Chapter 219: Unknown Lineage
April 9th, Thursday.
That night, in the golden hall, soft and leisurely light music flowed through the air, soothing everyone’s body and mind. The club staff, adorned in colorful outfits, mingled with the members as usual.
Wan Yue had returned, slipping quietly back into her familiar luxurious private room, going and coming as she pleased.
Reclining on an opulent lounge chair by the floor-to-ceiling windows, Wan Yue, in a red evening gown, held a glass of wine, enjoying the splendid urban nightscape under the starlit sky.
Zhao Peng, still dressed in a tailored suit, stood quietly not far away.
“Zhao Peng, Feng Jiulong won’t listen to advice; he’s doomed… He completely washed his hands of the affair with Deng Baoyi and Nava. After all, Deng Baoyi was his lover for decades. To be this callous really shows how shameless a man can be.”
“Perhaps when he swore brotherhood with the old master Chu, he was just playing a trick of using one thing to gain another. Ultimately, he cannot escape the genes of a salt smuggler, always navigating the winds and currents.”
Wan Yue turned to look at the serious Zhao Peng and laughed: “This time, he thinks that by bowing to the dark arrow and submitting his name for covert cooperation, he can earn himself a death exemption.”
Zhao Peng couldn’t help but nod in agreement: “Yeah, rather than saying Feng Jiulong is a member of the Recluse Alliance, it would be more accurate to say he is just affiliated with it. He’s been engaged in smuggling for nearly a century, straddling both the legal and illegal worlds. His criminal record with the dark arrow must have long since piled up.”
“The internal division of the Liang family is significant, and both Feng Jiulong and Deng Baoyi have been behind the scenes, acting unethically to push things along. I don’t believe the dark arrow wouldn’t know about this. Now that the black blood clan forces from Southeast Asia have infiltrated, it will be very difficult for Feng Jiulong to regain the dark arrow’s trust.”
“It was only because of the strategic alliance between the Wang family and the Recluse Alliance, as well as to keep the Liang family’s development in check, that the dark arrow allowed Feng Jiulong to maintain stability in the south. Now that the Recluse Alliance is set to completely decline or even be dismembered, this should be what the dark arrow’s higher-ups most desire.”
Zhao Peng’s analysis seemed to stem from his recent trip with Wan Yue to Province G.
“However, Wan Jie, although Deng Baoyi is dead, Feng Jiulong has managed the east and west provinces for over a century; his prestige in the Recluse Alliance is not inferior to that of the old master Chu. He still has several loyal barons. If he dies, the country will be in turmoil.”
At this point, Zhao Peng frowned slightly, clearly still hesitant about Wan Yue’s judgment that Dali would take decisive action against Feng Jiulong.
“The Wang family has already let many barons fall victim; do you think the people behind the scenes would care about taking out another Feng Jiulong? Turmoil? There are those who would love it… He’s the only one who sees himself as invaluable, thinking that after the Wang family’s retreat, the dark arrow would consider stability and protect him.”
Wan Yue sneered, putting down her wine glass, and pulled out a cigarette.
At that moment, a burst of laughter came from just outside the half-closed door of the room, as if something particularly amusing had happened in the hall.
“Wan Jie, it seems Mr. Jin has arrived…”
Feeling a faint and familiar chaotic aura wave, Zhao Peng glanced at the door, slowly stood up, and looked towards the private box.
There are two groups of people likely playing tricks with Jiang Yao again, it must be fun for them, hehe, being young is great… Go, tell Xiao Dong to prepare some coffee; Mr. Jin seems a bit off today.
Zhao Peng awkwardly chuckled, touching his nose unconsciously, a pair of unwanted A cups of Xiao Ai flashed across his mind…
Jiang Yao was about to move to a new home, which was a rare piece of information released under “confidential” circumstances. Moving to a new residence is one of the few life ceremonies in Huaguo that doesn’t require too much low key.
