Chapter 85: A Grave Mistake

Zhou Yanhui was left standing in place, her brow furrowed.

She had already arranged for someone, but after half an hour, she hesitated.

Zhou Yanhui didn’t believe that Fu Jianzhi would truly fall for Mu Ruo.

Everyone could see that Mu Ruo was just a tool Fu Jianzhi used to appease everyone.

As long as Fu Jianzhi did not marry, the elder Fu and Zhou Yanhui had the right to pressure him to fulfill his duty of marriage and offspring.

After all, the Fu family was not an ordinary family.

The large family business needed to be sustained by someone in the future.

With Mu Ruo as a shield, they could no longer interfere with Fu Jianzhi’s marriage.

Therefore, Mu Ruo had to be removed.

Once Mu Ruo was gone, she and Old Master Fu could force Fu Jianzhi to marry Zhou Niannian, and Zhou’s family would continuously benefit.

Zhou Yanhui’s phone rang with a strange male voice saying, “Sister Zhou, the arrangements are complete, just at the corner of Xin Street.”

“Forget it,” Zhou Yanhui hesitated, “Cancel it.”

She had originally planned to send Mu Ruo to a designated place to buy something.

If Mu Ruo went, a runaway truck would appear at the traffic lights.

She would have bribed the police to ensure the truck driver would serve only a few years in prison and then enjoy his freedom with a large sum of money.

Mu Ruo’s sudden departure made Zhou Yanhui even more fearful, given that this was her first attempt at orchestrating a murder.

“Alright, when should we reschedule?”

Zhou Yanhui took a deep breath.

This time, rationality finally prevailed over impulsiveness: “Cancel it completely.”

The shadow cast by Fu Jianzhi over them was too large.

Zhou Yanhui was worried that if Fu Jianzhi did have feelings for Mu Ruo, not only would she be unable to force him to marry Zhou Niannian, but she and her son might also suffer.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yanhui returned all the items she had bought today.

Though this money was insignificant to her now.

But what about the future?

Perhaps one day when the old man passed away, Fu Jianzhi might make them beg on the streets.

Zhou Yanhui ground her teeth, her eyes turning cold as she suddenly thought of a riskier but more profitable method—eliminating Fu Jianzhi.

She was startled by this thought.

Mu Ruo knew that Zhou Niannian loved to court disaster and didn’t expect that this time Zhou Niannian had made a huge mistake.

Fu Jianzhi was highly guarded against Zhou Niannian. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t touch any food or drink she offered.

Zhou Niannian knew this clearly but persisted in sending him various items.

Perhaps it was the recent decline of the Zhou family that spurred her, or perhaps long-standing failures made her feel deeply frustrated.

She once again drugged Fu Jianzhi’s drink.

To ensure Fu Jianzhi would definitely drink it, she injected the drug into an unopened bottle of corked red wine.

This time, Fu Jianzhi drank it.

But apart from Fu Jianzhi, there were also Fu family’s distant uncles, business partners, and relatives present.

Everyone in the room felt hot.

One uncle with high blood pressure fainted immediately, causing the household nanny to rush to call a doctor.

In a place like the Fu family, there would definitely be surveillance.

Zhou Niannian’s sneaky act of injecting drugs into the wine was fully captured by the cameras.

The drug Zhou Niannian used had no antidote.

Fortunately, the amount consumed was not large, and the reactions were not very severe.

Especially in this situation, compared to the subtle discomfort, everyone was more angry.

The Fu family’s private doctors included both Chinese and Western practitioners. The Western doctors advised everyone to drink plenty of water to expedite the drug’s metabolism and provided glucose water for everyone.

The Chinese doctors took everyone’s pulses, repeatedly assuring the big shots that their functions were not affected, and that things would be fine in a few hours. If unbearable, they could go home and relieve the effects with their spouses.

Despite this, the looks directed at Zhou Niannian remained cold.

As Zhou Niannian was their cousin, the faces of Fu Quan and Fu Zheng were completely darkened.

Just a moment ago, Fu Quan had been chatting happily with some relatives. Now his face was red with anger, wishing he could drive Zhou Niannian out of the Fu family.

Fu Quan, red-faced and angry, said, “Niannian is still young and doesn’t know better. She’s just playing around.”

One of Fu Quan’s cousins frowned and said, “In her twenties, and she’s still a child? How disrespectful. Fortunately, it was just this kind of drug. What if it had been poison? We’d all be done for.”

The relatives interacting with the Fu family were all either wealthy or influential—either powerful figures in the political circle or giants in various business sectors.

They wielded immense power and wealth, and no one valued their lives more than they did.

Zhou Niannian’s actions had completely ruined both the Fu family’s reputation and their dignity.

Fu Quan was apologizing to the elders, unwilling to offend any of them. His relationship with Fu Jianzhi had already deteriorated, and he was relying on these elders for future support.

After all, some of these elders were envious of the Fu family’s wealth and had always wanted to bring down Fu Jianzhi to get a share of it.

Zhou Niannian hadn’t expected this outcome.

She thought that after feeling the effects of the drug, people would remain silent, as many would attribute their reactions to drunkenness.

She planned to find another opportunity to be alone with Fu Jianzhi.

Mu Ruo had been called away by Zhou Yanhui and might not return for a while; she might even be killed by Zhou Yanhui.

As long as she took down Fu Jianzhi, the Zhou family could once again rely on the Fu family to access high society.

She sat on the floor, covering her face and crying pitifully.

However, these people were accustomed to seeing beautiful women and didn’t care about her tearful appearance; they were only concerned about their own health.

Old Master Fu was wheeled out by a servant, his expression grave.

When the crowd saw Old Master Fu, they fell silent for a moment.

Old Master Fu spoke with a tone similar to Fu Quan’s: “The young girl doesn’t understand. We’re adults; let’s not hold this against her.”

“Aren’t you too biased towards the Zhou family?” the previously speaking uncle sneered. “For so many years, you’ve been infatuated with the newcomers, showing more favor to the children of the Zhou family than to your own grandson! Your wife left only one son, and he died young. Now even Jianzhi is bullied in the family!”

Old Master Fu’s face grew red with shame: “I’ve given the company to Jianzhi; how could the family bully him?”

“Should the company not be given to Jianzhi, but to someone else?” The uncle spoke discontentedly. “Without Jianzhi, could the Fu family have expanded so greatly overseas? The company’s wealth was all created by him.”

At this moment, Fu Jianzhi finally rose from the sofa. He cast a cold glance at Old Master Fu, Fu Quan, and Fu Zheng, then looked around at the crowd.