235: Chapter 235 Zhu Tianhe visits his father-in-law

The car door was pushed open from the inside.

The first to step out of the carriage was Secretary Zhu Tianhe.

After getting out of the car, he hurriedly opened the door on the other side, and Minister Xiao Dingyu stepped out.

On the steps, Li Juan's expression froze.

The set of affectionate rhetoric she had prepared was stuck deep in her throat the moment she saw who had arrived.

This trap, which should have only targeted Zhu Wenhao, was forced open with a huge gap.

Zhu Wenhao spoke calmly with his hands behind his back.

"Mother, since Grandfather has set a family banquet."

"Then my father should naturally be in attendance."

He took a half-step forward.

"Furthermore, Father and you have not seen each other for some time. Do you not miss Father, Mother?"

Li Juan was speechless.

The relationship between her and Secretary Zhu Tianhe had dropped to freezing point during this period; the two had even cut off contact by phone.

However, Li Juan and Secretary Zhu Tianhe were, after all, husband and wife in name; she could not find a single word to refute Zhu Wenhao's statement.

Zhu Wenhao did not pause: "Moreover, Minister Xiao and my father, although they have the nominal relationship of superior and subordinate, are actually as close as father and son, with deep gratitude between them. My father coming to visit Grandfather, and Minister Xiao coming to visit the old leader—traveling together is perfectly reasonable."

Li Juan had to brace herself and go to meet Secretary Zhu Tianhe, who was walking over slowly.

She feigned a complaining posture: "Tianhe, why didn't you give me a heads-up before coming to Jingjiang?"

Secretary Zhu Tianhe's expression was indifferent.

This Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, who had always been known as a pushover, was surprisingly tough today.

"There is a meeting in the province this afternoon." Secretary Zhu Tianhe didn't even bother with unnecessary expressions. "I came to see you on the way. The old leader is here to visit the old chief."

He only stated the reason and did not respond to Li Juan's feigned concern.

After speaking, Secretary Zhu Tianhe did not stop. He and Minister Xiao Dingyu walked directly past Li Juan, stepped over the threshold, and walked straight into the courtyard.

Leaving Li Juan standing in the wind, at a loss for what to do.

She looked at her son's silhouette and suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of estrangement.

"Yuntong..." Li Juan barely steadied her mind. "My good son. A while ago, I thought that after undergoing some tempering at the grassroots level, you had become steady. I never imagined you would grow up so fast."

Zhu Wenhao adjusted the cuffs of his dark coat.

"It's nothing."

"If I guess correctly, there should be more than just Grandfather in his study today."

"My good uncle, whom I have never met, is probably sitting inside too."

"Today, if I hadn't invited my father and Minister Xiao, in this study, you, Grandfather, and Uncle."

"I don't know what kind of rigid family banquet the three of you would have set for a junior like me."

After Zhu Wenhao finished speaking, the hidden pressure around him was released in part at this moment.

Li Juan was intimidated by that aura and froze in place.

Zhu Wenhao ignored her and turned to walk into the courtyard.

Su Qinghan carried her handbag and followed calmly by his side.

Walking to the edge of the courtyard gate, Zhu Wenhao paused slightly, turned his head, and waved to Study Committee Member Cao Rui, who had been waiting by the car.

Seeing Zhu Wenhao's summons, Study Committee Member Cao Rui immediately trotted up and followed respectfully behind Su Qinghan.

Zhu Wenhao's arrangement today was very well thought out.

Bringing Secretary Zhu Tianhe and Minister Xiao Dingyu was a declaration to the Li family: The successor acknowledged by Minister Xiao would only be Secretary Zhu Tianhe, certainly not the parachuted Li Zhengxing.

And calling Study Committee Member Cao Rui into the game was to show another trump card to Old Master Li.

Study Committee Member Cao Rui represented the attitude of Deputy Secretary Cao Hang of the Jingjiang Municipal Committee.

This clearly told the Li family: I, Zhu Wenhao, do not rely on the Li family's shade; I can still build my own front in the provincial capital, Jingjiang.

Li Juan came back to her senses, looking at the figures stepping into the courtyard, her palms soaked with cold sweat.

It was a mess.

It was all a mess.

The grand strategy to consolidate power, painstakingly laid out by Old Master Li, had collapsed within a few moves by Zhu Wenhao.

She lifted her skirt and chased into the courtyard with chaotic steps.

Outside the study door of the two-story building.

The Li family's head butler, Butler Wang Jianan, stood in front of the mahogany door, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

Just now, Minister Xiao Dingyu and Secretary Zhu Tianhe broke into the courtyard, catching him off guard.

According to the original plan, only Zhu Wenhao was supposed to enter the game today. Now that even the Minister of the Provincial Organization Department had come in person, how could a butler like him dare to block them?

He could only watch helplessly as Minister Xiao Dingyu and Secretary Zhu Tianhe pushed open the door and entered the study.

At this time, Zhu Wenhao, bringing Su Qinghan and Study Committee Member Cao Rui, also arrived at the door.

Butler Wang Jianan gritted his teeth, braced himself, and took a half-step forward, blocking the way.

Zhu Wenhao stopped and sized up the old man who had served the Li family for half his life.

"Uncle Wang." Zhu Wenhao spoke.

"We are here to see Grandfather. By blocking us like this, do you not intend to let me in?"

Butler Wang Jianan stammered: "Yuntong, the old chief is meeting guests inside, this..."

