The events at the Miao family's residence this afternoon were known to President Zhao in their entirety.
However, he was unaware of the content of the negotiations between Li Qianfan and Shen Huiteng and others.
But before Li Qianfan left, he had "warmly invited" Shen Huiteng and his group to visit the Su family on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. President Zhao had heard about this.
Coupled with the fact that the Ten Great Families had not stepped forward to vindicate Li Qianfan and Su Nanyin, or clear their names from the slander, President Zhao understood what was happening.
"Yes."
Su Nanyin nodded frankly. "I would rather bear the lifelong stigma of being a wanton woman than ever let go of Li Qianfan. I must tie him tightly to me to establish his new power."
President Zhao frowned.
He did not object to Li Qianfan establishing his own new power.
After all, President Zhao had personally made phone calls to try and bring the Helan and Tang families to Li Qianfan, who was currently ostracized and abandoned due to the scandal.
However, if Su Nanyin had the ability (President Zhao did not know that Su Nanyin possessed Shen Congdao and the two, these two powerful weapons) to clear their names from the slander, President Zhao would have hoped that she and Li Qianfan could return to their past lives.
After all, once Li Qianfan's reputation was cleared, the difficulties he currently faced, such as abandonment and the inability to smoothly inherit Longxu, would be easily resolved.
Yet, Su Nanyin chose to "play house" for real!
She further confessed to President Zhao that she intended to firmly tie Li Qianfan to herself.
"Guanyin."
President Zhao looked at the woman, fell silent again for a long time, and then slowly asked, "I can understand your spirit of sacrifice in perfecting the 'Four Phoenixes Circling the Beams' formation. You could even, on some day when you truly wear the shackles and atone, submit yourself to Li Qianfan. But those things cannot be brought into the light. Yet you are so high-profile! Have you truly been bewitched by Li Qianfan? Do you know that what you are doing is extremely unfair to him? Especially to Du Junlin!"
"President Zhao."
Su Nanyin smiled indifferently. "Putting aside whether I will accept Shen Yue's earnest advice and wear the shackles to atone and submit myself to Li Qianfan. Just speaking about the 'kindness' of many people who hoped I would die after the scandal broke, while thinking of Li Qianfan, I cannot accept that."
"Therefore, you are acting out of spite."
President Zhao's gaze turned stern. "You might as well throw caution to the wind and make your relationship with Li Qianfan public! It is to retaliate, or perhaps provoke, the Gao family of the Northwest and other families! To show them that you, Su Nanyin, possess the charm to make Li Qianfan willing to do anything for you! And ambitiously help him build a new power for your own use?"
Su Nanyin leaned forward, her red lips parting slightly. "What if I say yes?"
Bang!
President Zhao slammed his hand down heavily on the table.
He spoke in a low voice, "Su Nanyin, you are a selfish bastard! Your decision has not only desecrated Shen Yue and his sacrifice for you! It has also betrayed my trust, Zhao Guodong, in you! I see you as a wanton woman! Unworthy of being a mother (especially to Du Yaoya)!"
Su Nanyin smiled.
Her smile was tragically beautiful.
President Zhao, filled with righteous anger, stood up abruptly and pointed to the door.
"Get out—"
Before the word left President Zhao's mouth, Su Nanyin picked up a pen and swiftly wrote three lines on the letter paper.
"I am not only Du Yaoya's mother, but also Su Maomao's and Shen Chongchong's mother."
"As early as seven or eight years ago, Shen Chongchong, who was supposed to marry King Gao Ling, resolutely broke off the engagement due to her secret love for Li Qianfan. Half a year ago, her long-held wish was granted."
"Su Maomao, currently nearly five months pregnant, the father of her child does not have the surname Lin. Instead, he is surnamed Li! Li, as in Li Qianfan!"
After writing these three lines, she dropped the pen and picked up a cigarette.
She lit one and took a deep drag, then coughed violently.
Tears of coughing even sprang from the corners of her eyes.
Looking at these three lines of exquisite yet piercingly glaring steel-pen writing, President Zhao, whose heart was filled with righteous anger, was stunned.
After Su Nanyin slowly extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray, President Zhao slowly sat back down.
He muttered to himself—
"Maomao, Yaoya, have all been captured by the little rabbit, the little beast."
"For Maomao and Yaoya to coexist harmoniously, Su Nan Guanyin, the peacemaker, is indispensable."
"If Su Nanyin's reputation is cleared, she will have to stay away from the little beast to avoid suspicion."
"But Maomao and Yaoya are both focused on that little beast and will not separate from him."
"Without Su Nan Guanyin's peacemaking, conflicts might arise between Maomao and Yaoya."
"Du Yaoya's temper is not good."
"Moreover, once her reputation is cleared, Su Nan Guanyin will have to live alone."
"Her lonely old age is secondary."
"The key is that Dongtu Shipping still needs the Four Phoenixes Circling the Beams."
"There can be no Maomao, no Chongchong, and no Yaoya, but there must be one who wears the shackles."
"Most importantly, for the little beast to avoid dying of old age, he might still need Su Nan Guanyin to plant the 'Bi Yi Niao' and wear the shackles to save him."
"Both publicly and privately, it is destined that Su Nan Guanyin must hold the little beasts firmly in her hands."
