1: Chapter 1 The Crisis of the Executive Suite

"Ah..."

A woman's scream shattered the peaceful morning in the executive suite.

Zhu Yuntong opened his eyes.

He had reigned over the world for sixty years, from breaking the Jingnan campaign to creating the prosperous age of the Great Ming. He should have died peacefully on the dragon bed of the Daming Palace.

However, he did not return to his college dormitory before his transmigration to the Great Ming; instead, he arrived in a strange place.

He felt the new body, the vitality brought by a young twenty-four-year-old physique.

Zhu Yuntong looked toward the source of the scream.

A woman, whose bare face could rank among the beauties even in the Daming Palace, was clutching a silk quilt tightly against her chest.

The smear of bright red on the sheets indicated that last night was unusual.

Memories flooded into his mind.

The owner of this body was named Zhu Wenhao, a notorious second-generation heir in Linjiang City.

His father was Secretary Zhu Tianhe, the Executive Vice Mayor of Linjiang City.

The woman on the bed had an even trickier identity.

Su Qinghan, the eldest daughter of Mayor Su Changming, Deputy Secretary of the Linjiang Municipal Party Committee.

She was a well-known ice beauty in the political circles of Jiangnan Province.

Five days ago, Former Mayor Xiao Tianyou of Linjiang was placed under investigation.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe and Mayor Su Changming were deadly rivals competing for the mayoral seat.

Last night, an ordinary gathering of second-generation heirs had turned into a "honey trap" this morning that could destroy the father and son of the Zhu family.

Dense and rapid footsteps came from the corridor.

If it were the original playboy Zhu Wenhao, he would have been scrambling to find his pants by now.

Zhu Yuntong did not move.

Sixty years of imperial life had turned the art of power and intrigue into instinct.

"You ruined me!"

Su Qinghan's eyes were bloodshot.

She stared fixedly at the man in front of her, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

Knock, knock, knock... The sound of knocking on the door rang out.

"We are from the Linjiang City Police Station. Open the door immediately."

Zhu Yuntong threw off the quilt and casually pulled on a white hotel bathrobe.

His left thumb habitually rubbed against his finger.

Although the jade thumb ring representing the supreme power of the world was gone, the habit of wielding life-and-death power had already been carved into his soul.

"The people outside are from the Police Station."

"The timing of the arrest is calculated perfectly."

"In last night's sobering soup, there was thirty percent sleeping pills and seventy percent aphrodisiac."

"Someone used your innocence to set a trap, hoping to ruin both me and my father."

Su Qinghan looked up abruptly.

She was about to retort.

Her mind, as a master's student in Economics at Renmin University, forcibly started up in extreme panic, instantly capturing these fatal details.

Zhu Yuntong walked to the bar counter.

His fingers pinched the crystal decanter, and wine was poured into two goblets.

"You are not too stupid."

"The last glass of juice you drank was personally handed to you by your good sister, Su Xiaoxiao."

"It's hard to say what role your stepmother played in it."

"But for Mayor Su Changming to be able to sell out his own daughter to play the victim..."

"He is truly a model of a cold-hearted official."

He carried the two glasses of wine back to the bed.

"You are not just an abandoned piece; you are a dead piece."

Zhu Yuntong handed over a glass of wine.

"Once the door is broken down."

"I go to prison."

"My father will lose all chance at the mayoral seat for failing to teach his son."

"And you, the eldest daughter of Mayor Su Changming, will have your reputation completely destroyed."

"You will be casually married off to some marginal person willing to take the leftovers, and from then on, you will either be abused or live an unhappy life."

"Your greatest value is to become the stepping stone for Mayor Su Changming to win the sympathy of the Provincial Party Committee and ascend to the position of Mayor."

Su Qinghan had thought her father had changed his ways over the past two days.

She had naively believed that by getting into the master's program at Renmin University, she had finally gained her father's approval in this blended family.

Now, reality had slapped her with the harshest blow.

She was just a pawn pushed out first to die.

"People inside, open the door!"

"If you don't open the door, I will break it down!"

The electronic prompt of a master key card swiping open came from the door lock.

The police officer's body camera was already aimed at the door crack.

