7: Chapter 7 Argument

In the study on the second floor, the heavy solid wood door completely isolated the chaos downstairs.

Mayor Su Changming and Su Qinghan sat face-to-face on opposite sides of the large mahogany desk.

A silent tug-of-war was playing out in this study.

At the negotiating table, Mayor Su Changming was best at using this kind of dead silence to crush an opponent's psychological defenses inch by inch.

But today, the person sitting across from him was his own daughter.

Neither of them spoke first.

"Sizzle."

Mayor Su Changming lit a cigarette, and the blue-gray smoke rose, blurring his face, which was etched with deep nasolabial folds, into the shadows.

Holding the cigarette, he scrutinized his eldest daughter through the haze.

On that face, there was the shadow of his late wife.

"Su Qinghan, you shouldn't have done this."

Mayor Su Changming spoke, using the tone of a Deputy Municipal Party Committee Secretary.

"What shouldn't I have done?"

Su Qinghan looked him straight in the eye.

"Should I not have cooperated with Zhu Wenhao to disrupt your chess game for the mayoral seat?"

"Or are you saying I should have obediently gone to the Police Station, admitted that I was forced, and traded my reputation for your fame and fortune?"

Mayor Su Changming's hand, in the middle of flicking off the ash, froze in mid-air.

The glow of the cigarette butt flickered in his bottomless eyes.

"You are my daughter."

These short six words carried the weight of a thousand pounds within the system.

They were an identity, a shackle, and an order.

"Do you even believe that yourself?"

"I don't feel a shred of the father-daughter affection you speak of."

"I only feel that I am the ladder for your rise to power."

"A pawn that can be sacrificed at any time for the 'greater good'."

Su Qinghan stood up abruptly.

She pressed her hands onto the cold solid wood surface, leaned forward, and looked down at the man who had given her life.

"I will not go to the police."

"And I certainly won't cooperate with you all in that disgusting honey trap scheme."

"Give up on that idea."

The veins on the back of Mayor Su Changming's hand bulged, and his knuckles turned white from gripping the cigarette too tightly.

Fury surged in his chest, but he could find no outlet to vent it.

His daughter's defection was like a scalpel, precisely cutting off the source of the entire chain of evidence.

Continuing to investigate would only invite disaster.

"By the way."

Su Qinghan turned and walked toward the door, gripping the cold metal handle.

"The so-called debt of upbringing, and the ridiculously thin family affection in this house…"

"Was already paid off the moment Su Xiaoxiao handed me that glass of juice."

She did not look back.

"I'm moving out first thing tomorrow morning."

"I have hands and feet; I won't die."

As she finished speaking, the door pulled inward.

Su Qinghan's slender back disappeared outside the door.

"Click."

The sound of the lock was crisp and resolute.

Inside the room, Mayor Su Changming was left alone.

He stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette fiercely in the ashtray and rubbed his temples hard.

The Zhu family's grand gesture of a "marriage proposal" was by no means just nonsense.

It was a move to pull the rug out from under him.

It had forcibly turned his potentially fatal overt scheme into a messy, repulsive plaster that no one wanted to touch.

Mayor Su Changming pulled open the bottom drawer and dug out an old keypad phone.

His fingers skillfully dialed a string of numbers.

The call connected.

"Old leader, it's me, Xiao Su."

From the receiver came an old but highly penetrating male voice.

"The scheme, did it fail?"

"Yes. There was a variable. Su Qinghan is out of control. Secretary Zhu Tianhe reacted extremely quickly; he used the marriage proposal to block my path. If I force the issue further, the optics will be too ugly."

Mayor Su Changming reported with extreme conciseness.

In front of superiors, passing the buck is a major taboo.

"Hmph." The old voice was full of dissatisfaction.

"Mercy does not command troops, and sentimentality does not establish affairs. If you can't even handle your own backyard, how are you going to take over the plate left by Former Mayor Xiao Tianyou?"

Cold sweat beaded on Mayor Su Changming's forehead.

"I failed in my duty. But rest assured, Secretary Zhu Tianhe cannot find any concrete evidence against us."

"With Former Mayor Xiao Tianyou down, the lid on the old debts of the Urban Investment Company is about to blow off."

The old leader changed the subject, the implication of his reprimand self-evident.

"Secretary Zhu Tianhe started as a mason; his sense of smell is very sharp. This fire must never burn upward."

