Chapter 692 - The Qian Family
....
The clouds turned darker and rain started to pour heavily. The loud noise of pouring rain seemed to envelope the world.
Xiong Zhi dazedly stared out of the window while her mind wandered.
The sound of the door opening made her wake up from her stupor.
Linfeng came in. He was holding a folder in his hands.
Xiong Zhi straightened up from her sluggish state. Her heart started to beat fast with anticipation.
"Is that the file?"
"Yes. An unknown man left it at the reception desk. It's quite risky if others got hold of this before we did. Good thing I left my men to watch the building the entire night."
"You've worked hard."
Linfeng and Xiong Zhi went to the couch. They stared at the folder that might contain Ming Zhi Yi's deepest secret.
This information might be a double edged knife for all they know, with a trap hiding behind it. However, no matter how dangerous it was, they would not back out. They had been investigating Ming Zhi Yi for a long time now. They badly wanted to know who this Ming Zhi Yi really was.
What was his purpose? What was his aim? And why was he targeting the legendary families?
They did not have the answers on this yet because they have no idea of who he was.
As was said in the saying, if you knew your enemy and yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
Thus, their hearts raced fast as they stared at the information that might lead them deeper into the den of their enemies.
Linfeng looked at Xiong Zhi.
Xiong Zhi nodded.
Linfeng opened the file.
On the first page was a picture of an old man. With a familiar black suit and the way he stood, everyone who saw him knew instantly.
The man was a butler.
This old butler was standing next to Ming Zhi Yi.
The details of the identity of the butler were written on the next page.
The butler was the son of the head butler of the fallen Qian family. There were old pictures of the younger version of this butler serving as the next head butler of the former Master and Mistress of the Qian Family in the parties of other families.
In the latter picture, Butler Qian Lu was younger with a full head of black hair, while in the former picture, he was clearly older indicating the passage of time. However, the features remained the same.
"Do you know him?" Xiong Zhi asked, peeking from Linfeng's side.
Linfeng shook his head.
"I don't know him personally. I haven't met him. However, after I spent the night studying the fallen Qian family, I found pictures of this butler in their former glorious times. This is, without a doubt, Butler Qian Lu, the son of the head butler of the Qian family."
But of course, it was not sufficient evidence to confirm that Ming Zhi Yi was truly a Qian.
"By the way, Qian Lu is the name of that old butler, isn't it? It's the same as the Qian family's surname."
"His father is also surnamed Qian. They likely took after the surname Qian."
"Hmm. So he must be very loyal."
"Well, he did stay beside Ming Zhi Yi even after the Qian family's fall."
They continued checking on the files.
The file also showed a picture of an old mansion. It was a hidden property of the Qian family strategically secluded somewhere at the top of a mountain. There were some captured monitoring details recorded in the doc.u.ment about Ming Zhi Yi's visits there all throughout the past years. Butler Qian also apparently stayed in that mansion.
This mansion was not known to the public as it was supposed to be the hideout of the Qian family's direct line member in case of emergency. Even the elders and relatives from secondary branches were not allowed to know this secret hideout. This was why when the Qian family fell, this mansion was left untouched.
The file gave clear evidence of the old mansion being the property of the Qian family before with the family crest as proof, but now it belonged to Ming Zhi Yi solely.
"Have you heard about this?" Xiong Zhi asked Linfeng.
Linfeng shook his head.
"Based on what I found yesterday night, all properties of the main Qian family were either sold or taken away by other Qian branches. Not one of their properties remained. This mansion is not included in the list. The file must be telling the truth. The Qian family branches also kept low-key in fear of getting targeted, and they slowly disappeared from the circle after declining."
Xiong Zhi looked at the file again.
This time, the last proof showed an old photo of the Qian family.
An old man with a sour and cold look on his face sitting with a cane on his lap… He must have been the family head at that time. Beside him was obviously his daughter, the young mistress who wore a dignified but gloomy face. There was an expressionless tall man behind the woman. He must be the man that the Qian family chose to have their daughter marry.
When Linfeng and Xiong Zhi saw the man and the woman, they were stunned.
The tall man looked eighty percent similar to Ming Zhi Yi!
Their eyes then darted to the small child at the center.
The young boy looked taciturn and cold. His expression was the same as his father's.
If one looked closely and see Lu Jin's picture when he was young, one could tell the blood relation between this child and the young Li Jin.
"This… This is really Ming Zhi Yi! He looked a lot like Lu Jin." Xiong Zhi expressed her shock. Her eyes almost bore a hole in the doc.u.ments. He had seen Lu Jin's childhood pictures back in Lu family's ancestral's photos.
Linfeng was dazed too. After a long while, he narrowed his eyes.
"It is no doubt Ming Zhi Yi. This picture has never been out in the public, so how did Lu Jin get hold of it?"
If they could see this picture in their family's database, then Linfeng would not have had a hard time linking Ming Zhi Yi to the former young master of the Qian family, nor would everyone in the higher society not recognize the man.
Ming Zhi Yi's father who looked very similar to him would not escape the eyes of other people, so why had not anyone linked Ming Zhi Yi to the fallen Qian family?
There must be a reason for it.
Since Linfeng was born at the time when the Qian family no longer existed in the circles, it was a given that he had no knowledge of that family.
Linfeng was more determined to investigate the Qian family deeper.
This is most likely related to the fall of the Qian family too.
Linfeng turned to Xiong Zhi.
"This is no doubt a big lead. But I am still wondering why Lu Jin gave us something big like this."
Xiong Zhi nodded. "We don't know his purpose, but it can give us a lot of room to think and to plan ahead. It is useful, but also truly shocking."
"We don't know much about all of it yet. I need to investigate it deeper."
"Mhm. Please be careful. We don't know what kind of trap Lu Jin has set up for us."
"I will."
Kissing his girlfriend goodbye, Linfeng left the room. His dark eyes burned with a dangerous light.
The d.e.s.i.r.e to unravel the secrets of their enemy strongly willed his determination.
He felt thrilled, finally being able to take a step forward towards the mysterious enemy.
It was not only him who felt that way, even Xiong Zhi who was left in the room felt her blood boiling.
If they could learn Ming Zhi Yi's secrets and motives, then facing him fairly would not be an impossible task.
Xiong Zhi smiled as she turned her head to look at the heavy rain outside. The gloomy weather contrasted her good mood.
They must thank Lu Jin for giving them such an advantage.
****
This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om