Chapter 138: 138, then die once more!

“Green Phoenix Vine, Imperial Capital…”

At those words, Lin Fan’s gaze became distant for a moment. The very mention of the Imperial Capital sent his thoughts surging, and memories of the past flashed rapidly through his mind.

Could this be the destiny that fate has arranged?

He had fled his homeland for a full seven years. And now, because of a Green Phoenix Vine, was he to go against his mother’s dying wish?

“You’re betraying the Huang family like this. Aren’t you afraid of being punished later?” Regaining his composure, Lin Fan stared at the middle-aged steward and asked calmly. “Or is this Mr. Huang Sr.’s idea, deliberately setting a trap for me?”

The man was a complete stranger. Why would he suddenly be so kind as to divulge such top-secret information? Lin Fan was no fool; he wouldn’t be so easily deceived.

“No, no, Mr. Lin, you misunderstand me…” The middle-aged steward hastily waved his hands with a bitter laugh. “I happened to overhear that you urgently need the Green Phoenix Vine as an antidote, so I steeled myself to tell you, even at the risk of my own life.”

“I know this is a betrayal of the Huang family… but a man has to live by his conscience. I can’t just stand by and watch you succumb to the poison, Mr. Lin.”

“You might not know this, but at the International Convention and Exhibition Center today, my daughter was the ’lucky audience member’ chosen by the Fang family.” At this, the middle-aged steward’s eyes filled with gratitude, and he bowed deeply to Lin Fan. “If it weren’t for your timely help, using that medicinal powder to reduce the swelling and neutralize the corrosion on my daughter’s face… The hospital said that if we had been just a few minutes later, her face would have been ruined. Her entire life would have been over!”

“…So that was your daughter.” Hearing this, Lin Fan’s brow relaxed, and he nodded. He had a faint impression of the female audience member. Thinking back carefully, her features did bear some resemblance to the man before him. He was probably telling the truth.

“Alright. I, Lin Fan, owe you a favor. If you ever run into trouble, you can come directly to me,” Lin Fan said solemnly, giving the man his mobile number.

“Thank you, Mr. Lin! I just couldn’t bear to see a good person like you be manipulated.” The middle-aged steward’s eyes lit up, and he thanked Lin Fan profusely once more.

“The Third Miss is named Huang Xiaoya. She’s a fourth-year student at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Frail and sickly since childhood, she dreams of returning after her studies to save others who are tormented by illness.”

“That Green Phoenix Vine was acquired by Mr. Huang Sr. after a great deal of effort, following the guidance of a sage. It’s said that if Miss Xiaoya keeps it by her side every night, absorbing its spiritual energy and plant essence, her constitution can improve.”

“Because of her health, she doesn’t live in the school dormitory but resides alone in a courtyard house near the university. Here is the address.” The middle-aged steward spoke quickly, handing over a slip of paper. “Mr. Lin, Miss Xiaoya is a kind person, and she is very polite to us servants. If you can help cure her, she would absolutely hand over the Green Phoenix Vine.”

“Alright, I’ve got it. As it happens, I’ll be heading to the Imperial Capital in a couple of days on business,” Lin Fan said, taking the note and nodding. He couldn’t help but think of what Yuan Youwei had mentioned before: that she and Mr. Yuan Sr. would be going to the Wen family in the Imperial Capital to personally call off the engagement.

“Then I wish you complete success on your trip to the Imperial Capital, Mr. Lin!” the middle-aged steward said, nodding happily. He bowed deeply to Lin Fan one last time before hurrying away.

***

“Did that man want something from you? Is Mr. Huang Sr. up to his old tricks again?”

After leaving the courtyard gate, Lin Fan returned to the black Bentley. The car started and sped away. Yuan Youwei, who had been holding her tongue for a while, finally couldn’t resist her curiosity and asked. Even Mrs. Xue, who was driving, silently watched the backseat through the rearview mirror.

“Yes. The man told me the Green Phoenix Vine is with the Third Miss, Huang Xiaoya. It’s in the Imperial Capital,” Lin Fan replied candidly, not hiding anything. “If I can cure Huang Xiaoya, I should be able to get the vine.”

He turned his head and stared blankly through the window at the dark, heavy sky in the direction of the Imperial Capital.

It seemed this trip to the Imperial Capital was unavoidable.

Seven years had passed; things and people had changed. How was he to face those old acquaintances… and the Ying family, those beasts who had inflicted upon him such deep-seated hatred?

「At this moment, in the Second Ring Area of the Imperial Capital.」

In the spacious and bright Wuyi Alley, deep within a sprawling former Royal Mansion, lights blazed. Servants of the Ying family moved in a line, carrying platters of various delicacies to a long dining table.

