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Zhou Yueze had not expected Ye Mingzhao to turn the situation around with just a few words. He had barely said anything before that fool Yu Mingze rushed to stand in front of him and charge into battle on his behalf!

"When you spoke up for Ye Mingzhao, did you ever consider that I'm your fiancé?" Zhou Yueze laughed in anger. "Everyone has to pay for the stupid things they've done. Since you couldn't judge people clearly yourself, don't blame me for dealing with you too!"

As Zhou Yueze spoke, he yanked Chu Qingyi out of the crowd and pulled him in front of himself, flaunting him before Ye Mingzhao. "So what if his second uncle is a human trafficker? Our country's laws don't punish people by association. Mingzhao, you're so kind and upright—you wouldn't take your anger out on an innocent person, would you?"

At Zhou Yueze's words, everyone present sucked in a breath. They could not help whispering among themselves.

"You shameless—"

Ye Mingzhao stopped Yu Mingze, who was fuming with rage, and looked calmly at Zhou Yueze.

Zhou Yueze glared back without yielding.

After a long moment, Ye Mingzhao suddenly smiled. "Does Chairman Zhou know you're doing this?"

Chapter 22

Zhou Group Headquarters Building

The night was tranquil, the stars glittering.

From the spacious floor-to-ceiling windows of the top-floor office, New Sea City's prosperous nightscape lay spread out in full view. Huge billboards and neon lights flashed endlessly, while farther away, scattered streetlights and taillights stretched in every direction like a burst galaxy.

A middle-aged man in a black suit stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down at the bizarre neon streetscape below. The vast office was completely dark, its refined and luxurious furnishings swallowed by the shadows. Only the cigar between his fingers glowed and dimmed. The polished glass reflected his elegant face, marked by the passage of time, while the eyes behind silver-rimmed glasses were cold and sharp. The phone pressed to one side of his cheek emitted a dim blue light, making his outline increasingly indistinct.

"Young people are immature. Over a small misunderstanding, they've made such an absurd mess. I'll teach him a proper lesson... No, no. Yueze was in the wrong from the start. How could Mingzhao be blamed?"

"If anyone is to blame, it's Yueze for being young and impulsive, for not knowing the gravity of things. In a fit of spite, he actually let that boy from the Chu family deceive him... I'll have him withdraw the investment in that drama as soon as possible... What? All right, I'll do as you say. There's no need for our two families to damage our relationship over such a trivial matter."

The smile Zhou Heting had piled onto his face vanished the instant he hung up, as though putty had smoothed over a wrinkled cement wall. He turned around and casually stubbed out the cigar between his fingers in the ashtray. Zhou Yueze, standing behind him, said uneasily, "Dad, does Uncle Ye suspect us? Earlier, Mingzhao—"

"Ye Mingzhao is a vicious dog the Ye family raised." Zhou Heting looked down from above at the bustling CBD district in central New Sea City, his tone rather amused. "Other than wagging his tail and begging for favor before the Ye family, he looks at everyone else as though they're a meaty bone. The only difference is whether that bone is easy to gnaw through. But Ye Linyuan is different."

As he spoke, Zhou Heting suddenly turned to look at Zhou Yueze, his tone softening. "How have things been between you and Chu Hengyi?"

Zhou Yueze paused, then said, "Not bad. He seems very hostile toward Ye Mingzhao. He was the one who told me that Ye Mingzhao had planted a reporter."

If Chu Hengyi had not tipped him off, Zhou Yueze would never have known that the reporter he had arranged for Chu Qingyi was actually Ye Mingzhao's man. Nor did he know when Ye Mingzhao had noticed something was wrong and silently planted that reporter right before him, completing this entire setup without giving anything away.

The prey that had fallen into a trap had quietly become the hunter instead. Beyond his shock, Zhou Yueze once again experienced Ye Mingzhao's methods. The suffocating sensation of unknowingly falling into a spiderweb sent chills down his spine, yet also stirred a faint, excited tremor in his heart.

