Chapter 434

Chapter 434 Nangong Shun’s Thoughts

Ding dong.

　　This was the notification sound from Su Rui’s phone.

　　He glanced at it and found an email in his inbox.

　　The email contained an attachment but no text whatsoever.

　　Looking at the sender field, Su Rui’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing more.

　　He casually scanned the names of the attachments, let out a long breath, gazed at the night sky outside the window, and furrowed his brow slightly.

　　Regardless of what choice Ding Muyang ultimately made, Su Rui’s mood wouldn’t be great either way.

　　…………

　　Bai Qinchuan was sitting restlessly in his office. Although Jiang Qingyuan’s words had given him a great deal of inspiration, how could he remain indifferent at a time like this?

　　The calls from his clan uncles had been coming in one after another, demanding that he seek justice for Bai Jiaming. On that point, Bai Qinchuan could only agree for now and figure out the rest later.

　　Just as he was at a complete loss, his phone rang again.

　　”Su Rui has left the National Security Bureau and is heading south toward the Nangong family’s direction.”

　　”The Nangong family?” Bai Qinchuan’s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. “Why the Nangong family? Nangong Shun couldn’t possibly have that kind of intelligence! Does he want to die, dragging the Bai family into this?”

　　”Although I didn’t think he had that kind of intelligence or capability at first, thinking about it now, it’s not entirely impossible. Precisely because he’s so dim, he might have thought to drag the Bai family down with him without considering the consequences. Besides, since Su Rui has gone to the Nangong family, there must be something to it — he definitely has his reasons.”

　　”Understood. I’ll head over there now to take a look.” Bai Qinchuan hung up the phone and hurried downstairs at a quick pace.

　　Ever since Nightingale and Su Rui had joined forces to take down the Nangong family’s Mai Taishan, Bai Qinchuan, in order to show Su Rui his sincerity, had unilaterally withdrawn from the cooperation with the Nangong family in the energy sector, dealing a massive blow to the newly risen Nangong Shun.

　　Since then, the relationship between the two families had dropped to freezing point, and beyond energy, cooperation in many other areas had also ground to a halt.

　　Looked at from this angle, Nangong Shun did have reason to drag the Bai family down with him.

　　The fog was thick, and Bai Qinchuan had to unravel it himself. Bai Jiaming’s life or death didn’t matter, but the Bai family’s reputation did.

　　In Bai Qinchuan’s view, Su Rui’s standing was far more important than any of the so-called capital heirs. This had everything to do with the path the Bai family would choose going forward.

　　…………

　　A distance of over ten kilometers — not particularly long, not particularly short.

　　The car moved slowly, leaving Su Rui time to think and analyze the situation. As things stood, even if the other side had already laid a trap there, he still had to charge through it.

　　If he kept stalling, the other side would gain an even greater advantage. Once tonight passed, there might be even more damaging news leaked against him.

　　For Su Rui right now, only dominance and iron resolve could completely crush the enemy’s scheme.

　　Continued retreat would only invite more brazen aggression from the other side.

　　When the National Security convoy slowly arrived at the Nangong family’s estate, they found the vast courtyard in the distance already blazing with lights.

　　It was four in the morning — a scene like this was deeply abnormal in itself.

　　”Brother Rui, what do we do?” Xiang Feng turned around, as if seeking Su Rui’s opinion.

　　”Drive straight to the front gate.” Su Rui’s eyes narrowed slightly, a dangerous gleam flickering within them.

　　From a distance, he could already make out shadowy figures and the flashing red and blue lights of police cars.

　　Drawing closer, they discovered at least a dozen police vehicles lined up in a row across the small plaza in front of the Nangong family compound, with four fully armed officers standing vigilantly beside each car.

　　Nangong Shun was dressed in a white suit, standing on the steps, conspicuously visible against the darkness of the night.

　　Since taking over as acting head of the family, though he had appeared somewhat overwhelmed in handling many matters, there was now a faint air of authority beginning to emanate from him.

　　”Elders, family members, today marks the fortieth day since I assumed the role of acting family head.”

　　Nangong Shun swept his gaze across the figures gathered in the courtyard, his voice carrying a trace of undisguised pride. “Over these forty days, many of you have felt I was unfit for the position, and you’ve put enormous pressure on me — pressure that kept me up at night and left me unable to eat, thinking every day about how to make you see me differently and give the entire family an account of myself.”

　　In truth, Nangong Shun was being rather polite in how he put it. Since he had taken over as acting family head, those uncles and elders had done far more than just pressure him — they had set traps at every turn and stirred up trouble constantly.

　　Especially regarding the matter of his grandfather Nangong Zhou’s severe injury and coma, these so-called family members had never stopped doubting and attacking him. Some had even gone so far as to bring in the police to investigate, willing to air the family’s dirty laundry in public without a second thought.

