Outside the Tang Family Villa, dozens of jeeps drove up, and fully armed soldiers charged into the compound.
The Tang family was thrown into an instant panic. Tang Tianlong, already fast asleep, scrambled out of bed in his pajamas. Seeing the dozens of soldiers, his old face paled with fright, and he stammered in a panic, "Military officers, what is the meaning of this?"
"Take him away."
At the order, two men grabbed Tang Tianlong by the arms and dragged him away by force.
The rest of the Tang family, already asleep, were likewise yanked from their beds by force.
Meanwhile, at Tang Chuchu's home, Tang Bo and He Yanmei were already asleep.
"Bang!"
The front door was kicked open as a group of people surged inside and forcibly dragged them away.
At the Jiangzhong Grand Hotel, on the top floor, inside a secret room:
Tang Chuchu was tied up. Soon, the rest of the Tang family was brought in—her grandfather Tang Tianlong, her father Tang Bo, her eldest uncle Tang Hai, her second uncle Tang Jie, and dozens of other members of the Tang clan. All of them were brought to this place, tied up hand and foot.
The Tang family members were completely bewildered. They had no idea how they had offended the Xiao family, nor why they had been hauled off to the Xiao family villa. Every one of them wore a look of terror and panic.
Sitting on a chair in the basement, a cigarette dangling from his lips, was Xiao Zhan.
Behind him stood a number of fully armed soldiers. With an indifferent expression, he said coldly, "Tang Chuchu, do you know why I had you tied up?"
Tang Chuchu had no idea.
She hadn't ruined the painting, so why did the video footage show her crashing into it?
Bound tightly, Tang Tianlong pleaded, "General Xiao, our Tang family has never offended the Xiao family! My grandson Tang Lei is even on very good terms with Xiao Chen of the Xiao family! Why have you rounded up our entire family? I beg you, let us go! If we have caused any offense, I will prepare a humble gift later and come to the Xiao family in person to apologize."
Xiao Zhan gave a slight wave of his hand, cutting Tang Tianlong off. "At the auction banquet, Tang Chuchu ruined a famous painting worth 1.8 billion. Tang Tianlong, I will let you go back to liquidate the Tang family's assets, scrape together 1.8 billion, and bring the money to ransom your people. When I see the money, I release the hostages. If there's no money, all of you die."
"What?"
"1.8 billion?"
"Tang Chuchu, what is wrong with you?"
"How on earth did you manage to destroy a 1.8-billion painting?"
The bound members of the Tang family were stunned by the astronomical sum, and they immediately began pointing fingers at Tang Chuchu.
They cursed her endlessly, berating her as a jinx who had brought such a catastrophic disaster upon the Tang family.
Tang Chuchu was like someone eating coptis chinensis—suffering bitter agony that she had no way to voice.
Xiao Zhan gave an order: "Release Tang Tianlong."
Before making his move, he had specifically investigated the Tang family. The combined total assets of all dozens of family members barely added up to around 1.5 billion. This single painting was enough to drive the Tang family completely into bankruptcy.
Once freed, Tang Tianlong rushed over to Tang Chuchu, lashed out with a vicious slap across her face, and cursed furiously in a frenzy of rage, "Useless wretch! You have brought total destruction upon the Tang family!"
Tang Chuchu's face turned red from the blow, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She sobbed aloud, "Grandfather, it wasn't me! It really wasn't me!"
"You still dare to quibble? Would General Xiao wrong you?" Beside himself with anger, Tang Tianlong struck her across the face again and again.
Once he finished hitting her, he dropped heavily to his knees and begged like a beaten dog, "General Xiao, please, I beg you to spare the Tang family a way out."
Xiao Zhan said coldly, "Spare the Tang family a way out? Who ever spared my Xiao family a way out? Because of a single phone call from Tang Chuchu, Qianjun and Ye Xiong targeted my Xiao family and forced us into bankruptcy."
Tang Chuchu came to her senses and cried out, "So... you framed me?"
"Yes." Xiao Zhan did not deny it. "Even if I framed you, what of it? The Tang family will come up with that 1.8 billion whether they want to or not. As the Deputy Commander of the Western Territory, wiping out dozens of people from the Tang family is effortless for me."
Tang Tianlong looked as though he had lost his very soul, collapsing limply to the floor.
In that single instant, he seemed to age decades. He wailed in despair, "It's over. The Tang family is finished."
"Throw this old man out."
"Yes."
Two fully armed men stepped forward and forcibly dragged the crying Tang Tianlong away from the floor.
The remaining members of the Tang family present were frightened out of their wits.
This General Xiao meant business. The Tang family was finished, and it was all brought upon them by Tang Chuchu.
"Tang Chuchu, you jinx! It's you who ruined the Tang family!"
"How could I ever have given birth to a daughter like you?"
"Tang Chuchu, how could your single mistake implicate our entire family?"
"General, I have nothing to do with Tang Chuchu! Let me go!"
"Sob, I don't want to die! General Xiao, I beg you, let me go! Every debt has its debtor—this is all Tang Chuchu's doing! Go take your revenge on Tang Chuchu, kill her, but let us go!"
The Tang family members cried out one after another, begging for mercy.
Facing the overwhelmingly powerful Xiao Zhan, they were entirely helpless.
Hearing these words from her own family, Tang Chuchu felt a despair so profound she wished she were dead. Overwhelmed by rage and grief, she fainted on the spot.
Xiao Zhan made a gesture.
Immediately, someone brought over a basin of water and splashed it across Tang Chuchu's face.
The unconscious Tang Chuchu snapped back to consciousness.
Xiao Zhan stood up and walked over. A dagger materialized in his hand. He lifted her chin, the blade gently tracing across her fair cheek.
He pressed her coldly, "Tang Chuchu, ten years ago, you broke into the blazing sea of fire at the Jiang family estate and suffered burns. Yet nowadays, this face of yours is rather pretty. Who was the person you rescued from the flames ten years ago, and where is he now?"
"I—I don't know," Tang Chuchu said, her face pale as her entire body trembled violently.
"Slash!"
The dagger in Xiao Zhan's hand cut deep. A fresh wound instantly appeared on Tang Chuchu's cheek, blood welling out and staining half her face crimson in a heartbeat.
"Ah!"
Tang Chuchu shrieked in agony, struggling frantically, but with her limbs bound tight, no amount of struggling was of any use.
The rest of the bound Tang family members were shivering with terror as well; some of the more cowardly ones even passed out cold from fright.
"Speak! Who on earth is the person you saved? Has he ever come looking for you? And what is your relationship with Ye Xiong? Why would Ye Xiong show you such profound respect?"
"I don't know! I really don't know! Sob, I don't know anything!" Tang Chuchu burst into tears.
"Slash!"
Xiao Zhan delivered another cut, and a second wound opened on Tang Chuchu's face.
She felt only a searing, fiery agony across her cheek, accompanied by the distinct sensation of warm blood flowing down from her cheek onto her neck.
Xiao Zhan demanded harshly, "Who is the person you saved? Has he ever come looking for you?"
Tang Chuchu was stunned into a daze by his roar. She truly did not know. She had no idea who the person she saved ten years ago was. She wept bitterly, tears streaming down her face.
"Sob, I really didn't know at the time that it was the Jiang family estate; I only found out afterward! I have no idea who the person I saved was either. After I pulled him out of the sea of fire, his face was already horribly burned, and then he jumped into the river and was swept away by the raging current! I don't know who he is, and he has never come looking for me! General Xiao, everything I'm saying is the truth, please let me go, sob..."