Chapter 53: The Miserable Downfall of Jiang Xue

Qin Mu's words caused Jiang Xue to completely break down. She shook her head with a hint of panic, crying out, "No, I don't want to go to prison! I don't want to go to prison! Qin Mu, everything I did was because I love you. You cannot be so cruel, I love you so much. You have to marry me, you must marry me! Becoming the eldest daughter of the Jiang family will bring you limitless wealth, so you should marry me even more."

A look of utter disdain flickered across Qin Mu's eyes. He couldn't even be bothered to engage with her, knowing full well that the woman in front of him had gone completely, thoroughly insane.

Without a word, Qin Mu waved his hand directly. "Officers, take her away. This woman has committed too many heinous acts and is beyond redemption."

As Qin Mu gestured, the police stepped forward, but Jiang Jintao immediately blocked their path and stood in front of Jiang Xue. "Let's see who dares to lay a hand on my daughter! My daughter is the apple of my eye, who dares to harm her?"

"That's right! None of you even think about taking my sister away! My sister is innocent, everything she did was right! Besides, the Jiang family's assets rightfully belong to my dad. My dad is going to pass them down to me and my sister! Are you people out of your minds, acting this boldly? Didn't you hear just now? My dad is the true heir to the Jiang Group! When the time comes, my dad will be the chairman of the Jiang Group, my sister will be the president of the Yuncheng branch, and I will be the helmsman overseeing all the other branches! What on earth do you people think you are?"

Old Master Jiang let out a cold laugh. "Splendid. It seems you people planned this all along. You'd already figured out how to carve up my Jiang Group, hadn't you? Jiang Jintao, you really are something else. Just so you could carve up the Jiang Group, you went ahead and murdered Jinxiu's entire family, didn't you? Am I wrong? Attorney Ding, read out the name of my rightful heir."

Hearing the old master's command, Attorney Ding's son quickly produced the legal document regarding the assets and announced in a resounding voice: "Mr. Jiang Zhenting hereby transfers all properties and assets under the name of the Jiang Group to his biological granddaughter, Jiang Li, to be inherited in full. His beloved disciples, Ji Han and Mr. Qin Mu, are appointed to assist and support her. From this day forward, the new chairperson of the Jiang Group, Miss Jiang Li, shall hold absolute control and authority over the personnel appointments, planning, and disposition of all assets under her name. No one is permitted to defy this decree."

Upon finishing, Attorney Ding handed the document over to Jiang Li. He presented it with both hands, filled with utmost sincerity and loyalty.

The scene fell into a terrifyingly dead silence, so quiet that the dropping of a pin could be heard. Yet at this very moment, Jiang Jintao and his two sons remained utterly unresigned.

"No, Uncle Jiang! Brother Jinxiu lived a pure and upright life all his days; it's impossible he had an illegitimate daughter! You're lying to me! You didn't want to hand the property over to me, so you deliberately hired a complete stranger to put on a show, didn't you? Have you lost your mind and let yourself be manipulated by others? Uncle Jiang, you can't do this to me! I am the real member of the Jiang family!"

Hearing Jiang Jintao's heart-wrenching, desperate cries, Old Master Jiang waved his hand once more.

With a look of sheer terror, the elderly housekeeper of the Jiang family estate stepped forward. "Old Master Jiang, it's all my fault! I was blinded by greed. Jiang Jintao gave me money and told me to drug you. It's all my fault, please don't send me to prison! I have elderly parents to care for and young children to raise, and I've served you at the Jiang household for so many years. I'm begging you, this was my only mistake, please have mercy!"

Seeing the maid kneeling and pleading for her life, Old Master Jiang turned red with fury.

Jiang Li gently stroked her grandfather's back to help him catch his breath, then turned her gaze to the maid with an expression of burning anger and demanded, "It was also you who tipped Jiang Jintao off about my father's whereabouts before he boarded the plane, wasn't it?"

And you were the one who cleaned the cabin on that flight. Don't tell me that timed signal-jamming device on the plane wasn't planted by you either?"

