Chapter 159: The Fang Family's Art of Playing Both Sides and Feigning Compliance

Update: 2013-03-03

Lin Yang's vigilance was naturally not excessive. He knew very well that if the other party were to leak the situation inside the villa and the number of guards to the Fang family—a clan notorious for their ruthlessness and vicious methods—they might just dispatch a squad of high-level operatives to wipe everyone out in a surprise air assault. By then, any regret would be utterly futile.

Observing the cold look in the young man's eyes, the clear warning in his glance, and the distinctly mouthed word—"intent to kill"—Fang Tianyou, who had been planning to use the pretext of consulting the family elders to leak the personnel deployment inside the villa, thought it best to stall the group by any means necessary until the family's assassination squad arrived. His ultimate goal was to send every single bastard who dared to challenge the dignity of the Fang family straight to the gates of Hell.

Plans are always wonderful in theory; as for whether one actually dares to execute them, that is a completely different matter.

A person's inner thoughts can often be read through their eyes or even the slightest gesture. Having practiced the *Thirteen Blades of Heavenly Spirit* to the fifth blade and standing on the verge of breaking through to the sixth, the Barrier-Shattering Blade, Lin Yang could easily perceive the fluctuations of a person's inner emotions without breaking a sweat. This was doubly true since Lin Yang had maintained a high level of vigilance from the moment Fang Tianyou stepped through the door.

A warning, a naked warning, coupled with the readiness to strike at any moment, served to caution Fang Tianyou, who might harbor malicious intentions: "If you dare to entertain even a single evil thought, this grandpa won't hesitate to send you off to meet King Yama." Murder and silencing witnesses were by no means unfamiliar concepts to Lin Yang; when pushed, executing people was as effortless to him as slaughtering chickens.

"You'd better keep your mouth shut, along with those little thoughts of yours. If you think it's a breeze to have those trained thugs from your family launch a surprise attack here, then I'm terribly sorry, you are gravely mistaken. I wouldn't mind if everyone your Fang family sends ends up buried right here as fertilizer for the flowers. The flowers are bound to love the nutrients in their bodies." To avoid arousing the worry of the others, Lin Yang walked up to Fang Tianyou, leaned close to his ear, and whispered a threat of venomous proportions.

Though it might seem like a bluff, once Lin Yang went berserk, he was quite capable of actually carrying it out. Lin Yang wouldn't mind if the lesson the Leng family received last time were to be repeated on the Fang family, or perhaps with even graver consequences.

"Hahaha, what are you saying, absolutely not! Even if you gave me ten guts, I wouldn't dare do such a thing!" Suppressing the surge of panic in his heart, Fang Tianyou said with a forced, ingratiating smile. He looked composed enough, but deep down, he was already as frantic as an ant on a hot pan. Was this kid even human? A profound sense of shock washed over him. "Could it be? Could this kid actually read minds? I masked my intentions so well! Yet this kid detected them effortlessly. It's terrifying."

A flurry of questions battered Fang Tianyou's mind, short-circuiting his brain and making his chest tighten with breathless anxiety.

Aura—this was the oppression of sheer presence.

"You'd better hope it's as you say, otherwise you know what the consequences will be. Besides, I wouldn't mind invoking the power of my family." To ensure the safety of everyone present, Lin Yang invoked his family's name for the very first time. His sole purpose was to warn some brazen bastard against doing anything overly reckless. He had already witnessed the lawlessness and ruthlessness of the Fang family; he neither would nor dared forget the lesson taught by Fang Tianming.

Being stabbed in the back—unsparingly, even by one's own family members—was a reality that left no room for Lin Yang to lower his guard. He certainly didn't want to repeat the historical lesson where a single misstep leads to total defeat.

"Definitely, absolutely, hehe... It all makes sense now, it finally makes sense." Fearing that if this continued, he might follow his inner impulse and tear off his mask completely, Fang Tianyou knew that even a strong martial artist had a limited capacity for endurance. Once that threshold was breached, the backlash would be inevitable. Fang Tianyou understood his own temperament best, and thus he hurried to change the subject. To say he was genuinely terrified of Lin Yang would be inaccurate; more precisely, he was terrified of the massive background backing Lin Yang, and he certainly had no desire to throw away his life as meaninglessly as his eldest brother had.

