Chapter 98: Reaching an Agreement

Yang Jie’s words left Yang Bingyu frozen in place. The teapot in her hands slipped, hitting the floor with a loud CLATTER as she muttered to herself, "Yes, it’s all Lin Aoxue’s fault. Everything would be fine if she just disappeared. Why doesn’t she just die?"

Hearing her murmurs, a chilling, murderous glint surfaced in Yang Jie’s eyes. He emboldened himself to step closer to her, his voice brimming with temptation. "Sister Bing, I have a way to help you get rid of Lin Aoxue. But the condition is that you have to protect me and keep Ye Xuan from coming after me."

Yang Bingyu’s eyes flickered. She knew full well that Yang Jie was using her, but she couldn’t help being swayed. The biggest obstacle between her and Ye Xuan was Lin Aoxue. If Lin Aoxue no longer existed, Ye Xuan would definitely marry her. At this thought, Yang Bingyu gritted her teeth and made up her mind.

She looked up, her icy gaze sweeping over the surrounding servants. The chilling look in her eyes struck fear into their hearts, and they hastily lowered their heads and withdrew. They were merely hired hands working for the Yang Family. Whatever their masters planned to do was none of their business. Soon, only Yang Bingyu and Yang Jie remained in the massive living room.

"Yang Jie, what can you do to help me?" Yang Bingyu asked, cutting straight to the chase and fixing him with a frosty stare.

Seeing her take the bait so readily, Yang Jie flashed a wicked smile. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered for quite some time.

"Are you sure the Lin Family will listen to you?" Yang Bingyu frowned after hearing his plan, sounding rather skeptical.

Yang Jie grinned. "You can rest assured on this one. I absolutely won’t fail again, but you must guarantee that Ye Xuan won’t retaliate against me."

Recalling the sight of Ye Xuan walking away with Lin Aoxue in his arms, a flash of madness crossed Yang Bingyu’s eyes. Ye Xuan was hers. A woman like Lin Aoxue wasn’t worthy of him at all.

"Then it’s a deal," she said.

Having reached an agreement with Yang Bingyu, Yang Jie let out a heavy sigh of relief. As long as she protected him, Ye Xuan wouldn’t dare try to kill him.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ran—who had failed to win the beauty and had been taught a harsh lesson by Ye Xuan instead—was cowering in his hotel room, reporting the situation to the Xiao Family.

"Grandma, that Ye Xuan is just too arrogant! Stealing my woman is a minor issue, but provoking the Xiao Family is a major offense!

"You have no idea how insolently he spoke. He said that even if you came, he wouldn’t take you seriously. He’s pushing us too far! Even the higher-ups have to give us some face, yet a mere Cyan Dragon Hall Chief dares to make such boastful claims!"

Xiao Ran embellished the story of the day’s events over the phone to Old Mrs. Xiao. Naturally, he shifted all the blame onto Ye Xuan, framing himself as a victim who had been robbed of his rightful love by Ye Xuan while merely pursuing a beautiful woman.

Hearing that her most beloved grandson had been bullied, Old Mrs. Xiao immediately declared that Ye Xuan needed to be taught a lesson. She dispatched two of her trusted aides to Jianghai City to back Xiao Ran up. At the same time, she contacted the Qilin Hall and requested they send four of their top generals. She planned to join forces to eradicate Ye Xuan and eliminate this threat once and for all.

Ye Xuan remained entirely oblivious to all of this.

He was awakened at noon the next day by a frantic string of phone rings.

"Lin Aoxue! You unfilial daughter! How did the Lin Family produce such a shameless disgrace like you?! Are you still out fooling around? Get your ass back here immediately!"

Ye Xuan had groggily answered the call. Only when the furious curses of Lin Aoxue’s father, Lin Guodong, blasted through the speaker did he realize he was holding Lin Aoxue’s phone.

"Aoxue is still asleep. I’ll take her home later." Frowning, Ye Xuan coldly dropped that single sentence and hung up.

Awakened by the commotion of the call, Lin Aoxue slowly stirred from her deep sleep.

Listening to the busy signal, it took Lin Guodong a good while to realize it had been Ye Xuan’s voice. Furious, he smashed his phone against the ground, panting heavily.

"Fine, just fine! She really is with that piece of trash, Ye Xuan! What a shameless disgrace! I’m going to break her legs!"

At present, all major media outlets were reporting on the love triangle between Ye Xuan, Lin Aoxue, and Yang Bingyu. The public uproar from a while ago had barely been suppressed before a new wave of frenzy erupted. And this time, the Lin Family had become the target of public condemnation.

Everyone was berating Lin Aoxue, calling her shameless for openly seducing Yang Bingyu’s fiancé and even entering a cheap motel with Ye Xuan in broad daylight. Some maliciously speculated that this was all a conspiracy orchestrated by the Lin Family—feigning a divorce between Ye Xuan and Lin Aoxue so that Ye Xuan could marry into the Yang Family and help the Lins climb the social ladder. Overnight, the Lin Family had been thrust into the eye of the storm, becoming the laughingstock of the entire city.

Lin Guodong, who had been negotiating business overseas, was summoned back overnight by Mrs. Lin specifically to discipline his disgraceful daughter.

"Heh, Uncle Guodong, I think Aoxue is just desperate for a man. You’d better find her a husband soon," Lin Jiaxing sneered.

"Come on, Jiaxing," Lin Yexing chimed in. "Aoxue’s reputation is completely ruined now. What wealthy young heir would be willing to marry her? Marriage? She might as well be a nun for the rest of her life."

Lin Jiaxing and Lin Yexing were enjoying watching the world burn. Lin Guodong’s blood pressure was already soaring from anger, yet they continued to make snide remarks from the sidelines.

"Enough! She is your cousin. Is that how you speak about her?!" Lin Guodong slammed his hand on the table with a loud SLAP, furiously rebuking the two brothers.

Their words were not only mocking Lin Aoxue but also a direct slap to Lin Guodong’s face. Although the Lin Family wasn’t wealthy enough to rival a nation, they were still considered one of the Noble Families. When had Lin Guodong ever suffered such humiliation? He wished he could drag Lin Aoxue back this very instant and subject her to the family’s brutal discipline.

"You still have the nerve to lecture Jiaxing and Yexing? If it weren’t for that ’good’ daughter you raised, would the Lin Family be in this pathetic state?!" Seeing Lin Guodong lose his temper, Mrs. Lin mercilessly struck him with her cane and shouted, "You useless thing! If you don’t handle this matter properly, you can stop calling me your mother!"

Even with his nearly six-foot frame, Lin Guodong staggered from the force of her blow.

"Mom, let’s wait until Aoxue comes back and ask her for the full story. It won’t be too late to make a judgment then," Lin Guodong pleaded. "I don’t think Aoxue is the type of child to act without a sense of propriety. It must be that trash, Ye Xuan, relentlessly pestering her.

"If Aoxue really liked Ye Xuan, why would she have divorced him?"

Taking the blow for nothing, Lin Guodong felt both angry and wronged. No matter what, Lin Aoxue was still his daughter. Before the divorce, she had disdained even looking at Ye Xuan. Why on earth would she entangle herself with him after the divorce?