"Using the scandal, to make the pretense real, and establish a new power for the little beast, so that he is no longer controlled by others, thereby maximizing the assurance that even if he cannot inherit Longxu, he can become a overlord."
President Zhao was indeed President Zhao.
From these three lines, he immediately connected and analyzed so much.
"President Zhao."
Su Nanyin sniffled. "I can be sure that if I am not by Li Qianfan's side, Maomao, whose relationship with him was not good before, will definitely not end well! I am also worried that Yaoya, who is naturally indifferent, will secretly deal with Maomao harshly if she finds out about Maomao's situation. Although this possibility is not high, even a slight possibility is something I dare not risk."
President Zhao closed his eyes.
He asked in a low voice, "He didn't accompany you, did he?"
That "he," of course, referred to Li Qianfan.
Su Nanyin replied, "I was afraid you would hit him, so I didn't let him come."
President Zhao said dully, "You think of him in everything!"
"This is what I should do."
Su Nanyin hesitated for a moment, then added, "Because he still doesn't know who the father of Maomao's child is. His relationship with Maomao, whether by accident or by fate, he did nothing wrong, and they cannot be separated."
*Clack.*
President Zhao, full of melancholy, lit a cigarette.
"President Zhao."
Su Nanyin's tone was indifferent. "Li Qianfan and I have made things clear."
If there was a way to solve Li Qianfan's premature aging and death, he would not care about Su Nanyin's life or death.
Su Nanyin would never allow him to touch her final line of defense!
She would only make arrangements for him and Maomao and Yaoya within a year, and then peacefully walk towards the end of her life.
"If—"
President Zhao's eyebrows twitched. "Only you can prevent him from aging?"
"President Zhao."
Su Nanyin instead said, "During the remaining eight months of Li Qianfan's life, facing death from old age, I will do my best to find Zhuang Wujian, arrange for her to be with Li Qianfan! And help him completely subdue Zhuang Wujian! As long as they are together, not only will Li Qianfan not die, but I will not have to wear the shackles. The key is that with Zhuang Wujian subdued, the Misty Village will have no source of unrest."
Ah?
President Zhao was stunned.
He thought Su Nanyin would say that she would wear the shackles to change their destined short fate.
It turned out that Su Nanyin had placed all her hopes on Zhuang Wujian.
"But, but Zhuang Wujian's age."
President Zhao stammered, but was interrupted by Su Nanyin. "Zhuang Wujian also has a daughter, named Luo Huayin."
President Zhao's eyes lit up. "You mean, Luo Huayin might be planted with the 'Bi Yi Niao'?"
"I cannot guarantee it."
Su Nanyin shook her head. "However, in all aspects, it would be best if Li Qianfan could subdue Zhuang Wujian. As for her being too old, it is indeed a problem. But when it concerns Qianfan's life and the stability of shipping, how can we worry about so much?"
"If, I mean if."
President Zhao carefully chose his words. "What if Zhuang Wujian is not an option?"
What if Zhuang Wujian is not an option?
This was a question Su Nanyin had repeatedly considered when she decided to secretly plan a certain scheme.
"If Zhuang Wujian is not an option—"
A flicker of pain crossed Su Nanyin's eyes. "President Zhao, I'm sorry. I really cannot accept the scene of me wearing the shackles and kneeling."
After she finished speaking, she stood up and quickly walked out of the study.
Her steps were a little unsteady—
Eight-thirty in the evening.
Su Xin's car slowly stopped at the entrance of the Su family's residence.
Su Nanyin, wearing a black mink coat, had just stepped out of the car when she saw Li Qianfan walking quickly out of the house.
She asked, "We are about to have dinner, where are you going?"
"Mom Meng just called and asked me to go to Mingyue Teahouse, saying there's something important to discuss."
Li Qianfan replied truthfully, then said to Su Xin, "Su Xin, no need to turn off the engine, I'll drive."
"Meng Yue is looking for you?"
Su Nanyin's delicate eyebrows rose. "I'll go with you."
"You're just a woman, what are you tagging along with me late at night? Yaoya and the others wanted to go, but I refused them."
Just as Li Qianfan finished speaking, Su Nanyin got into the driver's seat. "You are the sky of our family now, isn't it normal for me to follow you? Besides, who knows why Meng Yue, who doesn't understand social courtesies, is looking for you. What if she is deceived and sells you out? I'd have nowhere to cry then."
Li Qianfan—
He knew that this woman was worried that Meng Yue might bring unfavorable news about the Li family to her, which was why she insisted on going.
"Hurry up, what are you dawdling for?"
Su Nanyin urged him, then slammed the car door shut.
Mingyue Teahouse.
Meng Yue stood by the window on the third floor, her arms crossed, her brows deeply furrowed.
Behind her, in a private room, three other people were seated on a sofa.
One of them, a middle-aged man, was the general person in charge of Dongtu Biochemical Research, surnamed Ma, named Ma Hongtu.
As Ma Hongtu glanced at Meng Yue's back, his female assistant whispered, "Director Meng, do you think Director Meng can persuade Li Qianfan to contribute his spinal fluid to the International Biochemical Research Association for the research and experiments of an antidote for Guanyin worm?"
"Heh, it's just taking a little bone marrow, it's not taking his life."
Ma Hongtu chuckled silently and said indifferently, "Besides, this is President Chen's intention."