When they returned to China, Huan Mao was visited by her private physician, who revealed that she had fractured ribs.
No one had expected that severe of an outcome when Huan Mao never showed that she was in pain.
She moved normally and didn't wince. It was only her specialized team who knew her identity as the true Queen, and her strength reminded them of that.
For two months she was ordered to not leave the house in case of another attack, and Di Gaohun took care of her during most of that time.
While Xin Tuyong was now allowed anywhere in the house, he still shied away from entering her room, even when she called for him to enter.
Di Gaohun was still in charge of supervising the staff, and in lieu of Xin Tuyong, the regular housekeeper was becoming ever-slowly more familiar with Di Gaohun.
Huan Mao's informants found that the attackers were aligned with the Da Corporation, but it was unconfirmed whether Da Confeng was directly involved.
If he was, it would be difficult to take down such an influential power and every sect of the business would need to mobilize to prevent any incident.
Da Confeng was a giant, but Huan Mao was a god. She could take down anyone if she put her mind to it.
Whether it was someone insulting someone close to her or someone trying to kill her, it didn't matter. They would not survive.
Xin Tuyong did not visit Huan Mao during her bedridden first month, but she moved into his room as soon as she was healed enough to walk.
At night she slept next to him instead of on him, leaving more space than usual, which Xin Tuyong welcomed.
He no longer refused her affections but still never initiated anything with her. It was clear that her abilities had built his respect for her.
In the second month, Huan Mao taught Xin Tuyong how to handle more complicated paperwork in her study.
Huan Mao had connections across the world through various businesses run by trusted subordinates.
She owned numerous hotels, private schools, casinos, warehouses, and others, controlled in a fashion that allowed her to maintain a steady foothold while maintaining a distance that prevented any authorities from connecting them directly to her.
Her knowledge was broad and deep. Xin Tuyong had only been dealing in contractual negotiations, so while his position was high, his actual knowledge was limited as far as trade and products went.
She taught him the basics of her primary businesses, hotels and casinos, because that was what he generally dealt contracts in as a core field of the business.
"If you just deal in legal business, why would people be trying to kill you? And why would you need to avoid authorities in other countries?" Xin Tuyong asked her.
"The difference between our work and that of a triad is that a triad does primarily illegal work using excessive violence instead of our paperwork and contracts. We are powerful as an underground corporation because of our strong connections across the globe.
"We can influence entire economies if necessary, and who wouldn't want that, you know?" Xin Tuyong nodded as she continued, "But at the heart of the corporation, our people are trained with more intensity than the military because we have defectors and moles to give us information and supplies. Our guns are illegal, but we still have them supplied by our very own national army.
"That's because not everything we do is legal, but we try to keep it professional on the surface. Drug sales, arms dealing, scamming, you name it and we probably have experience in it. Illegal tasks are usually left to designated people who are expendable and need the work to survive.
"Our network is like a heartbeat, it keeps countries alive and functioning well. If our people get caught up with authorities, we lose a connection -- we've cut a vein and lost a series of potential deals. Does that make sense?"