Chapter 161: Heart Enchantment Seal

Congreve...

Lin Jie's eyes widened slightly, and his fingers subconsciously started tapping on the table as he fell into thought.

He knew that Cherry had relied on her own efforts to eke out a high position within the Ash Chamber of Commerce over the past few years.

—Of course, there were also rumors and old wives' tales that her father had a preference towards his illegitimate children, or that his mistress was his true love.

At the same time, one could imagine that Cherry's climb wasn't a smooth one. She still had a bunch of covetous siblings to contend with.

Furthermore, the Ash Chamber of Commerce was a business organization established by several families, split into three branches and each controlled by a different family that kept each other in check.

Therefore, if Cherry wanted to expand further, she would be faced with limitations both internally and externally.

And amongst the internal branch was a fellow named Congreve that spoke the loudest against her.

Of course, Congreve had reason and the capacity to do so. Before Cherry returned to the Chapman family, Congreve had been the person most likely to inherit the family business and already had a number of loyal supporters.

If it wasn't for Cherry's uncanny ability and rapid ascend, she would have been utterly suppressed right from the start.

Even now, Congreve's power wasn't to be underestimated. Although Cherry's advantage was overwhelming, she could still only stifle Congreve but not remove him from the reckoning.

He was always a risk and Cherry always had to be cautious about his movements.

And now, specifically mentioning a book gotten from Congreve's side meant that Cherry’s call wasn't without purpose.

It was possible that the particular book documented or proved something that could be used to hurt Congreve or even make him lose his supporters.

Therefore, Cherry had sought out Lin Jie specially…

She had done so because of her trust in him, but... Cherry's current status meant that she would have many capable people at her side yet none of them had been able to understand this book.

While Lin Jie could boast to know a little, cryptography still wasn't within his professional scope.

Lin Jie could only reply tactfully, "I could give it a try, but I can only help you to the best of my ability. After all, I'm not particularly good in this aspect."

Cherry's voice brightened at once. "Fantastic! Thank you very much!I'll bring the book there right away!"

Hey, hey. No need to put it as if I've already solved the matter. Did this young lady even finish hearing what I said? 

Lin Jie sighed with a sullen look on his face. It sounded like she didn't really care about what the book contained and just wanted to come. Haa... truly child-like temperament.

But as a responsible grown-up, Lin Jie had to concern himself with this matter.

"Wait a minute, you got that book from Congreve? And it's something important to him and could thoroughly cause his downfall?" asked Lin Jie.

Cherry replied, "Yeah, yeah. According to reports from my sources, it's highly likely that this book contains stuff that can incriminate Congreve and it’s more important to him than the other supporters.

"Also, it might be related to his unusual movements of late.

"I saw that the contents of this book was written in a certain ancient language, and thus, thought of you."

She then added, "He's been intercepting my shipments lately and making them go missing. But it's being done so secretly that my sources aren't able to get any information for the time being."

Lin Jie muttered, "Don't be too complacent. There's no reason he didn't have any precautionary measures in place. Even though your current status is rather stable, being unable to completely deal with him means that he still has strong support.

"Don't take him too lightly. If he really was a fool, there wouldn't be any reason for others to support him."

He paused for a bit, raising an eyebrow. "From the tone of your voice, I'm guessing you didn't face much difficulty obtaining the book?"

Cherry did a double take, immediately realizing that Lin Jie was reminding her that this book could be a trap.

Indeed... Bella had only reported on Congreve's unusual activities and her sources had gotten this book just a few days after. The speed at which this unfolded was a little too quick.

Under any other circumstances, she would surely have wondered if it was staged.

But her contempt for Congreve was so deeply ingrained that she hadn't given it too much thought.

Another thing to note was that her informant was the most reliable one on Congreve's side. Originally, this informant had been a trusted aide of Congreve's but was later brainwashed by Cherry's 'Heart Enchantment Seal' and became her die-hard loyalist.

'Heart Enchantment Seal' was the ability that Lin Jie had bestowed on her three years ago.

As long as she was able to have a certain extent of communication (degree depending on the other person's mental fortitude), Cherry would be able to compel the other party to conceive notions of 'sympathy', 'love', 'tolerance', 'respect', 'loyalty' and other such positive thoughts regarding Cherry.

Or perhaps, it wasn't necessarily always positive, but it would always be in a way beneficial to Cherry.

Her nickname 'Chapman Witch' was coined partially due to this, for most that interacted with her would subconsciously be 'infected' by her 'charm'.

This source had also been the same, so Cherry hadn't doubted his competence or loyalty.

Cherry hesitated. "There really wasn't much difficulty, but..."

But if this is really a trap, it means that something has gone wrong with my informant.

Viewing it from a wider perspective, this trap was rather obvious and that informant was a part of the brains in Congreve's faction and there was no way he wasn't in on a plan on this sort of level.

That meant to say, there was a possibility that Congreve had once again regained control of this source and turned him into a reverse agent.

Lin Jie shook his head and said, "It's better to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

"Have you ever considered that since you can't understand the contents of this book, it might be possible that he's written down false information in it that can be used against you?"

Cherry's face darkened and she frowned. "If this book can thoroughly take him down and I continue studying it..."

Lin Jie's eyes narrowed and he interrupted, "Then that could be dangerous to you!"

Cherry felt goosebumps emerging all over her skin, for if Mr. Lin didn't exist, she would definitely take Congreve lightly given her personality and would have assumed this was a great opportunity to beat down her opponent for good.

Then, she would have continued trying to decipher it, and if her opponent was indeed smart and turned the tables claiming that this book was hers, it could really cause a world of pain.

That's not like Congreve's level...

Lin Jie could tell from Cherry's silence that she was probably a little nervous after this realization. Thus, he comforted her, "But, this is just my guess. Let me take a look at the book first, and my place is probably quite safe.”

Mhm, it's very safe indeed with an acquainted police officer here.

Cherry willingly agreed. "This had been my intention from the start. Just that looking at things now, Congreve might have really been scheming against me..."

She then sneered, "Very well, I will let him understand the true meaning of pain."

Lin Jie frowned, thinking to himself that this tone didn't bode well. Years of a rich and pampered life seemed to have changed this young lady greatly, giving her a ruthless side...

Back then, he had given the book, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life to Cherry, hoping to sprout a little seed of love in the heart of this young lady that had suffered from family misfortune and to teach her that violence was always the last resort.

But from the look of things now, it seemed like Cherry had grown a little astray.

He cleared his throat and decided to help Cherry recall his initial intent.

"Do you still remember the words I said to you back then?"

Cherry nodded. "Of course! You told me to communicate with others using words of love and wisdom, not violence... Unless I can't help it."

That’s what he said back then. Isn't this advice too straightforward? 

Lin Jie gave a dry laugh. "Looks like you remember it rather clearly."