Chapter 529

Chapter 529 Sowing Discord!

For Su Rui’s proposal, Li Chen naturally had no interest in hearing it. In his eyes, this man was no different from a devil, and since he had come looking for him, nothing good could come of it.

And he claimed he could make his life better? What a joke!

“I’m sorry, I’m not interested.”

Li Chen replied coldly and turned to walk away.

Su Rui had no intention of letting him go that easily, and stepped forward, saying: “Don’t you want to watch the spotlight that should rightfully be yours get stolen entirely by your uncle?”

Hearing those words, Li Chen froze, and immediately stopped in his tracks!

Su Rui continued with a smile: “Sometimes I really have to wonder whether you’re actually your father’s biological son. Has your old man ever shown you this kind of appreciation? Has he ever thrown you a gathering of this caliber? Has he ever taken you around to introduce you to every wealthy figure in Ninghai?”

Li Chen’s expression changed.

Clearly, his father Li Yongxing had never done any of those things with him.

Su Rui clapped his hands and laughed: “The way I see it, Li Yongheng looks more like his illegitimate son. Would you say I’m wrong?”

A flash of anger had already begun to show in Li Chen’s eyes. He gripped his wine glass, the veins on the back of his hand bulging: “The affairs of my Li family are none of anyone else’s business!”

“Your Li family? I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Su Rui wore a contemptuous smile: “It’s not Li Chen’s Li family — it’s Li Yongheng’s Li family!”

Hearing those words, Li Chen’s expression froze on his face!

Seeing his reaction, Su Rui said nothing more and turned to leave.

Li Chen stared at his retreating figure, standing there in a daze.

One phrase kept echoing through his mind — Li Yongheng’s Li family!

“Do you know who he is?” At that moment, a playful voice sounded from behind Li Chen.

Li Chen turned to look, and a devilishly charming face came into view.

Though this person was a man, his skin was extremely fair and his eyes were narrow and long. His looks were decent enough, but his eyes always carried a seductive quality — the kind of gaze that was utterly devastating to women.

He had a tall, slender build, wore a gold bow tie, and exuded an air of considerable refinement.

“Ouyang Bingyuan? What are you doing here?” Li Chen seemed somewhat surprised to see him.

“As the future head of the Ouyang family, being invited to an event like this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, should it?” Ouyang Bingyuan said lightly, his tone carrying a faint note of self-satisfaction.

Indeed, as the five great families had rapidly declined, the Ouyang family had seized the opportunity to grow quickly, quietly becoming one of the top three aristocratic families in the capital. The Li family of Ninghai had only just become the wealthiest local family, and compared to the Ouyang family — powerful in both politics and business — the gap between them was still immense.

After his fiancée Qin Yueran was forcibly taken by Su Rui, the original Ouyang heir, Ouyang Xinghai, had fallen apart completely, becoming a different person — indulging in pleasure and drowning his sorrows in alcohol. The Ouyang patriarch was furious and heartbroken, but no matter how many times he raged and scolded, it was utterly useless. So he had Ouyang Bingyuan take his place.

Even so, it did nothing to reignite Ouyang Xinghai’s fighting spirit. Many people in the capital lamented that such an outstanding figure of his generation had crumbled so easily — he was, for all intents and purposes, finished.

Still, when Ouyang Bingyuan caught sight of Su Rui standing beside Lin Aoxue, his gaze filled with a cold, piercing light.

He had also admired Lin Aoxue for many years. Of course, this was different from Li Yongheng’s deep, bone-deep secret longing — his feelings for Lin Aoxue were driven more by a man’s desire to conquer. A woman of such extraordinary beauty was someone Ouyang Bingyuan absolutely refused to see fall into another man’s hands.

When Su Rui had grown close to Lin Aoxue, he had sent people to the South Sea to carry out an assassination. Though it had failed, it revealed just how narrow-minded this person truly was.

As far as Ouyang Bingyuan was concerned, he had no intention of avenging his older brother. Su Rui’s act of stealing the bride had caused Ouyang Xinghai to collapse and willingly give up his position as heir — if anything, Ouyang Bingyuan was grateful to Su Rui for that. Revenge was the last thing on his mind.

But business was business. Su Rui had already taken Qin Yueran, and one wasn’t enough — now he was cozying up to Lin Aoxue as well. That was something Ouyang Bingyuan found deeply unacceptable!

Daring to touch his woman — in his eyes, Su Rui was already a dead man. It was only a matter of time. The only question was whether his luck would hold out.

“You still haven’t answered my question. Do you know who he is?” Ouyang Bingyuan asked.

“Of course I do.” Li Chen said with indignation: “Just some pretty boy hanging around Lin Aoxue. What does he amount to?”

“If he amounts to nothing, then why are you so afraid of him?” The corners of Ouyang Bingyuan’s thin lips curled slightly as he said with a cold laugh.

“Me, afraid of him?” Li Chen naturally wouldn’t admit it.

“I can read people. You’re very afraid of him — your eyes say it all.” Ouyang Bingyuan’s tone was calm, as though everything was under his control… Since becoming the future heir of the Ouyang family, his manner of speaking and conducting himself had taken on an entirely different style.

“You clearly don’t know me.” As a man, nothing was more irritating than being told you couldn’t handle something, and Li Chen was no exception. “Everyone knows he’s just Lin Aoxue’s kept man, a live-in son-in-law of the Lin family. You’re saying I’d be afraid of someone like that?”