Hearing Jiang Li's accusations, the woman began kowtowing frantically, banging her head against the floor like pounding garlic.

"Eldest Miss, it was all my fault! Jiang Jintao ordered me to do it! If I hadn't followed his instructions, he wouldn't let me see my daughter. Really, I just wanted to catch a glimpse of my daughter Xue'er, what did I do wrong?"

"Xue'er?" Jiang Li frowned, casting a glance at her aunt, who was standing behind Jiang Jintao looking utterly bewildered.

A sudden thought struck Jiang Li: Jiang Xue really didn't look like her aunt at all.

Then...

Amidst Jiang Li's swirling suspicions, the female housekeeper crawled on all fours, scrambling frantically toward Jiang Jintao.

"Jintao, help me! I'm begging you, for the sake of our Xue'er, for the sake of the daughter I bore for you, please help me, won't you?"

With an expression of utter disgust and fury, Jiang Jintao shoved her away. "What absolute nonsense are you spouting?! Jiang Xue is my daughter, the daughter of me and my wife Xie Yu! Stop spouting garbage! Furthermore, whatever you did has nothing to do with me! The plane crash... why on earth would you plant a jammer on my older brother's plane? You truly are a vicious-hearted woman!"

Hearing Jiang Jintao's words, Jiang Xue froze. She stared in absolute disbelief at the woman kneeling on the ground before her.

Dressed in a maid's uniform, the woman had delicate facial features, though her face was now deathly pale. Looking at her, Jiang Xue realized they truly did look strikingly alike. Could this woman actually be her biological mother?

Yet at that moment, the woman—whose forehead was bleeding profusely from being shoved down—looked up at Jiang Xue and cried, "Xue'er, I am your mother! I am your mother, not your distant aunt! We've met before; your dad brought you to see me and told you I was your distant aunt. No! I am your biological mother, Xue'er! You wouldn't disown your own mother, would you?"

Jiang Xue was terrified out of her wits. Her mind was an absolute chaos of tangling thoughts.

Right now, her brain was a complete blank; she had no idea how to process this or where she stood.

"Lies! You're all telling lies! I did nothing wrong, I haven't done anything wrong at all! I love Qin Mu, and I used my own efforts to achieve my goal, what did I do wrong?! And you lot, you're all talking nonsense! I am Qin Mu's wife, the whole world knows I gave birth to his son, what right do you have to point fingers at me? I haven't done anything wrong! I am the eldest daughter of the Jiang family! I am the eldest daughter of the Jiang family! My head hurts... oh god, my head hurts so much!"

Jiang Xue had lost her mind. The spinning world around her made it impossible for her to even stand straight.

Jiang Li motioned for someone to hold her down. "Even if you love Qin Mu, you had no right to brutally frame and destroy me! Jiang Xue, as it turns out, you aren't even my real cousin, are you?"

Jiang Xue shook her head frantically. "No! Jiang Li, why are you always blessed with such good fortune? Why does everyone favor you? Why?! I could have easily been Mrs. Qin, so why, even after four whole years, has Qin Mu continually delayed marrying me? Why does every single one of you loathe me? Why are you all bullying me like this?!"

"Bullying you? Fine then, I'm going to bully you right now!"

*Slap! Slap, slap!* Three consecutive, heavy blows landed across Jiang Xue's face.

"The first slap is for framing me, making Qin Mu hate me and torture me by making him believe I killed his father! The second slap is for stealing my biological child away, tearing a mother and son apart! The third slap is for coming dangerously close to murdering my daughter! Jiang Xue, a woman like you deserves to die, and these final few slaps are for your countless evil deeds that indirectly killed my father!"

Jiang Li's dozen or more vicious slaps left Jiang Xue's face bruised, swollen, and utterly unrecognizable.

"No, why?!" Jiang Xue continued to shriek hysterically.

With a look of utter contempt, Jiang Li replied coldly, "If you have so many 'whys,' go ask the police station!"

The police promptly hauled Jiang Xue and her family away.

Standing nearby, Chen Shaojie clearly panicked for a fraction of a second before forcefully pulling himself together to feign calm.