Chapter 68: The Canary's Self-Cultivation (33)
Shen Handeng thought he had spoiled her far too much; perhaps he really ought to lock her in a birdcage for proper instruction.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be sitting in his lap now, letting him dry her hair.
He'd spent money and gotten himself an ancestor!
Ling Qiong sat quietly, head down, absorbed in her phone. She looked obedient enough.
If only the phone she played with wasn’t his.
“Stop messing with my phone,” Shen Handeng switched off the dryer.
“Then can I…” Ling Qiong hooked one arm around his neck, “play with you instead?”
Shen Handeng’s lips curled. “You want to play with me?”
Her eyes sparkled as she nodded, even swallowing hard. “...I kind of do.”
He placed her on the sofa. “Keep dreaming.”
Ling Qiong: “…”
Damn it!
Cold-hearted! Ruthless!
Ling Qiong pouted and, taking advantage of the moment, reclined on the sofa, continuing to play with the phone.
“Why did you bring Pan Xiuliang back here?”
“Didn’t I already answer you just now?”
“Do you even believe what you said?”
Ling Qiong clenched her fist, gaze resolute. “Of course I do. If I don’t believe myself, who else am I going to believe?”
“…” He had nothing to say. Shen Handeng was silent for a few seconds before asking, “You said he has something to tell me?”
“Mhm.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll have to ask him yourself.”
“…”
…
Shen Handeng went downstairs and told Kelly to bring Pan Xiuliang out and wake him up.
Pan Xiuliang looked badly shaken, gasping for breath, nervously scanning his surroundings.
Shen Handeng waited until he’d calmed down a bit, then finally spoke. “You have something to say to me?”
“Something to say?” Pan Xiuliang seemed still dazed, responding on instinct. “What? Why would I have something to say to you?”
“…”
“Something to say…” Pan Xiuliang mumbled, glancing past him. Suddenly he shouted, “I do! I do have something to say!!”
Shen Handeng turned to look.
Ling Qiong was standing on the stairs, one hand resting on the banister, seemingly about to come down.
Pan Xiuliang had shouted so loudly that she drew her foot back.
Shen Handeng ignored Ling Qiong. “Speak.”
…
Ling Qiong didn’t come downstairs. She simply sat beside the banister, propping her chin in her hands, watching from above.
Pan Xiuliang spoke haltingly, starting from when he first met Zhou Jing. Shen Handeng soon grew impatient.
But Ling Qiong clearly wanted him to hear all this, so Shen Handeng had no choice but to endure it.
Not until Pan Xiuliang mentioned Shen Run’an did his expression change.
Shen Run’an was his father.
Zhou Jing’s acquaintance with Shen Run’an had been orchestrated from the start; everything that happened afterward was scripted.
Pan Xiuliang had been involved every step of the way.
At first, they’d only wanted to cheat some money, but later Shen Run’an seemed genuinely interested in Zhou Jing.
Zhou Jing then had other ideas.
She wanted to stay with Shen Run’an, thinking there was nothing wrong with being a wealthy wife.
He and Zhou Jing had argued over this many times.
But Zhou Jing had made up her mind. She didn’t want to suffer any longer or keep cheating people for a living.
Pan Xiuliang’s desire for money was no less than Zhou Jing’s, and she quickly persuaded him.
Zhou Jing’s initial plan was to have a son with Shen Run’an, hoping to use him as a stepping stone to climb higher.
But…
Shen Run’an had told her that he would have no more children besides Shen Handeng; he’d had surgery.
Zhou Jing’s plan was foiled.
“It was Zhou Jing… She did it all. I just helped her get the drugs. She was the one who drugged Shen Run’an, a little each day, day after day…”
Shen Handeng: “What did you say?”
Pan Xiuliang clutched his head and shrank back. “It was Zhou Jing!! She did it, she did it all…”
Shen Handeng grabbed Pan Xiuliang’s collar, slammed him to the floor, and pressed his fingers to his throat.
Pan Xiuliang met Shen Handeng’s cold, black eyes, like those of a wild beast. The rage emanating from him made Pan Xiuliang’s whole body tremble with fear.
Shen Handeng’s words were squeezed through gritted teeth. “Say that again?”
“It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it.”
The air suddenly filled with the stench of urine.
Pan Xiuliang had wet himself in terror.
Shen Handeng’s grip tightened. Pan Xiuliang instantly struggled for breath, his face flushing as his brain started to lose oxygen.
He stammered and twisted.
But Shen Handeng’s strength was overwhelming—he had lost all reason, like a furious beast.
“H-help… help…”
“Young master, any harder and he’ll die.”
Shen Handeng jerked his head up.
Ling Qiong had somehow crouched nearby, hugging her knees, her skirt spreading out around her like a pool.
The girl’s dark eyes watched him quietly.
A storm was brewing in Shen Handeng’s eyes, ready to swallow everything in its path.
Even Ling Qiong felt that he might turn on her.
Yet Shen Handeng merely averted his gaze, releasing Pan Xiuliang and lowering his head to look at his own hands.
Freed, Pan Xiuliang scrambled in terror to a corner, shaking like a leaf.
Shen Handeng’s gaze was menacing as he fixed it on Pan Xiuliang again, the words forced out between his teeth, “Tell me everything about this.”
Pan Xiuliang nodded frantically, like a pecking chicken.
He had nearly died by Shen Handeng’s hands just moments ago.
He dared not hide a single detail.
This man truly wanted to kill him.
Terrifying…
…
Pan Xiuliang dared not conceal a single word, recounting every detail of the affair.
He had participated in everything and knew every detail.
All the schemes were Zhou Jing’s idea; he had just helped her clear obstacles.
In the end, Shen Run’an died suddenly of a heart attack.
The cause of death was clear, and Shen Run’an himself had always pushed himself, working late into the night and sleeping only a few hours.
His health had already been poor before the accident.
No one suspected anything unusual about his death.
What Zhou Jing hadn’t expected was that Shen Run’an had made a will long ago.
As his wife, she received nothing but a house and a sum of money.
If his son died, everything else would be donated.
Compared to the vast Shen family fortune, what she got was barely a drop in the ocean.
She couldn’t accept it.
That’s why everything that followed happened.
Back then, Shen Handeng was still young, and Zhou Jing had played her part perfectly, fooling many people.
Through all these years, Pan Xiuliang had held this over Zhou Jing, making her wary.
Otherwise, with all the outstanding men in her circle, she would never have looked twice at him.
But she didn’t dare get rid of Pan Xiuliang, and for many matters, he had to handle things for her.
After all, she trusted no one else.
Pan Xiuliang hadn’t sought other women before; Zhou Jing was indeed very beautiful.
But when Zhou Jing started distancing herself, using work as an excuse not to see him, he finally began to look elsewhere.
Who could have known that Zhou Jing would catch him in the act?
That set off a chain of events.
“That’s everything I know,” Pan Xiuliang collapsed on the floor, terror-stricken, “It was all Zhou Jing’s doing, it was her…”
Shen Handeng’s emotions had calmed, his face expressionless. “What else has Zhou Jing done?”
“…”
Shen Handeng: “Tell me everything, don’t leave out a single thing.”
——Little Fairy——
Little Fairy: Every single vote goes to your Princess Qiong!