The Mengxi Garden, where the Jiang Family resides, represents the pinnacle of wealthy estates throughout C City. In this city, where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold, a house in Mengxi Garden is always valued at over a hundred million. With such a location, one would likely not be able to live here without wealth.
The privacy of the residential complex is highly guarded, and the neighboring households are somewhat selective. On some level, the Jiang and Gu families could be considered neighbors.
That night, the twilight was deep.
Jiang Muwan sat on the balcony of her bedroom, soaking in the damp air after the rain.
After a while, she noticed the lights go out in the living room below.
She slowly stood up and made her way to the courtyard.
Behind Mengxi Garden lies a large man-made lake with koi swimming through it. In the heart of the lake, the pavilion still stands firmly in place.
As she reached the entrance of Hou Lake, Jiang Muwan paused, her gaze landing on the pavilion in the middle of the lake. Reminiscing about the past, she felt a tremor in her heart.
In the garden, the summer breeze rustled the leaves, and ripples appeared on the surface of the lake.
After the rain stopped, the moonlight emerged from the clouds and reflected on the lake, creating a sense of beauty as if in the verse, "Under the moon flies the heavenly mirror, clouds arise to construct the sea-tower."
The difference is, this "sea-tower" had long been shattered.
With that thought, she let out a cold snort, unwilling to waste time any longer in this place. As she turned to leave, her heartbeat suddenly quickened.
Half a second later, the woman opened her thin lips and spoke with a cold voice, "Wandering out at this late night hour to scare people, Director Gu does have an interesting hobby."
The man leaned casually against the pavilion, with the sign of Guanshan Pavilion squarely hanging above him. Gu Jiangnian let out a light snort, raised his hand to take a puff of smoke, and glanced at Jiang Muwan with a sneer, "Not as much as Miss Jiang, disturbing the peace and then playing the victim."
Gu Jiangnian had been sitting here for a while, accompanied by Xu Fang.
Several cigarette butts lay scattered at his feet, indicating he had been there for some time.
Jiang Muwan's gaze moved slowly from the ground near his feet up to his face. As the sky was dark, he was dressed in a black suit that blended him into the shadows, no wonder she hadn't noticed him when she arrived.
"With all your wealth, Mr. Gu, why don't you just buy this place? Then you won't be bothered, and others won't disturb your peace," she said, her words laced with biting sarcasm.
There was no hint of emotion to be found.
Jiang Muwan disliked Gu Jiangnian.
This aversion stemmed from their younger days.
Upon hearing her words, the man smiled slightly, flicked the ash from his cigarette, and his smile carried a trace of derision.
"Did Miss Jiang come here in the middle of the night to reminisce about the past?"
The past?
Jiang Muwan's hand at her side slowly slipped into her pocket, and her fingertips slowly tightened, concealing the surge of emotions that arose: "I could have been paying respects to the departed today if it weren't for Director Gu, who has allowed me to be cleansed."
If it were not for Gu Jiangnian, she could have brought wine and incense here today.
But it was precisely Gu Jiangnian who left her with nothing.
"Years have passed, and Miss Jiang's murderous intent hasn't diminished. I'm afraid if Mr. Jiang knew about it, he wouldn't let you leave C City alive," Jiang Lin would likely kill her if he knew she had returned to overturn the Jiang Family.
Sometimes, the bond between father and daughter is just this absurd.
In the face of interests, familial love becomes nothing more than a blade to hurt one another.
"Sticking your nose into other people's business like a dog chasing mice, Mr. Gu, you do it effortlessly. It would be beneath you to linger on the ground. With your capabilities, you should be policing the Pacific Ocean," she taunted.
If it wasn't for Gu Jiangnian, why would she have to come back a second time to retaliate?
Some things, once the opportunity is lost the first time, become extremely difficult to attempt a second time.
Jiang Muwan's words had just fallen, and Xu Fang shifted his gaze to his own boss without making a sound. He saw that although the man did not speak, the air of chilliness on his face was hard to ignore.
