The instant Song Liang aimed his gun at Xiao Yi, Yang Xun’s gun swung toward Song Liang.
The ballroom fell deathly silent.
Everyone held their breath, cold sweat breaking out as they finally realized that tonight’s wedding was no ordinary celebration.
It was a pretext for something planned long in advance.
Song Liang ignored the muzzle pointed at his head and kept his eyes on Xiao Yi.
Xiao Yi looked back as though nothing were wrong. His low voice even carried a note of ease.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Weren’t you going to listen to the pain my family put me through?”
Song Liang: “…”
He cursed inwardly, but his outward reminder remained exquisitely polite.
“Surely you realize that little performance was Xiao Musheng deliberately using me to drive a wedge between you and your nephew?”
He had assumed Xiao Musheng surrendered his shares to secure this marriage because Xiao Guangjin, his only obedient son, had been arrested.
Cornered, he had placed all his hopes on Song Liang as an undercover agent, just as in the original novel.
But the moment Song Liang discovered the bodyguards aboard had been replaced, he knew he had been misled.
The plot had changed long ago.
Xiao Yi wasn’t injured or disabled. Xiao Musheng couldn’t expect the original owner to bring him down simply by stealing a contract or a seal.
Given even the slightest chance of survival, Xiao Yi could turn defeat into victory.
No one understood that better than Xiao Musheng.
Rather than rely on a lovesick simp whose mind contained nothing but marrying Xiao Ji, it would be better to eliminate Xiao Yi directly.
A wedding at sea. Once the ship left shore, anything could happen.
An excellent opportunity—
No.
Looking at Yang Xun’s gun, Song Liang suddenly realized something.
He narrowed his eyes at Xiao Yi.
“You did this on purpose.”
If he could figure it out, how could Xiao Yi possibly fail to?
Yang Xun had even brought a gun. How could he overlook a suspicious waiter behind his boss?
There was only one explanation.
Xiao Yi knew what Xiao Musheng intended tonight. He also knew that the waiter was merely a diversion.
He had pretended not to notice because he expected Song Liang to interrupt.
Fuck.
That curse was heartfelt.
The man had never intended to let this wedding proceed.
Damn it. This was his main mission!
Gritting his teeth, he smiled without warmth.
“What exactly do you want?”
Xiao Yi didn’t deny it. Composed and elegant, he answered, “I don’t want you marrying someone else.”
Song Liang: “…”
He took a quiet breath, then laughed.
“Don’t give me that. I know you wouldn’t really gamble your life away. Your opponent is still sitting right there, enjoying the show.”
“Chairman Xiao. Xiao Yi. You have your goals, and I have mine. Why don’t we each take what we need?”
“…”
Though Song Liang was smiling, his eyes had gone cold.
Those around him who knew him had never seen that expression before. They couldn’t help staring.
Xiao Yi silently regarded the faint, chilling murderous intent in his eyes.
After a brief standoff, he raised his hand, signaling Yang Xun to lower his gun.
Yang Xun obeyed.
Song Liang’s expression eased slightly. He lowered his own weapon, slipped it into his suit pocket, and turned toward Xiao Ji.
“Come on. Let’s get married.”
Xiao Ji: “…”
Everyone: “…”
No one had imagined that, even now, marriage would still be his sole concern.
Call him Young Master Xiao’s lovesick simp, and he was involved with the man’s uncle.
Call it an act, and here he was, still determined to marry, entirely unconcerned by the people lying on the floor whom he had nearly killed.
Xiao Ji couldn’t fathom Song Liang’s thoughts either.
But there was something else he wanted to know more urgently.
He turned a dark gaze on Song Zhicheng.
“You were the one who kidnapped me?”
Song Zhicheng’s legs had already gone weak at Song Liang’s claim to have evidence.
Now, confronted publicly by Xiao Ji, he was terrified out of his wits.
He stammered without answering, unable to meet his eyes.
His evasive gaze flicked somewhere in the room before dropping as though burned.
But everyone was watching him.
That glance escaped no one—least of all Xiao Ji.
Xiao Ji looked toward the old man who had remained seated and silent throughout.
“…Grandfather?”
Countless shocked gazes turned toward Xiao Musheng.
His expression didn’t change.
He sat upright, one hand resting on his cane. Faced with Xiao Ji’s question, he merely raised his eyes and calmly asked, “Didn’t you investigate this already? Your uncle caused your parents’ deaths. The faulty car was his too. Have you forgotten?”
Xiao Ji faltered.
He had investigated. Everything was exactly as Xiao Musheng said.
He had even sounded his uncle out, and his uncle hadn’t denied it.
Yet Song Liang’s certainty and Song Zhicheng’s guilty evasiveness made doubt impossible to dismiss.
Instinctively, he looked at Xiao Yi, hoping for an answer.
“The car was mine.”
Xiao Yi spoke evenly.
“The brakes were faulty too. But I was supposed to deliver the ransom. Your parents drove it away without my knowledge.”
Xiao Ji stood frozen.
Everyone around them looked equally stunned.
Xiao Ying and his wife had been well known throughout Linhai.
No one had expected anyone but Xiao Ying to inherit the Xiao family’s power. He was a genuine gentleman, a rarity in their circles.
Intelligent without arrogance. Kind without foolishness. Highly placed, yet humble and sincere.
Even the Zheng patriarch, a shipping magnate with extensive connections, had praised him unstintingly.
He had said the Xiao family was fortunate to have Xiao Ying. Had such an honorable and gifted man lived in ancient times, he would have been worthy of princely honors or the highest office.
