Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gu Nianzhi’s voice was tender and crisp, but punctuating the words like that made them resonate powerfully. It was very shocking. There was absolute silence in the hall for a short while. Everyone’s eyes were constantly moving back and forth between Gu Nianzhi and Gu Yanran. Gu Yanran’s heart was beating wildly. It was about to jump out of her throat.
When she heard Gu Nianzhi say that she wanted to divide up the family property, all the blood in her body nearly gushed out through the top of her head. It was practically impossible for her to control herself. She had used up all of her self-control. She almost drove her freshly-done nails right through the skin of her palms.
Gu Yanran made a long sighing sound. It sounded a bit shaky. She said, “…Divide up the family property? I’m afraid not. What family property can we divide? Father is not dead.”
She meant that, for now, the Gu family’s property was still under Gu Xiangwen’s name.
Gu Nianzhi looked down at the pink diamond crown in her hand. The corner of her lip curled up in ridicule. She didn’t even look up as she said, “You don’t have to worry about that. You don’t understand the law. Just because you say not to divide it, doesn’t mean it will not be divided.”
With great difficulty, Gu Yanran resisted those eyes that were looking down on her and said in a composed manner, “It’s true that I don’t know. Father is still alive and you want to divide the family property, what logic is that? What country’s law is that?”
“Here, I’ll break the law down for you again.” Gu Nianzhi held the pink diamond crown in her palm. Her facial expression was very calm. “Listen up, that person on the sickbed had already been in a vegetative state for seven years. He has completely lost all of his abilities. He’s no longer a person that is part of the principal part of the law. The law could end it. That’s why we can divide the family property.”
A person who had been missing for seven years could be declared dead under the law. Of course, people in a vegetative state were also treated that way.
Unfortunately for her, Gu Nianzhi still could not openly kick Gu Yanran out because Gu Yanran’s identification documents proved that she was actually Gu Xiangwen’s daughter. It didn’t matter if the person in a vegetative state was Gu Xiangwen or not, it wouldn’t affect her legal status. After Gu Nianzhi had weighed the pros and cons, she decided not to deny her identity as the daughter of the Gu family. That was why, under the circumstance of not having a will, Gu Yanran could claim half of the family property. But seeing Gu Yanran’s activities and movements in those few years, Gu Nianzhi had reasonably and rationally guessed that Gu Yanran had already squandered most of her portion.
“In the past, you thought of me as being underage and not able to manage the family property, but now I’m an adult. I’ll take at least half of all the things belonging to the Gu family.” Gu Nianzhi’s eyes quickly looked around the hall. She had a panoramic view of everyone’s expression.
“You want to fight over the right to manage the Gu household? Fine, we’ll talk about it in the future. Today is… Miss Tan’s birthday. You shouldn’t…” Gu Yanran paused and looked at Prime Minister Tan gently.
When Prime Minister Tan saw that, his heart ached and he helped her to get out of the trouble she was in. He had a solemn expression as he said, “This is your family’s private matter. Why make such a scene and so much noise in the Prime Minister’s Residence? How did you get in here? Who gave you an invitation?”
Gu Nianzhi raised her eyebrows. She didn’t want to say where she got her invitation from. Prime Minister Tan had held it in that whole night. But he finally couldn’t hold it in anymore?
Seeing the way he looked at Gu Yanran, she thought pigs were more likely to flythan for there to be nothing going on between the two.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t refrain from secretly pushing aside Gu Yanran’s meat and vegetable. Still want to get Prime Minister Tan, this old outer leaf of cabbage, when you have Ye Xuan, the little wolfhound. Seriously…
She didn’t want to be her sister! She didn’t want them to be sisters even if it was only under the law! While Gu Nianzhi was pondering how to break Yanran herself, she was also verbally attacking Prime Minister Tan.
Her facial expression changed and she said in a serious manner, “Prime Minister Tan, you sure are quick to burn bridges after you’ve crossed them. How did the dispute I have with my sister become our family’s private matter? Are you really going to act like this has nothing to do with you and your wife?”
“The more you talk the more out of place it becomes. What does this thing have to do with Prime Minister Tan and Mrs. Tan?” Gu Yanran was a bit scared when she refuted it. “Enough. We will talk about the problems when we get home.”
“Why talk about it when we are home? The thing that I want to say has to do with Prime Minister Tan and Mrs. Tan.” Gu Nianzhi turned and looked at Tan Dongbang. She was tall. Her pair of black eyes were so bright that they astonished people.
The crystal chandellier in the hall was reflected in her eyes. They looked like tens of thousands of stars had fallen into an pond in autumn. The pond rippled slightly and crushed the starlight. They dispersed the little specks of stars. They could capture a person’s soul.
Prime Minister Tan looked at her and then looked away. In a displeased way, he said, “If it’s private matter, we can talk about it in the future.”
