Jiang Chen wore a helpless expression.
Tang Chuchu said, "Go get the dress out of my wardrobe. There's an important banquet tonight."
Jiang Chen stood up, walked over to the wardrobe, opened it, and asked, "Which one, honey?"
"The white one, with the V-neck."
"That won't do. You shouldn't wear something so revealing outside. This one's nice." Jiang Chen picked out a black turtleneck dress, handed it to Tang Chuchu, and asked, "By the way, what banquet is this?"
Tang Chuchu replied, "It's an auction banquet hosted by Xiao Ruoran of the Xiao family. There are a lot of good things there, and all the attendees are bigwigs. I'm taking the opportunity to expand my social circle."
Hearing this, Jiang Chen was slightly stunned, but he didn't say much. Instead, he asked, "Do you need me to ride you there?"
"I'll just take a cab."
"Oh, alright."
Tang Chuchu changed into the dress and went out.
After she left, Jiang Chen also found an excuse to step out of the house.
The Xiao family villa.
This was the last remaining villa belonging to the Xiao family; all their other assets, including real estate, had been liquidated.
Dozens of members of the Xiao family had gathered inside the villa.
At the head of the room sat a middle-aged man in military uniform.
He was Xiao Zhan, the fourth son of Xiao Biehe.
Xiao Zhan served in the Western Territory Army.
When his father Xiao Biehe died, he was away on a mission and couldn't break away. By the time he rushed back, Xiao Biehe was already dead.
However, the killer had left a clue pointing to the remnants of the Jiang family from ten years ago. Therefore, he had hurried back to the Capital overnight to find the bigwig who had given the order to wipe out the Jiang family and seize Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Huayue) to ask for answers.
Yet, he hadn't managed to get any concrete results, but he had uncovered a piece of news: the reason Tang Chuchu's face was disfigured was that she had been burned while saving someone from the fire at the Jiang family villa ten years ago!
That bigwig had given a strict order to find out who exactly the person Tang Chuchu had saved was.
Upon obtaining this information, he had left the Capital and returned to Jiangzhong.
When he returned to the Xiao family, however, the family had already been driven to bankruptcy, and this was closely tied to the Tang Chuchu he had been investigating.
Sitting beside him was a glamorous woman with flawless skin whose age was impossible to tell. She was Xiao Ruoran.
Xiao Ruoran spoke up, "Fourth Brother, we have no clues yet on who killed Dad, but our family was driven to bankruptcy by Tang Chuchu. Xiao Chen already said it was all Tang Chuchu's doing—she made a phone call to Ye Xiong, and that's how Ye Xiong brought down our family."
Xiao Zhan sat in the primary seat, his resolute face dark, his fists clenched tightly. "Whoever dares to oppose our Xiao family will come to no good end, not even Ye Xiong. I want the whole world to know that the Xiao family is not a soft persimmon for anyone to pinch. Tonight will be the day the Tang family perishes!"
Jiangzhong Grand Hotel, the venue for the Xiao family's auction banquet.
Luxurious cars crowded the exterior of the hotel, with numerous Jiangzhong socialites and elites walking in and out.
These were all people who had received invitations from Xiao Ruoran.
Although the Xiao family was bankrupt and none of the Jiangzhong elites wanted to attend this auction banquet, word had leaked from the Xiao family: Xiao Zhan had returned.
For the Xiao family to have become the foremost of the Four Great Tycoon Families, Xiao Zhan had contributed immensely.
He belonged to the Western Territory Army, and his rank within the military was not low.
Outside the Jiangzhong Grand Hotel, two men in black trench coats walked up on foot.
Seeing the soldiers guarding the outside of the Jiangzhong Grand Hotel, Xiao Hei paused slightly. "Brother Jiang, these are troops from the Western Territory Army. Could Xiao Zhan of the Xiao family be back? This Xiao Zhan seems to be a trusted aide of the Prince Xiaoyao of the Western Territory, and his military rank is quite high—he's at the deputy commander level."
"Prince Xiaoyao?" Jiang Chen sneered. "Even if Prince Xiaoyao himself were here today, if he dared to stop me, I would make him drop to his knees."
Daxia had five supreme commanders.
The Black Dragon of the Southern Wasteland, the Commander of the Northern Frontier, Prince Xiaoyao of the Western Territory, the Barbarian King of the Eastern Domain, and the Tianzi in the Capital.
In terms of sheer power, the Tianzi in the Capital was the strongest.
As for the Black Dragon of the Southern Wasteland, although he had been appointed commander most recently, he possessed the greatest strength; even if the other three commanders joined forces, they might not be a match for the Black Dragon.
Furthermore, the Black Dragon held another identity: the Divine Doctor!
His medical skills were peerless throughout the world—he could bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bones!
As long as a person still had a single breath left, he could save them!
Even if someone had stepped half a foot into the gates of Hell, he could yank them right back from the hands of the King of Hell!
