Mrs. Qiao immediately regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth.
Whether Jiang Yan could be found was another matter; her agreement to this marital alliance had been solely to gain some benefit from the Jiang Family. Otherwise, who would want their daughter to marry such an unreliable man?
If she annulled the engagement unconditionally, how would she reap any benefits?
However, before Mrs. Qiao could retract her statement, the Jiang Li before her had already raised his phone, which was playing back the harsh words she had uttered in desperation—
"Fine, if you find Jiang Yan today, I will agree to annul the engagement unconditionally!"
Jiang Li looked at her, a faint smile gracing his lips, "Mrs. Qiao, this is physical evidence, and there are so many witnesses around. You won't be allowed to go back on your word later."
Mrs. Qiao's face turned pale, and she murmured softly, "Let's find the person first."
Now, she was praying that Jiang Yan was gone for good!
That way, her daughter wouldn't have to marry into the family, and she might still be able to latch onto some shares!
Jiang Li put away his phone and pulled his mother, Lin Manru, to one side.
Still immersed in the shock of her daughter's drastic change, Lin Manru took a while to respond: "Do you really have a way to bring your brother back?"
Jiang Yan's disappearance had occurred over half a month ago. That night, after she had told him about the marriage arrangement between the Jiang Family and the Qiao Family, he had lost his temper on the spot and vanished without a trace overnight.
Knowing his temper, she hadn't bothered with him, confident that as long as his spending records continued, she would be able to track her son's whereabouts.
But just a few days ago, his card activity stopped, and upon inquiry, he too seemed to have disappeared.
She was terrified and quickly mobilized the power of the Jiang Family to investigate, but there were still no leads.
With the engagement party for the two families approaching, she didn't want to risk any mishaps that would displease the old grandfather and ruin the marriage deal, so Lin Manru had gritted her teeth and went ahead with the event.
Little did she expect it would still fall apart.
Jiang Li hummed in affirmation, then took hold of her mother's hand.
For some reason, the once anxious Lin Manru felt a sudden calmness from her daughter's hum and the act of holding hands.
She sensed a mysterious and comforting power in her daughter.
But before Lin Manru could relax, she heard a bewildering request—
"Give me Jiang Yan's birthdate, down to the specific two-hour period."
Lin Manru looked puzzled, "Why do you need this to find your brother?"
Jiang Li couldn't explain in a moment.
After she had been transported to the Daqi Dynasty, at the age where she had just learnt to read and write, she had been spotted by the State Preceptor of the time, taken as his closed-door disciple and acquired a wealth of mysticism skills.
Although her abilities weren't as refined as her master's, who could discern yin and yang and alter fate, she could still make calculations and determine orientations.
In the novel, Jiang Yan was the leading follower of the female protagonist. Although his ending was tragic, his fate was not meant to be short-lived, and he wouldn't exit the stage so easily.
And in her memory, indeed there was a segment where Jiang Yan deliberately went missing to escape marriage, but the her from the previous lifetime had never concerned herself with family matters, and thus knew very little about how this plot developed.
However, looking at the situation now, finding Jiang Yan and calling off this marriage seemed like the best option.
"Mother, just tell me, I have a way, don't worry."
Jiang Li's tone was soft and gentle, yet carried an inexplicably reassuring strength, comforting to anyone who listened.
Seeing the determination in her eyes, Lin Manru gradually dispelled her doubts.
With things having escalated to this point, it was worth a shot. As long as Jiang Yan could be found, it didn't matter how.
After receiving Jiang Yan's Four Pillars of Destiny, Jiang Li instructed her mother with a few more words, and then she directly headed out the door.
Mrs. Qiao watched the series of mystical gestures with disdain.
"A young girl playing fortune-teller with all this hocus-pocus? Is this how you Jiang Family educate your children?"
Lin Manru's complexion inevitably soured upon hearing this, but remembering Jiang Li's words before he left, she clenched her fists and decided to ignore the comment, turning her head to graciously attend to the guests.
Mrs. Qiao's punch felt like it hit cotton, itching with irritation.
However, with so many people around, she couldn't keep berating Lin Manru, who was attending to guests, and could only sit to the side, fuming with suppressed anger.
-
-
Li Garden Hotel.
The receptionist had just finished a phone call and looked up to see a guest arriving at the entrance.
The young girl didn't appear old, but her demeanor was extraordinary; black hair, red lips, almond eyes, and rosy cheeks—she seemed like a classical beauty from a fine brush painting, moving with a graceful and composed elegance.
Especially those eyes, which held a calm and wise light that belied her age.
She didn't look around constantly like the other guests, but walked straight to the desk and gave a slight smile.
"Hello, my name is Jiang Li, and I'm here to look for someone."
The voice spilling from those red lips was as pleasant as a flowing stream.
The receptionist couldn't help but smile knowingly, inquiring politely, "Hello, miss, can you please show some identification...? And may I know who you are looking for?"
Thinking Jiang Yan probably wouldn't have registered with his own personal information, Jiang Li pulled out his photo from her phone and showed it to the receptionist along with her ID.
"I'm looking for this person; he's likely to be accompanied by a woman."
She had calculated Jiang Yan's fortune for today; his Life Plate showed he was currently in a place where Water Wood elements converged, and the location was likely nearby.
And the site chosen for the Li Garden Hotel was indeed based on Feng Shui principles—close to mountains and waters, which is why it had been thriving more and more among the Capital's hotels over the years.
She also vaguely remembered that in her previous life, the Jiang Family had been manipulated by the Qiao Family because Jiang Yan had caused a scandal on his engagement day—
Videos of him in bed with another woman were circulated at the engagement banquet.
The young lady at the reception had been smiling politely, but her expression stiffened upon seeing the photo, and she promptly pushed Jiang Li's items back to her.
"Sorry, I haven't seen this person."
Jiang Li caught the receptionist's reaction and immediately guessed she might have been bought off by Jiang Yan in advance.
Her brother might be a scoundrel, but he was not lacking in craftiness.
Jiang Li wasn't in a hurry, she turned and walked over to a sofa, delicately arranging her skirt as she sat down, crossing her legs naturally, calm and unconcerned.
"You should have guessed by now that the identities of both myself and the person I'm looking for are not simple; this is not something you can handle. Better call your manager over."
The receptionist's face paled, her mind flashing through scenes she had seen on television of rich wives ending up taking over entire hotels in their quest to procure evidence of their husbands' affairs.
The girl was right.
A mere receptionist like her couldn't stand against the wrath of these wealthy people.
So she hurriedly called the manager over.
The manager, guessing the gist of the situation from the receptionist's words, didn't make any firm promises but instead turned and summoned a few waiters, serving coffee and desserts.
Clearly, this wasn't his first time handling the situation of a rich wife catching a cheating husband.
In such situations, offending either party was not an option.
Finally sitting down, the manager came over with an apologetic smile and said, "I'm sorry, madam, but as you know, we in the hotel business must protect our guests' privacy. It's difficult for us when you come straight in asking for a guest's room number and key card."