After all, unlike money, which can be earned back once spent, life was something that vanished permanently once lost.

The Lin family of Yinchuan was a top-tier major family even when viewed across the entirety of China, let alone in their own provincial capital where they had yet to achieve complete dominance. They were undeniably a supreme force. While he had to admit the Fang family weren't soft persimmons to be kneaded at will, the insurmountable gap between them and the Lin family was undeniable.

As for the Jiang family—a formidable rival equally hostile to the Lin family—the Fang family had merely maintained an attitude of playing both sides. After all, if the Jiang family were to lose their contest against the Lin family, the Fang family, caught in the middle, wouldn't end up completely eradicated and exterminated. Therefore, offending the young man before them to the bitter end was simply out of the question.

To dispel Lin Yang's vigilance toward him, Fang Tianyou proved quite clever by turning on the speakerphone, ensuring that everyone present could hear every single word clearly.

The controversy in the Council of Elders had been astonishingly loud at the outset. Fang Tianyou knew better than anyone that the Council of Elders was divided into two distinct factions, so he had anticipated the initial disputes and was not surprised by them. However, the moment Fang Tianyou mentioned the names of the two major families, coupled with Lin Yang's thinly veiled threat, the attitude of the Council of Elders underwent a 180-degree shift in the span of a single breath.

They became affable and tactful in tone, shamelessly fawning to a degree that made city walls look paper-thin by comparison.

The Lin and Tang families of Yinchuan might be unknown to ordinary people, but to prominent figures of all sizes, their mere reputation struck terror into the hearts of men. Consequently, it was hardly surprising that just their names were enough to cow the Fang family into submission. One could only imagine the terrifying influence wielded by these two families.

The conditions proposed by Lin Yang were not only fully accepted by the Council of Elders, but they even threw in extra concessions that fell entirely outside the scope of Lin Yang's original demands.

The formula for the Fair-as-a-Flower capsules—which he had gone through all sorts of schemes to obtain, even at the cost of sacrificing two outstanding junior members of the family—was unconditionally returned. Furthermore, they made a solemn vow never to set foot in Jinhai Pharmaceutical again, nor would they secretly sell the Rejuvenating Capsules (which was actually the alias for Fair-as-a-Flower).

Such terms were not something Lin Yang hadn't considered; he had simply deemed them unlikely. After all, who would willingly spit out what had already been swallowed, especially when dealing with a sunrise industry overflowing with immense profits waiting to be reaped?

Moreover, much to Fang Tianyou's astonishment, under the intimidation of the Lin and Tang families, the Council of Elders actually designated Fang Muren's own biological younger brother, Fang Muxin, to serve as the sacrificial scapegoat. Fang Muxin was a genius whose capability far surpassed that of Fang Muren—someone whose competence outshone his elder brother's by an immeasurable margin.

Having climbed step by step into the ranks of the provincial committee purely on his own merit, while he might not have held the number one or number two spot, or even the number three position, the actual power in his hands was still something Fang Muren, a mere third-tier city bureau chief, could never hope to compare with. If Fang Muren had been able to sit comfortably in the position of Chief of the Jinhai Municipal Public Security Bureau without the slightest effort, his younger brother Fang Muxin had played an indispensable and vital role.

For the Fang family to make such a sacrifice of a man with such capability—leave aside Lin Yang and Meng Hu, even Fang Tianyou, who knew the family's deep foundations inside and out, was utterly astounded.

Yet, once the family made a decision, it would be carried out. Fang Tianyou had not the slightest doubt on that score. This was precisely the fatal flaw of coming from a great family: much like the emperors of antiquity, when the sovereign ordered a subject to die, the subject had no choice but to comply.

With the matters regarding the Fang family settled, the heavy stone pressing on Lin Yang's tense heart finally dropped. He knew that the most stubborn and difficult adversary had undoubtedly been the Fang family, especially since his demands had bordered on extortion.

