Chapter 359 — Beaten for Nothing
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Wei Zhao is Gu Mengyao's close guard. We wanted to kidnap Gu Mengyao at the time to achieve certain ends, and Wei Zhao ruined it," Li Cihua said lightly. Naturally, he would not admit to something as shameful as the loss of two skilled Yellow-Rank men, and the plan had failed anyway. Jin Gubang had also lost his qualification to move against Gu Pengzhan, and Li Cihua could not be bothered to go making trouble for Gu Mengyao again. But this score with Wei Zhao — that he could not leave unsettled.
"Oh? Wei Zhao really is Gu Mengyao's close guard?" An Liwen was taken aback. He had suspected as much before, but if Wei Zhao really was Gu Mengyao's close guard, then he still had a very good chance!
"I used to think there was something ambiguous between him and Gu Mengyao, but later I found that his relationship with that Shen Yushu seemed a bit closer…" Li Cihua was speaking of the amusement park affair — Wei Zhao had actually risked his life to jump into the sea alongside Shen Yushu, which had made Li Cihua a little suspicious.
"Shen Yushu? Ha, that's wonderful!" Hearing Li Cihua's words, An Liwen quite lost his composure for a moment. But no wonder — before, he had schemed so hard to make trouble for Wei Zhao precisely because he had heard the man was Gu Mengyao's boyfriend. Now that it was confirmed he was not, An Liwen felt thoroughly pleased.
"What, Young Master An — the girl you have your eye on wouldn't happen to be Gu Mengyao, would it?" Li Cihua had caught the hint as well.
"You must think me a fool, Brother Cihua. Yaoyao and I are childhood sweethearts — we grew up together." An Liwen nodded. "When I returned to the country this time, I suddenly found Wei Zhao appearing at Gu Mengyao's side, so I took him out to sound him out."
"That young man is no simple sort. Even if he is only a close guard, you would do well to watch your back around him!" Li Cihua offered the reminder. He did not mind using the occasion to sow discord and let An Liwen have a go at Wei Zhao too.
"I will." An Liwen nodded. "Brother Cihua, you were going to move against Gu Mengyao?"
"That's all in the past. That plan was terminated too, so you needn't worry." Li Cihua smiled. "And even if it hadn't been, for Young Master An's sake, I couldn't very well go through with it now!"
"Then I'll have to thank Brother Cihua for that!" An Liwen was quite pleased with Li Cihua's attitude. Though the two of them had clashed at first, that had only been because of Wei Zhao; now that everything had been aired out, An Liwen still intended to work with Li Cihua.
"Young Master An, you might say we've come to know each other through our little scrap. You and I are both straightforward men, so if there's anything on your mind, just say it." Li Cihua smiled and poured An Liwen a glass of red wine.
Thanks to their earlier misunderstanding, the two of them were able to skip all the usual pleasantries and probing, the push-and-pull of feeling each other out, and went straight to the heart of the matter.
An Liwen glanced at the private room in the back, where Su Taizao was, then looked at the several men standing beside Li Cihua. He hesitated, the words dying on his lips.
Li Cihua smiled faintly, naturally understanding what An Liwen meant. He waved a hand at his several bodyguards and said, "You men, step outside for now!"
"Yes, sir!" Without a word, the bodyguards filed out of the room, pulled the door firmly shut behind them, and took up their posts just outside.
"This one's our own man!" Li Cihua gestured toward Su Jiaonang and said, "Su Jiaonang, my trusted aide!"