Ouyang Bingyuan laughed coldly: “If he’s just a live-in son-in-law, then every son-in-law in China might as well go kill themselves!”

“Ouyang Bingyuan, I haven’t seen you in a while — you’ve gotten a lot funnier.” Li Chen naturally couldn’t bring himself to believe what the other person was saying.

“Do you really think a man who showed up with twelve armed helicopters and a squad of active-duty special forces soldiers to storm the Qin family estate in the capital, and snatched Qin Yueran away from my brother right in the middle of the engagement ceremony, could possibly be the worthless live-in son-in-law you’re describing?” Ouyang Bingyuan said with a cold laugh, the contempt in his eyes plain for all to see!

The way he looked at Li Chen was like looking at a complete idiot!

“What? The one who took your brother’s fiancée was actually him? How did he dare do something like that!” Li Chen was genuinely stunned, his eyes going wide!

“Why wouldn’t he dare?”

Ouyang Bingyuan said: “What you don’t know is that all twelve of those armed helicopters were flying with live ammunition! If Su Rui hadn’t been able to take Qin Yueran, he absolutely would have bombed the Qin family estate to the ground. This is a man who doesn’t value his own life!”

The commotion Su Rui had caused that day was far too great to be concealed, and news of Ouyang Xinghai’s stolen bride had quickly spread throughout the entire capital. Li Chen had naturally heard bits and pieces of the story through the grapevine, and had even jokingly praised the extraordinary figure behind it all.

But he never could have imagined that the extraordinary figure he had spoken of would turn out to be Su Rui — the man everyone looked down on as a live-in son-in-law!

“And are you aware that he single-handedly took down the heirs of the five great families? It was precisely because of that the Ouyang family was able to seize the opportunity and rise quickly. On that point, I actually owe him my thanks.”

“What?”

Hearing those words from Ouyang Bingyuan, Li Chen could hardly believe his own ears!

Single-handedly took down the heirs of the five great families? Could it be that this man was the one behind the bloody night in the capital all those years ago?

That conflict had sent the five great families plummeting from their peak, and they still hadn’t recovered to this day!

Li Chen truly struggled to accept this reality!

If that was the case, then Su Rui had only locked him up for a few days and let the concert pass — that was already an act of extraordinary mercy on the other man’s part?

Ouyang Bingyuan watched the shock on his face with great satisfaction and gave a slow nod: “So he is absolutely not the pretty boy you described who latched onto the Lin family. In this world, there is only one person who could single-handedly stand against the five great families and walk away unscathed. That person is Su Rui!”

Li Chen’s fingers were trembling so badly that the red wine in his glass was nearly spilling over!

“Why are you telling me all this? What exactly are you trying to say?” Li Chen tried hard to keep his voice steady, but found it nearly impossible. His heart had already been thrown into a raging storm, and it was only growing more violent!

“What I’m trying to say is very simple. I don’t know what he said to you just now, but my advice is this — do whatever he told you to do. Otherwise, I don’t even want to imagine what will happen to you.” Ouyang Bingyuan said with an air of deliberate mystery.

Hearing those words, Li Chen couldn’t help but shudder!

Ouyang Bingyuan gave a cold laugh: “I’m not trying to lead you astray. Go find him quickly — if you wait much longer, you might not even know how you died.”

Li Chen still stood there, hesitating.

What Ouyang Bingyuan had said had hit him far too hard. He simply couldn’t fathom how a man he had never once taken seriously could possess such terrifying capabilities!

Ouyang Bingyuan paid him no further attention, and retreated back to the corner from earlier, his gaze fixed on Su Rui and Lin Aoxue among the crowd. He muttered to himself: “Su Rui? Nothing more than a brute. You’re really nothing special. Those old men may seem to admire you, but in reality they’re just squeezing every last bit of use out of you. Once your remaining value is gone, I’d like to see who can still protect you!”

“And Lin Aoxue — she will eventually be writhing beneath me in pleasure!”

With that, he made a gesture toward someone in the crowd, then let out a cold laugh.

Several men in the crowd caught Ouyang Bingyuan’s signal and immediately understood, nodding in acknowledgment, their faces breaking into smiles of contempt and satisfaction.

Ouyang Bingyuan had made his arrangements for this banquet long ago. He believed that one day, he would make Lin Aoxue come to him in tears, begging.

And at that very moment, Li Chen had already walked up to Su Rui.

“You’ve thought it over?” The corners of Su Rui’s eyes carried a smile, as though everything was well within his grasp.

“I have.” Li Chen said with great difficulty. In his eyes at that moment, Su Rui was no different from a devil, and the thought of cooperating with a devil was something he truly couldn’t get past psychologically.

“Then get ready to follow my instructions. Do as I say, and I can’t guarantee I’ll hand you a complete Li family, but I can at least ensure you’ll defeat Li Yongheng and take your rightful place.” Su Rui said with a smile, his expression radiating confidence.

“Why can’t you hand me a complete Li family? What exactly are you trying to do?” Hearing Su Rui’s words, Li Chen immediately became guarded!

“Because I’m your partner in this.” Su Rui said with a cold laugh: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. You want to become the head of the Li family without paying any price — where do you think a deal like that exists?”

Su Rui glanced over at Li Yongxing and Li Yongheng chatting and laughing in the distance, then looked at his watch: “My patience is very limited. Give me your answer within one minute, or it counts as you voluntarily giving up this opportunity. At that point, I’ll help Li Yongheng instead, and make sure there’s nothing left of you.”