HBWMA -Chapter 48 Open Struggle, Hidden Schemes

Bamboo Garden.

The television screen was frozen on a close-up of Yao Jun delivering an impassioned speech. Shen Guiling lay with his eyes closed in the rocking chair under the window, a sarcastic, faintly cold smile hanging on his lips. The hypocrisy of politicians was noisier than cicadas in midsummer.

Buzz—buzz—buzz—

The phone on the coffee table suddenly vibrated. Shen Guiling glanced at it—another unknown number.

He answered unhurriedly.

“Dad.”

“What happened? Why didn’t it work?” Shen Qian was referring to the failure of last night’s allergy incident.

Shen Guiling thought for a moment. The “little dwarf” had very strange motives, and he was always cautious. Before figuring things out, he did not intend to tell Shen Qian anything.

“I don’t know either, but I did exactly as you instructed.”

Shen Qian’s tone was calm. “A-Ling, don’t lie. You should understand your position.”

A cold, mocking smile lingered in Shen Guiling’s eyes, but his voice remained unusually obedient. “Dad, whether I’m lying or not, you should know best. Or did Steward Zhao not explain things clearly to you?”

Last night, Zhao Ping had specially cooked a bowl of scallop congee. At that time, Shen Guiling already guessed he was one of Shen Qian’s people.

His father had spent his entire life being suppressed by the old master, and his mentality had already become severely distorted. Placing informants around him was nothing new for Shen Qian either, so Shen Guiling was not surprised.

Shen Qian fell silent.

Shen Guiling was right—before calling, he had indeed confirmed things with Zhao Ping. Because Zhao Ping hadn’t noticed anything unusual, Shen Qian had only been testing him out of habit. If there really was evidence, it wouldn’t have been just a phone call.

After a few seconds of deadlock, Shen Qian’s tone softened slightly.

“A-Ling, Dad doesn’t mean anything else. You’re isolated in the Shen residence, and Zhao Ping can help take care of you. I didn’t tell you at first because I was afraid you’d overthink things—especially after what happened with your classmates before…”

“About what happened before, I don’t remember it anymore. Dad doesn’t need to worry about it.” Shen Guiling interrupted gently.

Shen Qian paused for a few seconds. “Alright. We won’t bring it up. These next few days, go to the Qin Garden more often. Pay attention to who visits the Shen residence, and who the old master meets. Report everything in detail. Understand?”

“Got it.”

A trace of mockery flashed in Shen Guiling’s eyes. He glanced at the television screen, finding the man on the other end of the call even more nauseating than the face on the screen.

Fu Family, hillside villa.

The Fu family elder held a pipe between his teeth, fingers idly turning a jade bead bracelet, brows tightly furrowed as if thinking about something.

Fu Jiaming, however, did not have his father’s composure. He stood up and sat down repeatedly, anxious like an ant on a hot pan.

“Dad, didn’t you say this was foolproof? What now? Yao Jun is under investigation—such a big commotion, it must be the Shen family’s doing.”

The old master’s eyelids twitched slightly. Beneath his sagging lids was an indistinct, dark gleam.

“I heard that a few days ago, a cargo ship that had already left Nanwan Port and entered international waters was suddenly sunk for no apparent reason.”

“Dad? What do you mean?” Fu Jiaming didn’t immediately understand. To him, the two matters seemed completely unrelated.

The old master slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, calm and composed.

“Think about it. In Whale Harbor, who else has that kind of authority? Who would dare open fire in international waters without any evidence?”

Fu Jiaming immediately reacted. “You mean… the Shen family?”

The old master gave a faint sigh, rolling his pipe.

“It seems the Shen family lion can’t be moved for now. This game—we can’t win it. Tomorrow, go to the Shen residence and bring your wife and child back.”

“What?” Fu Jiaming froze. “Dad, this has only just started. Yao Jun is merely under accusation—they don’t even have evidence yet. Isn’t it too early to decide this?”

The old master frowned, exasperated.

“If you could put the same effort you use chasing women into proper matters, I wouldn’t still be scheming at this age with half my body in the grave! Use that pig brain of yours and think. What kind of man is Shen Zhuang? If he dared act in international waters, it means that ship definitely had a problem. Yao Jun visited me months ago and gave me a Ru kiln imperial porcelain piece. Do you even know where things like that come from?”

Fu Jiaming didn’t dare respond.

The old master continued coldly.

“Those treasures are priceless—but all of them come from illicit sources. The ship that left that night was carrying Yao Jun’s embezzled funds. He sold the Jinshan land for military construction in S-country, but publicly called it military aid. Now that ship has been sunk and seized—do you think Shen Zhuang won’t have evidence?”

Fu Jiaming was nearly frightened out of his wits.

“Then… then what do we do? Dad, we accepted Yao Jun’s benefits, and the Jinshan land deal was also arranged by you. If Yao Jun falls, won’t our Fu family be dragged down too? How is the Shen old master so powerful? We planned for so long, and he uncovered everything so quickly…”

The old master shook his head, deeply regretful.

“We were still too impatient. We originally wanted to use the Jinshan land to drag the Xiao family into this as well, but instead we alerted Shen Zhuang. He’s ruthless—he’d rather let his son lose the position of leader than board our ship. We underestimated him.”

Fu Jiaming shuddered at the thought of his father-in-law.

“Dad… I thought this was a sure thing. I even didn’t hide Xiao Yan’s existence. Now Shen Jiao already knows about Xiao Yan. I’m afraid she won’t be easy to persuade.”

“You useless thing!” The old master erupted again, grabbing his bead bracelet and hurling it at Fu Jiaming’s face.

“Didn’t I tell you clearly? Play your role properly! Go to the Shen residence more often, stabilize your wife, and wait until Yao Jun takes power. And you? You treated my words like wind in your ears! Not only did you stop going to the Shen residence, you’ve been out drinking and fooling around. Are you trying to kill me?!”

Fu Jiaming didn’t dare argue at all, looking completely spineless.

“I know I was wrong, Dad. What should we do now?”

Fu Lingnan gritted his teeth.

“What should we do? I don’t care whether you beg or kneel—tomorrow you must bring Shen Jiao back. As long as Shen Jiao and Fu Sui’er are in the Fu family, we’ll still have room to negotiate with the Shen family.”