Chapter 45: 45, bite back?

“Nonsense! Complete and utter nonsense!” Yuan Ruohai’s face turned purple, and he looked as if he might explode with rage. Is this kid really his own flesh and blood? Why is he always siding against his own family? And of all times, he chooses now to betray his kin for the sake of so-called righteousness? Damn it, this is enough to kill a man with anger!

“I-I’m not talking nonsense! Last night, in front of Suxin Clinic, we all personally heard Su Mengqing say that she saw Doctor Jiang go over to Chen Biao’s side that night!” Under Yuan Ruohai’s glare, who looked ready to grind his teeth to dust, Yuan Tao shrank back but still shouted. “Grandfather, Taozi isn’t lying! Mrs. Xue and I saw it too. Doctor Jiang must have something to hide!”

Yuan Youwei and Mrs. Xue exchanged a look and nodded in unison.

“Good. In that case, let’s invite Doctor Jiang over and ask him to his face,” Mr. Yuan Sr. said with a smile, turning to Lin Fan, who was eating quietly. “Mr. Lin, if you don’t mind, perhaps you’d like to stay and listen as well.”

“…Alright.” Lin Fan put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a napkin. After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded.

This is all Yuan family business, so it’s not really my place as an outsider to get involved. But… that old coot, Doctor Jiang, actually recognizes the Seven-Core Deadly Lotus? Perhaps I can really get some clues about what happened back then from him.

A moment later, Doctor Jiang was brought into the dining room, nonchalantly picking his teeth with a toothpick. After being brought back to the manor by Yuan Youwei and placed under house arrest the previous night, he hadn’t been mistreated. On the contrary, he had been served fine tea and good meals, living quite comfortably. After all, he was brought here by Second Master Yuan Ruohai, so naturally, no one dared to offend him. Sensing the tense atmosphere in the dining room now, Doctor Jiang quickly spat out his toothpick. When a flicker of movement at the head of the table caught his eye, he saw Mr. Yuan Sr. standing there.

THUD!

Doctor Jiang’s face went white with terror. As if he had seen a ghost, he collapsed to the floor in a heap. “Ah… Mr. Yuan Sr.! Y-You’re alive?!” he shrieked. He then gasped in horror, whipping his head around and pointing a trembling finger at Lin Fan. “It was you! You’re the one who saved him?!”

“That poisonous insect was a Gu-bug from the Holy Poison Sect, wasn’t it?” Lin Fan asked, ignoring the man’s question. “And you? Are you a disciple of the Holy Poison Sect?”

Lin Fan’s mother had once told him about the so-called Holy Poison Sect. It was a sect that specialized in poisons and was known for its extremely malevolent methods, even going so far as to use living people to test its toxins. Eventually, due to their countless evil deeds, they were jointly suppressed by the major powers of Xia Country and driven overseas. They had vanished for many years… could they be re-emerging here in Haicheng?

“No, no, no! I don’t know anything! I’m not a member of the Holy Poison Sect!” Doctor Jiang’s face was ashen, cold sweat beading on his forehead as he shook his head frantically. “The Seven-Core Deadly Lotus is on you! It’s the ultimate treasure of the Holy Poison Sect, you should be asking yourself!”

Lin Fan’s brow furrowed as he stared intently at Doctor Jiang. Seeing the man’s abject terror, it seemed he truly didn’t know anything. He couldn’t help but touch the mark on his chest, a wave of disappointment washing over him. But the Seven-Core Deadly Lotus is the ultimate treasure of the Holy Poison Sect? Why did Mother never mention that… And what is the origin of this precious ring? For a moment, Lin Fan’s thoughts were a tangled mess as he lowered his gaze to the ring on his finger, lost in thought.

“Hmph! What damn Holy Poison Sect? I’ve never heard of it! I think you two are the ones with something to hide!” At that moment, Yuan Ruohai, who had been kneeling, scrambled to his feet. He pointed an accusatory finger at Lin Fan and roared, “Brat, I’ve suspected you for a while! Your appearance was far too coincidental. Why were you the only one who could save the Old Master? I say it was you! You colluded with Yuan Youwei to secretly poison him!”

