Chapter 14: Surveillance in the Room

Jiang Qingqing lowered her gaze to the tiger token in Jiang Yu’s hand, her pupils involuntarily constricting.

She had seen an identical one in the imperial study before. Emperor Liang had once told her that possessing the tiger token granted the power to command Jiang Family’s 200,000-strong army. There were only two in the entire Liang dynasty—one in the Jiang family’s military camp and the other in the emperor’s possession.

As a child, she never understood why her father trusted the Jiang family so much. Was he not afraid that they would grow too powerful and attempt to overthrow him?

Yet Emperor Liang had simply chuckled and said, “The Jiang family? Impossible.”

Those few short words were enough to reveal the high regard in which the emperor held the Jiang family.

But… that was the past.

She had once believed that the Empress Dowager would never try to kill her either.

Jiang Qingqing reached out, took the tiger token in her hand, and asked softly, “Jiang Yu, how can I trust you?”

It was a light remark, but Jiang Yu could hear the weight behind it.

He recalled the first time he met Jiang Qingqing, living in that dilapidated straw hut—she couldn’t even secure the basic necessities for survival.

She was once a princess cherished by Emperor Liang, held in the palm of his hand. He could only imagine what she had endured during this period. Her situation was no better than his.

One wrong decision could utterly destroy her.

They were the same—both struggling to survive.

Jiang Yu lifted his head and said, “Every word I have spoken is from the depths of my heart. If Your Highness is concerned about your reputation, I can cripple my own hands, so I could never touch you. As for the accusation of treason against the Jiang family, it is nothing but baseless slander.”

Jiang Qingqing remained silent for a long time before finally handing the tiger token back to Jiang Yu.

“No need. I believe you. Even if you were to cripple your hands and have the imperial physician reattach them, you would no longer be fit to be a general.”

Jiang Yu accepted the token and scoffed at himself. “And what use would I be on the battlefield? If I fail to find evidence soon, every man in the Jiang family will be dead by next month, all because of Liu Qi’s treacherous schemes.”

Liu Yi—current Prime Minister and father of Liu Xubai.

Jiang Qingqing was puzzled. “Doesn’t the Jiang army have dedicated couriers to communicate with the palace? My father wouldn’t simply ignore the Jiang family’s plight.”

Could it be that Liu Xubai was right? That her father was gravely ill and no longer capable of handling affairs?

Jiang Yu’s expression darkened.

But he still told Jiang Qingqing the truth. “Your Highness, you must prepare yourself. His Majesty… may already be beyond saving.”

The palace couriers had completely lost contact.

The situation inside the imperial palace was far more complex than they had imagined.

Jiang Qingqing bit her lip.

Although she had already suspected it in her heart, hearing Jiang Yu confirm it still made it difficult to accept.

She helped Jiang Yu up from the ground. “Get up first. There’s a reclining chair in the study—you can sleep there for the next few days.”

A wooden partition separated the study from the living room, making it a barely acceptable barrier.

Having finally received Jiang Qingqing’s permission, Jiang Yu felt a sense of relief—he had bet correctly.

But this relief was nothing more than a brief respite in the long darkness ahead.

—

Haicheng

Seeing Jiang Qingqing about to fall off the bed, Fu Zhengnan instinctively reached out to catch her.

But in just a blink of an eye—

She vanished.

Fu Zhengnan’s outstretched hand froze in midair.

“Jiang Qingqing…”

His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared in the direction of his palm.

He wasn’t mistaken—Jiang Qingqing had indeed been on his bed just moments ago.

He grabbed the phone from his bedside table and pulled up the surveillance footage from his room.

Rewinding the recording, he watched from the moment he had drunkenly stumbled into the room. The footage showed him entering the bathroom for a shower, coming out wrapped in a towel, and quickly falling asleep on the bed.

Everything appeared normal.

Until three minutes ago—when the screen turned to static.

Coincidentally, that was the exact moment Jiang Qingqing had appeared.

Fu Zhengnan tossed his phone aside, his eyes turning as cold as ice.

He didn’t know which “dear friend” had set him up this time, but he had never believed in ghosts or supernatural forces.

