Chà Chà Novel

Ji Shileng asked with a perfectly straight face, “My dear friend, how exactly did you find out Imperial Capital News had tax problems?”

Even Ji Shiyun hadn’t found anything. How had Qin Si managed it?

Qin Si turned the steering wheel, guiding the car around a corner. A faint smile lingered in his eyes in the rearview mirror.

“Whether there are actual tax problems is secondary. What matters is that someone wants to bring him down”

“Hm?” Ji Shileng found the ambiguous explanation confusing. “Are you saying there’s nothing wrong with his taxes?”

“I checked part of it and genuinely found nothing wrong”, Qin Si admitted openly. “But if that part is clean, you can look elsewhere. It doesn’t mean the other shareholders are clean”

Then he added leisurely, “And even if the shareholders are clean, that doesn’t mean I can’t create a problem”

When preparing to come to the Empire, Qin Si had decided to bring Ji Shileng a gift.

Since he was coming anyway, he might as well clear out a few scumbags.

His contacts had done him the favor of telling him that the Ji family—Ji Shiyun in particular—had specifically ordered an investigation into Imperial Capital News.

Since the Ji family was already looking into it, he might as well join in.

Making matters worse and adding fuel to the fire came easily to him.

Ji Shileng understood.

But whether as the former “Admiral’s spouse” or the Ji family’s third young master now, he had seen more than enough sordid affairs. He didn’t consider this anything extraordinary.

It was simply a matter of using whatever means were necessary to achieve a goal. Besides, Imperial Capital News had chosen its own dead end first.

“Better to be careful”, he said. “But as long as no one can trace it back to you, muddy the waters however you like”

Qin Si kept a steady distance behind Ji Shifeng’s car.

“Exactly. The water’s already murky enough. A little more won’t hurt”, Qin Si replied with an undertone of indifference.

And that was precisely the situation.

Media reports about Imperial Capital News kept appearing without end, truth and falsehood so thoroughly mixed that no one could tell them apart.

That morning, its director, Zhang Shu, had been taken into custody. That afternoon, its owner, Mr. Chang, had been taken away by the Tax Bureau.

After one thing after another, netizens naturally accepted the reports about Imperial Capital News as true.

“Besides”, Qin Si continued, “the capital’s government is full of useless people. Hardly any of them can get anything done. They won’t trace it to me”

Ji Shileng smiled. “It’s an amateur operation. Being an official in the Empire is all about connections and knowing how to play the social game”

He had lived in the Empire for so long, yet he had never once seen someone from a poor background occupy a truly senior position.

There were countless parasites at the top. As for how Shang Jianli had reached heights at such a young age that others could never attain in a lifetime, he had the Empire’s abundance of incompetents to thank.

With so many useless people around, anyone outstanding quickly stood out.

And behind him stood the Shang family, one of the established aristocratic families, with considerable power.

Strictly speaking, there were only a handful of such families. Their connections were tangled and deeply intertwined, perfectly illustrating the saying: when one prospered, they all prospered; when one suffered, they all suffered.

There was no need for them to fight to the death over anything.

Behind the scenes, they had all quietly helped push Shang Jianli upward.

“That’s true. But the main thing is that Imperial Capital News has made too many enemies. People want it dead”, Qin Si said, agreeing with Ji Shileng’s assessment of those connections. “When a whale falls, countless lives flourish”

Imperial Capital News was doomed.

Qin Si had sent someone to hack into its financial reports, make a few small changes to the figures, and submit them to a tax official as evidence of “tax evasion”.

Previously, Imperial Capital News had been a subsidiary of the Ministry of Publicity. How would it have dared evade taxes?

Tax evasion within the government system was a serious offense.

It had only been separated from the ministry for a few months. It hadn’t even had time to start.

Unfortunately, no one “truly” questioned whether the allegation was real. High society was eagerly awaiting the day Imperial Capital News fell, wishing only for its destruction to be as complete as possible.

Who knew whose “news stories” Imperial Capital News was sitting on?

“Why does it feel like someone’s using us to do their dirty work?”

Plenty of people in the Empire wanted it gone, yet the Ji family had been the first to act.

“I wouldn’t go that far. Whatever happens, Imperial Capital News isn’t getting away”, Qin Si said, narrowing his eyes slightly. “And after this, people will be even more wary of the Ji family”

An enterprise as large as Imperial Capital News had been brought to the brink in less than three days.

Some were losing their jobs, others were going to prison, and others were facing bankruptcy and liquidation…

Ji Shileng covered his eyes with one hand and leaned back against the seat. He said little beyond, “True”

Even if someone had used them, so what? They had wanted Imperial Capital News destroyed in the first place.

As for those who had taken advantage of their momentum afterward, they could line up. There was no hurry.

The car moved smoothly along, and neither spoke again.

The communicator in Ji Shileng’s hand suddenly lit up with a new message.

Little Grass Has No Choice: Shileng… your sister’s grilling me about what’s going on between you and Qin Si…

Little Grass Has No Choice: What should I tell her?

Ji Shileng lazily reached out and typed a slow reply.

Winter Snow Is Very Cold: What do you mean, what should you tell her? Is there something going on between Qin Si and me?

The reply came quickly. Su Ke had probably been waiting for it.

Little Grass Has No Choice: Isn’t there? That business with the Tax Bureau just now was Qin Si’s doing, right?

Winter Snow Is Very Cold: I think you and my brother have a much more ambiguous relationship than Qin Si and I do.

Winter Snow Is Very Cold: It was Qin Si. Did my brother tell you?

Su Ke’s brain worked perfectly well. The problem was that it didn’t work quite that fast.

Little Grass Has No Choice: Then let your sister ask you herself.

Su Ke had learned to fear Ji Shileng.

Every time Qin Si came up, he dragged Ji Shifeng into it.

Deep down, Su Ke had begun to sense something. The way he and Ji Shifeng interacted seemed a little too intimate.

Back in high school, Ji Shifeng had taken him in and helped him “run away from home”. After Su Ke started working, Ji Shifeng would occasionally send him little gadgets.

However slow he was, he couldn’t fail to notice something.

That was why he had deliberately kept to a simple routine between work and home, avoiding Ji Shifeng and leaving him alone for a while.

Recently, since Ji Shileng’s return, the number of times he saw Ji Shifeng had shot up.

Su Ke was troubled. Mostly, he wasn’t ready to accept such a major shift in their relationship.

Ji Shileng: “…”

What was he running from? The moment he heard Ji Shifeng’s name, Su Ke fled.

Su Ke seemed to have said something to Ji Shiyun. Only after a while did another message arrive.

Little Grass Has No Choice: No. Your sister said it.

Let’s not forget that he was still conducting a one-sided cold war against Ji Shifeng…

How could he possibly turn around and talk to him?

He knew it. If the deduction hadn’t come from his brother, Ji Shifeng, it had come from his sister, Ji Shiyun.

And since Ji Shifeng had upset Su Ke, it had to be Ji Shiyun.

To avoid Ji Shifeng, Su Ke dashed straight back to his hotel room the moment he got out of the car, without waiting for everyone else.

Seriously, he felt as though Ji Shifeng was about to stare a hole right through him.