He comforted her, "I know Fang Jiangyi's incident must have hit you hard. But so far, there's no news, right? The hospital has shown no sign, which means he's still alive. Don't think too much."
Yan Xia could only force a bitter smile. How could he know what was on her mind?
Shangguan Yao was no longer the same Shangguan Yao as before. She couldn't tell him anything she knew now.
If he knew that she wanted to tip off Lu Qianzhou so that he could escape, he would surely stop her plan.
As if thinking of something, Yan Xia suddenly took a step back, putting some distance between them.
"Yan Xia, what's wrong with you?" Shangguan Yao noticed the sudden change in her mood.
But Yan Xia quickly composed herself, shook her head at him, and tried hard to hide any signs of unease.
"Your father..." Yan Xia hesitated for a moment, then said, "Have you ever thought that every cause has its effect? Maybe it was because of the bad things he did back then that he committed suicide in prison out of guilt. It's all his due, and no one else is to blame."
Shangguan Yao's expression froze for a moment.
He defended his father, "He did it to protect me, to save my life. That's why he chose to commit suicide before the sentencing."
"He was indeed not a good person. You know this very well, Shangguan. You just don't want to admit it." Yan Xia forced a bitter smile. "Actually, there's nothing wrong with admitting it. Now, whenever anyone mentions it to me, I'll admit that my father did do a lot of wrong things. He got what he deserved."
Her sudden and inexplicable words left Shangguan Yao confused.
Everything had been fine before. Why was she suddenly talking such nonsense?
"What do you know?" Shangguan Yao watched the series of changes in her expression. "Did someone tell you something?"
Yan Xia stubbornly shook her head. "No, no one told me anything."
Shangguan Yao frowned, and a fleeting emotion flashed across his eyes, but he hid it well.
"Even though my current situation is special and I can't help you with everything like before, you can still trust me. As long as it's right and legal, I'll do my best to help you. Yan Xia, I'm still your friend." He tried hard to bridge the gap between them.
"I know." Yan Xia forced a smile.
She didn't want to say more, and Shangguan Yao couldn't force her.
After that, the police communicated with her several times to confirm many possible details. Yan Xia memorized all the details. Finally, the police chief asked her,
"Our intelligence shows that Lu Qianzhou will definitely show up on the day of the deal. How confident are you that he'll appear?"
Yan Xia was silent for a moment before answering, "70%."
She couldn't get in touch with Lu Qianzhou now and had no idea what was going on with him. If he changed his mind at the last minute, she would be the one who would die on the day of the deal.
But he loved her so much. He surely wouldn't bear to watch her die like this.
But if he came, it would be a life for a life. He would sacrifice his future to save her.
She wanted him to come, but at the same time, she was afraid. Since learning some of the truth, Yan Xia had so many things she wanted to say to him. She just didn't know if she would ever get the chance to tell him in person.
In the end, all possible emergencies were predicted, and everything that needed to be explained was made clear. Only then did Yan Xia leave. Shangguan Yao's eyes followed her figure all the time. Emotions couldn't be hidden. Even her back showed a kind of helpless sadness.
Shangguan Yao quietly called Jiang Nian over.
"Go and follow her. Protect her safety. Report to me in time who she meets and what she does."
Jiang Nian was a bit stunned. "Why? Boss, I can understand that you want me to follow her and protect her safety since she's helping us now. But... why do I need to report her whereabouts to you?"
Shangguan Yao hesitated. This guy couldn't keep a secret. If it was discovered, he might blurt out things he shouldn't.
So he reached out and patted her on the head.
"Don't ask so many questions. Just do as I say."
Jiang Nian covered her head and looked very aggrieved, but she didn't dare to disobey Shangguan Yao's order. She could only obediently follow his instructions.
Yan Xia didn't have a fixed destination. She just drove around aimlessly. She carefully thought about all the people who might know about that incident back then: Fang Jiangyi, Lu Qianzhou, Third Master Lu, Cheng Hua, Jiang Yue, and the mastermind behind the scenes.
There might be more people, but she didn't know.
Third Master Lu surely wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know. If he was willing to say, he would have told her earlier instead of waiting until now.
Fang Jiangyi, Lu Qianzhou, Cheng Hua, and even the mastermind behind the scenes couldn't answer her questions.
That left only Jiang Yue.
Over the years, Jiang Yue had gone from looking down on her at first to regarding her as a love rival later, and finally to framing her insanely.
Yan Xia had thought she would never see Jiang Yue again in her life. She never expected that she would now take the initiative to invite her.
She needed to confirm if the woman in the video, who looked very similar to Lu Qianzhou, was Lu Qianzhou's mother.
If the answer was yes, then everything would make sense.
Even though she hated Yan Xia to the core, when Jiang Yue heard Yan Xia mention that video from many years ago, she knew that Yan Xia must have learned something.
She had been waiting for this moment, wanting to see if Cheng Yanxia would collapse when she learned the truth and if she could still face Lu Qianzhou as usual.
So she agreed without hesitation, avoiding everyone's obstruction. She drove out alone and came to the coffee shop at the address provided by Yan Xia to meet her.
Maybe because she knew that everyone now knew what she had done and that Lu Qianzhou should now hate her to the extreme, Jiang Yue didn't even bother to put on a disguise. Her eyes were full of hatred and disgust when she looked at Yan Xia.
But soon, she couldn't smile anymore.
Because she found that Cheng Yanxia was still as calm as before. She didn't look heart - broken and on the verge of collapse as she had imagined.
In the end, the one who couldn't hold back and became crazy was herself.
"Cheng Yanxia, you already know everything, don't you? Why are you still so calm? Why aren't you even a bit guilty or sad?" Jiang Yue was very emotional. "Didn't you love Qianzhou so much before? Now that you know all the pain he's endured is related to your father, don't you feel ashamed?"
Yan Xia looked up.
"I'm not sure yet. Besides, that incident wasn't just done by my father alone." She put down the coffee cup in her hand. "The law doesn't stipulate that children should bear the crimes of their fathers, does it?"
Jiang Yue's lips trembled slightly.
Finally, she sneered, "Your mouth is still as eloquent as ever."