Chapter 181: Joining Forces

Gao Tongguang nodded at Lu Qi'an, then began brewing the tea with calm, practiced precision.

Lu Qi'an watched patiently. When Gao Tongguang had finished, he praised him sincerely. “Uncle Tongguang, have you been devoting yourself to the art of tea all these years? This is truly an exceptional brew!”

Gao Tongguang smiled and pushed one of the cups toward him.

Lu Qi'an took a careful sip, then offered another round of compliments on Gao Tongguang’s tea-making skills.

Gao Tongguang was clearly pleased. The tension in his face gradually eased, and a hint of a smile even appeared.

“I’ve always heard that Young Mr. Lu has a way with words. Today, I finally see it for myself.”

Lu Qi'an replied, “It isn’t just flattery. I genuinely think you’re remarkably skilled at brewing tea, Uncle Tongguang!”

After a few simple pleasantries, Lu Qi'an got straight to the point. “May I ask why you had someone pass those messages to me?”

“Young Mr. Lu should know that after I got married, I withdrew from the center of the Gao family. I even moved out of the old residence and began living elsewhere.”

Lu Qi'an nodded. That was indeed the case.

“So no matter what Zhou Ruoling has done, it has nothing to do with the Gao family. At most, the Gao family protected her back then because we believed Gao Qingqing was innocent.”

Lu Qi'an immediately understood. Gao Tongguang intended to draw a complete line between the Gao family and everything Zhou Ruoling had done.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Lu Qi'an asked, “Why do you want to do this, Uncle Tongguang?”

Even if his marriage to Mrs. Gao had long been unhappy, Gao Qingqing was still his daughter. Gao Tongguang had once doted on her.

Everything Mrs. Gao had done was surely for Gao Qingqing’s sake, and Gao Qingqing must inevitably be involved in all of this.

Gao Tongguang stared at the tea. “Five years ago, I finally understood that a madwoman’s daughter can be a madwoman too. And when a madwoman wants to achieve her goal, she’ll stop at nothing, regardless of whether the person standing in her way is close to her or not.”

It was only one sentence, but Lu Qi'an understood that there were many hidden circumstances behind it.

Even so, he did not dare place his complete trust in Gao Tongguang based on a single statement.

“Uncle Tongguang, if you want me to believe you, shouldn’t you at least show me some sincerity?”

Gao Tongguang raised his head, an unusual light glimmering in his eyes. “Zhou Ruoling and I have a grudge between us—a grudge that can never be resolved!”

“A grudge? Then why did you marry her and even have a daughter together?”

“Doesn’t anyone in Jingcheng’s social circles know how Zhou Ruoling married me back then?”

Lu Qi'an knew only a little. “I heard she used some scheme to force you into the marriage?”

Gao Tongguang nodded. “Yes. She used underhanded means to become pregnant with Gao Qingqing, then drove my girlfriend away. After that, I never found her again.”

Shock appeared on Lu Qi'an’s face. He had not known there was such a story behind it.

Gao Tongguang continued, “I’ve been searching for her all this time. I refused to believe she would truly disappear without saying a word. The main reason I married Zhou Ruoling under her coercion was to find my girlfriend. I suspected that Zhou Ruoling had made her disappear, but Zhou Ruoling put on too convincing an act.”

Gao Tongguang fell silent and drank a cup of tea by himself. Lu Qi'an noticed that the hand gripping the cup was trembling faintly.

“I had thought perhaps I really had suspected the wrong person. But recently, when she tried to have someone deal with you, I accidentally discovered that my girlfriend may have been murdered by Zhou Ruoling long ago!”

Lu Qi'an’s teacup jolted, and a few drops of freshly poured tea spilled over the rim.

He had never imagined that this would involve murder.

“Uncle Tongguang, you don’t merely want to separate Zhou Ruoling from the Gao family, do you?”

Gao Tongguang nodded. “Of course not. I hope you’ll cooperate with me and let Zhou Ruoling continue performing this little act. Once she has used up most of her resources, the truth from back then should finally be uncovered in full.”

Lu Qi'an agreed without much hesitation.

Whether Gao Tongguang was telling the truth or not, this was already the course Lu Qi'an had intended to take, so he was not worried about any complications.

He only asked, “What about Gao Qingqing? Didn’t you used to dote on her?”

Gao Tongguang lowered his eyes again. “That was before.”

Had Lu Qi'an been able to see his eyes, he would have found no emotion in them at all when Gao Tongguang mentioned Gao Qingqing.

Before those suspicions had arisen, Gao Tongguang could still tell himself that Gao Qingqing was his daughter and that she was innocent. But after learning that his girlfriend might have been murdered by Zhou Ruoling long ago, he could no longer regard Gao Qingqing as his daughter either.

In fact, Gao Tongguang’s feelings for Gao Qingqing had already diminished considerably five years earlier, when he learned what she had done. He had seen in her the shadow of Zhou Ruoling’s madness.

She had stopped at nothing to achieve her goal. In order to marry him, she had shown no regard for the bond between him and his girlfriend, drugged him so she could become pregnant with Gao Qingqing, and driven his girlfriend to the point where she refused to see him. She had even threatened suicide, declaring that if anything happened to her, the Gao family would be responsible for her death.

But thinking back now, had his girlfriend truly been unwilling to see him at the time? Was it possible that she had already been dead?

A sharp pain struck Gao Tongguang’s heart. His fingers tightened around the teacup until they turned white.

Seeing that he was not in good condition, Lu Qi'an immediately called out, “Uncle Tongguang? Uncle Tongguang?”

The call brought Gao Tongguang back to himself. When he looked up, Lu Qi'an saw that his eyes were faintly red.

Lu Qi'an said, “Uncle Tongguang, when the time comes, if you have a plan, contact my assistant. As long as it doesn’t interfere with what I’m doing, I can cooperate with you.”

Lu Qi'an was not agreeing out of sympathy for Gao Tongguang’s present state. He simply felt that if Gao Tongguang truly intended to deal with Mrs. Gao, Zhou Ruoling, then much of the trouble would be taken off his hands.

At the same time, he was wary of revealing his own plans. He could only wait and see whether Gao Tongguang was willing to disclose his.

Unexpectedly, Gao Tongguang agreed at once.

“No problem. Once I’ve decided on my next move, I’ll have someone notify you. I’ve been away too long, and Zhou Ruoling may become suspicious, so I’ll be going now.”

Watching Gao Tongguang’s desolate figure disappear, Lu Qi'an could not help sighing. If everything Gao Tongguang had said and suspected was true, then this was truly—

Gao Tongguang had also explained why he had withdrawn from the Gao family’s inner circle: he had been afraid that Zhou Ruoling might lose control and act recklessly, dragging the entire Gao family down with her.

If Gao Tongguang had not left the center of the Gao family back then, perhaps he would be the one in power now.

After obtaining this information from Gao Tongguang, Lu Qi'an sent people to investigate. First, he wanted to verify that Gao Tongguang had been telling the truth. Second, he wanted to use these matters to uncover more leverage against Mrs. Gao, Zhou Ruoling, so that he could crush her completely when the time came.

Otherwise, if she resurfaced again later, she would become a truly troublesome nuisance.

After making all the arrangements, Lu Qi'an headed to the old residence once more. He needed to probe Old Master Lu about the situation again.