Filial Piety Leads to Power

Wen Qiaoan pressed her temples, her face showing a hint of helpless weariness.

I left a few days ago to treat an important person urgently, but I received news as soon as I returned. First, Jiang Yu took Xiao Chi's white fox without permission, and then I heard that the fox jumped off the car and ran away halfway.

He immediately realized things were going to get bad.

Having rushed over, when they stepped into the villa, they witnessed a chaotic scene where Xiao Chi and Jiang Yu, disregarding their image, were practically exchanging blows.

The mess in the hall had not yet been cleaned up.

Valuable shards of porcelain were scattered in the corner, and the leg of a chair was noticeably crooked.

Xiao Chi and Jiang Yu had been forcibly separated by his men, each sitting at one end of the sofa with enough space between them to fit two more people.

Both of them had bruises on their faces. Xiao Chi's cheekbones were bruised and purple, and he had a small cut on the corner of his mouth. Jiang Yu was in a worse state, with abrasions on his forehead and a few strands of his carefully styled blond hair in disarray, but he was still smiling, though the smile twisted his wounds.

"What are you arguing about? It's just a fox."

"That's all?" Jiang Yu scoffed, the movement aggravating the wound on his forehead. He grinned. "Dr. Wen, you didn't see it with your own eyes. That little thing is incredibly wild, and strangely clever. Young Master Xiao kept it like a caged bird, and sure enough, it developed claws."

He deliberately drew out the words, "I think it never wanted to be anyone's pet. That leap of itss was so graceful."

Xiao Chi's face instantly darkened to a point where it could drip water. "Jiang Yu," his voice was like ice, each word chilled to the bone, "you're the one who lost it."

"I lost it?" Jiang Yu raised an exaggerated eyebrow. "Xiao Chi, it's your own fault for not keeping a close eye on it, letting it get distracted first. If it were really so obedient to you, would it have come with me? Would it have chosen that moment to jump out of the window in my car?"

He leaned forward slightly, ignoring the injury on his leg, his excitement overpowering the pain in his voice, "What does this mean? It means it's not afraid at all! It has its own destination. Xiao Chi, you can't keep it in check."

"Where did it go?" Xiao Chi asked directly, his sharp gaze fixed on Jiang Yu, as if trying to dig the answer out of his face.

"How would I know?" Jiang Yu spread his hands, looking completely innocent. "The lower city is so big, and it's so agile; going in is like a drop of water entering the ocean. But..."

He paused deliberately. "I'm getting more and more curious. Tell me, why would a fox that's been pampered for so long run into a place like that? It can't be to experience life, can it?"

His words were like a stone thrown into stagnant water.

Xiao Chi and Wen Qiaoan's eyes both flickered.

"Jiang Yu, you should say less!" Wen Qiaoan frowned, her voice carrying a hint of disapproval. "After all, you're the one who took it out and lost it."

"Heh," Jiang Yu chuckled briefly, annoyed by the repeated accusations. His azure eyes turned to Xiao Chi, flashing with undisguised provocation. "Qiao An, you can't say that. That little guy is my fox now. It was Young Master Xiao who failed to keep an eye on it; it came with me of its own accord."

He paused deliberately, his smile widening, and said clearly, word by word, "Don't believe me? Ask him! To come with me, it bit its former owner hard!"

These words were like a poisoned dagger, stabbing precisely into Xiao Chi's most sensitive wound.

Xiao Chi's eyes suddenly turned icy cold, his jawline tightened, and veins seemed to bulge at the temples.

He stared at Jiang Yu, forcing out three words through gritted teeth, his voice chillingly low: "Jiang, Yu—! I'll f*** your grandpa!"

Jiang Yu, however, seemed to have heard something amusing. She even raised an eyebrow in feigned surprise, her tone flippant to the point of being wicked: "What? You want to sleep with my uncle? Fine, I'll tell my dad later, he'll definitely be happy to pack my uncle up and send him over. I'm just afraid..."

He drew out his words, his gaze sweeping meaningfully over Xiao Chi's arm in a cast, "Young Master Xiao, you can't handle this."

"you--"

It looked like the two were about to start fighting again.

"Enough." Wen Qiaoan interrupted the increasingly dangerous conversation, stood up again, and glanced between the two. "There's no point in dwelling on this now. The most important thing is your injuries. Jiang Yu, you need to have a more detailed examination immediately. Xiao Chi, your arm needs regular checkups." His tone left no room for argument, using his doctor's authority to forcefully put a pause on the conflict.

He picked up the medical kit and said to Xiao Chi, "I'll take him to the hospital. You stay here..."

He glanced at the mess around him. "Let someone clean it up."

After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Xiao Chi, you and Jiang Yu have been friends for so many years. It's not worth making a fuss over a fox. Just send someone to look for it."

Xiao Chi scratched his hair in frustration, a slightly irritating gesture that rarely occurred to him.

"Can't find it."

He uttered three words in a low voice, carrying a sense of suppressed frustration.

"Can't find him?" Jiang Yu's azure eyes widened slightly as if she had heard an absurd joke. "Xiao Chi, in this city, is there anyone, or rather, a fox, that you, Young Master Xiao, can't find even with all your connections?"

He immediately scoffed and mercilessly added, "Trash."

Xiao Chi's temple throbbed, his eyes flashing with a sinister glint as he glared at Jiang Yu. He retorted sarcastically, "You think you're so powerful and influential, yet you're just as clueless? You let the fox escape right under your nose, and you think that's something to be proud of?"

Wen Qiaoan was sandwiched in the middle, and her temples were also throbbing slightly.

He held down Jiang Yu, who was about to retort, and said to Xiao Chi in a deep voice, "There's no point in blaming each other now. The most important thing is to sort out the clues. Just because it disappeared in a blind spot of the surveillance doesn't mean there's no trace of it. Instead of arguing here, you should exchange the information you each have about its habits and possible whereabouts."

He tried to steer this childish exchange of blame back onto the track of problem-solving.

"How about we try having Yunbai come?" Jiang Yu suddenly spoke up, suggesting with a hint of malice in his tone. "His underhanded methods might be more efficient if we found a rat, no, a fox, that sneaks into the cracks of the city."

These words made Xiao Chi frown even more.

If he himself represents the forces openly bound by rules, then Yunbai is the truly unscrupulous one in the shadows of this city, with no taboos whatsoever.

"Don't mention him." Xiao Chi's voice was even deeper. "He's been having a lot of trouble lately. Several of his subordinates are causing trouble, and he's personally cleaning house. He simply doesn't have any free time."

Wen Qiaoan sensed something unusual in the conversation and pressed, "What about what you found out yourself before?"

He was referring to the background investigation Xiao Chi had conducted using his connections after he first found the fox, "about its origins, or its possible previous range of activity? There should be some clues."

Xiao Chi fell silent, his brows furrowing into a deep knot, his jawline taut.

This almost escapist silence is completely different from his usual decisive and cold style.

Jiang Yu and Wen Qiaoan quickly exchanged a glance.

something wrong.

Under the silent urging and questioning of the two men's gazes, Xiao Chi's Adam's apple bobbed, and finally, he uttered those three words:

"Yu Fuli".