Chapter 66 Is It Really You?

After finishing the meal in the private dining room, they chatted for a little while longer, preparing to return to their respective homes.

Qi Qingyuan had already changed her clothes. Once outside, she would continue to be the well-behaved, proper daughter of the Qi family.

At that moment, Shang Moting suddenly received a phone call. After exchanging a few words, the other person hung up.

Shang Moting said, "Yue Mingzhou is dead. Suicide. During a meal, he stabbed a chopstick into the side of his neck. They couldn't resuscitate him."

Everyone froze for a second.

"Isn't he being detained?" Qi Qingyuan asked. "With the way he refused to admit to anything, he didn't look like someone in a rush to leave."

Lin Ting's eyes blinked. The evidence of Yue Mingzhou conspiring with overseas drug-trafficking rings had long been brought back to the country and handed over to Shang Moting, who had then delivered it to the police department. Yet Yue Mingzhou had stubbornly refused to confess—he had denied everything right up to the end. But now, he had suddenly committed suicide.

"It seems he still knew about something far more important," Lin Ting said.

"Possibly," Shang Moting replied.

"Did anyone go to visit him in custody?" Lu Jinglin asked.

"The details are still unclear," Shang Moting said. "I only just got the news. The Yue family hasn't even been notified yet."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone else turned to look at Lin Ting.

Lin Ting looked back at them and said, "Why are you looking at me? I certainly didn't do this."

"It's just that the Yue family might pin this blame on you," Qi Qingyuan said.

Lin Ting raised an eyebrow. "Does the Yue family even have the energy to deal with me anymore? President Shang?"

Shang Moting looked at her. With the Shang family's suppression, the Yue family was currently having a very difficult time.

Mu Yunsheng glanced at them.

Shang Moting said, "Let's go."

...

They all walked out together. As they passed the painting of the tortoise, Lin Ting kept her eyes straight ahead and quickened her pace slightly. Shang Moting followed behind her with a smile.

"Are you two together?" Lu Jinglin asked.

Shang Moting glanced at him without speaking.

"Did she come here of her own free will?" Lu Jinglin asked.

Shang Moting gave him another look. "If you want to suffer from insomnia, you can just say so. A single word from me can keep you awake for days on end."

Lu Jinglin stopped talking.

Shang Moting continued walking forward. Lu Jinglin turned his gaze to Mu Yunsheng.

Mu Yunsheng seemed to be very fond of Lin Ting; whenever she looked at her, her eyes were smiling.

"Do you like her?" Lu Jinglin asked softly.

The smile on Mu Yunsheng's face vanished. She knew. As long as she ever showed affection for anything other than him, she would never lay eyes on it a second time.

"If you like her, I'll have Moting include you the next time he brings her to a gathering," Lu Jinglin said.

Taken completely by surprise, Mu Yunsheng didn't react to what she had heard for a moment. She froze before looking up at him. "Really?"

"Mhm," Lu Jinglin nodded.

A trace of a smile returned to the depths of Mu Yunsheng's eyes. "Thank you."

Lu Jinglin smiled slightly. "Hearing you say something polite is truly a rare occurrence."

Mu Yunsheng said nothing more.

They took the elevator down to the first floor. Stepping out, the group walked toward the entrance.

Just as Lin Ting was chatting with Qi Qingyuan, someone suddenly rushed out from the front-left, charging straight at Lin Ting. Instinctively, Shang Moting pulled Lin Ting closer to his side.

The person seemed to have aimed squarely at Lin Ting, apparently having miscalculated the distance. Because Lin Ting had been pulled out of the way, the assailant nearly tripped and fell flat on the floor.

Qi Qingyuan hastily took a step back.

Bending forward, the person stumbled forward for two or three meters, managed to steady themselves, and then bolted away.

Shang Moting looked at Wei Zhishu. Wei Zhishu and Fang Cheng immediately gave chase.