“It’s not a private matter.” Gu Nianzhi said it openly and simply. “I want to talk about the money Gu Yanran put into your campaign fund to make up the deficit.”
She paused and looked at how Prime Minister Tan’s facial expression went from being annoyed to more grave. The eyes that were almost hidden behind the gold wired glasses narrowed severely.
“…What does this have to do with you? The court of law had already approved of it.” Prime Minister Tan didn’t want to hear Gu Nianzhi speak anymore. He turned as he pulled Tan Guiren over toward the spiral stairway.
Gu Nianzhi looked at the Prime Minister’s back and punctuated her words as she said, “How could it have nothing to do with me? It was without my permission that Gu Yanran made an illegal donation. I want to file a lawsuit and recover that money that was illegally donated.”
All of a sudden, Prime Minister Tan stopped moving. He knew how much money that was. If Gu Nianzhi really recovered that money, then he would need to take out his own money to make up the deficit. That was not a small amount of money. It was close to 20 million dollars in deficit. It was all given by Gu Yanran herself.
“But Gu Yanran also has half of the Gu family’s property. She donated her portion to Prime Minister Tan. What’s the problem with it?” Prime Minister Tan’s principal secretary quickly tried to wash the blood off the floor.
“Haha, really? Then see you in court. You will know why Gu Yanran’s donation was an illegal donation at that time.” Gu Nianzhi handled the complicated matter with ease.
Everything was going dark for Gu Yanran. Her body tottered. She quickly grabbed onto the table for support. She faintly gasped for breath. She vaguely wondered, what am I going to do?
…
At that moment, Cai Songyin had just finished washing up and came out from her bedroom. Being locked up for half a month, she had not become too slovenly. However, it was not as comfortable there as home. She was wearing a bathrobe as she sat in front of a dressing table. She pressed the remote control that was on the dressing table.
It was a remote control that controled the interior electrical appliances. It could control the air conditioner, the T.V., the telephone, and the three-dimensional surround-sound system that was all around the room. Every day, Cai Songyin loved listening to some very soothing light music to loosen her strained nerves before she went to bed.
She used the remote to turn on the stereo system. Immediately, it was as if Richard Clayman’s “Fur Elise,” the piano piece, spread and filled her whole bedroom with moonlight. She held the comb and started to comb her hair. In the mist of music that sounded her like spring water gurgling, Cai Songyin finished her nightly care routine.
She stood up and walked over to her wardrobe. She took out a dress suit and put it on the bed. She felt like the position of the pillow was not quite right. The two pillows were not placed neatly. Cai Songyin had a bit of OCD and she really disliked it. Cai Songyin pulled the pillow over and patted it. When she was just about to put it back in its original spot in a neat manner, she saw something sticking out from under the pillow. It was a black laced garter silk stocking underwear.
Cai Songyin was 100% sure that she didn’t own such sexy underwear. She looked at it. It was Victoria’s Secret Angels’ brand. It was not considered especially expensive. It was very flirty. She then looked at the size. It was the smallest petite size zero. It was not her size. The clothes she wore were sizes eight to ten. Haha, someone was purposely trying to drive a wedge between the husband and wife?
Cai Songyin didn’t believe a bit of it. Her mouth twitched. She threw the black lace garter in the wastebasket. She took off her bathrobe and changed her clothes. At that moment, she suddenly heard people talking. She quickly covered herself with the bathrobe and asked in an alarmed manner, “Who’s there?”
The person that was talking ignored her and continued to speak, “Prime Minister Tan, are you sure you want to go with this plan?”
It was the lawyer that was representing her, Jin Wanyi’s voice. At that moment, Cai Songyin could see that it was not that someone was talking in her bedroom, but it was a voice recording that was being played on her speaker. She held her breath as she continued to listen.
Then she heard her husband, Prime Minister Tan’s voice. “Yanran doesn’t think this plan is bad. I looked at it. Although it’s a conservative plan, it will guarantee success. That’s why I still want to do this one.”
Attorney Jin seemed to hesitate for a bit. She then said, “Fine then, since you guys are persistent. However, I need to warn you that your wife’s reputation will be ruined by using this method to defend her.”
“Yes, that’s okay.” Tan Dongbang’s voice was a bit cold.
Cai Songyin’s heart sank in that second. She thought of what Gu Nianzhi said in the hall. She said that lawyers all had a few plans that they give their clients. Attorney Jin, Tan Dongbang, and Gu Yanran had all denied it in unison! They treated her like a fool!
Cai Songyin stood up. Suddenly, the sound in the speaker changed.
Then the sound of a man and woman talking passionately in bed filled the room. There was also the sound of heavy breathing and flesh colliding coming clearly from the sound system. It echoed through Cai Songyin’s and Tan Dongbang’s bedroom. Cai Songyin was very familiar with the voices of the man and woman in the recording. It was Tan Dongbang and Gu Yanran.