Jiang Yan’s second trip to Northern Myanmar brought substantial rewards to Fengxinzi, earning over four million in personal rewards. Surprisingly, half of this huge bonus was unceremoniously stuffed into Xiao Ai’s hands by Jiang Yan, covering the cost of replacing all the new clothing in the club’s dressing room for the coming year.
The sisters of the Jiang family’s new house and subsequent renovation expenses had previously been clearly designated as rewards by Wan Yue. Jiang Yan’s generous move alleviated much jealousy in private, as such rewards were quite stimulating for the brief history of Fengxinzi.
Xiao Ai and the other knights believed that Jiang Yan’s willingness to spend would greatly enhance her popularity in Fengxinzi, as Jiang Yan had reached a level of power where money was no longer a concern.
However, deep down in Jiang Yan’s heart lay a “compensatory” mentality that the likes of Xiao Ai and others could not understand—her and Jiang Yao’s arrival would inevitably bring an unknown risk to the companions of Fengxinzi at some point.
The recent deaths of Xiao Mo, Xiao Xia, and others, as well as Xiao Ping’s successive falls, had already left Jiang Yan with subtle feelings of guilt; although the deaths of these people seemed superficially unrelated to Jiang Yan, they were all ripples stirred by the butterfly effect of changing circumstances.
“Sister, we’re moving this weekend! Xiao Ai and Sister Xiao Dong are coming to the new house to celebrate with a party!”
With a little sweat and a radiant smile, Jiang Yao ran up to the bar counter, her dress swaying with her movements.
Jiang Yao’s vintage floral dress clashed with Su Xiaomeng, who had arrived unexpectedly that evening, leading to another comedy of errors. Furthermore, with her growing “out of control” breast size the result of late blooming, Jiang Yao dealt a significant blow to Su Xiaomeng’s last remaining advantage, sparking quite a commotion that night.
“Aren’t you supposed to be going for check-ups every week this month? How about having Old Ninth Uncle Wang take a look at you? I think you’ve developed a bit too much in the past few months…”
Glancing at the other party’s chest, which was nearly D-cup, Jiang Yan lowered her voice and also glanced at the spiral staircase leading to the second floor not far away.
The sudden visit from Old Jin and Su Xiaomeng tonight caused a sense of unease in Jiang Yan, as she felt that Old Jin must have brought news related to Jiang Yao, and it surely wouldn’t be pleasant.
“Um, the visual error in this dress, it’s an error!” Jiang Yao quickly shook her head, feeling quite embarrassed. “That old Ninth Uncle, I feel a bit hypocritical; the last time you fainted in K City, I saw him touching you quite a bit. I’ve heard he’s not young anymore and should act his age…”
Since the fall of Zhou Ping, Jiang Yao had drastically changed her impression of the Wang family, now colored with a lot of personal emotions.
The old medical expert is even Master Jin’s doctoral advisor. In the eyes of this doctor, there should be no gender biases; you ought to stop that.
Jiang Yan frowned slightly and gently tapped Jiang Yao on the head.
Jiang Yao stuck out her tongue, glanced again at the passage leading to the back dining area, and hugged Jiang Yan’s arm: “Sister, is Meng Huai curious about your power level?”
Him? His knowledge of the blood clan is rather shallow. Jiang Yan did not respond directly to Jiang Yao’s question, casually adjusting her dress and checking her watch, “Alright, time to change clothes; it’s almost off work.”
“Jiang Yan, you go up and get down! The others should clock out.”
Suddenly, a cold voice from Wan Yue drifted down from the second-floor corridor.
Then, Old Jin and Su Xiaomeng came down the staircase one after the other, heading towards the front door. Halfway there, Su Xiaomeng turned back and forced a smile at the Jiang sisters.
The hurried arrival and heavy hearts of the duo seemed to echo the unease in Jiang Yan’s heart.
The two sisters exchanged glances, both feeling a twinge of anxiety.
“Wan Jie might talk for a long time; you can head back first; don’t wait for me.”
