Chapter 88: Covenantor (XI)

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Chapter 88: Covenantor (XI)

Before this, Yue Cheng had always assumed Yue Ze was Lu Xiufan’s lover. He had scoffed at the outside rumors claiming he had given his Covenantor son to Lu Xiufan, because he did not believe himself shameless enough to exchange his own child for the family’s interests. If Yue Ze chose to stay with Lu Xiufan, that was his own decision. Never had Yue Cheng imagined that Lu Xiufan had actually hired Yue Ze from the Covenantor Placement Center as an attendant.

How could Yue Cheng possibly not know what kind of place the Covenantor Placement Center was? The dignified eldest son of the Yue Family, once its heir, had actually been treated like merchandise and assigned a price!

If the person who hired Yue Ze had not been Lu Xiufan, Yue Cheng hardly dared imagine what kind of treatment his son might have suffered. After being humiliated and abused, the family would probably have refused to acknowledge him for the sake of its reputation, abandoning him to fend for himself.

Yue Cheng’s face flushed crimson, his entire body trembling with rage.

Shang Ke watched Yue Cheng’s rapidly changing expression with indifferent eyes. This man’s mistakes went far beyond merely neglecting Yue Ze. Even by the time Yue Ze died, Yue Cheng had never learned that the eldest son he had once been so proud of became a Covenantor entirely because of his wife and his other son.

For now, however, Shang Ke had no intention of revealing that truth. He wanted the entire Yue Family to understand just how much Yue Ze had suffered.

At that moment, Shang Ke felt someone take his hand. Turning, he saw Lu Xiufan’s grave profile. Lu Xiufan stared at Yue Cheng and said coldly, “Yue Cheng, listen carefully. From today onward, Little Ze has nothing more to do with the Yue Family.”

Yue Cheng snapped back to his senses and hurriedly said, “No. Yue Ze is a descendant of the Yue Family. That will never change.”

“Once he became mine under the name ‘Shang Ze,’ the Yue Family lost any right to claim him,” Lu Xiufan replied coldly. “The only reason I brought him here today was to make a clean break with all of you.”

Lu Xiufan had originally wanted to give Yue Cheng a chance to make amends. He was Little Ze’s father, after all, and if possible, Lu Xiufan had hoped Little Ze might receive at least a little care and comfort from his family. Instead, this man had hurt him yet again. Covenantors might not possess emotions as rich as ordinary people’s, but they still remembered everything they saw and heard. Today’s meeting had accomplished nothing except once again confirming Yue Cheng’s indifference toward Little Ze and his favoritism toward his other son.

Lu Xiufan pulled Yue Ze to his feet and turned toward the door.

“Wait, Your Excellency! Please give me some time. I promise I’ll see that Little Ze gets justice,” Yue Cheng called anxiously after them.

“Come talk to me after you’ve actually done it.” Lu Xiufan left without looking back.

Once they were back in the car, Lu Xiufan asked Shang Ke, “I’m off today. Is there anything you want to do?”

Shang Ke was silent for a moment before answering, “Swimming.”

And so, the two of them spent the entire afternoon at the pool doing fancy swimming routines…

After returning home, Yue Cheng summoned Lady Chang and Yue Xuan and harshly questioned them about the Placement Center.

Lady Chang replied bluntly, “Back then, you were busy dealing with family affairs and left Yue Ze’s arrangements to me. I asked him what he wanted, and only after receiving his consent did I send him to the Placement Center.”

“You still think you have an excuse? Don’t you know what kind of place the Placement Center is? If people find out we actually sent one of our own children there, the Yue Family will become the laughingstock of the entire Empire!”

“That’s why I gave Yue Ze a new identity,” Lady Chang replied confidently. “I even specifically recommended him to His Excellency so he wouldn’t be hired by someone of questionable character.”

Yue Cheng looked at her suspiciously. “You were the one who recommended Little Ze to His Excellency?”

“Of course.” Lady Chang glanced at him. “Did you really think I would feel comfortable sending the eldest young master of the Yue Family into a place like that otherwise?”

Yue Cheng frowned deeply, wavering between belief and doubt. The way Lady Chang described it, had she actually gone to great lengths to protect Yue Ze?

Lady Chang continued, “I’m sure you haven’t asked Yue Ze himself whether I sent him there on my own or whether he agreed to it.”

Some of Yue Cheng’s anger subsided. He said through a strained voice, “Even if he agreed, you still shouldn’t have done it.”

“I certainly shouldn’t have. If I’d known that once he attached himself to Lu Xiufan he would turn his back on his own family and even use the opportunity to bully Little Xuan, I should have done what you did back then and simply ignored him.” Lady Chang pulled Yue Xuan close and said coldly, “Now that he has Lu Xiufan backing him, I’m afraid he no longer considers himself part of the Yue Family.”

Yue Cheng remembered Lu Xiufan declaring that Little Ze no longer had anything to do with the Yue Family, and his chest tightened unpleasantly.

He looked up and glared at Yue Xuan. “This entire disaster is your fault!”

Lady Chang moved protectively in front of Yue Xuan. “Why are you yelling at Little Xuan? He’s still young and impulsive. How much trouble could he possibly cause? It was His Excellency favoring Yue Ze who turned one small matter into a citywide scandal. We’re clearly the victims, yet we’re the ones who have to lower ourselves and apologize.”

“Shut up! Arranging for people to sexually assault his own older brother is a small matter?”

Lady Chang snorted. “Was he actually assaulted? Where’s the proof? All I saw was Little Xuan and his friends getting beaten by Yue Ze, then imprisoned by His Excellency on trumped-up charges. It was nothing more than a fight between young people, yet he immediately turned it into a criminal matter. So who exactly is being unreasonable and using their power to bully others?”

Yue Cheng fell silent. Something about Lady Chang’s reasoning felt wrong, yet he could not figure out how to refute her.

“If you want to punish my son and me today just to give Lu Xiufan and Yue Ze an explanation, then go ahead. I’ll submit to whatever punishment you choose.” Lady Chang glared fiercely at Yue Cheng. “But Yue Cheng, I despise you. You can’t even protect your own wife and child. You’re truly useless!”

Yue Cheng’s face turned livid, and he could no longer bring himself to mention punishment.

Meanwhile, Lu Xiufan continued waiting to see how Yue Cheng would handle the matter. Yet half a month passed without any action from the Yue Family. They merely became more low-key and appeared less often in aristocratic circles. The outcome was outside Lu Xiufan’s expectations, yet not entirely surprising.

Yue Xuan was Yue Cheng’s only heir. If he lost that heir, Yue Cheng’s own position as family head might become unstable as well. When Yue Ze’s incident occurred, Yue Cheng had already nearly been replaced by another family member. Although the family had now offended the capital’s powerful elite, its foundations remained. As long as they behaved cautiously from now on, they could still preserve their own corner of influence.

Lu Xiufan sneered. If Yue Cheng had truly been willing to seek justice for Yue Ze, Lu Xiufan could have spared the rest of the family and punished only Yue Xuan. But now, it seemed leaving such a family intact would merely waste resources.

What followed was Yue Cheng paying a heavy price for his foolishness. Lu Xiufan secretly ordered a thorough investigation into every Yue Family business. Any enterprise involved in black-market dealings was shut down, while every Yue Family member suspected of violating the law was placed under investigation.

For a time, the Yue Family suffered devastating losses and everyone feared for themselves. Yue Cheng, as family head, came under intense criticism. Yet by then, no one was willing to take over such a disastrous mess.

“Yue Ze.”

Shang Ke was waiting for Lu Xiufan in a plaza when he suddenly heard someone call him from behind. Turning around, he saw someone he had not expected to appear there—Lady Chang.

Lady Chang looked haggard, but her gaze remained sharp. “I came today to ask you to save the Yue Family.”

Shang Ke regarded her silently.

“Because of you, His Excellency has been pressing the Yue Family step by step without showing the slightest mercy. Centuries of the Yue Family’s foundations are about to be destroyed. If you still acknowledge yourself as a descendant of the Yue Family, then help us.”

Lady Chang smoothed back her hair and continued, “I know my son has wronged you many times, but there’s no need for the entire Yue Family’s future to be sacrificed for his mistakes. If you’re willing to help, I’ll personally bring him to apologize to you.”

If Shang Ke did not already know that Lady Chang was one of the people responsible for turning Yue Ze into a Covenantor, he might almost have admired her ability to bow her head when necessary. Anything that threatened her interests had to be eliminated immediately; anything that could benefit her was worth shamelessly begging for.

He had to admit, this woman truly knew when to bend and when to stand firm. Otherwise, she would never have managed to make Yue Cheng obey her so readily, leading him into one wrong decision after another until the Yue Family reached its current state.

“I hope you’ll consider it. Whatever conditions you have, name them. As long as I can fulfill them, I won’t object.”

She knew full well that Yue Ze was a Covenantor and supposedly would never make demands for himself, yet she deliberately made such an offer anyway. Her scheming truly ran deep. Shang Ke gave a cold laugh inwardly. Unfortunately for her, she had miscalculated. Yue Ze might not fight for his own rights—but Shang Ke would.

Shang Ke knew the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived.

“Lady Chang came to see you today?” Lu Xiufan had heard about it from the guards and asked Shang Ke as soon as he returned to the mansion.

“Mm.” Shang Ke answered while shaping dough.

“What did she say?” A sharp light flashed through Lu Xiufan’s eyes. Do these people think they aren’t dying fast enough?

“She wants me to save the Yue Family.” Shang Ke’s nimble fingers shaped the dough into a small flower.

Lu Xiufan’s expression turned cold. They actually had the nerve to ask Little Ze for help.

“Ignore them. They have nothing to do with you anymore.”

Shang Ke said nothing and continued shaping his dough.

After a moment of silence, Lu Xiufan asked, “Little Ze, what do you want? I want to know what you think.”

“I think,” Shang Ke said casually, “I want to go back to the Yue Family once.”

The answer surprised Lu Xiufan. “Why?”

“If I don’t go back, they’ll keep coming after me.”

“I have ways to make them disappear forever.” A murderous aura radiated from Lu Xiufan.

“Even if they disappear, the memories will remain,” Shang Ke said calmly. “This time, I’ll go back as ‘Yue Ze.’ When I return, I’ll be completely and entirely ‘Shang Ze’—the Shang Ze who belongs only to you, Sir.”

Shang Ke slowly raised his head and looked earnestly at the man before him, Lu Xiufan’s figure reflected clearly in his pure eyes.

Lu Xiufan’s heart throbbed, and he nearly lost himself in that unwavering gaze.

“Sir, do you agree?”

Lu Xiufan took Shang Ke’s flour-dusted hand and said gently, “I’ll go with you.”

“All right.”

Three days later, Lu Xiufan brought Shang Ke to the Yue Family residence. Their unexpected arrival frightened the entire family badly.

After nervously welcoming Lu Xiufan into the main house, Yue Cheng forced himself to remain calm. “Your Excellency, may I ask what brings you to our humble home?”

Surely he hasn’t come to seize our ancestral home? Is His Excellency really planning to wipe us out completely?

Cold sweat streamed down Yue Cheng’s forehead. He repeatedly glanced toward Shang Ke from the corner of his eye, hoping to glean some clue from him. Unfortunately, Shang Ke’s face offered nothing beyond an immaculate poker face and an aloofness seemingly free of all worldly desires.

“Wasn’t it your family who sent someone to ‘invite’ Little Ze back a few days ago?” Lu Xiufan’s icy gaze settled on Lady Chang beside Yue Cheng.

Lady Chang hurried forward. “Your Excellency is correct. We were the ones who asked Little Ze to return.”

“Good. He’s here now. What do you plan to do?”

Yue Cheng and Lady Chang exchanged uneasy looks, while the others appeared equally helpless. They had already witnessed Lu Xiufan’s methods. If someone said one wrong thing, who knew whether he might simply order the Yue Family wiped off the map?

In the end, Lady Chang recovered first. She turned to Shang Ke. “Since Little Ze has come back, that must mean he’s willing to help the Yue Family.”

At those words, everyone turned hopeful eyes toward Shang Ke, practically treating him as their final lifeline.

“How do you want me to help?” Shang Ke asked.

Lady Chang glanced at Lu Xiufan. “As long as you’re willing to accept the Yue Family’s apology, I believe His Excellency will also show us mercy.”

“Apology?” Lu Xiufan looked coldly over the room. “What exactly are you apologizing for?”

Yue Cheng gritted his teeth. “We’re willing to give Little Ze thirty percent of the Yue Family’s profits as compensation.”

Thirty percent of the profits? The Yue Family’s assets had already shrunk by more than half, but even thirty percent of its profits at its peak would not have interested Lu Xiufan. The only thing he cared about was Shang Ke’s choice.

“I don’t want the profits,” Shang Ke said evenly.

“Then what do you want?” Yue Cheng asked.

“I want to take over the Yue Family as its heir.” Shang Ke’s cool voice echoed through the room.

The declaration stunned not only Yue Cheng and the others, but even Lu Xiufan.

“Your ambition really is enormous! Thirty percent of the profits isn’t enough for you—you actually want the entire Yue Family!” Yue Xuan could not resist sneering.

“Shut up!” Yue Cheng snapped at Yue Xuan with a dark expression, then turned back to Shang Ke. “Little Ze, do you truly want the entire Yue Family?”

“I want to take over the Yue Family,” Shang Ke repeated expressionlessly.

The Yue Family members’ expressions immediately soured. Every one of them thought Shang Ke was taking advantage of their crisis.

Lu Xiufan merely watched in silence without expressing an opinion. If this was truly what Shang Ke wanted, he had no objection to helping him achieve it. But did Shang Ke genuinely want the Yue Family? He was a Covenantor. What meaning could controlling the Yue Family possibly hold for him…?

Wait—Covenantor?!

Lu Xiufan’s pupils abruptly contracted.

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