"Just now outside the door, Mother said it herself. Grandfather set up the chessboard early, just waiting for me to play a couple of games." Zhu Wenhao said word by word. "Delaying Grandfather's interest in playing chess is ultimately against the rules."

Butler Wang Jianan was stuck in a dilemma by these words, and sweat from his temples rolled down his wrinkles.

Just at this moment, an aged voice came from inside the study.

"Is that Yuntong outside?"

Li Zhenguo's voice penetrated the wooden door. "Come in quickly. I have been waiting for you for some time for this unfinished game."

Butler Wang Jianan, feeling relieved, stepped aside and cleared the way.

Zhu Wenhao reached out to push open the door and stepped inside.

The layout of the study was visible at a glance the moment he stepped in.

Two people were sitting at the ends of the sandalwood chessboard by the window.

In the main seat was the vigorous Li Zhenguo. Li Zhenguo held a black piece in his hand, sitting as still as an ancient bell.

Sitting opposite was a man in his forties. His face was elegant, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a very scholarly air, yet his every gesture revealed composure and restraint.

And on the side of the chessboard.

Minister Xiao Dingyu stood to the side with his hands behind his back, observing the situation.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe stood half a step behind Minister Xiao Dingyu.

This positioning vividly displayed the closeness and distance of their stances.

Seeing Zhu Wenhao lead people in, Li Zhenguo only gently dropped the black piece between his fingers into the bowl.

"Yuntong, come here."

Li Zhenguo raised his hand and pointed to the elegant man opposite.

"This is your uncle. Li Zhengxing."

Zhu Wenhao stepped forward and greeted him.

"Uncle."

Li Zhengxing raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over Zhu Wenhao.

It was a kind of scrutiny, and also a kind of measurement.

"I often hear Father talk about how this nephew of mine is doing well at the grassroots level, and his chess skills are not to be underestimated."

Li Zhengxing stretched out his finger and tapped the center of the chessboard.

"Come and look at this game. The black pieces have great momentum, and the white dragon is about to have its lifeline cut off."

Li Zhengxing looked at Zhu Wenhao and threw out the question unhurriedly.

"You deliberate for this white piece; is there any room for a solution? Does this white piece still have a way to live?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Minister Xiao Dingyu's hand stopped in mid-air, and Secretary Zhu Tianhe subconsciously held his breath.

This was not asking about chess.

The black pieces on this board represented Li Zhengxing.

And the white dragon being surrounded and intercepted was a metaphor for Secretary Zhu Tianhe and his son.

The black pieces swallowing the white pieces was a naked declaration of annexation.

He was asking Zhu Wenhao, regarding this resource handover, is your Zhu family prepared to surrender, or put up a futile struggle like a trapped beast?

For a moment, several pairs of eyes in the study focused on Zhu Wenhao.

Minister Xiao Dingyu observed the game in silence, Secretary Zhu Tianhe clenched his hands into fists, and Su Qinghan stood by the door, holding her breath.

Zhu Wenhao cast his gaze toward the chessboard in that square inch.

The game had indeed reached a perilous state.

The black pieces had set a net in the periphery, and the white dragon was trapped in the hinterland. A slight carelessness would result in a losing game.

He looked at the scattered pieces, and in his mind appeared the rough hands of the old farmers in Heishi Town, and the wanmin umbrella hanging in the government hall.

Heaven as the chessboard, stars as pieces; who dares to play?

Power schemes and calculations ultimately cannot be separated from the word "reason."

For those in politics, one does not fear a perilous situation; what one fears is losing the scale in one's heart that measures the people's livelihood.

"Uncle's black pieces are indeed played very well. The periphery is like an iron bucket, impenetrable."

A flash of self-satisfaction crossed Li Zhengxing's eyes.

"However."

Zhu Wenhao extended two fingers and picked up a white piece from the bowl.

"Those who are good at chess plan for the trend; those who are not, plan for the pieces."

"The black pieces are only focused on encircling the dragon in the center, but have forgotten the corners of the board, where there is still a vast, undeveloped wilderness."

Zhu Wenhao turned his wrist.

With a crisp "clack."

The white piece did not fall into the center to tangle with the black pieces, but unexpectedly, it fell directly onto the very edge of the board, a seemingly lifeless dead corner.

Sacrificing pieces to gain the initiative.

"The white dragon, it doesn't matter if it doesn't live." Zhu Wenhao withdrew his hand and looked straight into Li Zhengxing's eyes.

"As long as it takes root in this corner and sets up a new stove. Even if the black pieces eat that piece of fat in the center, it will require a lot of resources to digest. By the time the black pieces finish digesting, the white pieces' momentum in the corners will have been formed, and instead, it will have formed a counter-encirclement of the center."

"The right path in the world is full of vicissitudes."

Zhu Wenhao summarized: "Blindly wanting to annex everything, the way of eating is too ugly; in the end, it will only burst one's own stomach. Local affairs must ultimately be pushed forward by people who do practical work. In this game, the white pieces not only have a way to live, but the world is also very vast."

Li Zhengxing's expression sank bit by bit.

That lonely white piece on the edge was like a thorn, piercing into his long-planned Jiangnan grand strategy.

Li Zhenguo looked at the chessboard and then at his grandson standing in front of him.

A flash of extremely complex light crossed the old man's eyes.

"A good 'setting up a new stove'."

Li Zhenguo spoke slowly.

The real confrontation had just begun.