In C City, there was no one who dared to say that Mr. Gu was a meddler like a dog catching a mouse.
The man stretched out his hand, pressed the cigarette butt in his hand onto the bench beside him, and the action of crushing the cigarette carried a subtle hint of murderous intent, "Quite a sharp tongue indeed."
Others might not know, but Xu Fang knew that Mr. Gu was fuming inside.
The cause, most likely, was the audacious remarks that Miss Jiang had just made.
"Not as good as Director Gu," she said, and then Jiang Muwan turned and left.
While Gu Jiangnian sat on the stone bench in the pavilion, watching her leave.
Earlier, if Xu Fang didn't know what intentions Director Gu had for coming here in the middle of the night.
Then now, he should vaguely realize something.
An hour earlier, this man was supposed to be in the study at Mengxi Garden holding a high-level meeting. It seemed he suddenly remembered something, ended the meeting, stood up, and came in the direction of Hou Lake.
In the past, Gu Jiangnian seldom returned to Mengxi Garden. If not for the old madam insisting on living here, Mengxi Garden would have become a forbidden place in his life long ago.
With his mother living there, as her children, it would be improper not to visit her in terms of etiquette.
For a long while, until Jiang Muwan's figure disappeared, Gu Jiangnian slowly stood up, dusted off any flecks of dirt from his body, and strode away.
Xu Fang quickly followed and asked softly, "Are we going back to Gu Mansion or?"
"I'll stay overnight," the man threw out coldly and left directly.
Both Gu Jiangnian and Jiang Muwan were people who held grudges.
Indeed, both harbored the mindset that a gentleman's revenge need not be taken hastily, even if ten years pass.
Gu Jiangnian, the man bided his time patiently for decades, trampled all his uncles underfoot to acquire the Gu Group and bring it under Junhua's fold. But peculiarly, he did not rush to dispose of his uncles but instead mercifully let them stay at Junhua, forcing them to rely on him for their daily existence and confined them to look at his face day and night.
How could such a person be anything good?
And what about Jiang Muwan?
From a young age, she had the heart to kill, but was thwarted, and upon reaching adulthood, she harbored resentment against the Jiang Family, making a second attempt to fight back by directly attacking Huazhong. How could such a woman be kind-hearted?
The next morning, after accompanying the old master for breakfast, Jiang Muwan got up and left, drove her car, and just as she was about to leave the residential area, she was rear-ended by a black Lincoln that came speeding towards her.
Judging from the manner, it seemed premeditated.
She was shocked, perhaps not expecting that such a thing could happen in Mengxi Garden, and with a face full of astonishment, she pushed open the car door to get out, only to see a man in a suit and leather shoes step out of the black Lincoln, looking somewhat familiar.
The man walked over, slightly nodded in greeting, and his words were extremely polite, "My master says, out of respect for Elder Jiang, today is just a slight warning. If there is a next time, Miss Jiang might not be so lucky."
This was one of Gu Jiangnian's men, whom she had seen the night before.
Jiang Muwan looked at Xu Fang, her face erupting with rage, her cold gaze fixed on Xu Fang, and after a long while, her eyes containing a hint of murderous intent, she smiled disarmingly, but that smile did not reach the bottom of her eyes, "Tell your Director Gu, the hell with him and his eighteen generations of ancestors."
Xu Fang felt a chill down his spine, watching Jiang Muwan for a long time, reined in his shock, turned around, and left in his battered car.
Perhaps he had not expected Jiang Muwan to be so bold to utter such rebellious and disrespectful words, and for a moment, he found it hard to snap back to reality.
In the distance, inside another black Lincoln sedan, the man peered through the glass at the scene not far away, the corners of his lips slightly uplifted, as if he was in quite a good mood.
Gu Jiangnian was known for his ruthlessness.
Jiang Muwan of the Jiang Family was no kinder.