Yet this exceptional man had died unexpectedly while delivering ransom to his son’s kidnappers.
His wife hadn’t survived either.
Everyone had regretted their deaths, though some had also been privately relieved that Xiao Group had lost such a formidable successor.
More than a decade had passed. Everyone had accepted it as an accident.
Now they were being told that Xiao Ying and his wife had been murdered—and the person responsible was either Xiao Yi or Old Master Xiao himself.
It was staggering.
“Xiao Ying was my own son. I had no reason to harm him. Your uncle, on the other hand, would do anything for your parents’ shares and the position of Xiao family heir.”
Xiao Musheng’s aged, heavy voice sounded slowly.
“Isn’t that how your other uncles and aunts died so young? Your third uncle only lost a leg. Now his son has been killed too, and he himself is in prison.”
Expressions shifted around the room.
How the Xiao siblings had died, and how Xiao Yi had risen to power as the youngest illegitimate son, had long been common knowledge among Linhai’s wealthy.
Most already believed the rumors.
Hearing them from the patriarch himself, however, sent shock waves through the room.
Everyone held their breath and looked at Xiao Yi, waiting for his response.
Unexpectedly, he laughed softly.
“So what if I killed them? I’ve never denied it.”
The guests stared at him in shock.
Even Xiao Musheng paused.
He hadn’t expected Xiao Yi to dare admit such things publicly.
Instead of satisfaction, it gave him a faint sense of unease.
“They wanted to harm me. Naturally, I could fight back.”
Xiao Yi continued calmly, apparently without restraint.
“I killed them to protect myself. To compete for power. You killed your own son because you were jealous. Because you couldn’t control him.”
“You resented his ability and reputation surpassing yours. You hated that he defied you, brought me home, and even chose to condemn you when he learned who my mother was.”
“So even when you knew that the people in that car were your son and daughter-in-law, not me, you didn’t hesitate. You didn’t stop them. You watched them go to their deaths.”
“Now you have no sons left.”
Xiao Yi’s cool gaze passed over Xiao Musheng’s thin, aged body and deeply lined face.
“Xiao Musheng, you’re old. And Xiao Group is no longer yours.”
As though suddenly enraged, Xiao Musheng surged to his feet with his cane.
“You bastard! I should have strangled you! I should never have let you be born!”
Tap. Tap.
Two knocks sounded against the table.
Leaning on it, Song Liang drawled, “Wasn’t his being born your choice? Besides, you’ve been sending people to assassinate him every other day for years. Stop pretending to be a loving father. It’s revolting.”
“Shut your mouth!”
Xiao Musheng roared over him, swaying slightly.
Someone stepped forward to support him, only to be shoved away.
He looked at Song Liang with disgust.
“A creature like you has no right to speak here. A disgrace unfit for decent company!”
Song Liang turned toward Song Zhicheng.
“Hear that? He called your son unfit for decent company. That’s a dig at you. How does it feel, being his dog all these years?”
Song Zhicheng’s face alternated between livid and pale. He glared at Song Liang without speaking.
Song Liang was accustomed to his habit of bullying the weak and fearing the strong. He couldn’t be bothered.
Right now, only one thing mattered.
Could he still get married today?
He stepped back to Xiao Ji and lowered his voice.
“Just exchange rings with me, and we’ll count the wedding as complete. I’ll tell you how your parents died. Deal?”
Xiao Ji stared at him, astonished and speechless.
He couldn’t understand why Song Liang was so determined to marry him.
This had gone beyond affection or love.
It was practically a life goal engraved in his bones.
“Your grandfather killed them.”
Mistaking his stare for disbelief, Song Liang simply said it outright.
“Your grandfather and your uncle both have people in place tonight. Someone’s probably going to die. We could get caught in it too. Just think of it as fulfilling a wish for me. All I’ve ever wanted is to stand beside you with a rightful place as your husband. All right?”
Driven by his determination to finish the mission quickly, he spoke with such sincerity that Xiao Ji’s heart stirred.
His grandfather, his uncle, the Xiao family—everyone had their own aims and calculations.
Only the person before him had looked at him from beginning to end, wanting nothing but to be with him.
Even with danger approaching, all he wanted was for them to become true husbands.
“…All right,” he said.
Delighted, Song Liang took advantage of the ongoing confrontation to retrieve the rings from Xu Bowen.
He opened the box, handed one ring to Xiao Ji, and kept the other.
Just in case, Song Liang first slid his ring onto Xiao Ji’s ring finger.
Then he held out his left hand.
“Quick, quick. Put mine on.”
Urged along until his head spun, Xiao Ji couldn’t understand why they were exchanging rings in such chaos.
There were still several “bodies” at their feet. His uncle and grandfather were locked in bitter confrontation nearby.
An entire crowd was watching.
He swallowed, slowly lifted Song Liang’s hand, and brought the ring toward his finger.
Inside Song Liang’s mind, 3085 grew excited too.
Just this one step.
The system would recognize the main storyline as complete, and the original owner’s greatest wish would be fulfilled.
Even if Xiao Yi killed its host afterward, they would have enough points to clear the instance.
At that exact moment, a gunshot cracked through the room.
Bang!
Clink—
Xiao Ji jerked his head up.
His hand trembled at the sudden shot, and the ring slipped from his fingertips.
It struck the floor, rolled swiftly into the chaotic crowd, and vanished.
Song Liang: “…”
【…】
Man and system uttered the same word.
Fuck.
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