Jiang Yan patted Jiang Yao on the back, slightly adjusted her dress, and started heading up to the second floor.
……
On one side of the hall, at the entrance to the dining area, Meng Huai sat like a gatekeeper in security uniform at the corner, able to see the hall only through a small angle.
This kind of security job was a bit dull and unfriendly for young guys like them; I’ve gotten used to it. Liang Tai walked over from the back corridor, lightly patting Meng Huai’s shoulder, “Now it’s our turn to take shifts; you can go out for a stroll.”
“No need.” Meng Huai withdrew his gaze from the hall, pointing casually behind him, “Brother Liang, won’t the annual fire inspection expose the secrets behind here and underground?”
Liang Tai smiled mysteriously, raising a finger to indicate the ceiling, “This building belongs to the Wang family. The underground parts were designed to the highest standards for civil defense engineering. Whatever inspection, the Wang family will handle it in advance.”
Moreover, deceptions had been set for many years; just the emergency evacuation routes alone had three; I’ll get you a real layout map later; remember it well.
Upon hearing this, Meng Huai became even more convinced of Wan Yue’s claim that she had once been a part of the dark arrow.
Once inside the underground area of Golden River Club, it was just as militarized as the dark arrow, even more meticulously managed than Fengxinzi Villa. For this, Liang Tai had to guard it day in and day out for over a decade, living a monotonous life.
Returning to the monitoring room for duty, Liang Tai lit a cigarette and handed one to Meng Huai: “After staying here too long, it gets boring; just smoke if you want; fortunately, our blood clan isn’t bothered by it; we just want the nicotine thrill.”
“No thanks.”
Meng Huai had no habit of smoking, or rather, the subconscious principle of avoiding bad habits and maintaining health was still deeply ingrained. The extremely rare few times he had experienced tobacco were just due to specific moods.
Have you found a rental place? Right, have you found a rental place? Liang Tai stared at the monitoring screen. “Uh, for now, I’ll stay at Jiang Yan’s old house for a while; I can drop her off and pick her up from work.” No sooner had he finished speaking than Liang Tai let out a violent cough, as if he had been choked by the smoke. “Uh, alright, little brother.”
A minute later, Liang Tai finally recovered, slapping Meng Huai’s shoulder with a big hand, smiling mysteriously. “Good, good! It’s great to spend more time together; good relationships are built over time.”
Unlike Liang Tai’s exaggerated demeanor, Meng Huai simply smiled faintly. “By the way, Brother Liang, that person is Mr. Jin from the Wang family, right? He comes to the club frequently.”
On the monitoring screen, Old Jin and Su Xiaomeng’s figures exited the club. Meng Huai curiously asked, “How often?”
“Rarely, just more often in the past half year or so. Old Jin and Su Jie have known each other for about thirty years. Speaking of which, our establishment in C City basically relies on Old Jin’s support. If it were in the past, the Wang family wouldn’t have looked at us twice. We big men also don’t gossip. But everyone can see that Old Jin has feelings for our Wan Jie, hehe. This guy’s medical skills are impeccable, and his amorous history within the Wang family is infamous. Perhaps it’s finally nice to have someone he can talk with.”
Recently, Liang Tai’s friendship with Meng Huai had rapidly risen, and he had become much more talkative. “Actually, the Golden River Club is just for show; internally, it had been rather quiet and reserved for the past decade. It only got bustling after Xiao Yan and Xiao Yao came last year.”
“Last year?”
Liang Tai’s words piqued Meng Huai’s interest, and he turned to look back slowly. “Hehe, no probing, no probing. By the way, when they are off work, let’s go out for a late-night snack.”
Liang Tai realized he had shared too much regarding Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao, as both Wan Yue and Zhao Peng had issued a gag order, so he quickly shifted the topic. “Last year, didn’t Jiang Yan say she had been part of Fengxinzi for ten years? Or did they only become attendants last year?”
