After struggling for a while, Gu Yan realized he couldn't manage to pull Leng Qingqiu into his arms.
Moreover, Leng Qingqiu said she wanted to go upstairs to read, so Gu Yan had no choice but to give up reluctantly.
"Qingqiu, I'll call you when dinner's ready."
"Got it, now get lost."
"Ouch... Qingqiu, you're so beautiful even when you're cursing..."
Click. The study door closed.
Slap!
Leng Qingqiu suddenly covered her face, an expression of embarrassment appearing.
She opened her eyes. Though they lacked color and luster, combined with the blush on her face, they held a unique, bewitching beauty.
"What an impertinent fellow."
"Doesn't he know I'm not only the actual controller of the Leng family but also the Night Queen?"
"To do such a thing to me in front of my subordinates, he's ruined my image in their eyes!"
"That damned bastard."
Leng Qingqiu gritted her teeth. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
No, no, she couldn't let Gu Yan disturb her mind and plans.
Since the young master of the Dragon King Palace was difficult to deal with, she should turn her attention to other weaker forces.
Although she wanted to say that, recently there seemed to be some issues with the company.
Leng Qingqiu felt for the letter sent by Leng Xing'an, the nominal head of the Leng family.
It said:
[Dear niece, we're in trouble! There's a mole inside the company who escaped with our research results! Our investigation shows they were sent by the Yan Xing Group! What should we do now?]
"Ah."
Leng Qingqiu sighed lightly, imagining Leng Xing'an's helpless appearance in her mind.
How would the Leng family manage without her?
But the Yan Xing Group...
Leng Qingqiu thought for a moment, a hint of murderous intent flashing in her eyes.
Actually, the information Gentleman Orchid had passed to her before mentioned that the King of Hell Palace had interfered in worldly affairs.
Among them, the Yan Xing Group was a large real estate company established by the King of Hell Palace in the mortal world.
They built more than half of the houses in Jianghai City, demonstrating their substantial power.
Having been rooted in Jianghai for so many years, they must have infiltrated every corner of the city by now.
Who knows how many martial artists they have...
Leng Qingqiu's expression grew serious. Her current strength was still too weak, and the risk of rashly moving against the King of Hell Palace was too great.
Moreover, there was something she didn't understand. Why would the Yan Xing Group, a real estate company, want to steal their Leng family's medical technology data?
Leng Qingqiu frowned deeply, biting her fingernail.
A moment later, her eyes cooled slightly. She decided to have Mei Xue and the others investigate.
Dig up all the information on the King of Hell Palace.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen.
The atmosphere was somewhat strange.
Gu Yan was washing vegetables, while Mei Xue was cutting them.
The former asked kindly, "Why were you taking a shower in my house?"
Your house?
Mei Xue frowned slightly and said, "The mistress told me to clean up here."
"Oh." Gu Yan nodded and asked again, "What did Qingqiu want you to do? Tell me about it."
After all, the two of them had a special secret relationship, so Gu Yan didn't care about putting on an act.
Hearing this, Mei Xue was silent for a moment. Should she say it? Would revealing this secret task the mistress had given her count as betrayal?
But this matter was related to Gu Yan anyway. After some thought, Mei Xue still chose to speak up, thinking it might make Gu Yan trust the mistress more and be moved: "After being injured by Xiao Lin yesterday, the mistress had me come here to recover."
"After the treatment, the mistress asked me to protect you secretly."
! Hearing this, Gu Yan's face lit up with joy.
He even washed the vegetables more diligently: "Ah haha... Is that so? Hmm, that's our Qingqiu for you!"
Oh my, he hadn't expected Qingqiu to be so good to him, even thinking of secretly sending someone to protect him.
Even though on the surface she still acted tsundere and told him to go die, she really was a woman who said one thing but meant another.
Seeing the excellent effect, Mei Xue also laughed coldly in her heart.
Hehe, you foolish man, you probably don't know that the mistress's true purpose is to make you feel moved like this, so she can eventually take over your Gu family?
You're only happy for now.
Once I complete the remaining four tasks and get news of my brother, I'll immediately report your true face to the mistress!
Mei Xue thought secretly.
Gu Yan had no idea what Mei Xue was thinking. In his joy, his mind wandered to a plot point from the original novel.
If he wasn't mistaken, an early antagonist in Jianghai City from the original story - the [King of Hell Palace] - was about to make an appearance.
This organization was the largest martial arts group in Jianghai City.
They had their fingers in every industry and even established the Yan Xing Group real estate company.
They also had many collaborations with the Gu family.
At the annual family gathering, the Gu family would invite representatives from the King of Hell Palace to attend.
On the surface, the two families appeared to be in harmony and prospering together, but the reality was different.
The Palace Master of the King of Hell Palace had a great ambition - to swallow up all the families in Jianghai City.
He wanted to become the emperor of Jianghai City.
The Palace Master's name was Yan Huang, a martial artist at the middle stage of the Grandmaster realm.
In the original novel, he served as a major early antagonist.
Because the family he wanted to swallow happened to be the Shen family, the protagonist Xiao Lin ended up clashing with him.
After a series of life-and-death battles, Xiao Lin successfully broke through from the peak of early Grandmaster realm to formally enter the middle stage of Grandmaster.
He then killed the Palace Master Yan Huang and took over all the businesses under the King of Hell Palace, expanding his own power and becoming a prominent figure in Jianghai City.
Hmm, in short, it was a troublesome organization.
But there was no need to worry too much. According to the plot development, this King of Hell Palace would eventually be destroyed by the protagonist's team.
As for why they got involved with the protagonist's team?
That was because one of the families the King of Hell Palace wanted to swallow was the Shen family.
As Shen Wan'er's newly minted admirer, Xiao Lin naturally took on the responsibility of eliminating the villains without hesitation.
Not only did he resolve the crisis for the Shen family, but he also won Shen Wan'er's favor.
So Gu Yan figured he just needed to develop steadily behind the scenes.
Let the protagonist Xiao Lin deal with this King of Hell Palace business.
Just as Gu Yan was thinking this, he paused.
His expression turned a bit strange.
Wait a minute, according to the details described in the original novel.
The King of Hell Palace wanting to swallow up all the families in Jianghai City seemed to be under Leng Qingqiu's instructions.
The King of Hell Palace's vigorous opposition to Xiao Lin was also because of Leng Qingqiu's orders.
After all, when Yan Huang died in the original novel, he said something like this:
["Hahaha!! You think you can rest easy after killing me? The truly terrifying existence hasn't even appeared yet!!"]
["All those people from back then will die!! The devil has crawled out of hell!! Xiao Lin, you who share the same karmic fate will die too!!"]
["Whether it's you! Or your friends and comrades! They will all die!"]
["Hahaha! This old man will be waiting for you all in hell!!"]
Recollection over, Gu Yan's mouth twitched.
Ah... So it turns out it was all Qingqiu's doing.