Chapter 17

***A WARNING BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER: SOME CONTENT MAY BE DISTURBING. EXPECT A MATURE SCENE.***

Ling Hao had gotten a mild concussion while his leg had been injured in the explosion. The first thing on his mind when he woke was to take revenge on the Xu family. However, he hadn’t even started moving when the Ling family’s companies were suddenly reported for illegal money-laundering and smuggling with plenty of evidence to back up both claims. This happened too quickly for them to react and by the time they had, their companies were already closed down by order of the court.

The companies who had dealings with the Ling family’s companies suddenly cut off all ties with them. The other upper-class families who were usually quite close with them, now avoided them like the plague. Creditors swarmed to their doorstep to claim their amounts owing. The Ling family was in dire straits and had no help coming.

“It’s not that I won’t help you. It’s that if I tried, we’d both go down together.” The Ling family had heard plenty of the above. The ones who were closest to the Ling family told them that someone was threatening them with some sensitive information and that the information would be revealed to the public should they dare help out the Ling family. Who didn’t have a bit of dirt on them in this world?

Destroying a business was a bit difficult but ruining a person’s reputation wasn’t.

And the Nangong family wasn’t doing much better. Nangong Zheng suddenly brought home an illegitimate child of his. This illegitimate child turned out to be merely a year younger than Nangong Jing. The marriage between Nangong Zheng and Mrs Nangong had been a marriage of convenience while his true love was the mother of that illegitimate child.

He had arranged for the bastard to work in one of the branch companies much earlier but this time, he brought him back to the main company. Although his position wasn’t as good as Nangong Jing’s it was still an important one nevertheless. Nangong Jing’s relationship with Nangong Zheng dropped to rock bottom. However, Nangong Jing didn’t have complete control in the company. A few people who had long since been dissatisfied with him sided with the illegitimate child and the two got into a struggle for decision-making power in the company.

Nangong Jing had lived without worries for more than 20 years and had never before met a setback this big. ‘That bastard roped in quite a few people in the company. He’s only entered the main company for a short while but he’s already roped in my opposition with sweet words!’

“Big brother, thanks for giving me this opportunity to be the supervisor for this project, really. Rest assured, I’ll definitely do it well and won’t disappoint you.” The youth had a slight smile on his face and his tone was warm and gentle, as if they were truly siblings[1].

Nangong Jing’s hands clenched into fists and green veins could be seen popping up from the backs of his hands. His expression was dark and cold. He had pretty much done almost all the work for the project but because of a single error of judgement on his part, this bastard got to reap the benefits.

“Don’t call me ‘big brother’, it disgusts me.” Nangong Jing forced himself to calm down. He couldn’t reveal any weaknesses in front of this bastard.

The youth gave a slight smile. “Big brother, we are related by blood. You can’t deny this fact.”

His words caused Nangong Jing to think of his mother who had collapsed upon hearing about the bastard, causing rage to bubble up in his heart. Nangong Jing charged over to the youth and started beating him up. ‘Who the hell is related to you by blood? You’re just a fucking bastard and you dare to be so arrogant!’

News of the two fighting quickly circulated through the company. Because the youth had not retaliated throughout and was on the receiving end of the beating, the public opinion in the company supported him. And the previously unclear matter of the dissolved engagement was dug up by someone. Nangong Jing had slept with another woman and when he got caught by his then fiancée, the Young Miss of the Xu family, she couldn’t take it and broke the engagement with him.

Had the matter with the bastard not occurred, this matter would not have been blown as out of proportion as it was. However, now with plenty of people with the motive to fan the flames, this matter escalated a few levels. Nangong Jing’s little lover was also dug up. News about how she had only met Nangong Jing because of Xu Chengyue and how her relationship with the youngest Young Master of the Ling family was ambiguous as well as how she was slept by someone during the ball naturally circulated as well.

Now when people looked at Nangong Jing, those gazes were as if they were looking at an idiot. He actually treasured so dearly a woman who had been slept by another man.

Nangong Jing had gone through a stressful day at work. When he returned to the apartment and saw Su Yiyi’s bashful appearance, he couldn’t help but recall the scene of her moaning under someone else’s body, stimulating his rage. He strode over to Su Yiyi and pressed her on the table, causing the dining implements on it to fall off.

“Jing, that hurt.” Su Yiyi hadn’t discovered that Nangong Jing wasn’t quite right as she chided coquettishly.

As if the beast inside him had been awoken, Nangong Jing’s eyes reddened as he roughly tore off Su Yiyi’s clothes. He entered her body without giving her any time to get accustomed to him. Su Yiyi sucked in a cold breath in pain. She had finally discovered there was something wrong with Nangong Jing and had started to struggle.

“Jing… Jing, what’s wrong with you… Stop for a bit, ah! …Jing, let go of me, let go!” Su Yiyi’s hands were trapped in Nangong Jing’s grip while her entire body lay on the table, unable to move. This time was different the times before, there was only pain and violence where before there was pleasure and gentleness. She had never been treated by Nangong Jing this way before so she was terrified. But no matter how much she begged, Nangong Jing didn’t reply to her, only getting rougher in his treatment of her.

By the time he finished, Su Yiyi’s body was filled with bruises while a tearing pain tore through her from her private area. She hugged herself and retreated to a corner of the sofa, her tear-filled face was full of fear. Nangong Jing kept apologising while he told her his current situation at the company and that it had made him lose his mind. He begged Su Yiyi to forgive him.

“Yiyi, I promise I won’t treat you like that anymore. I was wrong, please forgive me.” Nangong Jing lowered his standing as he apologised.

Although Su Yiyi was still afraid, upon thinking of Nangong Jing’s current situation, her heart ached for him. She choked, “You really scared me.”

“I won’t anymore.” Nangong Jing hugged Su Yiyi tightly while repeating this. The two embraced for a while before rolling in the sheets again. This time, Nangong Jing was much gentler, setting Su Yiyi’s mind completely at ease.

……

Jinman Building was the building where the most money was spent in this city.

People usually came here to have fun and relax. However, inside a luxurious private booth with the lights turned to their dimmest setting, a man sat there, appearing very nervous. He would scan the surroundings from time to time, as if afraid of being monitored. Just as his nerves had reached their tensest, the door to the room opened. The lighting was too dim so he could only vaguely see that it was a woman standing in the doorway. She was tall and wore a dress tailored to fit which hugged her delicate curves and accentuated her figure.

The switch was turned on, immediately lighting up the room. The woman at the doorway shut the door and walked with small steps towards the man. Her features were exquisite and there seemed to be a hint of a smile on her face. She was a very young woman. Her every move exuded elegance and nobility. Her eyes were extremely calm, even if that face was all smiles, not a single ripple was raised in those eyes.

This person, was Shi Sheng.

“You’ve {respectful version} come.” The man stood up, clearly on tenterhooks. It was quite clear he was afraid of Shi Sheng.

“It’s done?” Shi Sheng indicated for the man to sit, which he did, cautiously. His face was still filled with fear and anxiety.

“All has been arranged according to your instructions. The Ling family will face more and more problems in the near future.”

Had Ling Hao not participated in her kidnapping, she wouldn’t have dealt with the Ling family. Shi Sheng had never been kind to her enemies.

Shi Sheng nodded before taking out a folder from the bag she carried with her. “It’s all here. Remember, if I can find your weak spot once, I can find it again. I believe I don’t need to explain the consequences of betraying me.”

[1] Note that the siblings here refers to sharing both parents and not just one. Of course, the reason is because Nangong Jing’s the one thinking this. He’s got an understandable bias.

Author’s note:

Good morning little angels~

I updated early today, are ya surprised? Lalala~