“Mom, it’s really Xiao Fan and Sister Suxin! To think the two of them actually managed to survive for seven years!”

At the head of the table, a beautiful woman in a moon-white cheongsam smiled and chatted, her captivating, clear eyes shifting away from the screen of a tablet computer. Her name was Shen Yueli, the second wife of Ying Wenyuan, the Family Head, and the current powerful mistress of the Ying family.

On the screen, a high-definition video was still playing. It was, in fact, the grand funeral procession where Lin Fan held Lin Suxin’s memorial portrait.

“It seems Sister Suxin and Xiao Fan are truly fortunate. What a pity they couldn’t have a family reunion. If Wen Yuan knew, he would be quite sad, wouldn’t he?” Shen Yueli sighed, tossing the tablet to a steward and turning to a dignified old woman beside her.

“Hmph. A scheming seductress with ulterior motives, and an unfilial spawn who rebelliously betrayed his family. They faked their deaths to escape, but they couldn’t evade the judgment of heaven,” the dignified woman sneered, a flash of intense hatred in her gloomy, triangular eyes.

She was Ying Wenyuan’s biological mother, the powerful Old Dowager of the Ying family. In the Imperial Capital, she was a renowned Iron Lady with an iron grip. On the surface, Ying Wenyuan was the Family Head, but in reality, all the power in the family was still held tightly in the hands of Mrs. Ying Sr.

“Shameless wretches, the both of them. Good riddance! I’m glad they’re dead and gone!” Mrs. Ying Sr. raised her wine glass, gesturing to a man in a black suit across the table. “Please forgive the display, Mr. Kim Soohwan. It’s rather distasteful to air our family’s old scandals at the dinner table.”

“Old Dowager, you jest,” the man known as Kim Soohwan replied, quickly raising his glass. He spoke fluent Xia language with a distinctive Goryeo accent. “Your family is the foremost noble house in the Imperial Capital. Any little stir here is major news that would shock the entire Xia Country!”

“Alas, Xiao Fan really is something,” Shen Yueli said, a smile on her lips but a hint of resentment in her eyes. “It would have been better if he had simply stayed dead back then. The state even gave him a national funeral, which everyone knew about.”

“And now he deliberately makes Sister Suxin’s funeral a grand affair, causing a sensation throughout the Southwest provinces. Isn’t he just trying to attract everyone’s attention and embarrass the Da Xia Military?”

Having said her piece, she chuckled and shook her head, then casually instructed the steward waiting nearby, “The Young Master intends to reveal himself publicly. As his family, we can’t allow him to make such a foolish mistake.”

“Shall we send someone to Haicheng to have the Young Master… die a second time?” Shen Yueli’s confidant immediately understood, bowing with a smile. “Please rest assured, Madam and Old Dowager. I will handle it beautifully and ensure the Family Head faces no criticism!”

“By the way, the Hai City Yuan Family and the Yun City Shen Family seem to hold Xiao Fan in high regard,” Shen Yueli said, her beautiful eyes narrowing as she smiled at Kim Soohwan.

This man’s status was extraordinary. He was the second son of the patriarch of the Kim family, a giant chaebol in modern Goryeo. His visit to the Ying family was to negotiate a partnership. The fact that he was being honored with a family banquet attended by the two most powerful women of the Ying household was enough to show the importance the Ying family placed on him.

“Mr. Kim, isn’t your family’s Guxin Group also planning to enter the Traditional Chinese Medicine market?”

“Is Mrs. Shen willing to help?” Kim Soohwan asked, momentarily stunned before his face lit up with eager anticipation.

“I vaguely recall that the Yun City Shen Family is a distant, collateral branch of my Imperial Capital Shen Family,” Shen Yueli said, raising her glass with a smile. “It’s just that so many generations have passed that we lost contact long ago.”

“Since they are a branch of my Shen family, they must acknowledge the main branch in the Imperial Capital as their superior. I shall take the liberty, on my father’s behalf, of offering the Yun City Shen Family’s Yunhai Pharmaceuticals to you, Mr. Kim. Consider it a small token for you to play with, a gift to mark our first meeting.”

Turning her head, Shen Yueli and Mrs. Ying Sr. exchanged a knowing smile.

“Mother, although Sister Suxin has been struck from the Ying family’s genealogy, she was still Wen Yuan’s first wife. How can we allow her to be buried in a remote place like Haicheng?”

“Send someone to Haicheng tonight! Bring my Sister Suxin’s remains back!”

(End of Volume One, “Returning to Oneself.” Please look forward to Volume Two, “I Am Not a Deserter.”)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep