DASFAM_67

Because the timing was wrong, Bai Xu quickly hung up the phone.

He had just come out of the safety passage when he ran straight into the first wife's family hurrying over.

Their eyes met, and both sides slowed their steps.

Shang Keyi had lost her usual cold arrogance. Shang Qishun, likewise, had none of his usual performance of friendliness in front of others, and the red mark from that slap still lingered on his right cheek, making him look unexpectedly disheveled.

As for Wu Wei, he quietly accompanied the mother and son. Perhaps sensing Bai Xu's gaze land on his face, or perhaps understanding the grievance his wife and son were feeling at that moment, Wu Wei, for once, spoke up on his own initiative, "Bai Xu, how is the Old Master doing right now? Has he woken up?"

Bai Xu directed his wandering gaze toward him, "He's awake. He's undergoing a comprehensive physical examination and will be back shortly."

"......"

Wu Wei paused, then replied honestly, "That's good, as long as he's alright."

Shang Keyi had a stomach full of grievance with nowhere to vent it, "Why are you wasting words with him? What exactly is father's condition, we'll know once we go in and see!"

With that, she sidestepped Bai Xu and strode quickly toward the ICU at the end of the corridor.

Wu Wei hurried to follow.

Only Shang Qishun remained standing where he was, unmoving.

Bai Xu had no intention of standing there staring him down. Just as he was about to turn and leave, Shang Qishun suddenly called out to him, "It was you, it was you people stirring things up from behind the scenes."

Gone was his usual gentleness, and his tone sounded somewhat sinister.

Bai Xu clearly saw the rare viciousness beneath his lenses, neither flinching nor dodging, "What did you say?"

"Stop pretending."

Shang Qishun removed his glasses, his fingertips rubbing along the edge of the lens, "That day Wu Xinyi came to find me and was stopped by my assistant in the underground parking lot."

"I just had someone check the entry and exit records of the underground parking lot, and it just so happened that you people were there at that time!"

He was no fool. He knew it would be very difficult for Wu Xinyi to get close to Bai Hui on her own, so there must have been others helping her from behind.

Shang Qishun clenched the lens in his palm, pressing each word out one by one, "Not just you people, even the second branch was involved, wasn't it!"

Shang Le'er had said she was accompanying her 'future sister-in-law shopping,' but in reality she had taken Bai Hui to meet Wu Xinyi!

"If you don't want anyone to know, then simply don't do it."

Bai Xu was completely unbothered by the dark atmosphere Shang Qishun was giving off, "What's done is done. What's the point of going back over it now? Rather than spending time on this, Eldest Young Master might as well think about what to do going forward."

Shang Qishun smiled through gritted teeth.

This was truly the greatest loss he had suffered in his entire life!

When it came down to it, the only mistake he had made was not being ruthless enough with Wu Xinyi! If he had just gotten rid of that woman outright, how would she have had the chance to show up today and stab him in the back, ruining the engagement banquet!

All the energy, time, and money poured in over the past half year had gone completely down the drain!

And all of this was entirely thanks to the third branch!

"Bai Xu, I truly underestimated you."

Shang Qishun stepped closer, his eyes carrying a dangerous light, "Ever since you joined the third branch, you have helped them quite a bit one way or another. What exactly has Shang Yanxiao given you in return? Hm?"

Bai Xu did not step back either, perfectly at ease, "Nothing much, I just think he's good-looking, and I like him."

"......"

Faced with an unexpected answer, Shang Qishun's gaze stilled for a moment.

He stared at Bai Xu's seemingly docile face and raised his hand with an air of indifference, "I suddenly have a bit of regret."

"......"

Bai Xu caught a glimpse of the blood seeping from his palm and froze.

Shang Qishun had actually quietly crushed his own glasses, and the edge of the lens had even cut open his palm! He was absolutely insane!

Shang Qishun continued murmuring softly, "Back then I should have stepped in and interfered with this marriage arrangement between you and Shang Yanxiao. Perhaps..."

"Perhaps what?"

Bai Xu stepped back, and at the same time, Shang Yanxiao came striding over and blocked Shang Qishun's move, "Brother, Bai Xu is my lover. You are being far too presumptuous!"

As he said the last few words, the veins on the back of his hand rose, clearly a sign that he had tightened his grip.

But Shang Qishun seemed unable to feel the pain, savoring and turning the word over, "Lover?"

He looked toward Bai Xu, "Is that so?"

"......"

Bai Xu sensed the unhinged quality gradually surfacing in Shang Qishun, "What does it have to do with you?"

Shang Qishun broke free from Shang Yanxiao's hold and wiped the seeping blood on his own black suit, "We'll see. It's not certain yet who wins and who loses!"

Just as he finished speaking, the sound of a gurney being wheeled over came from behind.

The medical staff brought the Old Master Shang back after his examination, with Shang Yun and Shang Songming following alongside the gurney.

Shang Yanxiao took the opportunity to pull Bai Xu to his side and asked quietly, "Are you alright?"

Bai Xu shook his head, "I'm fine, we'll talk later."

The group followed the gurney back to the intensive care unit. The Old Madam and the others who had been waiting outside the ward immediately stood up to greet them, "Director Xiao, how is our Old Master doing?"

"Has he fully woken up?"

Director Xiao looked around at the entire family and had no choice but to first signal the nurses and attendants to bring the Old Master back into the ward, "Old Madam, the examination results are mostly in."

"After all, the Old Master has been in a coma for more than half a month, and given his advanced age, his bodily functions are all in poor condition now. Recovery will take time."

Upon hearing this, quite a few members of the Shang family quietly let out a breath of relief.

Bai Xu discreetly observed the expressions of the first branch family.

Shang Queyan beside him asked with concern, "Is Grandfather definitely alright? Will there be any after-effects?"

Director Xiao nodded, "You all need to be mentally prepared. The Old Master's fall was quite serious. I just noticed that his response ability is very slow, and he is unable to speak to answer questions."

"At present, it is very likely that the cerebral hemorrhage has affected his language center, causing damage to the brain's neural pathways. Even if his condition improves, there is no guarantee that his speech function will recover, and his cognitive and responsive thinking may even fall below that of an average person."

Fang Yuhua only half understood, "So you mean the Old Master might become like a child who doesn't understand anything?"

Director Xiao nodded, "You can think of it that way, though follow-up treatments such as acupuncture can provide appropriate stimulation."

"Recovery varies from person to person. Improvement is not out of the question."

The Old Madam turned the prayer beads in her hands, her composure relatively steady, "As long as the Old Master can wake up, everything else can be worked out later. If it comes to it, I'll just care for him until the end of his days."

Shang Yun offered comfort, "Mother, there are still the few of us siblings too, so set your mind at ease."

What the Shang family lacked least was money and people. As long as he was alive, that was more important than anything.

"Mm."

Director Xiao added, "The patient still needs to be observed in the ICU for a few more days. Once he is transferred to the general ward, family members can visit at any time."

Shang Yanxiao nodded in thanks, "Thank you, Director Xiao."

Director Xiao found him somewhat familiar, and smiled slightly, "Of course."

...

After confirming that the Old Master Shang had been resettled and fallen back asleep, the Old Madam finally spoke, "Alright, it's been a whole day of commotion. All of you go home and rest first."

Wu Wei looked through the glass toward the ICU and suddenly asked, "Does someone need to keep watch over father here?"

Shang Keshu answered, "The ICU has professional medical staff watching around the clock, so nothing should go wrong. Once he's transferred to the general ward in a few days, we'll take turns keeping watch."

Shang Yun nodded, "That works too."

The Old Madam finally felt her heart settle back into place, "Alright, all of you head back. Rest well, and let the Old Master rest well too. Everything will get better."

The Shang family members drifted off in twos and threes.

Bai Xu gave Shang Yanxiao a look, and the latter understood without a word, deliberately slowing his pace.

Shang Yanxiao asked, "What is it?"

Bai Xu said quietly, "Ask Dr. Zhang to help out and find someone trustworthy to keep an eye on the Old Master. Just now when we heard that the Old Master might not be able to speak, Wu Wei was obviously relieved, and I think something is off."

Shang Yanxiao's expression darkened slightly, "You're suspecting that the Old Master might have been pushed by him?"

After all, only someone who had done something wrong and caused the Old Master to fall would have reason to be anxious about him waking up and exposing everything.

Bai Xu revealed, "Xie Qi called me just now. The investigation into that matter has produced results, and it's more or less what we suspected."

Shang Yanxiao was startled, "It really is Wu Wei's illegitimate child?"

A live-in son-in-law who married into the family, yet still betrayed them and fathered an illegitimate child. What was there that a person like this couldn't do?

Bai Xu nodded, but given the circumstances it was inconvenient to say more, "Xie Qi is already waiting at home. We'll talk more when we get back."

"Alright."

...

Thud.

The master bedroom door clicked softly shut.

Shang Yanxiao and Bai Xu sat down on the sofa in the main hall and got straight to the point with Xie Qi, "Tell us. What did you find?"

Xie Qi handed the tablet to the two of them. It was filled with information collected over the past few days, "This man's name is Wu Chengwang, and his identity information shows he is thirty-two years old this year."

"Thirty-two?"

Bai Xu was surprised, "Isn't that about the same age as Shang Qishun?"

In other words, if Wu Wei and Wu Chengwang were truly biological father and son, then the former had cheated within the marriage not long after the wedding?

Shang Yanxiao stared at the clear frontal photograph, "Our whole family truly underestimated this uncle-in-law of mine."

"Wu Wei lost his parents when he was very young and was raised by his uncle. His uncle had a son, who was Wu Wei's cousin, two or three years younger than him, named Wu Jiu."

Shang Yanxiao only spoke of what he himself knew, "I had heard my dad mention it briefly before, that because Grandfather never approved of Wu Wei's background, after he married my aunt he cut off all contact with everyone back in his hometown."

"For as long as I can remember, I never heard Wu Wei mention anyone from back home."

"It seems Wu Wei's surface act was quite well done," Bai Xu remarked sharply, pressing on the key point, "So what about Wu Chengwang?"

Xie Qi answered, "This Wu Chengwang is nominally Wu Jiu's eldest son, but the strange thing is, not long after Wu Jiu and his wife got married, a two or three year old 'eldest son' suddenly appeared out of nowhere!"

"I asked around, and back then the village had already been talking about it. Later Wu Jiu explained in front of everyone that he and his wife had gone out to work, gotten pregnant before marriage, and that was how Wu Chengwang came to be."

Even during the years when they returned to the village, they had never once brought back the so-called child.

"And besides, Wu Chengwang's features did bear some resemblance to Wu Jiu, so the gossip gradually died down."

"Over the years, Wu Jiu and his wife have stayed in the village without going out again, yet still had enough money to build a small Western-style house. As for this eldest son Wu Chengwang, he went abroad to study early on."

Bai Xu understood the oddity in all this, "Wu Wei has been funneling quite a lot of money over there all these years, hasn't he?"

Shang Yanxiao still had his doubts, "Wait, how exactly was Wu Chengwang's connection to Wu Wei confirmed? Where is he? Where is he now?"

Xie Qi answered, "The private investigator has already located Wu Chengwang's residence overseas and is just waiting on your decision. As for the relationship between Wu Chengwang and Wu Wei..."

Bai Xu looked at the frontal photograph, "Does this even need confirming? Doesn't he look exactly like Wu Wei? Even more like a biological son than Shang Qishun does."

Shang Yanxiao smiled helplessly, "Everything requires evidence. If we just expose Wu Wei like this, I'm afraid some people won't be convinced."

"Third Young Master, you may not know this..."

Xie Qi continued the topic, "Wu Jiu also has a younger son named Wu Bang, who works at our group right now, in a department under the first branch."

Bai Xu shook his head with genuine admiration, "If your aunt ever found out about all this, would she be furious enough to faint?"

Xie Qi said, "That kid has had the lowest performance reviews for two or three years running. He's apparently extremely arrogant and loose-lipped. Whether certain things are true or false, maybe a little pressure on him would tell us right away."

Bai Xu raised an eyebrow, "There's our opening, isn't it?"

Shang Yanxiao thought it over and instructed Xie Qi, "Have the overseas private investigator contact the authorities and hand over all the evidence collected over the past six months to file a report. No matter what, Wu Chengwang cannot be allowed to slip away again."

Only by apprehending the person could everything possibly come to light.

"As for the domestic side..."

A faint gleam flickered through Bai Xu's eyes, and he suddenly recalled something crucial, "Yanxiao, do you think Shang Qishun knows about the existence of this illegitimate child?"

–

TL: Muji

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