Gu Yan’s body was trembling so faintly that it almost could not be seen with the naked eye, seemingly in an attempt to suppress the grief he had in his heart.

He buried his head into Qin Yao’s chest, and his warm tears seeped through Qin Yao’s thin shirt, heating up his body like boiling water. Qin Yao’s body was stiff as he held onto Gu Yan as if he was holding a helpless child.

After a moment, Gu Yan raised his head, revealing his red and swollen eyes, his pale lips, and he spoke with a hoarse voice.

“Thank you, I feel much better now.”

Seeing his state, Qin Yao felt his heart hurt even more, but he put on a look as if he did not mind, and smiled,”You don’t have to force yourself, just cry if you feel unhappy. Unless you’re afraid I’d laugh at you?”

Gu Yan’s mouth twitched, but he did not speak.

Qin Yao’s voice deepened further, exuding a bewitching energy that made it hard for others to keep themselves from feeling safe around him,”Don’t worry, the law will definitely bring you justice. As the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, Gu Yan Xin will definitely have to pay for all he’s done.”

Things really have been difficult for Qin Yao. He clearly did not care about the Gu family, but he had to get justice for Gu Yan, all so he could give him some peace of mind.

“No……”Gu Yan shook his head, and looked at Qin Yao with his wet eyes. Slowly, he opened his mouth,”Please, don’t make things hard for him.”

Instantly, Qin Yao felt a small surge of anger rising up. Was Gu Yan still caring about that brotherhood bond of his? A person who tried to put him to death was completely unforgivable. He pursed his lips, and spoke with in a slightly cool tone:”But even if you let him go, he would never do the same.”

“Since I’ve already found out, I won’t give him another chance to hurt me.”A look of sorrow emerged in the depths of Gu Yan’s eyes. He sighed after a moment,”Moreover……Father is already old, I’m afraid he might not be able to take it.”

Qin Yao understood. He was not unwilling to put a hand on Gu Yan Xin; he was afraid of making Gu Zong Han upset. This was not a hard matter to settle,”I understand, since you don’t want to push things too far, then we won’t do anything to him for now. But we still have to give him a warning.”He spoke so casually, as if this complicated matter was no different from him deciding what he was going to eat for tomorrow.

The giants of ordinary people, the Gu family, was nothing at all in his eyes.

Gu Yan looked at Qin Yao, and finally nodded. His voice seemed desolate, but exerted the feeling of a person grasping at the very last thread of hope they could find,”I trust you in anything you decide to do.”

Gu Yan did not seem to be too emotional, but he felt extremely pleased at heart. Seems like sticking around Qin Yao was still pretty beneficial to him.

As a strong human cultivator, Qin Yao definitely had great power within human society. Things that would he should not do, or things that would trouble him to do, they were all as simple as a snap of a finger to Qin Yao.

But this did not mean that Qin Yao was definitely much stronger than him, just that the two of them had different identities.

He still needed his disguise, so it was no good for him to unfold his power before human society. Otherwise, it would be easy to get himself into a disaster before the right time comes. But things were different for Qin Yao. He had deep-rooted power and everything he did would surely meet with success.

“I should be heading back.”Gu Yan paused for a moment, and gradually recovered his calmness. Even though he still appeared relatively pale, it was still hard to notice anything off with him unless you stared.

“Do you need me to send you?”Qin Yao could not help feeling worried.

Gu Yan smiled. He had already restored his usual wilful appearance,”Don’t worry about me, I’m not that weak.”

Qin Yao looked at him.

Gu Yan headed to the door, and turned back to look deeply at Qin Yao before finally leaving.

………………………………

As Gu Yan got into his car, his expression was now fully calm, nothing could be deciphered from it.

According to his usual character, any ants that would even dare to try anything with him could be dealt with just by squashing them. It was not that he could not clean up Gu Yan Xin, but rather, Qin Yao was available, and willing to labour for him, so he was also plenty happy to watch from the sidelines. Besides, this was way better than going at it himself.

The only reason why he asked Qin Yao to hold himself back, of course, was not because he cared about the relationship between his father and his brothers, but instead, he did not wish to change the route of things just because of his impetuous behaviour.

Gu Zong Han had originally planned to give him the shares to the chain stores, so it could be seen that he cares very much for him. Even so, no amount of care could excuse him from sending his own brother to jail, it would inevitably cause him to feel unhappy. Old people, that’s how they are, family harmony was always the happiest thing for them, so they did not enjoy looking at the shameful intrigue between brothers.

Even though there was not much morals to speak of between humans, they still liked to stand on a pedestal of morality despite their hypocrisy and shamelessness, pointing their fingers at the others from their high horses. With such a good hand of cards, he would of course choose to stand at the very top for this entire ordeal.

Moreover……Occasionally being ‘protected’ by someone was also not too bad a feeling.

Using Qin Yao gave him no psychological burdens at all.

Gu Yan looked down at the phone in his hand for a moment. With how things were looking, mingling in the excitement of Gu Zong Han’s birthday banquet was still a requirement.

As soona s he returned to the hotel, he gave Bai Ya a call.

“Hello.”

Bai Ya recognized Gu Yan’s voice in an instant, and it filled her with excitement and joy,”Is that you, Yan Yan? It’s me, your mom!”

“I know.”Gu Yan said.

“I’m sorry, I should not have forced you out last time, don’t be angry, okay? Mommy only wanted to stay with you more……”Bai Ya’s voice was choked back and cautious.

“I don’t blame you.”

“Ah……Ohh, that’s good, that’s good……”

“I called because there’s something I need to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Where is Gu Zong Han’s birthday being held?”

“Are you going to come?”Bai Ya was instantly overtaken with surprise.

“……”Gu Yan was silent.