Su Qinghan closed her eyes.

She awaited the arrival of social death.

A warm, powerful hand forced the goblet into her palm.

"Those who are good at chess plan the overall situation; those who are not plan for individual pieces."

"Mayor Su Changming only knows how to play a losing game."

"Let me teach you what it means to control the whole board."

"Put on the bathrobe and hold the wine glass steady."

"From now on, you are not a victim."

"You are my underground girlfriend of three years."

"We are here to celebrate your admission to the Renmin University master's program."

"Those people outside are thugs sent by Mayor Su Changming to rudely interfere with our freedom of love."

Su Qinghan opened her eyes wide.

A case of sexual assault.

Instantly twisted into a family ethics drama of breaking up a couple.

The enemy's fatal blow.

Hardly downgraded to a scandalous gossip about rebellious children.

Turning the world upside down.

The man in front of her, standing with the imposing aura of a mountain, was definitely not the playboy who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun.

The door lock made a harsh, crisp sound.

The suite door was pushed open violently.

Flashes of light poured in like a flood.

A group of people rushed into the master bedroom.

The leading police officer was preparing to shout according to the script.

But all sound stuck in his throat.

No nudity.

No scrambling.

In front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

Zhu Yuntong was wearing a decent white bathrobe.

Su Qinghan was wrapped in a bathrobe, her legs crossed, leaning in his arms.

The two of them held wine glasses, the scene calm and high-class.

The leading Deputy Chief Wang was completely stunned.

This was not the adultery scene that the higher-ups had described.

Zhu Yuntong tilted his head slightly.

His gaze swept across the crowd indifferently.

"Breaking in early in the morning."

"Have you never seen a young couple dating, or do you think the threshold of my Zhu family is too low, and anyone can come and kick it?"

That terrifying aura of someone who had long held a high position forcefully pressed down on the spine of everyone present.

Deputy Chief Wang's back was instantly soaked.

Facing a twenty-four-year-old young man, he actually felt that even breathing had become difficult.

"Mr. Zhu..."

"We received a real-name report saying there was a case of forcing a woman's will here..."

Zhu Yuntong held the wine glass and swirled it gently.

"Your salary and provisions are the people's fat and blood."

"Investigating violations of law and discipline is your duty."

"But using law enforcement as a cover to act as thugs for someone's power struggle."

"Do you still want to keep this uniform?"

"Since you know me, you know who my father is."

"Take your people and get out."

"Tell the person who sent you that if you reach too far, it's easy to get it broken."

Only the word "Get out" echoed in the room.

The people who rushed in retreated.

The police officers quickly put away their cameras and exited the room.

Deputy Chief Wang's face was ashen as he respectfully helped close the door.

The suite returned to deathly silence.

Zhu Yuntong placed the goblet on the bedside table.

"Who exactly are you?"

Su Qinghan looked up, her voice hoarse.

The political and economic knowledge she had built up over the years collapsed at this moment.

She thought her father's calculation was on the third floor.

But the man holding her just now showed methods and depth of city that were in the atmosphere.

Zhu Yuntong walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Overlooking this modern city with its heavy traffic.

"I am Zhu Wenhao, the son of Secretary Zhu Tianhe, the Executive Vice Mayor."

"More importantly, from today on, you are my woman."

Su Qinghan stood up.

She didn't cry or scream like an ordinary woman, nor did she make empty threats.

She silently put on the clothes scattered on the floor.

Every movement was an effort to maintain her last bit of pride.

When she reached the door, she stopped.

"I will check the surveillance from last night and the source of the juice."

"If it is as you said..."

Su Qinghan turned back and looked at him deeply, her eyes intertwined with humiliation, fear, and a strangeness she hadn't even noticed herself.

"I will prove that I am not a useless pawn."

The door closed.

At the door, Su Qinghan couldn't help but sob twice, then gritted her teeth, the sound of her high heels fading away.

Zhu Yuntong rubbed his thumb gently.

The first step to breaking the situation was complete.

Just as he was thinking, the phone thrown on the sofa vibrated.

Caller ID: [Father], a call from Secretary Zhu Tianhe.