Therefore, even if the other three commanders were to arrive in person, Jiang Chen wouldn't necessarily take them seriously, let alone just a trusted subordinate of Prince Xiaoyao of the Western Territory.
"Brother Jiang, are we going to kill anyone tonight?"
"Our main task tonight is to retrieve Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Huayue). As for whether people die, we'll play it by ear."
"When are we going in?"
"No rush. Wait until the banquet starts."
"Understood!"
The two of them lingered outside the hotel without rushing in.
As for the Jiangzhong elites arriving for the banquet, upon seeing soldiers guarding the hotel, they all trembled.
Xiao Zhan of the Xiao family had really returned!
Xiao Biehe was dead and the Xiao family was bankrupt, but now that Xiao Zhan was back, he would undoubtedly stir up storms in Jiangzhong.
On the top floor of the hotel, Jiangzhong's elites had gathered.
Even Tang Chuchu had come.
Dressed in a black dress that accentuated her slender figure, her long hair pinned up, she exuded a noble and graceful demeanor as she generously mingled and greeted various Jiangzhong elites to expand her social circle.
At that exact moment, two staff members carrying a painting walked past. As they reached behind Tang Chuchu, they suddenly dropped it to the floor.
Crash!
The framed painting hit the floor, and the crystal glass frame shattered instantly, the glass shards tearing through the painting inside.
And the ruined part of the painting landed right under Tang Chuchu's feet.
"What—what are you doing?"
One staff member stared at the painting slashed by the glass on the ground, glared at Tang Chuchu, and shouted, "Why did you bump into me?"
"I—I didn't." Tang Chuchu was bewildered.
She hadn't bumped into anyone.
"I didn't! Did you make a mistake?"
"How is that possible? You're the one who bumped into me and ruined the painting! Do you know what painting this is? It's a famous painting from over two thousand years ago—it's Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Huayue), and it's worth 1.8 billion!"
The other staff member also spoke up, pointing the finger at Tang Chuchu, "It was you, Tang Chuchu! You're the one who bumped into us!"
The commotion here attracted the attention of quite a few people.
"What's going on?" A middle-aged man in a military uniform with an upright posture walked over, barking, "What's all this shouting and holstering about? Have you forgotten all your manners?"
"Boss Xiao, we were carrying the packed Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Huayue) toward the back work area when Tang Chuchu bumped into us. The... the Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Huayue) is ruined."
Xiao Zhan squatted down, looked at the landscape painting slashed by a gash of glass, and his expression instantly turned ugly. "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Huayue)... It—it's ruined! This was worth 1.8 billion!"
"It wasn't me! It wasn't me!" Hearing that it was worth 1.8 billion, Tang Chuchu panicked instantly and backed away rapidly.
Such a high price was something she could never afford to pay; even if the entire Tang family were sold off, it wouldn't cover it.
Xiao Zhan stood up, looked at Tang Chuchu, and said with a cold expression, "I, Xiao Zhan, will never wrong anyone. There are surveillance cameras here; whether it was you or not will be clear with a glance at the footage. Someone, pull up the surveillance!"
A few minutes later, someone returned with the footage.
Under the witness of Jiangzhong's elites, Xiao Zhan personally played the surveillance video.
In the video, two staff members were shown carrying the picture frame when they were indeed bumped into by Tang Chuchu, causing the frame to drop to the ground and the painting to be ruined.
Seeing this scene, Xiao Zhan said coldly, "Tang Chuchu, 1.8 billion. Someone, take Tang Chuchu into custody, go to the Tang family, and demand 1.8 billion. If they can't pay, drag every last member of the Tang family back here."
Seeing the soldiers advancing toward her, Tang Chuchu turned deathly pale with fright, panicked to the point of tears, and cried out, "It wasn't me! Really, it wasn't me! General Xiao, I didn't do it, I truly didn't! I've been wronged, I never bumped into them!"
A large crowd had gathered around.
None of them spoke, secretly feeling a pang of pity for Tang Chuchu.
"What a pity. The Tang family was just starting to get back on its feet, and now it's all over."
"Yeah, 1.8 billion... The Tang family is going to go bankrupt this time. I wonder if liquidating all their assets will even scrape together 1.8 billion."
"Tang Chuchu is really unlucky. How could she be so careless?"
Hearing the surrounding murmurs and watching the fully armed soldiers approaching, Tang Chuchu lost her wits, her face drained of color as she kept retreating. Two fully armed soldiers carrying weapons marched toward her, pitch-black gun barrels aimed straight at her.
Xiao Zhan ordered, "Take her to the back room!"
Amidst despair and helplessness, Tang Chuchu was forcibly dragged away by the two fully armed guards.
Xiao Zhan's ruthless methods stunned many present.
Yet, rather than pitying Tang Chuchu, they felt a hint of schadenfreude.
This little accident did not interrupt the auction either; at that moment, Xiao Ruoran of the Xiao family stepped forward and began to host the auction.