Chapter 80: Gu Yalan is Dead

After Gu Yalan was arrested, the Gu family was thrown into chaos. They called Gu’s father and mother back from the county town to discuss a plan.

Gu Jiali and Gu Qingci had divorced, and she had taken their child back to the Gu family. After the divorce, Gu Qingci felt as though he had been reborn, fully focusing on his work.

Gu Jiali returned to the capital with her son and, as soon as they got home, they found the family of her elder uncle and second uncle sitting on the couch with long faces. Over the years, with the support of the Ji family, the Gu family had also been prospering. In the capital, who didn’t show them some respect?

But now, Ji Wanting had returned, and it was all because of Gu Yalan’s actions. The Gu family felt embarrassed. The eldest uncle lowered his head and took a drag from his cigarette.

“Gu Yalan is so careless. If she was planning to kill someone, why didn’t she just finish the job? Why leave her alive to bite us back?”

The second uncle spoke up, “So what now? Should we still save her?”

The eldest uncle’s wife scolded, “Save her, my foot! I’ve never liked her. She’s clearly a member of the Gu family, but insists on sucking up to the Ji family. She even looks down on us, thinking she’s better than us. She killed someone’s daughter and then goes rushing to become their daughter. Shameless!”

Several of the Gu family’s wives had been victims of Gu Yalan’s behavior. Ever since she went to the Ji family, every time she came back home, it felt like she was doing them a favor. She looked down on them with an arrogant attitude, and they had had enough. When they heard she had been arrested, they were so pleased they almost wanted to set off firecrackers. Saving her? Not even a knife in the back was good enough.

The three women in the Gu family secretly rejoiced, while the three men in the family frowned, their heads lowered, as though it had nothing to do with them.

Gu Yalan was locked up by the police for attempted murder. She sneered, not bothered at all. Late at night, when everything was silent, a man dressed in black opened the door to her cell.

Gu Yalan scolded unhappily, “Why did you take so long to rescue me?”

The man spoke in fluent English.

“Shut up. If you don’t follow orders and act on your own, and if your identity gets exposed, the higher-ups won’t let you off!”

“It won’t happen. I’m Gu Yalan, I’ve lived here for so long. No one will suspect my identity. They arrested me because of the Ji family!”

“I’ve warned you long ago to just stay put as the eldest daughter of the Gu family. Why did you have to provoke the Ji family?”

“I was doing it to complete my mission. The Ji family is influential, and by being close to them, I can gather more information to send back to the country!”

“Enough, let’s leave quickly!”

Gu Yalan followed the man out of the cell. The man drove a black car.

“Hurry up and get in!” Before getting into the car, Gu Yalan felt a gaze on her. She turned her head to see a boy, around eight years old, standing by the wall.

She recognized the child; he was always around Ji Wanting. A malicious thought arose in her heart. She wanted revenge on Ji Wanting and decided to harm the boy.

“Wait a minute. Take that kid with us!”

The man looked back, “Don’t cause trouble. What do we need with a kid?”

“That’s a child from the Ji family. We have a grudge with the Ji family. This kid might be useful to us in the future.”

The man paused for a moment, then approached and grabbed Jiang Huaijin. The boy complied and was thrown into the car. The man drove, and Gu Yalan sat in the passenger seat. Neither of them paid any attention to the child sitting in the back of the car.

Jiang Huaijin lowered his head and silently listened to their conversation, while Gu Yalan angrily cursed.

“Dammit, I will never let the Ji family off the hook!”

“Enough, with you like this, what are you even doing here? Just go back to your country!” the man yelled.

“I won’t go back! I haven’t taken my revenge on the Ji family yet!” Gu Yalan retorted.

The man shouted, “Yako, don’t forget your identity. You’re just a spy sent by country B. You really think of yourself as the eldest daughter now? If you stay any longer, your identity will be exposed sooner or later. If you can’t finish your mission, you better think about what you’ll do when you get back!”

Gu Yalan paused when she heard the name “Yako,” before realizing how long it had been since anyone had called her that. She was from country B, and since switching identities with the eldest daughter of the Gu family, she had always remembered her mission. She had been working to develop connections and send messages back to her country. She had never been exposed, except for one time a few years ago when she killed a subordinate named Liu Hongming—that had been the only close call.

Jiang Huaijin suddenly understood—Gu Yalan had been switched. The man drove to a secluded house and pulled Jiang Huaijin out of the car.

“It’s too late now. We’ll stay here for the night and head back to country B tomorrow morning.”

Gu Yalan didn’t want to leave. She had gotten used to a life of luxury here. If she went back to country B, she would just be a spy, a subordinate who could only follow orders.

“Fine.”

Gu Yalan agreed, but in her heart, she was already planning to escape. She still wanted to be the eldest daughter. If she couldn’t be the Ji family’s, she would be the Gu family’s. With this boy in her possession, she could use him to threaten the Ji family into dropping charges against her.

When the man fell asleep, Gu Yalan carefully picked up the sleeping Jiang Huaijin and sneaked out. However, Jiang Huaijin hadn’t actually fallen asleep. He sneered quietly and allowed her to carry him away.

The place was quite isolated. It was late at night, and the quiet was suffocating. Looking up, all one could see were vast, yellowed, dead grass about half a person’s height. Gu Yalan carried Jiang Huaijin through the thick grass at a fast pace.

Jiang Huaijin looked up, and with a sharp knife in his hand, he thrust it deep into Gu Yalan’s shoulder.

“Ah…”

Gu Yalan cried out in pain, throwing him off as she glared at him with hatred.

“I didn’t expect you to be a wolf, not a well-behaved boy as I thought!” she spat.

Despite the pain, Gu Yalan rushed forward to grab Jiang Huaijin, attempting to take the knife from him. The two tugged at each other. Jiang Huaijin looked at her, a smirk on his lips. Suddenly, he loosened his grip, and Gu Yalan stumbled backward, falling to the ground.

She was secretly delighted and grabbed the knife, attempting to get up, but then felt a cold sensation around her neck. Looking down, she saw a large steel wire tightly looped around her neck. The other end of the wire was in the boy’s hand. Jiang Huaijin pulled sharply.

“Ah… Ugh…”

Gu Yalan dry-heaved as the wire tightened around her neck, suffocating her. She fell to the ground, unable to rise, the steel wire choking her. She gripped the knife tightly, slashing at the wire in an attempt to cut it.

“It’s useless. This wire is very strong. It’s perfect for murder. I’ve tested it before,” Jiang Huaijin said coldly.

Gu Yalan struggled to speak through the pressure on her neck. “Child, let me go, and I’ll let you go.”

“Hmm?” Jiang Huaijin tilted his head, as though hearing a joke, and laughed.

“But I don’t want to leave,” he replied.

Gu Yalan realized there was something off about the boy. She cautiously asked, “What do you want?”

“Your life,” Jiang Huaijin said, his expression darkening as he tightened the wire even more.

“As long as you’re dead, I won’t have any more worries.”

“No!”

Gu Yalan desperately struggled. Jiang Huaijin’s face darkened as images of his family’s death flashed through his mind. His grip tightened. Gu Yalan’s hand slowly dropped, and she stopped struggling.