"Secretary Zhu, are there any grievances remaining on your part? If you have any to raise, now is the time." Toward Secretary Zhu, a municipal party secretary without much of a background, Fang Tianyou naturally could not muster a pleasant attitude. Given that Zhu was an enemy who had constantly crossed paths with the Fang family, his words inevitably carried a tone of mockery and sarcasm.

Naturally, Fang Tianyou attributed the massive concessions granted to Secretary Zhu entirely to Lin Yang's influence, which explained why his attitude toward Zhu was so frigid.

Smart enough to have ascended to the premier seat of municipal party secretary, Secretary Zhu was hardly obtuse. He naturally caught the sarcasm woven into Fang Tianyou's words, but he also knew that if Lin Yang were truly inclined to suppress or antagonize him using his background, he would be utterly powerless to resist. Therefore, he offered no lengthy retort to Fang Tianyou's cynicism, responding merely with a cold, light snort to signal his contempt for the Fang family.

Playing both sides and keeping all options open—it wasn't just Secretary Zhu, with his advanced age and rich life and bureaucratic experience, who could see through the Fang family's modus operandi. Meng Hu, Lin Yang, and even Su Xiaodong—who spent his days chasing women, drinking, and idling away his life—could all read the Fang family's tactical stance loud and clear.

That the Fang family had made such massive compromises in the wake of this incident caused Secretary Zhu to abandon his usual unyielding, incorruptible style of conduct, turning remarkably slick instead—an outcome Lin Yang had never anticipated.

The negotiations did not consume excessive energy and proved far easier than imagined. The final signing of the agreement was executed with swift efficiency: black and white on paper, signed and thumbprinted. This seemingly archaic and traditional method turned out to be the most reliable and secure insurance.

Having secured everything he desired, Secretary Zhu was grinning from ear to ear, and his attitude toward Lin Yang was as pious as it could possibly be. If Tang Yixue hadn't made her relationship with Lin Yang so overtly clear in front of everyone, this municipal party secretary probably would have eagerly acted as a matchmaker, pushing his own daughter onto this young, accomplished, and terrifyingly well-connected young man.

Compared to Secretary Zhu, who was suspected of engaging in a wolf-from-nothing empty-handed scheme, the Fang family suffered a deeply painful blow, though they hid it well. With the matters satisfactorily resolved to the benefit of all parties, idle chatter drifted onward until the clock unknowingly settled at a quarter past three in the morning. At that point, Secretary Zhu and Fang Tianyou finally took their leave.

As for Secretary Zhu's daughter, Zhu Yunyun, she was detained by her father under the pretext of friendly cooperation, while he hopped into his car and departed full of joy. As the ancients say, "What is happiness? Happiness is striving for what I want to grasp." Clearly, Secretary Zhu harbored such intentions. Furthermore, as a father, he could tell that his daughter—who had always looked down her nose at everyone—truly held affection for Lin Yang, and a very intense one at that.

After a night of tossing and turning, it was finally time for a sound slumber. Exhaustion washing over him, Lin Yang had no intention of wasting a single second. He instructed Leng Nini to arrange a guest room for Zhu Yunyun and, after offering a brief goodnight to the others, unceremoniously grabbed Tang Yixue—who was still sitting on the sofa—and strode straight toward his exclusive bedroom on the eastern side of the first floor.

Vanishing along with the two figures were various complex gazes.

Envy, jealousy, and hatred are never in short supply in this materialist era of money and status. Aside from Su Xiaodong, whose emotions carried a blend of all three, the three women—Zhang Qiqi, Zhu Yunyun, and Leng Nini—wore expressions dominated chiefly by jealousy. Jealousy is a sentiment prone to overflowing, especially when four women find themselves pouring their hearts out over a single man.

Late at night, a lone man and a woman alone together—what good deeds could they possibly be up to? Even the most innocent-minded girl understood that much.

Chapter 159: The Fang Family Playing Both Sides and Straddling the Fence
Chapter 159: The Fang Family Playing Both Sides and Straddling the Fence