't believe me, you can come back to the Jiangnan Military Department with me. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you something, this General Chen is the successor personally selected by Elder Xu."
"Elder Xu, Xu Hanchen?" Ye Zhengnian exclaimed in shock, completely losing his composure.
Li Zengqi nodded.
Ye Zhengnian's legs went weak, his mouth dry, and his gaze towards Chen Jinzhao changed.
Ye Zifeng also realized something, his body trembling like a sieve.
Thinking of what he had done and said to Chen Jinzhao earlier, Ye Zifeng wished he could slap himself. He regretted it; if he had known Chen Jinzhao was a general, he wouldn't have dared to provoke him even if it meant death.
"Dad..." Ye Zifeng began.
Ye Zhengnian didn't say another word, turning and slapping Ye Zifeng across the cheek!
"Scoundrel!"
"How could you offend General Chen and Miss Shangguan? Kneel down immediately and apologize to the two of them!" In his panic, Ye Zhengnian could only resort to this method to gain the forgiveness of Chen Jinzhao and Shangguan Yuanan.
Ye Zifeng dared not delay, and with a thud, he knelt on the ground.
Seeing this, Yun Yixue also knelt down.
The couple apologized to Chen Jinzhao in unison, their attitude as sincere as could be, making Shangguan Yuanan stifle a laugh. They were as arrogant as they were now dejected.
Ye Zhengnian breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly looked at Chen Jinzhao, "General Chen, would this be acceptable..."
Before Chen Jinzhao could speak, Ye Zhengnian quickly added, "Don't worry, my Ye family will definitely not let General Chen be frightened for nothing. We have several villas at the foot of Zijin Mountain belonging to the Ye family, and the Ye family can gift them to the two of you."
Those villas were priceless!
But compared to the foundation of the Ye family, Ye Zhengnian had to reluctantly part with them.
Li Zengqi looked at Chen Jinzhao. He wouldn't object to any decision Chen Jinzhao made, but he guessed Chen Jinzhao wouldn't accept them, otherwise, Chen Jinzhao wouldn't have earned Xu Hanchen's trust.
As expected.
Chen Jinzhao said indifferently, "Forget the villas, I don't care for them."
"Ah? Then..." Ye Zhengnian panicked.
Chen Jinzhao waved his hand, interrupting him, and continued, "Deal with Ye Zifeng as he should be dealt with. The law of the land does not allow for favoritism. And you, Ye Zhengnian, should also wash up and prepare to go to jail. Misusing public resources has severely impacted social order."
Li Zengqi smiled.
This was the Chen Jinzhao he knew.
Ye Zhengnian's mind went blank. Chen Jinzhao wasn't just going to send his son to prison, but him too?
At this critical juncture, Ye Zhengnian refused to go down without a fight. He immediately called his father, the Ye family patriarch, to inform him of what had happened and to seek help from higher powers!
Chen Jinzhao didn't stop him, wanting to see what tricks he could pull.
The two sides had already fallen out. Ye Zhengnian pulled his son up from the ground and said to Chen Jinzhao with a grim expression, "You are all from the military department, you cannot interfere in our system. This is a violation of regulations!"
"You're not qualified to bring down my Ye family!"
There were Ye family members everywhere in Jiangnan. Unless Chen Jinzhao could kill them all, the Ye family would stand tall.
"Then we'll see." Chen Jinzhao was completely unconcerned.
Ye Family Villa.
A stream of phone calls went out from here, spreading throughout Jiangnan, and finally to the capital.
And in the capital, movements were also being made.
Xu Hanchen, Wu Dingfeng, and Shangguan Yunhe were gathered in discussion.
The three shared a common philosophy but had different directions, essentially three distinct paths. However, their ultimate goal was the same.
"Did you hear? Something happened in Jiangning. The Ye family is targeting Chen Jinzhao, and your granddaughter is involved," Wu Dingfeng said with a smile, looking at Shangguan Yunhe, then at Xu Hanchen, whose expression remained unchanged.
The backbone of the three was Xu Hanchen.
Shangguan Yunhe also looked at Xu Hanchen, "Old Xu, what's the next move?"
Xu Hanchen opened his eyes and said with a light smile, "I was worrying about how to deal with the Su family. I didn't expect this kid to provide me with a perfect opportunity. We'll use the Ye family as a trial run to purge Jiangnan!"
"If the Su family doesn't restrain themselves, today's Ye family will be tomorrow's Su family."
The two nodded in agreement.
However, the Ye family was a local power, ranking among the top three in Jiangnan. Uprooting them would indeed be difficult.
Shangguan Yunhe glanced at his phone, receiving continuous text messages. He frowned, "The Ye family has found support from the Qin family. That young man from the Qin family has recently taken up his post in Jiangning. These two families have actually joined forces. With the Qin family backing the Ye family, things have become very tricky."
The Qin family was one of the nine great families in Yanjing, ranking among the top three.
As for the Shangguan family, they belonged to the middle three families, and there was still a significant gap between the two.
Xu Hanchen smiled slightly, "The Qin family has been too arrogant lately, do they really think the world belongs to them? I respect Old Master Qin, but I also dislike their family's ways. I'll give him a call."
The call was connected.
The other party was Qin Jianguo, the patriarch of the Qin family, who was still in office and held a comparable position to Xu Hanchen in their respective systems. These two had been rivals for years, neither willing to concede to the other.
"Old Xu, are you in a hurry?" Qin Jianguo said with a smile.
Xu Hanchen shook his head, "I'm not in a hurry, but I've decided to deal with the Ye family. Trampling on national laws, being disorganized and undisciplined, such a family has no reason to exist anymore."
Qin Jianguo snorted coldly.
These words were clearly a veiled jab, a sarcasm towards the Qin family.
But he didn't care. History books were written by the victors. As long as they could win this game, the Qin family would be safe.
"It's not that serious, it's just a minor mistake. They can correct it with a serious effort. Why make such a big fuss and affect stability?" Qin Jianguo said with a forced smile, attempting to downplay the situation.
Xu Hanchen sighed, "Your approach is undermining the foundation of the nation. I'm considering whether to have someone march into the capital to reinforce the emperor."
Qin Jianguo was furious, "Xu, what are you trying to do? Don't forget, the one guarding the capital is my man. If you dare to make any rash moves, I guarantee I'll have you detained before your people even reach the capital!"
"Don't push me!"
Even though Xu Hanchen was threatened, he still managed a relaxed smile.
"Oh really?"
"Why don't you make a phone call and ask if Lin Zhige still listens to your command? I'm determined to deal with the Ye family. No one can stop me."
Qin Jianguo's face changed dramatically.
When Xu Hanchen stated this so casually, he realized that Lin Zhige had already sided with Xu Hanchen. He couldn't understand why Lin Zhige would side with Xu Hanchen, given how well he had treated him.
"You're ruthless! But I still want to know, what exactly did you promise Lin Zhige?" Qin Jianguo knew he had lost. Abandoning the Ye family in Jiangning was a done deal. He just wanted to understand why Lin Zhige had sided with Xu Hanchen.
Xu Hanchen chuckled dryly and asked meaningfully, "Talking about money, don't you think it's too vulgar?"
"We have common goals!"