HBWMA -Chapter 228 Restless Movements

“He’ll be back soon.”

Shen Lanxi put his phone back into his pocket and, almost absentmindedly, his fingers brushed against the longevity lock again.

He thought for a moment and slowly opened his mouth. “Actually—”

Buzz—

At that moment, his phone suddenly vibrated.

Shen Lanxi hesitated for a second before taking it out again.

It was a message from Gao Zhi.

[Young Master, something’s happened.]

Immediately after, another video was sent. It froze on a frame where thick smoke and raging fire were at their peak.

Shen Lanxi’s expression turned serious as he opened it.

Flames filled the sky as if they were about to burn a hole through it. The video was filled with howling wind and faint, intermittent screams.

The sound from the phone drew Jiang Huashan’s attention. She leaned over curiously—and froze when she saw the half-scorched sky in the video.

“Where is this?”

Shen Lanxi closed the phone. “Nanwan Wharf.”

“Nanwan Wharf?”

Jiang Huashan immediately realized the severity of the situation.

Nanwan Wharf… was on fire?!

But in her previous life, this plot point didn’t exist at all.

“Mom! Mom!”

Shen Jiao was applying a face mask in the living room when Fu Sui’er suddenly screamed in panic.

Startled, Shen Jiao quickly sat up from the sofa and rushed toward the side hall as fast as she could.

Just then, Fu Sui’er also ran out, and the two of them collided head-on.

“Hiss!” Shen Jiao clutched her chest. “What’s going on? Why are you shouting like that?”

“Mom, Nanwan Port…” Fu Sui’er grabbed Shen Jiao’s hand and dragged her into the side room, pointing at the TV. “Look! Nanwan Port is on fire!”

Today’s parliamentary proposal session was being broadcast live in Nanwan City. The studio backdrop just happened to show the entire Nanwan Port. The eight candidate council members were still engaged in heated debate when—

A burst of fire suddenly erupted in the background, stealing everyone’s attention.

A political livestream watched by millions instantly turned into a live disaster scene.

Shen Jiao stared at the screen in disbelief. Nanwan Wharf was the largest trade port in Country A—detonating something there was equivalent to striking the nation’s gateway head-on. This was no small matter.

Nanwan City, Hai Fu Tianfu.

A giant screen TV was broadcasting the rescue operations at the Nanwan government site. Amid the raging flames, reporters looked especially small. The chaotic footage and the cries for help made it painfully clear how sudden the disaster was.

Shen Guiling sat with his legs crossed, watching the scene on TV with an indifferent expression.

“Young Master A-Ling.”

Mo Ran walked out of the kitchen carrying a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Ever since her confrontation with Yao Ge, she had seamlessly taken over the job of taking care of Shen Guiling.

As a competent secretary and assistant, Mo Ran prided herself on having an unusually strong mental state—but after working with Shen Guiling, she finally understood what true composure looked like.

During the three years she spent under Yao Ge, she had done plenty of dirty work. She had assumed Shen Guiling would seize the opportunity to take revenge.

But he didn’t. Not only did he not, he remained unusually polite—so polite it was almost frightening.

Mo Ran handed him the juice with both hands. “The arrangements at Xiangshan Cemetery have already been made. We can go there tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” Shen Guiling nodded and took a sip.

“You’re too polite.”

Mo Ran still felt uneasy and thought it was necessary to show some initiative. “Young Master, may I ask… what kind of flowers should we prepare for tomorrow?”

Shen Guiling replied, “Anything is fine. You decide.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mo Ran nodded and left the room.

Shen Guiling finished the orange juice in one go, then picked up the remote and switched to a local channel.

Without exception, all of them were discussing the bombing of Nanwan Port.

After switching through several channels without seeing anything new, Shen Guiling lost interest and turned off the television.

Shen Qian must be overwhelmed right now, right? With such a huge incident happening in Nanwan at this critical moment, not only him—probably even the entire upper leadership of Country A was having a hard time.

The Bai family really couldn’t be provoked.

The next day.

Three black sedans quietly drove into Xiangshan.

Back then, Shen Qian had voluntarily resigned from his position as parliamentary speaker in order to give the people of Country A an explanation, so this memorial visit couldn’t be made in a high-profile manner. The cemetery had already been informed early in the morning and was cleared in advance.

Shen Guiling stepped out of the car in a black suit, his expression gentle.

Mo Ran handed him a bouquet of flowers. “Young Master A-Ling, we’ll wait here.”

Shen Guiling nodded and walked toward the cemetery holding the flowers.

Along the way, almost every tomb showed signs of offerings. He walked slowly, step by step, and finally stopped in front of a clean, well-kept gravestone.

“Mom, I’ve come to see you.”

He crouched down and smiled as he placed the flowers before the tomb.

The woman’s photo on the gravestone showed her when she was alive—smiling sweetly.

“For the past three years, I haven’t dared to come, because I was afraid you’d be angry. I’m sorry. I didn’t fulfill my promise to you. I couldn’t let go of my hatred.”

“It can’t be helped. Who told me I’m not your real child? So I’ll never be able to learn your kindness.”

“……”

Mo Ran and the bodyguards waited at the foot of the mountain. They originally expected to wait a while, but unexpectedly, Shen Guiling came down in less than ten minutes.

“Young Master, you’re done paying respects?”

Shen Guiling nodded. “Mm.”

Everything that needed to be said had been said. Now that his mother could no longer control him, whatever he wanted to do—he could only be left to it.

Mo Ran couldn’t help feeling that something was off. She opened the car door for him. “Young Master, are we going home?”

Shen Guiling shook his head. “To Father’s place.”

Mo Ran hesitated. With such a major incident in Nanwan, the master must be completely overwhelmed right now—how could he have time to deal with the young master?

But in order not to offend Shen Guiling, Mo Ran still nervously called Shen Qian.

The call was answered by an assistant. After hearing the request, the assistant went to ask Shen Qian—and to everyone’s surprise, Shen Qian directly gave them the address.

Mo Ran was shocked, and at the same time, she had to reassess Shen Guiling’s position in Shen Qian’s mind.

The Nanwan crisis was extremely serious. At a time like this, those who could stay by Shen Qian’s side were all long-trusted core aides. For Shen Qian to allow Shen Guiling to come over meant he intended to introduce him.

Mo Ran respectfully helped Shen Guiling into the car. Through the rearview mirror, she secretly studied the boy.

“Eye-catching beauty” was probably the biggest misunderstanding people had about him. His real strength was how he could subtly change people’s minds without them realizing it.

S Country.

The sky above the White Royal Palace was clear and cloudless.

In front of the palace’s white jade steps, two white elephants lazily knelt by a golden fountain, playing with water.

Twenty-one golden palace gates stood magnificent and dazzling, each guarded by two senior guards in red military coats.

At that moment, a middle-aged man in his forties hurried up the jade steps. He bowed toward the main hall before stooping to enter one of the palace gates.

Inside, a senior guard stopped him. “Her Majesty is meeting guests. Please wait.”

The man nodded and stepped aside, keeping a respectful posture.

“Bang—!”

Suddenly, the sound of porcelain shattering came from the side hall.

The man froze slightly and looked toward the guard at the door. The guard remained expressionless, eyes and nose fixed forward.

After a while, the door of the council hall opened from inside, and a silver-haired teenager walked out—his face marked with two bright red palm prints.