After leaving the Tang family, Tang Chuchu’s eyes were filled with tears. She sobbed, "Chen, I’m sorry. It’s useless of me; I can’t even make decisions about my own marriage."
Jiang Chen took her hand and said, "Didn't your grandfather say that as long as I can secure the contract with Qianjun Group, he will acknowledge you as my wife?"
"But that is Qianjun Group," Tang Chuchu said, her face clouded with worry.
Living in Jiangzhong, how could she not know of Qianjun Group? It was a multinational corporation that had only moved into the city in recent years, and its contracts were almost entirely controlled by the Four Great Families of Jiangzhong.
Jiang Chen smiled, "How will we know if we don't try?"
Tang Chuchu suddenly remembered something. "Right, I remember now. A high school classmate of mine works at Qianjun Group as a department manager. I’ll go find her; if she acts as an intermediary, I should be able to meet with their top management."
"Mm."
The two walked home, hand in hand. Tang Chuchu’s home was in the same residential area as the Tang Family Villa, though the Tang headquarters was a villa while hers was a high-rise apartment building.
They strolled along, and by the time they arrived home, He Yanmei had already returned. However, she refused to let Jiang Chen into the house. Jiang Chen felt helpless, so he said, "Chuchu, I’ll head back first."
Tang Chuchu had no choice but to nod. Her primary goal right now was to secure the Qianjun contract and force the Tang family to recognize Jiang Chen’s status. Once she went inside, she began contacting the classmate she hadn't spoken to in years.
Jiang Chen returned to the Emperor's Residence, the most luxurious villa district in Jiangzhong. He sat on the sofa, smoked a cigarette, and pulled out his phone to dial a number. "Tell the Chairman of Qianjun Group to come to the Emperor's Residence."
He had not wanted to use his privileges as Dragon Commander, but to win the Qianjun contract, he had no other choice.
Soon, a middle-aged man appeared at the Emperor's Residence. He was in his fifties, wearing a suit, slightly overweight, and balding.
"Dr-Dragon Commander..."
Entering the residence, the man fell to his knees with a thud. He was Ye Xiong, the person in charge of Qianjun Group in Jiangzhong and a member of the Ye family from the Capital. Before arriving, he had already learned the identity of the person he was to meet. This was the Dragon Commander who had shaken the Southern Wasteland—the god of slaughter, the Black Dragon whose very name made enemies tremble with fear. Facing such a towering figure, he dared not show even a hint of negligence. As he knelt, cold sweat broke out along his spine.
"Ye Xiong?"
Jiang Chen put down the documents in his hand, took a look at the middle-aged man on the floor, waved his hand slightly, and said indifferently, "Stand up and speak."
"Yes."
Ye Xiong stood up, his head covered in sweat, yet he dared not reach up to wipe it away. He was terrified, wondering how he had offended this god of slaughter or why he had been summoned.
"Tomorrow, my wife, Tang Chuchu, will go to Qianjun Group to ask for a thirty-million-yuan contract. You will receive her personally. There must be no negligence."
Hearing this, Ye Xiong let out a sigh of relief and put on a fawning smile. "Dragon Commander, no problem at all. Forget thirty million—even a three-hundred-million-yuan contract, as long as the Dragon Commander needs it, I will offer it with both hands."
"Remember, my wife is Tang Chuchu, of the Tang family."
"I will remember, sir."
"You are dismissed."
"Yes."
Ye Xiong left quickly, feeling as though he had just been granted a reprieve. By the time he left the Emperor's Residence, he was drenched in sweat. As a member of the Capital’s Ye family and the helmsman of Qianjun in Jiangzhong, even the heads of the Four Great Families of Jiangzhong treated him with extreme caution. Yet, before Jiang Chen, he hadn't dared to breathe a word of defiance.
After Ye Xiong left, Jiang Chen stood up and muttered to himself, "I've been back for more than ten days, and I still haven't paid my respects."
He walked out of the Emperor's Residence, planning to hail a taxi to the ruins of the Jiang family estate on the outskirts. However, an unmarked commercial vehicle was parked at the gate. A man in a black tank top with dark skin stood in front of it.
Jiang Chen walked over and glanced at Xiao Hei. "Didn't I tell you to take the brothers and go back?"
"Heh, Dragon Commander, the boys have already returned to the Southern Wasteland, but I stayed behind. Dragon Commander, please, let this subordinate stay."
"Call me Brother Jiang. There is no Dragon Commander in Jiangzhong."
"Yes."
"Go to the Jiang Family Mausoleum."
"Brother Jiang, get in the car."
...
Soon, Jiang Chen arrived at the site of the former Jiang family villa. The estate had long since been burned to ashes, replaced now by rows of graves. What was once the premier family of Jiangzhong was now nothing more than ruins.
Dark clouds blanketed the sky, and a torrential rain began to pour.
Before the Jiang family graves stood a young man in a tan trench coat, with a man standing behind him holding an umbrella.
"Thump."
Jiang Chen knelt to the ground.
Ten years ago, the Jiang family had been the greatest family in Jiangzhong. He had been eighteen years old that year. That was the year his father had taken a stepmother for him. Her name was Xiao Ruoran, now the head of the Xiao family, the first of the four great clans in Jiangzhong.
Xiao Ruoran had conspired to get into his grandfather’s bed, framing him for drugging her. She had ruined his grandfather’s reputation and turned the Jiang family into a laughingstock. That same year, she reported his father for corruption. His father, overwhelmed by the distress, suffered a heart attack, but instead of saving him, Xiao Ruoran pushed him from the third floor and told the world that his father, Jiang Nan, had committed suicide to escape the consequences of his crimes.
After Jiang Nan died, the Four Great Families, led by the Xiao family, gathered at the Jiang estate. They killed his grandfather, bound over thirty members of the Jiang family, and demanded the "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Huayue)," a treasure passed down through the Jiang family for a thousand years. After obtaining the painting, they burned the Jiang estate to the ground and divided up the family’s assets.
"Father, you were guilty. You were a sinner to the Jiang family. You shouldn't have loved Xiao Ruoran, and you shouldn't have brought that wolf-hearted woman into our home..."
Jiang Chen knelt before the grave, weeping aloud. Who said a man’s tears are hard to shed? It was simply that the sorrow had not yet reached its peak. He hated his father for falling in love with a woman he shouldn't have, leading to the destruction of the Jiang family. He hated Xiao Ruoran, and he hated the Four Great Families—the Xiao, Wang, Zhao, and Zhou families—even more. It was these four clans that had turned his family into wandering souls.
"Grandfather, you died with such injustice. I swear, I will bring the heads of the heads of the Four Great Families to pay homage to the souls of the Jiang family."
"Dragon Commander, please grieve with restraint," Xiao Hei said from behind, holding the umbrella. He had never seen Jiang Chen so heartbroken; he had never seen the formidable Black Dragon show such a side of himself. Even when facing a vast army, he never knew fear, yet now, he was weeping like a child.
"Dragon Commander, tonight, the Xiao family’s Longteng Group is holding a celebratory banquet to mark a permanent agreement signed with Qianjun Group. From now on, Qianjun’s contracts will be offered to Longteng first; only after they choose will the rest be released to other groups. Today is also the eightieth birthday of the Xiao family head. The celebration and the birthday banquet are being held together."
"Longteng..."
Jiang Chen clenched his fists tightly. Longteng was his family’s enterprise. Now, it had become the private property of the Xiao family. He slowly stood up, a murderous glint flashing across his resolute face.
"Prepare a coffin. We are going to the Xiao family to collect the interest."