Chapter 636: Chapter 598: The Beauty Pie that Fell from the Sky! (2)_9
After hanging up, Qin Fan looked at Jiang Yino and said, "It’s a suite at the Eastern Hotel. Chang Yuanyi is guarding the door, and the two of them are sleeping inside. Shall we go?"
"Let’s go! I have to be with them!" Jiang Yino exclaimed without hesitation.
"Alright, then let’s go together!"
He pulled Jiang Yino out of the hotel and hailed a taxi that was waiting for passengers. After giving the address, the two of them sped toward the Eastern Hotel.
「Outside the 18th-floor suite of the Eastern Hotel.」
Chang Yuanyi, who had become immune to the stares from the hotel staff, was anxiously looking around, waiting for Qin Fan to relieve him. Leaving aside his exhaustion, there were far too many things he needed to handle with the current mess in Jinling. After waiting for nearly half an hour, he finally saw Qin Fan and Jiang Yino appear.
As if seeing a savior, Chang Yuanyi hurried over and bowed respectfully. "Lord Qin, Miss Jiang!"
"Mm, Young Master Chang, are they inside?" Jiang Yino was the first to ask.
"Yes, Miss Jiang, but the door has been locked from the inside. We can’t get in!" Chang Yuanyi said with a wry smile, his face falling.
"Can’t we get the hotel staff? I need to get inside, but we lost our phones, so we can’t call them!" Jiang Yino said.
"It’s no use. It’s deadbolted from the inside," Chang Yuanyi said, shaking his head. "The hotel staff can’t open it without breaking down the door."
However, after he finished speaking, he looked toward Qin Fan. Although the hotel staff couldn’t open the door, Chang Yuanyi, who had witnessed Qin Fan’s extraordinary strength, seemed to believe that Qin Fan would have a way.
"Yinuo, let me," Qin Fan said.
As Jiang Yino nodded, Qin Fan walked to the door. He used his True Qi to vibrate the deadbolt open from the inside. With a simple twist of the handle, the door swung open.
"Qin Fan, you can go now. I’ll wait here for them to wake up," Jiang Yino said quickly, without asking how Qin Fan had managed such a feat.
Qin Fan paused for a moment, then took Jiang Yino’s hand and infused a stream of True Yuan into her body to act as a telepathic link. He then said, "Alright, just call for me if you need anything. No matter where I am, I’ll hear you."
Not thinking too much about it, Jiang Yino nodded. She quickly pushed the door open, stepped inside, and deadbolted it again, leaving Qin Fan and Chang Yuanyi outside.
Sensing Chang Yuanyi’s hesitant, struggling expression, Qin Fan turned and said, "Let’s talk outside." With that, he started walking.
Chang Yuanyi followed silently behind Qin Fan. It wasn’t until they had walked out of the Eastern Hotel that he finally spoke, his voice tense. "Lord Qin, Jinling is in chaos. Everyone in the circle aligned with the Bo Family is on edge, but the higher-ups haven’t declared a stance yet. What should we do now?"
Qin Fan stopped outside the hotel and looked up at the sky, which had cleared after the snow. "It’s not about what ’we’ should do. It’s about what *you* should do," he said lightly. "The chaos in Jinling has nothing to do with me. As for your Chang Family, however, this is a perfect opportunity. Consolidate your power, eliminate your rivals... It would save me some trouble, too."
"But... wouldn’t that be too sensitive at a time like this?" Chang Yuanyi exclaimed.
"Sensitivity doesn’t matter anymore," Qin Fan stated. "In all likelihood, the entire world already has your Chang Family tied to me. So forget what’s ’sensitive’ or ’allowed.’ It no longer has any meaning. Now it’s just a matter of how you choose to act."
His words were meant to give the Chang family a choice. They could either stay on his ship and wait for an opportunity, or they could hastily distance themselves to sever all ties. He didn’t care which they chose; both were understandable human reactions. The only difference was that if the Chang Family chose the latter, their relationship would end then and there.
"This...!" Chang Yuanyi was rendered speechless.
A look of deep, conflicted struggle appeared on his face. The Chang Family belonged to the family, not to him alone; his father and grandfather were still above him. It wasn’t his place to make such a choice. Having been raised in the environment of the great clans, he understood the underlying meaning of Qin Fan’s words. But at this critical juncture, he simply couldn’t speak for the entire Chang Family.
Seeing Chang Yuanyi’s visible inner turmoil, Qin Fan gave a noncommittal smile. "There’s no rush. Take your time to think it over. In any case, my promise to make you my agent south of the Yangtze River will not change. That is an agreement between the two of us."
With that, he patted Chang Yuanyi on the shoulder and strode away.
"Lord Qin, I’ll see you off!" Chang Yuanyi called out urgently from behind him.
"No need!"
Qin Fan raised a hand, declining the offer. He coolly walked up to an approaching taxi, pulled the door open, and got in.
「Meanwhile, in the forbidden grounds of Beijing.」
Hua Xiaotian, who had been summoned by the higher-ups, finally appeared after deliberately delaying for several hours.
"Master Hua, you’re getting harder and harder to summon."
Inside the meeting room, as Hua Xiaotian pushed the door open and entered with a stern expression, an old man spoke, his words laced with a double meaning.
"It’s not that I’m hard to summon. I already know what you all want to say and do," Hua Xiaotian replied coldly. "I saw no need to rush, because your plan is a fatal mistake—one that will lead to your own destruction."
"Hua Xiaotian, what are you talking about?" another elder from the Forbidden grounds demanded, his expression dark. "You need to remember that you are a member of the Guardian Institute! Your duty is to protect the peace and balance of this Royal Territory. How can you undermine our own authority while boosting an enemy’s morale?"
Having shed all his usual calm and reticence, Hua Xiaotian shot the elder a powerful look and said, "If this is about dealing with Qin Fan, then I’m sorry, but I’m quitting the Guardian Institute. Find someone else. I can accept death, but I refuse to throw my life away, and I especially don’t want to die at Qin Fan’s hands!"
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