—

Fu Corporation Headquarters

A group of IT technicians huddled together, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads as they examined Fu Zhengnan’s phone.

How the hell should we know?!

They were elite tech professionals, each earning an annual salary of over a million, personally recruited by Fu Corporation.

And yet, they were now completely stumped… by a mere game?!

“Hmm?”

Fu Zhengnan’s low hum was barely audible, but it made the technicians’ legs tremble.

They were doomed.

They were so fired.

Under the desperate stares of his colleagues, the head of the technical department reluctantly stepped forward, carrying the laptop that was connected to Fu Zhengnan’s phone.

He attempted to explain. “President Fu, this isn’t just an ordinary app. The code contains a built-in firewall. To remove it, we need the original developer to manually decode it…”

Fu Zhengnan’s voice remained indifferent. “So, you’re saying you can’t delete it?”

The department head wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and, after a moment of hesitation, admitted, “No… we can’t delete it.”

After a few seconds had passed…

Just as the head of the tech department thought the entire team was about to be disbanded, he finally heard Fu Zhengnan say, “Leave it for now.”

Picking up his phone, Fu Zhengnan left the office.

The remaining employees exchanged looks.

“So… does this mean the boss isn’t blaming our department?”

“No idea! Maybe he’ll settle accounts later.”

“No way. President Fu isn’t that kind of person. Honestly, I think he actually has some attachment to that game. He probably can’t bear to delete it.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Haven’t you seen his transaction records? And the total time he’s spent on the app?”

“Oh~”

Fu Zhengnan entered the suite next to his office.

Inside, Lu Jian’an—dressed in a floral shirt—had been waiting for quite some time. The moment he saw Fu Zhengnan walk in, he immediately leaned forward with curiosity. “So? Did you delete the game?”

Fu Zhengnan replied indifferently, “No.”

Lu Jian’an didn’t believe him.

“You just don’t want to delete it, do you?”

Fu Zhengnan neither confirmed nor denied it, his expression calm and unreadable.

“What about the surveillance footage from yesterday at Liu Jin? Did you find anything suspicious?”

Fu Zhengnan sat down on the sofa opposite Lu Jian’an, raising a hand to massage the bridge of his nose.

The hangover was hitting him hard.

Lu Jian’an placed a tablet on the table in front of him. “That woman started working at Liu Jin three months ago. Yesterday, someone paid her a hefty sum to enter your private room and take your phone. But she wasn’t aware of their true intentions.”

“As for the mastermind behind it all, they managed to avoid every surveillance zone. Honestly, if you ask me, you should just hand this over to the police—it’d save a lot of trouble.”

After finishing his explanation, Lu Jian’an glanced at Fu Zhengnan’s expression. Seeing that he had no intention of responding, Lu Jian’an clicked his tongue in annoyance.

As usual—he asked for an investigation, but even when results came in, he wouldn’t say a word.

Say too much, and he wouldn’t want to hear it.

That game was obviously filmed using real people. Why not just shut it down entirely? Nice and simple.

Lu Jian’an sighed dramatically and changed the subject.

“Ah, forget it. It’s not like money is an issue for someone like you. Speaking of which, where did you buy that jade pendant and painting scroll for your old man last time? I need to get something similar for my father.”

Fu Zhengnan lifted his gaze and looked at Lu Jian’an with a calm expression. “What pendant?”

Lu Jian’an assumed he had forgotten, so he pulled out his phone and opened the pictures.

“This one! Didn’t I send it to you before? Your old man was showing it off in the family group chat, and mine saw it. Now I’m the one suffering for it.”

Fu Zhengnan glanced at the image.

“I didn’t buy that.”

Lu Jian’an: ???

Is he messing with me?

Lu Jian’an swiped through the photos, and at the bottom of the painting scroll, he finally noticed a signature: Jiang Qingqing.

He pointed at the name and pushed the screen toward Fu Zhengnan.

“Here—who’s Jiang Qingqing? Should I check your transaction records? Sneakily buying art without inviting me along, huh?”

This little punk—buying paintings behind his back? Unacceptable!