"What is this?" Qi Qingyuan picked something up from the ground. "Lin Ting, is this yours?"

When that person had almost crashed into Lin Ting, they had heard the faint sound of a small object hitting the floor. It didn't belong to the person who had bumped into them, so it had to be Lin Ting's.

Qi Qingyuan picked the item up, then suddenly gasped in surprise. "This is..."

It was a piece of yellow jade, only about the size of two fingers. An exquisite phoenix was carved onto its surface. In truth, it was part of a pair symbolizing dragon and phoenix auspiciousness. However, the piece of jade in Qi Qingyuan's hand was only half—it showed solely the phoenix side.

As for the other side...

Lu Jinglin looked at Shang Moting.

Shang Moting took the jade from Qi Qingyuan's hand and examined it. "This isn't the one."

"It isn't?" Qi Qingyuan said. "This... feels like it would match the half in your hand perfectly."

Shang Moting rubbed his thumb over the half-piece of yellow jade. Indeed. The craftsmanship was extraordinarily authentic. Even the fractured edge had been replicated with such precision that it should have been able to piece together seamlessly with the half he possessed.

Who could possibly know this half-piece of jade so thoroughly? Why would it appear here? And yet, why wasn't it the genuine article?

"The material of this jade is far too new," Lu Jinglin noted. "It's not Madame Shang's piece."

Lin Ting stared at the jade in Shang Moting's hand, her fingertips trembling slightly as she slowly clenched them into tight fists.

"What's wrong?" Shang Moting noticed her emotional shift.

Lin Ting averted her gaze from the jade and looked at Shang Moting, stepping backward as she did so.

Shang Moting's eyelashes fluttered.

Lu Jinglin and Qi Qingyuan exchanged an involuntary glance.

"What is it?" Shang Moting asked again, suddenly gripped by a bad premonition.

"The other half is in your possession?" Lin Ting asked.

The hand holding the jade tightened involuntarily.

Lin Ting stared at him. "Answer me."

"Yes," Shang Moting said.

Lin Ting drew a soft breath. "This item belonged to your mother?"

"Yes," Shang Moting replied.

Lin Ting's grip tightened further. "So, it has been in your hands for many years?"

"Ever since my mother passed away, I have worn it with me," Shang Moting said.

Hearing his words, Lin Ting took yet another step back.

Lu Jinglin and Qi Qingyuan watched her. The sudden numbness on Lin Ting's face—the expression of sealing herself off from the world—was terrifying to behold.

"It really was you," Lin Ting gave a cold, faint laugh.

Shang Moting's eyelashes quivered slightly. Beautiful things, it seemed, were always destined to be fleeting.

Gazing at Shang Moting, the look in Lin Ting's eyes grew increasingly frigid. "When that jade pendant broke, where were you? What did you do? Who did you kill?!"

Instinctively, Lu Jinglin stepped in front of Shang Moting. He had suddenly sensed an intense murderous intent radiating from Lin Ting.

Shang Moting tried to recall the events of those few days. He couldn't be certain when the pendant had broken; he had only discovered it when he found the remaining half tucked into his sleeve. A great many things had happened during that period.

"I don't know when it broke," Shang Moting said.

"It seems President Shang has a lot of blood on his hands," Lin Ting remarked.

Shang Moting frowned.

At that moment, Wei Zhishu and Fang Cheng returned. The others looked over at them.

Wei Zhishu said, " Boss, we lost him."

Shang Moting looked at the two of them, then pressed a hand on Lu Jinglin's shoulder, signaling him to step aside.

Lu Jinglin didn't want to move. He was genuinely worried that this madman Shang Moting would simply hand his life over to Lin Ting just like that.

Shang Moting applied pressure with his hand on Lu Jinglin's shoulder. Only then did Lu Jinglin step aside.

Shang Moting walked up to Lin Ting, took her hand, and pulled her toward the exit. "Come back with me first."