Chapter 291 - 289: A Divine Stroke

Chapter 291: Chapter 289: A Divine Stroke

After two days of adjustment, everything had settled down. Life seemed to have returned to normal, except that there were now three people living in the estate, an additional twenty bodyguards hidden on the grounds, and an escort for anyone who went out.

That day, after Li Xiu took Zhou Lian to school, he left one bodyguard behind and drove with another to the Imperial Palace. He wasn’t there to see Elder Ping, but Secretary Sun.

Secretary Sun, sitting at his desk, heard a knock. He smiled, took off his glasses, and looked toward the door. "Come in!" The only ones who would knock so directly were his assistant and Li Xiu. ’Especially today,’ he thought. ’That kid sure knows how to bide his time!’

"Brother!" Li Xiu called out as he entered, then sat on a nearby sofa and said no more.

Seeing Li Xiu’s behavior, Secretary Sun gave a resigned smile. "Didn’t I tell you last night? What’s with the attitude? Are you unhappy? Transferring him somewhere too remote isn’t feasible. It would be too obvious."

"I know. I’m not unhappy. I was just wondering which genius managed to send him over there," Li Xiu said quietly. ’That coastal place... a selfless person truly dedicated to public service could really make a name for themselves there. But for someone with the wrong attitude, or insufficient willpower... heh, that place is a veritable furnace.’

Secretary Sun looked at Li Xiu in confusion. "What’s wrong with it? It’s a key development area. It should be easy to rack up political achievements there."

Li Xiu scoffed and said nonchalantly, "It’s easy to get achievements, but only if your will is strong enough. Otherwise... we’ll just have to see what he chooses. If he makes a huge mess, it’ll be a perfect opportunity for Ping’an to get some practice. We’ll just make an example of him."

Staring at Li Xiu in shock, Secretary Sun truly hadn’t expected this. ’To use one’s own brother-in-law for target practice... isn’t that a bit...’

"Jin Chen, isn’t this a bit..."

"Brother, you have to understand," Li Xiu interrupted nonchalantly, not letting Secretary Sun finish his difficult sentence. "If you have a festering boil, can you trust someone else to lance it cleanly? But if you do it yourself, even if it bleeds a little more, you can be sure you’ve cut out all the poison. There won’t be any lingering complications. If you aren’t hard on yourself, you’ll never secure your footing."

’Fathers and sons, even blood brothers, will part ways and turn on each other for money and power. What then is a brother-in-law with no blood ties—a malicious and ambitious one at that? If he isn’t dealt with completely now, the problem will just be left for Ping’an. Ultimately, this is the Ping Family’s business. He, Li Xiu, wasn’t foolish enough to overstep his bounds and handle it himself.’

Secretary Sun took a moment to compose himself. He knew Li Xiu’s decision wasn’t wrong. The Ping Family’s son-in-law was a real piece of work. But with the family’s young mistress in the picture, any objections had to be swallowed. That woman was fiercely protective of her husband.

Li Xiu glanced at Secretary Sun and said softly, "Brother, have someone keep an eye on him. We can’t let him screw up too badly. That guy is guaranteed to cause trouble. I expect the young mistress will go with him. Don’t let her get involved in anything. Just let her remain a blissfully ignorant princess."

Secretary Sun pointed a finger at Li Xiu. ’This kid has a vicious tongue.’ Still, the young mistress truly was a hopeless case. She’d been dealt a winning hand and had squandered it completely. "Alright," Secretary Sun said softly. "I’ll have someone watch her. I’ll keep the situation under control. Don’t worry."

"Good. Brother, I’ll head back now." Seeing that Secretary Sun had committed, Li Xiu nodded, picked up his jacket from the sofa, and left.

Watching Li Xiu’s departing figure, Secretary Sun chuckled wryly and sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead. ’I got roped in by that kid again.’ He shook his head in resignation, glanced at the files on his desk, and after a moment’s thought, snatched them up. He rose quickly, crossed the hall, and knocked on Elder Ping’s office door. He couldn’t hide a matter concerning the Ping Family from the old man. Besides, this was no small thing. If something went wrong, both he and Li Xiu would be on the hook.

Elder Ping listened with a calm expression as Secretary Sun recounted the events. When he finished, the old man simply shook his head and sighed. ’What a shame about that boy. He sees the big picture and acts with ruthless decisiveness. It’s a pity he won’t join the establishment.’

"How did you end up cooperating with him so easily? This is no small matter," Elder Ping asked, looking at his secretary with curiosity. Secretary Sun had always been the epitome of caution, so why would he so readily do something like this behind his back?

Secretary Sun scrubbed his face hard, a sense of weary resignation washing over him. "Elder, what can I say? That kid set me up," he said, his voice full of exasperation. "He had it all arranged from the beginning and only told me after the fact. I thought it was just a simple transfer, and that Jin Chen would never hang me out to dry. It wasn’t until the official orders came down that he told me the whole story. Fine. What’s done is done. Let it be. It’s not like I’m a fan of that fellow, anyway."

Seeing Elder Ping’s intense stare, Secretary Sun said resentfully, "When that kid came to my office earlier, I thought he’d be unhappy. But oh no, not him. He managed to play me for a complete fool in the blink of an eye. But, Elder, he truly has Ping’an’s best interests at heart. For all these years, you’ve watched Ping’an struggle, never intervening and never letting anyone else intervene. I couldn’t step in; too many eyes are on me. But Jin Chen, all on his own, is capable of paving Ping’an’s path to the top. Outsiders say he’s diabolically clever, but who knows how much he’s truly sacrificed?"

Elder Ping let out a long sigh and murmured, "It’s true. Ah, Jin Chen... a man of such deep passions. What has he been up to lately? Don’t hide anything from me. For the sake of Ping’an and his wife...唉... no matter what, you must ensure their safety. Jin Chen’s methods are too risky. You’ll have to help clean up after him."

With a glance at Elder Ping, Secretary Sun began to carefully recount everything Li Xiu had been doing. "...As for the matter of the weapons," he said softly, "I was the one who signed the authorization, but Jin Chen went directly to Wang Song to get them. I suspect Wang Song barely even glanced at the paperwork, and Jin Chen has likely destroyed it by now. There’s more. Wang Song gave the research institute some schematics. The value of those schematics is probably..."

"You’ve seen them?" Elder Ping asked, his eyes fixed on him. As a veteran forged on the battlefield, his obsession with advanced weaponry was second to none.

Secretary Sun shook his head gently. "I’ve seen them, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of them. I heard they’re causing an absolute frenzy, especially among the top experts at the institute. If they succeed, it will be a truly epoch-making achievement. In any case, the institute has now been placed on the highest level of alert."

Elder Ping was overjoyed. Secretary Sun might not have grasped the full significance of the "highest level of alert," but Elder Ping, a man from the wartime generation, knew exactly what it signified. ’Excellent! Truly excellent!’ he thought. If this succeeds, he would personally commend Li Jincheng!

It had been less than fifty years since the nation’s founding, and the country was still relatively weak, especially in weapons technology. With no foreign aid or technical exchange, they were forced to find their own way through trial and error. In this context, what Jin Chen had just pulled off was nothing short of a masterstroke—a wonderful, unexpected surprise.