　　If Nangong Shun hadn’t used money to suppress the whole affair back then, he would already be behind bars by now.

　　And today, he intended to resolve all the suspicion and mistrust in one fell swoop — once and for all.

　　He would use ironclad facts to silence every last voice.

　　”Nangong Shun, you dragged us all out of bed in the middle of the night — what exactly do you have to say for yourself? Grandfather is still lying in the hospital, hasn’t woken up yet, the cause of his coma hasn’t even been determined, and you rushed to take the family head position. Isn’t that as good as a confession?”

　　”Fine, let’s all keep our eyes wide open and see exactly what kind of account you can give us.”

　　”If your explanation tonight doesn’t satisfy us, you’d better step down from the acting family head position. Let someone capable take it.”

　　The scene buzzed with discussion. It was clear that Nangong Shun was deeply unpopular within the family.

　　Despite the strong opposition, no one had any real recourse, because Nangong Zhou had issued an order five years earlier stating that if Nangong Yao’s condition could not be restored, Nangong Shun would serve as acting family head.

　　”You have the nerve to bring up the old man still lying in the hospital. Do you even know that I am the future family head personally approved by grandfather? The old man isn’t even dead yet, and you’re already scrambling for the position. Who’s the unfilial one here — you or me?”

　　Nangong Shun’s words left everyone speechless.

　　At the back of the crowd, a gaunt man with a pale complexion sat in a wheelchair, quietly watching it all unfold, his eyes filled with deep contempt.

　　Five years ago, his lungs had been nearly destroyed by Su Rui. After years of grueling treatment and an untold amount of money spent, he had finally managed to barely free himself from the ventilator and breathe on his own.

　　Five years confined to a sickbed had also reduced his body’s resilience to its lowest point — he was skin and bones, too weak to stand on his own strength.

　　He was Nangong Yao.

　　This man, once the eldest young master of the Nangong family, had been reduced to this neither-human-nor-ghost state by Su Rui, and his heart was naturally filled with venom and rage.

　　Everything that should have been his had been ruthlessly taken away by that man — all the honor, the glory, even his health, all turned to smoke. How could he not hate?

　　And over these five years, the younger brother who had once followed him around like a shadow had barely come to visit, and everyone who saw him no longer showed the same respect as before — some would even turn away with looks of disdain. All of this, Nangong Yao had endured in silence.

　　Even tonight, knowing his brother was about to ambush Su Rui — clearing his own name while incidentally avenging him — he still sat in the darkest corner, feeling not the slightest excitement, only watching his dear brother’s performance with a mocking smile.

　　Those who had never faced Su Rui in battle would never know how terrifying that man truly was. On that point, Nangong Yao knew all too well.

　　At this moment, Nangong Shun had already received word that Su Rui was on his way. He looked out at the assembled relatives and declared in a loud, clear voice, “Five years ago, if not for Su Rui, the Nangong family would not have declined so rapidly. Tonight, I will bring Su Rui down and let you all witness the Nangong family rise again under my leadership.”

　　At this moment, Nangong Shun was brimming with confidence, utterly full of himself.

　　He seemed to have forgotten how the fifty men he had sent under Mai Taishan’s command had been wiped out entirely by Su Rui.

　　”I’d like to see how exactly you plan to take down Su Rui.” A discordant voice rang out — it was Nangong Shun’s cousin.

　　Glancing at his cousin, a dismissive sneer crossed Nangong Shun’s lips. “I told him to come, so he’ll come. I told him to surrender here without a fight, and he won’t dare resist in the slightest.”

　　Nangong Shun’s intelligence and scheming weren’t quite top-tier — he fell a bit short compared to the likes of Bai Qinchuan — but having grown up in a powerful family from childhood, he had absorbed enough over the years to pull off a few tricks of his own.

　　He had never expected the bearded men and his other subordinates to extract anything useful from Su Rui. If they managed to rough him up, all the better; if not, he still had plenty of backup plans.

　　It seemed his read on Ding Muyang had been spot on. That person still had feelings for Su Rui that couldn’t be severed. Good thing he had prepared in advance, otherwise he might have been done in by that director of the National Security serious crimes division.

　　But no matter — regardless of how things had unfolded, tonight was a farewell to the past and the beginning of a brand new chapter in his life.

　　The car carrying Su Rui had already pulled up in front of the row of police vehicles. The lead officer, upon seeing the long convoy bearing National Security markings, had been about to shout for them to stop — but now stood there slack-jawed, his eyes filled with disbelief.

　　They were all detectives from the capital city bureau’s criminal investigation unit. Tonight they had received orders from a “top leader” above, saying they were to lie in wait here and apprehend a criminal suspect. Because this “top leader” carried enormous clout, the entire city bureau had no choice but to take it seriously.

　　What they hadn’t anticipated, however, was that the ones they’d be going up against tonight would turn out to be the National Security Bureau.