Chapter 258: A Scam Targeting the Yin Family
Yin Changqing calmly recounted what had happened.
"About last month, a woman suddenly showed up here. She was in her twenties, very beautiful, and of mixed race."
"She said she grew up abroad. All her relatives there had passed away, so she decided to return to Dragon Country, which she also considered her home."
"Later on, she hit it off with one of the younger members of my Yin Family. After they set a wedding date, we brought her to live with us."
"On the third day after she moved in, the woman suddenly disappeared, and the Golden Saber had been swapped. So I suspect it must have been her!"
Xiao Ye didn't need Yin Changqing's suspicion. He was already certain it was the woman.
Otherwise, why would she disappear?
'Unless someone deliberately used this woman as a scapegoat. After the swap was successful, they would have engineered her disappearance to pin the blame on her.'
'But the chances of the Yin Family doing something like that were slim. They wouldn't dare offend the Xiao Family.'
Xiao Ye asked for a few more details. "All right, I get it. Put together a description of the woman and all the information you have on her identity, then give it to me."
"Yes, I've already investigated this. It's in my study right now. Please, come with me!"
The two left the ancestral hall and returned to the main house.
Madam Yin didn't dare linger in the living room. She had already retreated to her bedroom, planning to stay hidden for the next few days.
She had heard plenty of rumors about Xiao Ye.
That he killed people at the drop of a hat, that his methods were utterly ruthless… 'I'd better keep a low profile, just in case Xiao Ye remembers me!'
「In the study.」
Yin Changqing handed a file to Xiao Ye. "It's all in here."
The Yin Family wasn't a very large family in Shanghai, only considered mid-tier. If not for the Golden Saber, they probably wouldn't even have reached their current scale.
The people his master had sought out back then were all destined for extreme poverty.
The Golden Saber would allow them to possess wealth and other things, but similarly, it wouldn't let them truly reach the pinnacle.
Otherwise, if the people who had the Golden Sabers became too powerful, it would be a greater obstacle for Xiao Ye when he came to reclaim them.
This was like a dried-up river. Even if you poured water into it, it would first be absorbed by the soil underneath. Only after the soil was saturated would the water begin to accumulate.
After getting the file, Xiao Ye immediately sent it to his subordinates and had them investigate.
Yin Changqing asked cautiously, "Mr. Xiao, why don't you stay at the Yin residence tonight?"
"Our old house is rather quiet. The young ones have all moved out, so it's just the two of us living here now."
Xiao Ye nodded. "Prepare a room. I might be staying here for a while."
「The next morning.」
The Yin Family had prepared a variety of breakfast dishes early in the morning.
Xiao Ye ate a quick bite and returned to his room.
He opened his phone, and an email popped up.
The woman's identity was completely fake. Facial analysis had also failed to find a suitable match.
The Xiao Family owned several tech companies and also had partnerships with the current leaders in the tech industry.
The facial recognition in phones and various software was all based on big data analytics.
One could say that, apart from the elderly, the Xiao Family had the facial data of basically everyone in Dragon Country.
However, they didn't have the qualification or authority to view it; they needed cooperation from the higher-ups.
For a special and highly capable talent like Xiao Ye, as long as he wasn't doing anything illegal, he was naturally given the green light for everything.
This woman had no facial data in Dragon Country.
Just as Xiao Ye finished reading the report, his phone rang.
A subordinate said in a cold voice, "Patriarch, we've investigated thoroughly. This was a scam targeted specifically at the Yin Family!"
"This woman pretended to be a wealthy heiress from abroad. She claimed her parents were dead, she had inherited a huge fortune, and she carried a black card from a foreign bank."
"As soon as she arrived in Shanghai, she went on crazy spending sprees, signed up for memberships, attended socialite gatherings… a lot of people got to know her."
"Her act was very convincing; many people never suspected it was a scam. Besides, she was spending real money. A conservative estimate puts her spending at over ten million from the time she appeared to when she left!"
However, spending so much didn't necessarily mean the woman was rich.
Xiao Ye was more inclined to believe someone had put her up to it, with the goal of obtaining the Golden Saber.
But the Golden Saber was only useful to specific people. For instance, the Yin Family's Golden Saber would be completely useless if given to the Bai Family, the Ye Family, or the Lin Family.
So what was the other party's purpose in swapping the Golden Saber?
'And it seems this isn't the only Golden Saber that's had problems!'
'Start with the Yin Family's, then check the others. I'll definitely be able to follow the trail and find the mastermind!'
Xiao Ye thought of Master Que Jin.
But there was no sign of him at all right now; who knew where he'd run off to.
If he wanted to prove Master Que Jin was behind it, he had to find the man first.
And only by finding Master Que Jin would he have a chance of finding Lin Chuxing.
The subordinate continued, "According to our investigation, the inheritance this woman showed off was worth around several hundred million, and also included a foreign estate."
"On top of that, her parents were gone and she had no relatives in the country, so quite a few people in Shanghai had their eyes on her, wanting to marry her."
Marrying a woman like that was equivalent to marrying several hundred million.
And since she had no family, they could bully her however they wanted.
Maybe they could even seize her assets in the end and then kick her out.
All in all, there were just too many ways to manipulate the situation.
"Many families in Shanghai were trying to get close to this woman. The Yin Family was one of them, but they weren't the best option."
"In the end, the woman chose the Yin Family. Many people said she was worried she couldn't protect her fortune on her own, which is why she sought out a mid-tier family like them."
"After that, the woman moved into the Yin Family home and disappeared three days later."
Xiao Ye already knew what happened next.
The key question now was, where was this woman!
Xiao Ye looked at his phone. The woman had left behind quite a few photos, but he noticed that she was wearing heavy makeup in every single one.
An ordinary person might not be able to tell, but Xiao Ye knew that once the makeup was removed, her appearance would likely be drastically different from her unadorned face.
It seemed that from the very beginning, her intention was to conceal her true appearance.
Xiao Ye walked out of the room. Hearing the movement, Yin Changqing hurried over. "Mr. Xiao, did the investigation… yield any results?"
"Not yet. But one thing is certain: this was a scam tailored for your Yin Family."
Yin Changqing's face flushed red. Of course, he knew that.
Xiao Ye said coldly, "If your Yin Family hadn't been greedy for her wealth, you wouldn't have given her an opening."
"When you received the Golden Saber, my master should have told you. Not only must you fulfill your promise when it's time to return it…"
"…but you also have an obligation to keep the Golden Saber safe. If something happens to it, you must bear a portion of the responsibility."
"Otherwise, if you can't find the Golden Saber and are unable to return it on time, it won't matter even if I grant you an extension. You will still suffer a tenfold backlash!"