"Rest assured, I will clean up the Urban Investment Company's accounts," Mayor Su Changming pledged. "I have already arranged for those 'white gloves' who handled it to leave. There will be no trace of them."

"Be quick and thorough; the Provincial Party Committee Inspection Team will be coming down soon."

The call ended.

Mayor Su Changming slumped back in his chair, feeling as if all his strength had been drained away.

This strangulation battle surrounding the mayoral seat had only just begun.

...

Nine o'clock in the evening.

In Villa No. 4 of the Municipal Party Committee Compound, the living room was brightly lit.

Zhu Wenhao leaned back on the leather sofa, holding a thread-bound edition of the "Complete Tang Poems" in his hands.

The crystal chandelier overhead was blinding.

The black brick on the wall called "television" was noisy.

He simply turned those things off.

Only these yellowed pages could help him find a trace of the past.

"Plants and trees have no intent; they flourish and wither in their own time."

Zhu Wenhao recited softly, his left thumb habitually rubbing the edge of the book cover, as if caressing the jade thumb ring that was long gone.

Li Juan sat on the single sofa to the side, a black facial mask on her face.

She blew on the herbal tea in her cup and spoke.

"Oh? A change of heart today? Not out drinking and debauching, but staying home to study the old master's 'zhi-hu-zhe-ye'?"

Li Juan peered through the gaps in her mask, sizing up this stepson.

"The fire you started today has singed Mayor Su Changming's eyebrows directly. He's frantic, yet you have the leisure to be sentimental here."

Zhu Wenhao closed the ancient book and placed it neatly on the coffee table.

This stepmother had been steeped in the dye vat of the Provincial Party Committee Compound; she saw things more clearly than many men.

"A thousand sails pass by the sunken boat."

"Someone has to break this dead game of The Su Family."

"As for whether Mayor Su Changming can handle it, that depends on his own fortune."

The door lock made a soft sound.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe entered the room carrying a briefcase, his face full of exhaustion, his tie pulled crookedly, and his eyes bloodshot.

When he looked up, he was stunned.

The mother and son, who were usually at each other's throats, were now harmoniously engaged—one with a mask on, the other holding an ancient book—the atmosphere eerily peaceful.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe rubbed his temples, thinking he had drunk too much.

"How did the visit to The Su Family go?"

He tossed his briefcase onto the coffee table and sank into the sofa.

Li Juan deftly peeled off her mask and wiped her face.

"I handled the vanguard work. I'm afraid Mayor Su Changming won't be able to sleep tonight from anger."

She stood up and pulled her robe tighter.

"You two father and son can chat; figure out how to wrap this up yourselves."

Accompanied by the pitter-patter of slippers, Li Juan went upstairs.

In the living room, only the father and son remained.

Zhu Wenhao picked up the thermos, poured a cup of warm water, and pushed it to Secretary Zhu Tianhe's side.

His movements were steady and unhurried.

"Tell me." Secretary Zhu Tianhe unbuttoned two shirt buttons and let out a long sigh. "What was the reaction of Mayor Su Changming's wife?"

"Weak and vulnerable."

Zhu Wenhao said indifferently.

"Once the card of the third-ranking official of the Provincial Party Committee's daughter was played, she couldn't even speak a coherent sentence. As for Su Qinghan, she is very smart and cooperated seamlessly."

"This marriage proposal, from the outside looking in, is already a done deal."

Secretary Zhu Tianhe's hand, holding the cup, froze in mid-air.

"Su Qinghan… really cooperated fully?"

This was the most dangerous link in the entire plan.

"The world is bustling, all for the sake of profit."

"She knows very well that staying with The Su Family means being devoured alive. By jumping onto my boat, at least she can still call the shots for herself."

Secretary Zhu Tianhe gulped down a large mouthful of water, looking at his son with deep eyes.

This move was too vicious.

It used magic to defeat magic, sealing off all of Mayor Su Changming's paths.

"This game was broken beautifully," Secretary Zhu Tianhe praised sincerely.

"However."

Zhu Wenhao tapped his index finger on the table twice.

"When playing chess, one must look three moves ahead."

"One should use the remaining strength to pursue the fleeing enemy, not seek a reputation for kindness like the Hegemon King of Western Chu."

"Mayor Su Changming has suffered this silent loss, and he will never let it go."

Zhu Wenhao's eyes were terrifyingly calm.

Sixty years of imperial life had long ago taught him the simplest truth.

Any shred of mercy toward a political enemy is just putting a noose around one's own neck.

"You must cut the grass and remove the roots!"