Meng Huai pretended to head to the restroom and walked out of the monitoring room. His mind was still dwelling on the details Liang Tai had casually mentioned. He already knew that there was a rule in Fengxinzi that one must reach the level of attendant to leave Fengxinzi Villa and join the Golden River Club.
However, if they were only promoted to attendants last year, how could they have achieved their current level of strength in just a year?
Once again rounding the corner of the passage, looking at the empty hall on the first floor, Meng Huai fell into deep thought.
In the luxurious private box on the second floor, Jiang Yan sat stiffly on the sofa, occasionally glancing at Wan Yue’s back, standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Wan Yue had lost track of how many cigarettes she had smoked before slowly turning back with a face full of helplessness. She had originally thought that the situation with the queen must have been fully grasped by the Engel family to let Zhong Jing use it as a bargaining chip, but unexpectedly, something had happened that no one saw coming.
Jiang Yan’s body trembled slightly, feeling even more unsettled as her hands squeezed the hem of her dress tightly.
The recent blood sample taken during the last physical examination underwent another check for blood clan lineage, and the result nearly startled Old Jin into illness.
Jiang Yao’s latest blood sample surprisingly showed an unknown blood lineage, not included in the eight major lineages.
To prevent errors, Old Jin quickly took out the last blood sample of Jiang Yao, and the test result still showed it was Siberian lineage.
Faced with this massive change, Old Jin had no choice but to rush to the Golden River Club to communicate with Wan Yue, not even informing Old Ninth Uncle Wang of this situation right away.
“I was overly confident…”
Wan Yue sighed, feeling a bit self-deprecating.
The door opened, and Zhao Peng walked in with a peculiar expression, holding a temporary blood lineage analysis report made for Jiang Yan thirty minutes earlier.
“How is it!?”
Wan Yue dropped her cigarette butt and stared intently at the report in Zhao Peng’s hand.
“Wan Jie, the result is…”
Zhao Peng glanced at the equally tense Jiang Yan on the sofa, took a deep breath, and revealed a bitter expression: “I ran two tests, and just as Old Jin said, the blood drawn from Xiao Yan just now also shows as unknown in the lineage examination.”
Wan Yue covered her forehead and shook her head repeatedly.
“Wan Jie, can Yu Yao and I no longer distinguish who the real queen is?”
Jiang Yan stood up, took the printed paper from Zhao Peng’s hand, lowered her voice.
“From the perspective that a queen must necessarily have the power to reproduce, she is. But now, I also don’t know. Unless there are deeper, undiscovered differences we are not aware of.”
“Perhaps Old Wang’s grandmother’s speculation does have some merit…”
Wan Yue began to pace back and forth in the room, suddenly pulling out her phone in front of Zhao Peng and Jiang Yan.
“Old Jin, please contact your grandpa immediately. I need to take Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao to meet her again.”
Old Wang’s grandmother’s speculation? Could it be that both I and Yu Yao can no longer distinguish who the real queen is? How could an unknown lineage appear…
Today, it should be the first time Jiang Yan has seen Wan Yue show such a nervous and anxious side; even when Zheng Shaolin was severely injured last year, she had never seen Wan Yue appear so unsettled.
“Fear mostly comes from the unknown; perhaps before the people who know the truth, it is all trivial.” Wan Yue walked to Jiang Yan’s side, gently stroking her long hair, regaining a calm smile: “Alright, let’s just consider it as our ignorance causing unnecessary worries. You can go back now. Even if the sky were to fall, someone would hold it up.”
Jiang Yan stayed silent, slightly bowing her head before leaving the private room.
At this moment, it was already close to two in the morning; the golden hall had long dimmed, and Meng Huai was sitting upright near the closest position to the spiral staircase.
“It’s too late; I’ll take you back.”
Meng Huai quickly stood up, still holding the car key Liang Tai had given him.
This is what people used to think of as a man escorting his girlfriend home, right? Looking at his increasingly handsome face, Jiang Yan felt a bit odd in her heart.