As his words fell, the room erupted into a commotion. Many members of the Yuan family began pointing at Lin Fan, their faces a mixture of shock and suspicion.

“Second Uncle, stop your slander!” Yuan Youwei’s face turned cold, and she bit her lip in anger. “Lin Fan saved Grandfather! How could he possibly be the one who poisoned him?”

“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? Who knows what kind of schemes the two of you have been cooking up?” Yuan Ruohai retorted with a smirk.

“Then explain this,” Lin Fan said, his eyes darkening as he stared at Yuan Ruohai. “Why did those forces from the Black Tiger Hall suddenly show up to publicly support you?”

Anyone with eyes could see that the attempted coup this afternoon was something he had been planning for a long time. Without the promise of some enormous benefit, why would those underworld bosses have bothered to show up? And now, this Yuan Ruohai has the audacity to try and turn the accusation back on me?

“Hmph! I, Yuan Ruohai, do as I please! I don’t need to explain my actions to you!” Yuan Ruohai’s expression flickered, and he let out a heavy, angry snort. He turned to the quietly smiling Mr. Yuan Sr. and forced a placating look onto his own face. “Dad, you know I have some pull in Haicheng. It’s not too much to have a few friends who are willing to give me some face, is it?”

“Not at all, of course not,” Mr. Yuan Sr. nodded with a gentle smile before his tone shifted abruptly. “Then tell me, what about Ah Tai’s family? You sent them abroad for a ’vacation’ six months ago. Why haven’t they returned yet?”

The moment he spoke, a deathly silence fell over the room. Jaws dropped as every gaze snapped toward Yuan Ruohai. They all remembered how Ah Tai had suddenly turned on Yuan Youwei in the clinic last night, trying to shoot her. Blocked by the glass door, they hadn’t clearly heard his final words. But now, with Mr. Yuan Sr. raising the issue, the horrifying implications suddenly clicked into place.

THUD!

Yuan Ruohai’s face contorted in panic, feeling as if his scalp would explode. “Dad! It wasn’t me! It really wasn’t me! I… I was forced into it by Chen Heihu!” Gritting his teeth, he fell to his knees again before Mr. Yuan Sr. “They told me it would only put you in a coma, that your life wouldn’t be in danger! I was forced, I had no choice!

“Besides, would I be so bad at leading the Yuan family? In what way am I inferior to that wretched girl, Yuan Youwei? Everything I did was for the good of the family!”

His howls and roars echoed through the dining room while everyone else watched in silence, their expressions complex.

Mr. Yuan Sr. closed his eyes and asked, his voice heavy, “Seventh Brother, what do you and the others have to say?”

THUD! THUD!

Feeling as if doomsday had arrived, Seventh Uncle and the other elders all dropped to their knees and began kowtowing frantically.

“Tianguang, we were also forced by that beast, Ruohai!”

“Yes, yes! He’s a wolf with wild ambitions, and he tried to drag us old men down with him! He’s a truly heartless and ungrateful beast!”

“Thank goodness Mr. Lin appeared and saved the Yuan family from this disaster!”

Crying and shouting, they wasted no time in throwing Yuan Ruohai under the bus.

“Heh…” Mr. Yuan Sr. let out a bitter, sorrowful laugh. He opened his cloudy old eyes and shook his head slowly. “I never thought that I, Yuan Tianguang, would live so long only to find I’d raised a beast.”

“Dad, I was wrong, I was wrong! Please, forgive me! Let me go!” Yuan Ruohai begged, kowtowing desperately.

Mr. Yuan Sr. was silent for a long moment before he finally spoke. “Enough… Go south. And never come back.” He paused, then added a final decree. “Furthermore, effective immediately, control of Yuandao Pharmaceuticals is to be transferred to Lin Fan.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep