Chapter 197: You Really Are a Lunatic
A group of people stormed over to Liu Loulan's residence.
Seeing so many of them, her staff didn't dare stand in their way and immediately stood aside.
Soon, they arrived at Liu Loulan's bedroom.
BAM!
The door was kicked open.
Liu Loulan, already awake, was sitting in a chair.
Someone had come to check on her condition yesterday, and though she had told them not to tell anyone, she knew just how selfish the members of the Xiao Family were.
They would act immediately the moment their interests were threatened, so Liu Loulan had already prepared for the worst.
She couldn't see a thing, yet she forced herself to remain composed.
"What do you all want, coming here in such a large group?"
"You see that my health is failing, so you couldn't wait to come cause trouble for me, is that it?"
"Have you all forgotten? Who has been generating profits for you all these years!"
"Liu Loulan, we didn't come to you this time because of your health."
The Grand Elder spoke first. "We're here about Xiao Ming!"
Liu Loulan's heart sank. "What happened to Xiao Ming?"
Hearing this, the others immediately chimed in, their voices sharp with accusation.
"How dare you ask us what's wrong!"
"Xiao Ming isn't Xiao Ling's son! He has no blood relation to our Xiao Family whatsoever!"
"Tell us, whose son is he, and who is your lover!"
'I can't believe this is what got out!'
'How is this possible!'
'I made all the necessary arrangements. This shouldn't have been discovered.'
Liu Loulan forced herself to remain calm. "You must have been deceived. I know, it was the Zhu family, wasn't it?"
"No! We had it tested ourselves!"
With that, SLAP, the report was thrown at Liu Loulan's feet.
She couldn't see, so there was no point in picking it up.
"Xiao Ming is a member of the Xiao Family, and he is Xiao Ling's son! There must be something wrong with your report!"
"You're still trying to argue, even now!"
"Our own people handled the test. There's absolutely no way it was forged!"
"Liu Loulan, stop lying! Tell us now, who's the lover!"
"If you don't tell us, don't blame us for what happens next!"
"Why do you think we supported you? Because you bore a son for the Xiao Family! Because your son was of Xiao blood!"
"But now we know he isn't. You've deceived all of us!"
...
The room erupted in a cacophony of accusations, each person wishing they could nail Liu Loulan to a pillar of shame.
Liu Loulan laughed, a humorless, angry sound. "You're all such hypocrites! Why did you prop me up? Don't you know the answer to that yourselves?"
"Because you wanted profit and a good reputation! Don't forget, when Xiao Ling died, every single one of you had a hand in it, not just me!"
"And I have the evidence to prove it!"
"If you don't want to be reviled for eternity, you'll drop this right now!"
"My health may be failing, but don't think you can just cast me aside now that I'm no longer useful! If my son doesn't become the Patriarch, I'll make sure none of you know a moment's peace!"
Liu Loulan stroked her dragon-headed cane, her voice ice-cold. "And besides that, I have plenty of other dirt on you."
"If you don't want to end up in prison, you'll all fall in line!"
"Otherwise, I don't mind dragging the entire Xiao Family down into the mud with me! I'll have all of you as my funeral companions!"
At this, they erupted in fury.
"You're insane!"
"Your son isn't a member of the Xiao Family. He can never be the Patriarch!"
"A bastard, dreaming of becoming the Patriarch? In your dreams!"
Liu Loulan sneered. "I'm not from the Xiao Family by blood, yet didn't I become the head of this family?"
"That's different. You were at least Xiao Ling's legal wife, the Lady of the House for the Xiao Family."
"He's nothing! Liu Loulan, if you want your son to stay alive, you'll listen to us!"
Liu Loulan had spent her entire life fighting for power.
And power, once obtained, is something one can never let go of.
She wouldn't just take the Xiao Family for herself; she would ensure her son inherited it as well!
"Then go ahead and try. If you dare to lay a single finger on him, I'll bring the Xiao Family to a point of no return!"
"Are you all thinking about killing me right now?"
Liu Loulan might be blind, but that didn't mean she couldn't read these people.
"But you can't. A cunning rabbit has three burrows, after all. I've stored the evidence in multiple locations, all with my most loyal people."
"The moment I realized something was wrong with my health, I gave them their orders: if anything happens to me, they are to release everything immediately!"
In truth, she had started making these preparations right after Xiao Ming was born.
Xiao Ming's identity was a landmine. It might never go off, but it could also blow them—mother and son—to smithereens.
That's why she had to prepare for every eventuality, leaving the Xiao Family no opening to exploit!
The chaos within the Xiao Family residence quickly subsided.
Zhu Chen immediately relayed the news to Xiao Ye.
Xiao Ye leaned back on the sofa, idly swirling the wine in his glass.
"It seems Liu Loulan had an ace up her sleeve. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so compliant."
Zhu Chen, sitting opposite him in a traditional Chinese robe that made him look like a young master from the Republican era, replied, "Indeed. Liu Loulan may not be particularly brilliant,"
"but all these years have given her enough time to gather some leverage."
Xiao Ye nodded. "In that case, we'll have to find a way to force their hand, to make them abandon Xiao Ming."
"If Xiao Ming proves to be useless enough, they'll find a way to deal with him themselves."
Zhu Chen understood what he meant.
As things stood, Xiao Ming was still considered competent. There might be people loyal enough to Liu Loulan to risk helping him.
But if Xiao Ming were a true waste of space, then even the most loyal followers would lose heart.
"What's your plan?"
"You've already investigated Xiao Ming. What's your assessment of him? What kind of man is he?"
Zhu Chen recalled the information his investigation had turned up.
On the surface, Xiao Ming appeared clean, but in reality, he was cut from the same cloth as Liu Loulan.
Whenever he was in a bad mood, he would torture others for his own amusement.
Others might not be able to uncover it, but the Zhu family could. Intelligence was their specialty.
Xiao Ming had tortured at least ten women to death!
'Only impotent men take pleasure in tormenting women!'
"In my opinion, he's nothing more than an animal!"
Xiao Ye chuckled. "If he's an animal, then we don't need to hold back."
"He likes women, doesn't he? Then let's let him have his fun. And let's make it a big one."
"But just playing around with women isn't enough. Men like that are always making excuses for their philandering."
Especially wealthy men. It's the old story: a wife at home and a mistress on the side. Very few of them practice self-restraint.
So, we have to make people see exactly how Xiao Ming treats these women!
"Alright, I know what to do." Zhu Chen was a sharp man; he immediately understood what Xiao Ye was implying.
He stood up. "I'll make the arrangements. You just need to rest here, Mr. Xiao."