Chapter Ninety: An Unexpected Turn

The moment Chen Shengxiao heard that voice, all interest vanished from her face. She leaned forward and set the crystal wineglass down hard on the coffee table. The force was too great; the base of the glass snapped cleanly at once, and red wine gushed across the tabletop, a vivid stain against the milky white surface.

The sharp crack made both Zhang Qinglin and Cheng Che jump.

Cheng Che had no idea that Zhao Ershao had just left, but seeing the fury on Chen Shengxiao’s face, Zhang Qinglin could roughly guess what had happened. Zhao Ershao must have told Chen Shengxiao that what he had taken was a fake. That was why, beforehand, they had made a wager and sworn to it: if Chen Shengxiao had not made full preparations in advance and lost, she would have had to give up one of her territories.

Zhang Qinglin blinked and let out a long breath. Thank goodness it had not ended up in Zhao Ershao’s hands.

Chen Shengxiao flung away the wineglass in her hand and said, “Do you think you are very clever? Enough. Let us speak plainly. In the end, Cheng Che, you still have to call me Aunt.”

Cheng Che stared at her in bewilderment. Out of nowhere, an attractive aunt had appeared before him, and he truly found it hard to believe.

Zhang Qinglin was equally astonished, looking back and forth between Cheng Che and Chen Shengxiao.

Chen Shengxiao explained that the money could be counted as an investment, and she would not let Cheng Che tell his father. There had been some friction between her father and Cheng Che’s father. Cheng Che nodded repeatedly, and the tension in his whole body eased at once.

Zhang Qinglin’s expression tightened. He heard Chen Shengxiao say that twelve years ago her brother and his own father had left Yangzhou together, and neither of them had ever returned. She had once sent people to search for them, but there had been no news. Five years ago, she had received a letter from her brother. Aside from saying he was well and telling her not to worry, the letter contained nothing at all, and it was precisely such calm, ordinary words that made her even more uneasy.

Later, she mentioned a chilling, shocking secret: they had discovered a Western Han tomb in Eba Mountain. For an archaeology enthusiast, that was a breakthrough and a thrill, so she had sent people to investigate. But by the time her men arrived, her brother and Zhang Chuyang had long since gone.

After that, her brother also mentioned Zhang Qinglin in one of his letters, urging her to find the boy no matter what and take good care of him. At first, Chen Shengxiao did not know what deep connection there had been between Zhang Qinglin’s father and her brother, so she began investigating Zhang Chuyang and found his former residence. By then the Zhang family was long gone. The people she had sent out reported a clue in Shanxi, and the trail eventually led all the way to Beijing. Later, she also learned that Zhang Qinglin had been very close to her own cousin, and since Beijing was in the midst of a rapid real estate boom at the time, she simply moved there.

Zhang Qinglin had never imagined that Chen Shengxiao’s brother had once been with his father. Excitedly, he asked, “Where are they now? Is my father still alive, Aunt Xiao?”

“Old Zhang, don’t get so agitated. Let Aunt Xiao finish first. Come, sit down.” Seeing Zhang Qinglin’s emotions surge, Cheng Che quickly pressed him back onto the sofa.

Chen Shengxiao shook her head. “I don’t know. The last letter I received was a year ago. At that time, they were in Shaanxi.”

All of her brother’s letters had been delivered by a man nicknamed Ma Ye. After delivering the final letter, Ma Ye vanished without a trace, and there had been no news at all about whether he was alive or dead.

No one had ever seen what Ma Ye actually looked like. He always came by late at night, dressed with meticulous care, his movements secretive and impossible to fathom. For more than a year, Chen Shengxiao had spent a great deal of manpower and money searching for him.

Chen Shengxiao went on, “In other words, if we cannot find Ma Ye, it will be very hard to learn anything else about my brother and your father.”

“What kind of extraordinary man is this Ma Ye, to the point that even Aunt Xiao cannot find him? Could he have been dead for ages already?” Cheng Che said, resting his chin on his hand.

“Not finding a person does not mean he is dead. There must still be hope. Maybe once we find Ma Ye, we will find my father and the others too. Aunt Xiao, what else do you know about my father? Please tell me.”

Chen Shengxiao said, “There is one person connected to Ma Ye, but this person is rather special. It would not be proper for me to show myself, so if you want to meet him, Old Master Cheng will have to introduce you.”

“My old man? Aunt, don’t joke. What big shot could he possibly know? He does not even go to the company anymore, let alone anything else. He sits at home every day, living off his comforts.” Cheng Che spoke with obvious disdain.

Ever since Cheng Che’s mother ran off with another man, his father had taken in a younger mistress. No one knew what spell that vixen had cast over the old man; he indulged her in everything. She even said the old man was getting on in years and should retire, and she intended for her own younger brother to take over the rest of the business in the old man’s hands. That was why she had been so eager to have Cheng Che return.

“You are his son, and you know nothing at all,” Chen Shengxiao said.

“Aunt Xiao, who is that person? I will go look for him myself.”

“You cannot meet him on your own. Just mention Wu Mingshi to Old Master Cheng. Also, I do not know much about your father’s matter, but the massacre of the Zhang family caused a great sensation back then. Later, when I was investigating your father and you, I did learn some inside details.”

“The murderer in that family massacre was a mysterious Japanese organization called the Reaper Society. At the time, they were in league with the notorious Gully Gang north of the Yangtze, stealing valuable antiquities from ancient tombs and reselling them to the British. Somehow they learned that a tomb had been found in Liulianli, and that there was a treasure map inside it. They heard that your father had taken it, so they have been searching for him all these years. The destruction of the Zhang family was likely their doing.”

“And you were very fortunate to have survived. While I was quietly trying to learn where they were, others were investigating as well. It seems you were not the only one looking into your father’s disappearance.”