The Golden Cane and the Wild Rose - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Jiang Xueyu left in a daze, with Alan following her like a little tail.

“Alan, do you think I’m a big headache for my brother?”

Alan said, “Miss, that’s normal. As siblings, the older one always has to worry more about the younger one.”

“But I don’t want my brother to always worry about me. If he had the time, I hope he could focus more on his own happiness, like during this time. With my sister-in-law by his side, he’s more like a normal person.”

A normal person.

Alan thought for a moment. Anyone in Mr. Jiang’s current position couldn’t be judged by the standards of a normal person.

If so, what would be the advantage of having such a high status?

Ultimately, what a person should pursue is the ideal life in their heart.

“Perhaps what Miss considers abnormal is precisely the life Mr. Jiang wants to live.”

“Then do you think my brother was happy living that kind of life before?”

Alan fell silent.

“It can’t be called happy, nor can it be called unhappy. It’s like a person who doesn’t have many emotional fluctuations. People outside are afraid of my brother, and my brother makes others afraid. Sometimes, I really want to put an ad in the paper to tell the whole world what a good person my brother is—not cruel or brutal, but a good brother and a good person.”

Alan smiled.

Jiang Xueyu stared at him and asked, “What are you laughing at?”

“Jiang Xueyu, have you ever seriously thought about why Mr. Jiang wants outsiders to see him that way?”

“Why?” Jiang Xueyu realized she had never seriously considered it.

“To protect you, to protect the Jiang family.”

To win without bloodshed, this is the best way in today’s world.

“If you have to resort to force, it’s easy to break the law. Even if you win, it’s not worth it. It’s better to be like now, with a far-reaching reputation, so that when people talk about the Jiang family, everyone is intimidated,” Alan explained patiently.

Jiang Xueyu said, “I think I kind of get it now. But my brother must be very tired, right? If you don’t get close to him, you would never know what kind of person he really is.”

“Isn’t Miss Yun getting close to him?”

“You’re right, there’s my sister-in-law. As long as the Scar incident is handled properly, Brother and Sister-in-law will definitely have a beautiful future.”

The car stopped at the prison gate. The accompanying bodyguard stated their purpose, and a prison guard personally led them inside.

Yun Ran’s steps were unsteady, and she stumbled along the way.

What she had feared had still happened.

Not only had her dad offended someone, but he had also offended the one person he should have never offended Jiang Musheng.

Would Jiang Musheng be willing to let her dad go?

And would he let her go?

Yun Ran wasn’t confident at all. Her mind was a chaotic mess, a complete blur.

“Miss Yun,” the bodyguard called out softly.

“What?”

“Listen,” the bodyguard was reluctant to say more.

The prison guard had no choice but to repeat what Yun Ran had just failed to hear.

“Scar died of illness this morning, leaving a suicide note for you. Would you like to see Scar’s body first or the note?”

Died?

Her dad died this morning?

Yun Ran walked forward blankly, unable to speak.

The bodyguard said, “Give the note to Miss Yun. Take us to see Scar.”

Scar’s body was still in his original cell, simply wrapped in a straw mat, with only a leg and a hand exposed.

Yun Ran’s mouth opened, and it took a while for her to utter the words, “Dad.”

Tears streamed down her face.

She had always thought of herself as cold-faced and cold-hearted, a person with a heart of stone. However, the person who died in this prison, simply wrapped in a straw mat, was, after all, her adoptive father—the one who had saved her life, brought her home, provided her with food and clothes, kept her safe, and allowed her to grow up peacefully.

Although there wasn’t much warm companionship of a father, and most of the time he spent with her, her dad was scaring her with his gruesome scars and Jiang Musheng’s fearsome reputation, all with the purpose of making her stay at home and grow up safely.

When it was time for school, Scar always managed to get the tuition fee, only dropping her off at the school gate and letting her go in alone. This way, she managed to finish high school.

If her dad hadn’t saved her and kindly brought her home, she would have already died.

But her dad saved her and raised her, and now, he was the first of the two of them to die.

“How did my dad die?” Yun Ran asked the prison guard with bloodshot eyes, her right hand gripping the broken pager that had been delivered to her, almost crushing it.

“Scar… he died of illness,” the prison guard said, his eyes darting away.

“You’re lying. If he died of illness, where did all those wounds and blood on him come from?”

Yun Ran pointed to the scarred leg and hand exposed from the straw mat.

“How else? He got into a fight with others in the cell. We prison guards wouldn’t specifically open the cell door to beat him up. We don’t have that kind of authority.”

Yun Ran didn’t know if she could believe the prison guard’s words, and her suspicion of Jiang Musheng grew.

“Does Jiang Musheng have people in this prison?” Yun Ran asked.

“Miss Yun,” the bodyguard was a bit surprised that she was calling Jiang Musheng by his full name.

The prison guard was also a little surprised. It took a while for him to reply, “No, the other people in the prison have nothing to do with Mr. Jiang.”

Yun Ran’s suspicion deepened.

She suspected that Jiang Musheng couldn’t easily let her dad go because of his sister’s kidnapping, so he arranged for people in the prison to teach him a lesson.

“Miss Yun, Mr. Jiang is very good to you. You shouldn’t suspect him recklessly,” the bodyguard reminded her, frowning.

Yun Ran didn’t answer. She only asked the prison guard, “Where is my dad’s suicide note?”

“It’s not here. Someone sent it to the Governor of Hong Kong. This is to investigate the real mastermind behind Miss Xueyu’s kidnapping case. Please forgive us.”

Yun Ran’s face darkened, and she said coldly, “Do I have any room not to forgive?”

Her words were biting, and both the prison guard and the bodyguard dared not speak easily, fearing they would offend her. Everyone in Hong Kong now knew that she was the girlfriend whom Jiang Musheng cherished.

After a while, the prison guard said, “Miss Yun, I’ll take you to see the Governor of Hong Kong. After you see him, you should be able to get Scar’s suicide note.”

Yun Ran was in a hurry. “Take me there quickly.”

She had met the Governor of Hong Kong many times before, but they were always at various social events and with Jiang Musheng by her side.

Today, she was alone, and in a place like a prison.

Fortunately, the Governor’s office looked relatively normal, with no sign of a prison.

“I apologize for disturbing you, Governor. I heard that my dad’s suicide note is with you. Please give it to me.”

The Governor glanced at her, stood up, and handed her the unsealed note.

“I have already read it. There are no further clues to Xueyu’s kidnapping case.  Miss Yun, take it and please accept my condolences.”

Yun Ran felt as if the Governor had stabbed her.

“Thank you. Now that I have the note, I won’t bother you anymore.”

Yun Ran left the Governor’s office, not knowing where to go for a moment, and stood blankly at the door of the Governor’s office.

The bodyguard said, “Miss Yun, Mr. Jiang has arrived and is currently handling Scar’s body. You…”

Before he could finish, Yun Ran turned and ran away.

But she ran into Jiang Musheng at a corner, as if by fate.

Jiang Musheng held her trembling shoulders.

“Ah Ran, let’s take your dad away from here first. We can talk outside.”

Yun Ran bit her lip, looked up, and stared at him resentfully, but she eventually nodded.

Without Jiang Musheng, she wouldn’t know how to take her dad’s body away on her own. She still had to rely on him for now.

Jiang Musheng had brought a small truck to transport Scar’s body. Yun Ran refused to ride in the car with him and got into the truck bed.

Jiang Musheng followed her into the truck bed.

The light in the truck bed was dim. Yun Ran sat in the shadows, watching Jiang Musheng approach her. Her heart was filled with anger, almost spewing out of her mouth.

“You never intended to let my dad go, did you?”

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