Bai Ya quickly told him the name of the restaurant,”It will be tomorrow at 12 in the afternoon, when that time comes, let mommy come to get you!”

“No need, I can go myself.”After he was done speaking, he hung up the call without even waiting for Bai Ya’s reply.”

Since he had already decided to participate in it, then it would be of much importance for him to prepare a gift, otherwise how could he put on the look of a filial and caring ‘son’?

But as for what to bring as a gift, he did not know, nor was he willing to care too much about it. Now, it was the time to shine for a human assistant of his. Gu Yan called Xu Ming over.

“Help me prepare a gift.”Gu Yan said.

“Who for?”He asked.

“A seventy year old man, the more expensive it is, the better, no need to save on money for my sake.”Said Gu Yan after some thought. It seems that Gu Zong Han was not lacking in much either. As a blockheaded idiot, the original host did not have any delicacy either; money was his way of showing his sincerity, the more money he spent, naturally meant the more sincere he was towards that person.

Xu Ming nodded, expressing his understanding.

…………………………

Even though the Gu family could not be ranked as one of the top amongst the wealthy in Beijing, but they couldn’t be underestimated either. Beneath the Gu family flag was a giant handful of businesses from real estate, finances, network, they had all sorts, and even a jewelry store chain that goes as far back as over a hundred years ago, they had quite the fame within the country. If not for the fact that the younger generation of the family had not shown their worth in the world yet, they may even be able to achieve an even higher status.

But no matter how much money they had, in Gu Yan’s eyes they still did not amount to much. The only reason he decided to play along with them was only for those jewelry stores. Building the array would take him a large amount of gold. But as gold was a national reserve, it was better to keep his purchases to a minimum lest he attract the attention of anyone, and it was not a definite that he would be able to purchase it. But if he had the proper channels for it himself, things would be different……

When Gu Yan arrived at the restaurant, the place was already filled with guests.

He came wearing a deep navy suit, and with his long legs and handsome face, he was like a shining beacon, attracting the gazes of everyone as soon as he came out of his car.

Gu Yan De noticed Gu Yan in an instant. In his forties, this man stood elegantly at the door, welcoming the guests. Since he was much older than Gu Yan, he had the air of an elder when faced with Gu Yan. He gave Gu Yan a friendly yet reserved smile,”Gu Yan, you’re here as well, come, get in quickly, everyone’s been waiting.”

Of course, Gu Yan certainly did not think that Gu Yan De had any idea of Gu Yan Xin’s plot to murder him, but since he was going to play the part of a good older brother, naturally he would not make things hard for him right at his face. He put on a big smile:”Big brother.”

“This is great, It’s good that you could come.”Gu Yan De seemed very pleased of his presence, and he gave Gu Yan a pat on the shoulder before turning to greet the guests again.

Gu Yan entered the restaurant. The place was already quite packed. Bai Ya’s choice of wardrobe today gave her a rare feeling of grace and luxury. As they say, men wear clothes but gods wear gold, her jewelry really put her look together well. She was looking around, and her eyes brightened up instantly the second she saw Gu Yan, appearing both surprised and relieved at the same time.

“Yan Yan, you’ve really come.”The look in her eyes were slightly complicated, she really did not think this would happen.

Gu Yan came just as he said he would without any tardiness, nor did he look uneasy about being here. He looked deeply at Bai Ya,”I thought about it, and there’s a lot I didn’t know in the past, and I’ve made you upset.”

Bai Ya was instantly so moved that her eyes turned red. She tried to speak through trembling lips:”No, you’re just fine, honey, mommy’s the one who hasn’t been good to you……”

Gu Yan suddenly reached out to hold her hand, and his steady demeanour put her at ease. She knew that this was not the right time to be bawling either, so she blinked her eyes and smiled:”If your dad saw you, he would definitely be overjoyed.”

“Mm.”Gu Yan smiled.

Gu Yan Xin was standing in a corner of the great hall, and was looking coldly towards Gu Yan and Bai Ya, his eyes glowing with the burning of his hatred.

In just a night, every single company under his name had come into a sudden inspection, pulling out every single thing out of the books that were illegal, not leaving even a single item. Even the things he did in the past that he thought had been covered up flawlessly had been exposed to the blazing sunlight with nowhere to hide. He understood then, that everything he had pride for was actually so weak.

He did not know who he offended, but he knew he was done for. He had always been a little unruly with his business, and he did not have the cleanest hands. If someone really had a heart out to get him, then his sins were enough for him to stay in jail for the rest of his life, he will have no chances to even find a substitute to stand in for him.

And what’s worse, he did not even remember offending someone with so much power. He really could not understand it, this really was depressing.

Gu Yan Xin thought he would have no chances to come to the banquet today……But he was able to find that man during his time at the very bottom, that man with the surname Qin. His eyes looked like he was looking down at a dead dog when they looked at him, his proud eyes brought not a single shred of emotion. He hated being looked at in such a way, but at that time, all he could feel was fear.

Because he finally realized that something like this could still happen in today’s society. For someone to turn a blind eye to any and all forms of law……To be able to decide the life and death of a person with a single word.

Then, he finally understood who he offended.

After hearing the recording, he understood. Even though he could not wait to tear apart Zhu Huan Wei, he knew that he could show nothing but obedience right now, that was the only way he could keep his ticket to survival.

He dragged his lethargic body up today, forcing himself to freshen up and pretend nothing was wrong, and came to the banquet.

Just recalling that this was all happening to him because of Gu Yan……Gu Yan Xin’s heart hated it, he hated it to death. That damned woman, that damned illegitimate child, stealing his father, snatching his inheritance; how dare they swagger about so shamelessly in front of him for more than twenty years! And right now! He even had to greet them with a smile!