Mu Jiu Chen held Jiang Nuan's hand, standing in the autumn wind. The sea breeze carried a biting chill, yet the man's upright figure appeared even more sharp and imposing, his aura that of a supreme ruler of this world.
Mu Jiu Chen's dark eyes, deep as the sea, looked at Li He. "Li He, at the banquet, I told you all to wait and see. If you touch my Mu Jiu Chen's cake, you must bear the consequences. Bring my children up here. Let them go. Face me if you have anything to say."
Li He sneered at him, his gaze terrifying. He rarely got angry, but seeing his wife and children taken, how could he not be furious? Coincidentally, Jiang Nuan's three children had made a move, and he had brought them here by chance.
"Heh heh… Mu Jiu Chen, my life is forfeit, and your children will die with me!"
Li He smiled wickedly, looking at Jiang Nuan. "Jiang Nuan, does being exposed to the elements feel unpleasant?"
Jiang Nuan saw the three ropes, below which lay her children.
She hoped the people from Hope One would arrive quickly so she could stall Li He.
Hearing Li He's words, she slowly looked up at him. "Are you doing this just for money?"
Li He's smile had faded considerably. His cloudy eyes were bloodshot, his face contorted, and a terrifying aura emanated from him. The cessation of his smile did not bring gentleness; instead, it made the atmosphere even more oppressive.
After pondering for a moment, Li He looked at Jiang Nuan and slowly revealed the truth. "Your Jiang family, for three generations, has been destroyed by the Yang family. Jiang Nuan, you shouldn't have survived to come back and fight for wealth and status with my daughter."
"Three generations?" Jiang Nuan glared at him, her eyes cold. "So, the disappearance of my father was also caused by you?"
"Yes!" Li He looked at Jiang Nuan. Since she was going to die anyway, he decided to let her die with understanding. Jiang Nuan's life had been quite pitiable.
Jiang Shuo had intended to spare her life, letting her fend for herself!
"The one responsible for all this is your grandfather. Your grandfather never told you that he was a former special forces soldier. Back then, in the South China Sea Triangle area of Qi Guo, it was the Yang family patriarch's territory, which your grandfather took from him entirely."
"After returning to the country, the Yang family patriarch learned that Jiang Bei Chen had also retreated. However, Jiang Bei Chen did not know that the mastermind behind the scenes was the Yang family patriarch."
"Taking advantage of his drunken state, he sent people to abduct your father and abandon him at the Lu family. From then on, your grandfather was heartbroken."
"I was young at the time and watched all of this indifferently. I am a dog raised by Yang Tian Cheng. More than a decade has passed, and the seeds planted by Yang Tian Cheng back then began to sprout. The Yang family started to reap the rewards, gradually growing their influence through these dirty means."
"But I was still poor. So poor that I had no choice but to become Yang Tian Cheng's lackey to survive."
He was an orphan and could not escape his circumstances.
Speaking of this, Li He felt a pang of envy. "However, your father's growth exceeded our expectations. In just a few years, he turned the entire Lu family into a rising star in Mo Du."
"They joined the ranks of the prominent families. At that time, my wife also gave birth to Yi Yi, but her health was poor. I also did many unsavory things, fearing pursuit by enemies, so I swapped you, making Yu An her nominal husband."
"What about Jiang Xing Yu and Mu Yun Yun?" Jiang Nuan asked, looking at him. He spoke of these terrible events with such nonchalance.
Li He looked at her for a long time before speaking. "That was the Rong family's own doing. Rong Sheng, in his youth, was like his youngest son now—arrogant and never looked down on anyone. He ruined several of Yang Tian Cheng's cooperative projects. Yang Tian Cheng, being from the underworld, how could he tolerate being bullied?"
"That's why he had Yu An raise his son, and took his own son back to be raised by Jiang Shuo, to be used for his own purposes."
"By the way, your father was abducted by Tan Wen Bin. It was your grandfather who investigated him, which is why he died. His own son, however, was unknowingly raised by your grandmother."
"Yang Tian Cheng originally intended to wait for you to grow up and use you for his own purposes, but he did not anticipate so many things happening in the interim."
"He is now old, and his energy is not what it used to be. He handed over all his affairs to me to manage."
"What about my grandmother?" Jiang Nuan's heart trembled, but she felt that her grandmother's death might not be so simple.
Shen Yao was perhaps a stepping stone!
Li He sighed. "In the entire affair, your grandmother suffered the most, yet she was a clever woman. To protect your grandfather, she endured a lifetime of distance from him. She knew Tan Wen Bin was the one who abducted your father, and she also knew Jiang Shuo was Tan Wen Bin's son."
"Some destinies, I find quite miraculous. The day she died, she actually wanted to tell you the truth because you had grown up and also learned good medical skills and abilities. She let you endure all sorts of suffering to grow up; she knew you were often hungry and sometimes well-fed, but she wanted you to be stronger. Only those who have faced near-death experiences can become resilient."
"Your grandfather's financial resources and influence allowed for your reunion. Unfortunately, what she didn't know was that all of this was under Jiang Shuo's surveillance."
"Then your adoptive mother wanted to use you for a collaboration, but you ran away. Jiang Shuo then used this incident to provoke your grandmother. Your grandmother had planned for a lifetime; when you were in trouble and died, her heart also died."
"She drank the heart-stimulant medicine prepared by your father, combined with the news of your accident; that's how your grandmother died."
Li He spoke with a calm demeanor, but Jiang Nuan's pain was gut-wrenching.
"She was already old, why did you kill her? Why? Wasn't her life miserable enough?" Jiang Nuan roared at Li He, her voice breaking with agony.
She swayed precariously, her hope for survival shattered, plunging her into unbearable pain.
Over the years, in the dead of night, her heart had ached as if torn apart.
Li He remained unmoved by Jiang Nuan's anguish.
If he could choose, who would want to be a soul under the knife? If he had a choice, he too would have wanted a happy life, without having to hide for a lifetime.
"Nuan Nuan." Mu Jiu Chen held Jiang Nuan tightly, his heart aching terribly at her cries, his gaze fixed vigilantly on Li He.
Li He gazed deeply at Jiang Nuan. "Jiang Nuan, you can only blame our misfortune. I was an orphan from childhood and was raised by the Yang family. My entire life was given to me by the Yang family, and I could only act according to Yang Tian Cheng's orders. Your grandmother was truly regrettable. If she had been born in your era, you probably wouldn't compare to her."
"She was even more patient than your grandfather. When your grandfather was in despair and pain, she silently searched for your father alone. She obtained clues from Tan Wen Bin. In truth, her life had no regrets, didn't it?"
Jiang Nuan shook her head in anguish, tears blurring her vision, her heart tearing with pain. The truth caused her even greater suffering.
"Li He, you are not even fit to be human. You had children but lacked the courage to raise them, sending your own children to be raised by others. You even gave your own wife to another man. You are not fit to live in this world, let alone be a father."
"Yes! Jiang Nuan, you are absolutely right. I understand all these principles, but what does it matter? When your adoptive parents schemed against you, and when they didn't give you food, weren't you also powerless to resist?"