"Teacher Xue, we've lost."
Qin Fengwu's mouth was bitter.
Even with a surge of courage in his heart, he had nowhere to unleash it.
How ridiculous.
Xue Junmin did not wish to see Qin Fengwu, whom he had assisted for so long, defeated. He desperately thought of a solution and said to Qin Fengwu, "Mr. Qin, we must still have a chance. It's not necessarily a complete rout."
"Let me think. There must be a way."
"That's it!"
Xue Junmin suddenly remembered something.
Meeting Qin Fengwu's confused gaze, Xue Junmin said, "We still have two teams heading to support Gou Chen Pharmaceuticals and Kunlun Research Institute. If these two teams can firmly control these two major organizations, we will have the capital to negotiate with Xu Hanchen."
This could even buy the Qin family time to mobilize their troops.
Once the Qin family's forces were in position, they could counterattack Xu Hanchen.
This was not a bad way to survive.
After a moment of thought, Qin Fengwu asked, "How high is the feasibility?"
Xue Junmin said gravely, "I don't know, but it's much better than sitting here and waiting for death. At least it gives us hope. We can even join forces with the Li family's men and put up a desperate resistance against Xu Hanchen. Mr. Qin, you need to make a decision soon."
Qin Fengwu took a deep breath and said to Xue Junmin, "Alright, I'll go to the study now and suggest this to my grandfather."
"Wait for me here for a moment."
Qin Fengwu turned and left, heading to the Qin family's stronghold – Qin Jianguo's study.
Upon arriving at the study door,
Qin Fengwu saw his father, Qin Yufu, standing by the door. He frowned and asked, "Father, why aren't you entering the study?"
Qin Yufu said bitterly, "That's the old man's order."
"I'll go in and see him," Qin Fengwu said without hesitation.
Qin Yufu hesitated for a moment, then followed Qin Fengwu into the study.
To their surprise, the study was silent, with no sounds of discussion, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
What had happened?
Qin Fengwu frowned and quickly walked to the desk behind the screen.
The two of them immediately saw Qin Jianguo sitting slumped behind the desk. Qin Jianguo's eyes were vacant and listless, as if he had suffered some severe blow.
"Grandpa, what's wrong?" Qin Fengwu stepped forward to inquire.
Qin Yufu followed behind Qin Fengwu, "Dad, you... what happened?"
The two spoke one after another, but Qin Jianguo did not respond.
This made them even more anxious.
Qin Fengwu collected himself and immediately said, "In that case, I can only temporarily take charge of the Qin family and issue combat orders to the front-line troops."
As he reached for the phone, a withered hand pressed down on his.
Qin Fengwu's heart trembled, "Grandpa, why aren't you letting me make the call?"
Qin Jianguo shook his head.
Finally, he spoke, "It's too late. Just forget it."
"Xu Hanchen has been planning for this day for a full year and a half. When he sent troops to surround the Qin family, he had already cut off all contact between the Qin family and the outside world. Don't waste your energy on this futile effort," Qin Jianguo said with a bitter tone.
Qin Fengwu refused to believe it and frantically dialed.
Every attempt failed.
Qin Yufu thought of something, took out his phone, and looked at it. His face changed drastically.
No signal!
All three of them understood what this meant.
They had become trapped beasts, imprisoned in a cage.
"Why is Xu Hanchen doing this? Isn't he going too far? Since the founding of the country, when has such a shocking event ever occurred? If he does this, he will eventually be nailed to the pillar of historical shame!" Qin Fengwu roared.
Qin Jianguo, more insightful than his grandson, sighed and shook his head, "Xu Hanchen is still Xu Hanchen. Once he has an idea, he acts on it. We all thought Xu Hanchen was just a nobody, a country bumpkin whose ancestors were poor peasants. What achievements could such a foolish boy have?"
"Who knew..."
Fate and timing!
After cursing for a while, Qin Fengwu also grew tired.
Unwilling to accept defeat, he looked at Qin Jianguo and asked, "Grandpa, are we truly left with no choice but to surrender?"
Qin Jianguo smiled even more mournfully, "What else can we do? Do you and I have any other path?"
"As far as I know, out of the five major military regions – East, West, South, North, and Central – four have responded to Xu Hanchen's call to protect the capital! The remaining one will likely also abandon resistance. What we can do is to avoid causing further bloodshed and suffering for the land of China."
"Why?" Qin Fengwu was puzzled.
It was hard to accept giving up when they could fight to the death.
Qin Jianguo sat up straighter, and his cloudy eyes shot out a sharp, awe-inspiring light. "Because I am a soldier, a soldier of Huaguo. I cannot stand by and watch my country fall into chaos. What Xu Hanchen is doing today is retribution for what I did to him. It is the bitter fruit we deserve."
Qin Fengwu could not understand.
However—
No matter how unwilling he was, the situation was set in stone, and he could not reverse it.
Three generations of the Qin family sat silently in the study, smoking.
The commotion outside the study grew louder, even the sharp crack of gunfire could be heard, yet the three remained motionless.
After more than ten minutes passed,
the three noticed the commotion outside subsiding. Qin Jianguo then rose and asked his son and grandson to help him don his military uniform.
The study door was opened, and the visitor was the vigorous Lin Zhige.
Lin Zhige's expression was incredibly calm, with no trace of emotion visible on his face. He walked up to the three and said, "Old Master, please accompany me to the West Suburb Headquarters. Elder Xu wishes to see you."
Qin Jianguo looked up and stared into Lin Zhige's eyes. "I should have known your heart was always with Xu Hanchen. I shouldn't have kept you. The reason I've ended up like this is entirely my own doing."
Lin Zhige pursed his lips and said nothing.
A few soldiers emerged from behind him, intending to escort the three Qin family members away.
Qin Jianguo suddenly called out, "Stop! I can still walk. I don't need your help!"
This was his last shred of pride!
Lin Zhige acquiesced to Qin Jianguo's request, and after escorting the three into a car, they headed to the West Suburb Headquarters.
On this day,
the capital was in a state of panic.
Many descendants of prominent families and clans dared not venture out, fearing arrest by soldiers patrolling the streets.
News of the Qin and Li families being purged spread like wildfire across the nation and around the world, shocking everyone. After all, the Li and Qin families were the two most powerful aristocratic families in China, and now they had crumbled.
It was enough to cause sighs of lament.
Meanwhile,
at the military bases built by the United States around China, fighter jets frequently took to the skies, heading to the Chinese border to scout troop movements, causing the entire world to sense the faint scent of gunpowder.
A major conflict seemed to be brewing.