"Ye Mingzhao is a born schemer. His keen instinct for danger makes people wary, and his ability to plan and manipulate situations is far too outstanding. One careless move, and he'll bite back. That's why I had you step forward and do everything possible to divert his attention."

Having Zhou Yueze invest in The Prince's Transformation appeared to be nothing more than Yueze acting on impulse after learning the truth behind the withdrawn investment. In reality, it was meant to push Chu Hengyi in front of Ye Mingzhao.

One was a biological son who had been mistreated for eighteen years; the other was an adopted son raised at their side for eighteen years with great hopes placed on him. Zhou Heting wanted to see which one Ye Linyuan would protect when the palm and back of his hand came to blows.

"Ye Mingzhao is still too young. A person like him is actually very easy to deal with." Zhou Heting spoke blandly, as though it were nothing out of the ordinary. "Chu Hengyi is the first move we prepared for him."

Those skilled at scheming often died by schemes as well. Ye Mingzhao was an ambitious man born with a talent for laying plans. Once he sensed that he was in danger, instinct would drive him to unconsciously resort to tricks and schemes to protect himself. Like a venomous snake waking from hibernation, its first reaction was to bite the farmer to death.

Schemes were his armor, but they were also his weakness.

To make a man so clever that no plan escaped him lose his composure, one naturally had to strike at the thing he was most proud of.

Zhou Yueze's heart stirred. "Then do we still need to look for Ye Mingzhao's biological parents?"

"Of course we do. How could one chess piece be enough to deal with someone like Ye Mingzhao?" Zhou Heting's tone grew increasingly grim. "Ye Mingzhao truly is a vicious dog raised by the Ye family. He's fiercely loyal to them because they raised him. But what if the Ye family no longer wants him?"

"Ye Linyuan is indeed formidable, but he's already old. Ye Mingchen is good at maintaining what he has but lacks initiative, while Ye Mingxi is nothing but useless. Among the Ye family's younger generation, only that mad dog Ye Mingzhao can hold up Ye Group. But his weakness is that he doesn't carry the Ye family's blood."

At this point, Zhou Heting snapped open a torch lighter. The flame flickered as he lit another cigar. Wisps of bluish smoke slowly rose through the night, veiling the aged face behind it, a face filled with calculation and cunning.

"Since the Ye family has found their own flesh and blood, Ye Mingzhao should also be found by his biological parents."

When that time came, a family that appeared inseparable would be divided with absolute clarity by blood ties.

Zhou Yueze stared at the cigar flickering in the darkness, momentarily lost in thought. His attention unconsciously returned to that night. Ye Mingzhao had calmly asked him, "Does Chairman Zhou know you're doing this?"

His gaze was deep and sharp, openly sizing Zhou Yueze up as though he wanted to peel away his flesh and see straight into his heart.

Zhou Yueze's heart skipped a beat. He immediately forced out a cold laugh. "What do you mean? Are you trying to use my father to pressure me?"

"Ye Mingzhao, don't be so childish. So what if my dad knows? I'm the actual controlling shareholder of Zhou Film and Television Company, and Zhou Group is merely one of the company's shareholders. It can't interfere with the company's normal internal decisions." Zhou Yueze met Ye Mingzhao's eyes without backing down. "What projects the company invests in and what productions it shoots are decisions I can make myself as CEO. I don't need to ask anyone for permission."

"This isn't children playing house. Do you think you can run to a parent and complain so they'll uphold justice for you?"

"Even if you want to complain to a parent, you should first figure out who you ought to complain about." Zhou Yueze paused slightly, deliberately leaning closer to Ye Mingzhao as he said each word with emphasis, "Do you know who betrayed you? Chu Hengyi."

"He was the one who told me about the reporter. He seems to really look down on you, his adopted brother!"

As Zhou Yueze spoke, he carefully watched Ye Mingzhao's expression. Seeing the flash of astonishment on Ye Mingzhao's face, he felt as though an impossibly fine needle had pricked his heart—both painful and itchy.

"Do you think you're still the third young master of the Ye family?"

Zhou Yueze scoffed, yet still followed the plan he had thought through beforehand and shouted, "Ye Mingzhao, grow up already. Don't make me look down on you!"