From the moment he tried to win over Lu Qianzhou, his plan had gradually taken shape. Now, with this perfect opportunity to take down both Lu Huairen and Lu Qianzhou, he could finally rest easy.
This meant that Lu Huairen's death was probably not an accident but a carefully planned murder.
Yan Xia just couldn't figure it out. He seemed like someone who didn't care about money at all. Since he had retired for so many years, wealth and status should have meant nothing to him.
But he had been so calculating, setting up such a long - term scheme. What on earth was his motive?
"My mind is in a bit of a mess right now..." Yan Xia had no appetite. "If it was really Lord Lu who was behind everything that happened, including what happened to Jiang Yue and Meng Fan, and the scheme to get Lu Qianzhou into prison, then he must have been manipulating all of us, right?"
Fang Jiangyi agreed, "A person who does such things must have his own reasons. Maybe the Lord Lu we saw before was just a disguise. That's why no one ever suspected him from start to finish, and his plan could go so smoothly."
All along, he had only seemed gentle and refined on the surface, tolerant and kind to everyone.
But if you thought about it carefully, no one really knew him well, not even Lu Qianzhou.
It wasn't that they were stupid; it was just that he was too good at disguising himself.
She ate absent - mindedly and then asked Fang Jiangyi, "I remember that the only solid evidence proving Lu Qianzhou's crimes is the incident with Peng Shiyi and the killing of that undercover agent."
Apart from these two things, the rest were just indirect inferences, with no direct evidence.
She had told Lu Qianzhou that he should admit to what he had done but never admit to something he hadn't. Would Lu Qianzhou admit to the illegal business he had done with Long Tao...
Fang Jiangyi had been watching her. Since she woke up, she had been analyzing every aspect of Lu Qianzhou's case. She had no idea how bad her condition was. If her choice was always going to be Lu Qianzhou, then all he could do was let go.
"There's no homicide at all," Fang Jiangyi suddenly said.
Yan Xia was dazed. "What?"
Fang Jiangyi repeated, "Peng Shiyi didn't die. She was seriously injured and is now under the police's secret protection. The same goes for the undercover agent. They're both being secretly protected by the police. There's no homicide."
Yan Xia was stunned, and her heart started pounding wildly.
If Lu Qianzhou didn't have any homicides on his record, would it mean that his sentence would be much lighter?
"Don't get your hopes up too high, though. Since the police are protecting these two people secretly, it means they'll do everything they can to convict Lu Qianzhou. They probably won't relax until the public prosecution." Fang Jiangyi kindly reminded her.
"It doesn't matter," Yan Xia didn't mind. As long as she knew the truth, that was enough. "I see. Thank you for telling me this."
There were some things she had to say to Shangguan Yao.
This time, Fang Jiangyi drove her to see Shangguan Yao because her hand was injured, and it was inconvenient for her to drive.
Soon, Fang Jiangyi drove the car to the hospital where Shangguan Yao was. Even though he managed to jump into the water with the chief in time at the last moment, the huge impact and the wooden shards from the explosion still injured them.
Shangguan Yao was the same. After arresting Lu Qianzhou, he came to the hospital to recuperate.
Yan Xia came to Shangguan Yao's ward alone, without bringing anything. Jiang Nian was in the ward accompanying him. When she saw Yan Xia, she immediately stood up and called her Miss Cheng.
Shangguan Yao's eyes briefly met Yan Xia's, and he looked away.
"I heard you were also seriously injured. Why aren't you at home recuperating? Why did you come here?" Jiang Nian asked innocently.
"I'm here to see him," Yan Xia said, pointing at Shangguan Yao.
There was an awkward silence between them, which both of them noticed, but Jiang Nian didn't.
Jiang Nian said, "Fortunately, the chief's injury isn't serious, but this time... he'll probably be held accountable."
But some things were just beyond their control. No one could have predicted that the goods in Long Tao's container would be replaced with flour. Everyone knew how powerful a dust explosion could be, so they were extra careful. But Long Tao had already planted explosives.
Maybe because he sensed that Yan Xia had something to say, Shangguan Yao thoughtfully arranged some alone time for them. "Jiang Nian, go out first. I need to talk to her alone."
Jiang Nian was still holding a half - peeled apple. Hearing this, she obediently stood up and was about to put the apple down. Then she suddenly saw Yan Xia behind her and stuffed the apple into her hands.
"Please finish peeling the apple for me. I'll be outside. Call me if you need anything."
After she left, Yan Xia deliberately closed the door, pulled a chair next to the hospital bed, and sat down to peel the apple with her head down.
The silence between them was overwhelming.
Finally, Shangguan Yao broke the awkward silence.
"You have something to ask me, right?"
Yan Xia kept her head down, peeling the apple, without looking at him.
"Lu Qianzhou doesn't have any homicides on his record, right?"
Shangguan Yao kept his expression unchanged. Maybe he had already guessed.
"Did Fang Jiangyi tell you?"
"I was curious that time. Actually, when Lu Qianzhou and I fought, we both aimed at non - vital parts. Why did that undercover agent still die? And Peng Shiyi. If she really died, the Peng family wouldn't have let it go so easily. But they were so quiet and docile."
It turned out that they had been lying to her all along.
Shangguan Yao looked at her but didn't say a word.
"Before, I said I hated Lu Qianzhou and wanted revenge for my sister. You never believed me, so you guys kept it from me."
They were afraid that she couldn't let go of Lu Qianzhou and would soften her heart.
"You understand everything. I don't need to say more," Shangguan Yao lowered his eyes. "This is a very confidential matter. Not many people know about it."
"You're just making excuses for not trusting me," Yan Xia stopped what she was doing, looked up at him, and there was disappointment in her eyes. "Shangguan, I've really been helping you seriously, but what you've done really breaks my heart."
Once a person becomes selfish and gets used to it, there's no turning back.
"I won't say much else, but now that I know. You must do what you promised me from the beginning, to be fair and just. You'd better not convict him with crimes that he didn't commit, or I'll expose you."
This was what she came here to say today.
Shangguan Yao let out a bitter laugh. He never expected that his image in her heart had become so bad.
But he didn't defend himself. Since she had misunderstood him, then let the misunderstanding continue.