The chaos in the manor gradually subsided, but the smell of blood and smoke in the air, as well as the bullet marks and damages everywhere, silently told of the thrilling attack that had just ended. Medical staff were busy treating the injured, while bodyguards were silently cleaning up the scene. Each person's face was filled with the solemnity of having survived a disaster and suppressed anger.
The master bedroom could no longer be occupied. Su Wanwan and her child were temporarily placed in a guest room on the side wing that had also been reinforced for safety. The doctor disinfected and bandaged the abrasion on her forehead and prescribed some sedative medicine. The child was quite frightened and kept sobbing. He/She needed the nanny and the doctor to take turns to soothe him/her patiently before he/she could fall asleep.
Su Wanwan lay in bed, her body exhausted to the extreme, yet her nerves remained highly tense, unable to truly fall asleep. As soon as I closed my eyes, there was that twisted alloy door that had been blown open, the dark muzzle of the gun, and the cold gaze of the intruder. The child's heart-wrenching cries and her own desperate heartbeats still seemed to echo in her ears.
She almost lost everything.
This fear of being on the verge of destruction, like cold venom, seeped into every part of her body. But at the same time, another emotion, a cold, angry and resentful one, was also quietly growing in the ruins of fear.
She can't go on like this any longer. One cannot always be the weak one who is protected, placed, and can only use one's own body to buy a few tenths of a second for the child when danger comes.
In the study, the atmosphere was even colder and more solemn than outside.
Lu Tingchen washed off the bloodstains on his hands and changed into a clean set of clothes, but the hostility and the smell of blood in his eyes and brows seemed to be solidified and wouldn't disperse. On the large screen in front of him, the real-time images of the underground interrogation room and the surveillance reviews of various parts of the manor were displayed in split screens.
Qin Hao stood aside, his expression equally grim: "Mr. Lu, you pried open the mouth of a living person." He is an international mercenary, employed by an anonymous middleman, and his mission objective is... When abducting a lady, if necessary, one can harm others, but it is required that they be spared as much as possible. The commission is very high. I prepaid half of it and paid the other half after the deal was done.
"Anonymous middleman?" Lu Tingchen's voice was so cold that it could freeze the air. "Can't find the source?"
The other party is very cautious and has used multiple layers of encryption and a springboard, which will take time. But..." Qin Hao paused for a moment and then zoomed in on a surveillance footage. "When we reviewed it, we found that the intruder was extremely familiar with the internal structure of the manor, the security blind spots, and even the password system of the safe house." The internal clean-up has been completed. It has been confirmed that three low-level security personnel were bribed or coerced to provide intelligence and disrupt parts of the system at key nodes. People have already taken control."
"Traitor!" Sure enough, there's an insider!
Lu Tingchen punched the expensive solid wood desk, making a dull and loud noise! Cracks instantly covered the desktop.
"Clean it up." " He uttered four words without a shred of emotion.
"Yes." " Qin Hao knew that the fate of these three insiders would never be good.
"Keep digging!" That middleman and the source of the mercenaries, all the clues, investigate to the end! I'll use all resources. I don't care how much money it costs or what price I pay!" Lu Tingchen's eyes were as cold as ice for ten thousand years. "I want to know, who on earth dares to set their sights on my home!" "
His rage was like a suppressed volcano, about to erupt lava that would destroy everything.
"Understood!" " Qin Hao felt a chill and immediately accepted the order and left.
Lu Tingchen was the only one left in the study. He closed his eyes, leaned back in the chair and rubbed his stinging temple hard. Exhaustion came surging like a tide, but more often than not, there was fear and overwhelming anger.
This attack completely crossed all his bottom lines. It was no longer a provocation to his business empire, but a direct and devastating blow to his closest relatives. This is already a never-ending situation.
He must fight back, and must use the bloodiest and most thorough way to tell all the enemies lurking in the shadows what the outcome would be if he touched Lu Tingchen's family!
Just then, the door of the study was gently pushed open.
Lu Tingchen suddenly opened his eyes wide, his sharp gaze sweeping over. When he saw the person coming, it instantly softened, carrying a hint of tension: "Why are you up?" Still not feeling well?" He immediately got up and went up to meet him.
Su Wanwan stood at the door, wearing a loose coat of his, looking even more slender and fragile. His complexion remained pale, and the gauze on his forehead was glaring and conspicuous. But her eyes were no longer the previous terror and confusion, but an unusual, cold calmness, with two clusters of dim flames flickering deep within.
I can't sleep. She said softly, her voice still a little hoarse but exceptionally clear. She walked into the study, her gaze sweeping over the interrogation footage and surveillance replay that had not yet been turned off on the screen. The bloodiness and cruelty there made her stomach churn, but she forced herself to keep watching.
Lu Tingchen subconsciously wanted to turn off the screen, but she stopped him.
"Don't turn it off." Su Wanwan walked up to the screen, looking at the mercenary who was beaten to a pulp but still roaring, at the fierce battle marks in the manor, and at the door of the safe house that had been blown open.
Her body trembled slightly, but her back remained straight.
"I know everything." " She turned around and looked at Lu Tingchen. There was no longer the usual dependence and tenderness in her eyes, only a kind of almost cold determination. "Traitor, mercenary, the target is me."
Lu Tingchen's heart tightened violently. He stepped forward to embrace her and said, "Wanwan, stop looking. I'll handle these..." "
Su Wanwan, however, gently pushed his hand away. Although her movements were weak, her attitude was exceptionally firm.
How do you handle it? Just like before, keep all the darkness out and let me live in the ivory tower you think is safe?" She looked at him, tears sliding down silently, but her voice was terrifyingly steady. "But it turns out that the ivory tower is not safe." The enemy can sneak in from any unexpected place, and I'm inside, having no power to fight back."
Lu Tingchen was stunned. Looking at the strange, broken yet reassembled light in her eyes, he didn't know how to respond for a moment.
"Tingchen," Su Wan stepped forward in the evening, grabbed his cold hand, looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, but her tone was filled with an unprecedented strength and pleading. "I know you love me and want to protect me." But true protection is not to hide me away, but to make me strong, strong enough to face the storms with you, and even... We can protect ourselves and our children.
She took a deep breath and uttered the words that had been lingering in her mind for a long time:
Teach me. Teach me how to protect myself, teach me how to identify danger, teach me... How can I survive and fight when you're not around?"
Lu Tingchen looked at her in shock. He had never seen Su Wanwan like this before. Fragile yet strong, sad yet resolute. That near-death experience completely shattered the tenderness of the last greenhouse flower on her body and gave birth to tough and cold thorns.
He understood. He couldn't keep her confined in an absolutely safe environment forever, because absolute safety itself doesn't exist. The only way is to give her the strength to protect herself.
He held her cold hand tightly with his opposite hand, gazed into her tearful yet determined eyes for a long time, and nodded vigorously.
"Ok." " His voice was deep and solemn, "I'll teach you."
From this moment on, he was no longer a knight who unilaterally protected the princess.
He wants to train his princess with his own hands into a queen who can fight alongside him.
The prelude to bloodshed has already begun, and this time, they will jointly wield the sharp blade of revenge.
(To be continued...)"