Chen Bingying had no idea what his uncle and Third Uncle meant by "this," but he could tell it wasn't the same "this" he'd been talking about.
He was about to ask when Third Ancestor Chen gave a slight wave. Two household retainers appeared like wisps of smoke and dragged Chen Bingying away.
Chen Bingying shouted in despair, "Let go of me! Let go! We can't just let this go! I want Suijie to explain himself! I want Suijie to—"
In the end, no one paid him any mind. He was dragged away.
Third Ancestor Chen said in a low voice, "Use this story for now to steady the other families. But we have to find a way—and fast."
Sixth Ancestor Chen said, "I'm just afraid we won't fool them. It wouldn't be hard to verify Xu Yi's identity.
"Hong Tianming isn't as dim-witted as Bingying. How could he pull a stunt that would be exposed at once?"
Third Ancestor Chen shook his head slightly. "It doesn't matter. Even if they know we're bluffing, they won't call us out.
"The fact that we're bluffing means we're willing to take responsibility.
"This time, they won't need to get involved. Our family will handle it alone, so we have to be ruthless—and quick."
Xu Yi had just taken his leave of Lu Zhongyi when he hurried back to Xishan Road. He'd been away for nearly two years. Although he'd been managing things remotely the whole time, it was still extremely rare for an area chief like him to be away from his post for so long.
Too many official duties needed his personal attention. Xu Yi worked nonstop for three days before he finally cleared his backlog.
On the fourth day, just as he was thinking of visiting the various towers