Li Buyan's face, creased with wrinkles, broke into a smile.
Meeting Qin Jianguo's solemn gaze, Li Buyan shook his head and said, "With your meticulous planning, what else could I possibly know?"
"I know nothing."
Qin Jianguo frowned, feeling that Li Buyan was being sarcastic and that he actually knew everything.
He just chose not to say it.
After a moment of eye contact, Qin Jianguo chuckled, "Then it's quite a coincidence. You know what I've been doing, and how could I not know what you've been doing? Xu Hanchen's current predicament is largely thanks to you."
"It has nothing to do with me," Li Buyan said expressionlessly.
Qin Jianguo's smile grew more mocking, "If you don't want others to know, don't do it. You bribed Xu Hanchen's guards and had them give him small doses of poison daily. Over time, this caused Xu Hanchen to suffer from symptoms like Alzheimer's."
"Am I right?"
Swish!
Li Buyan's gaze sharpened as he looked at Qin Jianguo.
Their eyes met in the air again, and this time, Li Buyan was the one to look away.
He shifted his gaze, picked up his teacup, and said calmly, "We're even. Fortunately, we succeeded. Before Xu Hanchen's incident, he had already sensed something was wrong. If he had managed to react, we wouldn't have had an easy time."
Qin Jianguo snorted.
As if he didn't care about Xu Hanchen at all.
Li Buyan's smile remained, and through years of unspoken understanding, they had joined forces to eliminate Xu Hanchen, ensuring their peace of mind.
"However, I am curious, why did you kill Xu Shaoan?" While Li Buyan was extremely ruthless, he wouldn't target innocent people, especially someone he deemed incapable of posing any threat.
In fact, he considered Xu Shaoan a decent person.
Qin Jianguo smiled and said, "Then you've definitely been fooled by Xu Shaoan, and by Xu Hanchen too."
"What do you mean?" Li Buyan asked, deeply curious.
Qin Jianguo tapped his fingertip on the table, narrowing his eyes, "Xu Shaoan has been teaching in remote mountain areas all these years. That's his public persona. But in reality, Xu Shaoan hasn't been idle. He's been recruiting soldiers and building a suicide squad in those remote areas. Remember three years ago, on the eve of Chen Jinshao's accident? Qin Fengwu was assassinated. Besides our people, there was a third party."
At that time, Qin Jianguo already knew the other party was Li Tianche.
Since Qin Fengwu wasn't seriously injured, Qin Jianguo didn't bother to pursue it, believing that flowers couldn't grow in a greenhouse.
These experiences were necessary.
Li Buyan didn't show any embarrassment, as if he hadn't heard, "Are you saying the third party was Xu Shaoan's people?"
"Indeed!" Qin Jianguo admitted.
"The one who gave the order was Xu Hanchen. This is the result of my investigation."
Li Buyan's expression became distant, his eyes filled with surprise.
Who would have thought that the seemingly law-abiding Xu Hanchen would do such a thing?
Qin Jianguo said coldly, "From then on, I knew Xu Hanchen was preparing to attack us prominent families. I couldn't wait any longer. If Xu Hanchen didn't die, we would. So I had no choice. Wouldn't you have done the same if you were in my shoes?"
Li Buyan readily admitted.
Over the years, Xu Hanchen had been the biggest threat to them.
Now that Xu Hanchen was suffering from Alzheimer's, it was the best news for all the prominent families.
Putting that aside.
Their discussion shifted to Chen Jinshao.
Both Qin Jianguo and Li Buyan sighed with emotion. Chen Jinshao had been on a strong upward trajectory back then and had almost replaced Xu Hanchen.
"Fortunately, he was injured. Otherwise, Chen Jinshao might have truly inherited Xu Hanchen's position and carried on his legacy," Qin Jianguo said with relief. He then turned to Li Buyan, "Old Li, you're not planning to help your grandson-in-law regain his position, are you? Let me be blunt, doing so would be like nurturing a tiger that will later harm you."
Li Buyan said expressionlessly, "I don't need you to teach me."
Qin Jianguo smiled.
Then, as if struck by a thought, the smile gradually disappeared from his face. He gave Li Buyan a deep look and said, "As expected of you, Old Li. I finally know who was behind Chen Jinshao's attack. That hidden hand was yours."
"What do you mean?" Li Buyan asked calmly.
"Do I even need to say? Jiang Yangping is your man. Otherwise, who would give Jiang Yangping such boldness?" Qin Jianguo sneered.
"But I am a bit curious. Why did you have Jiang Yangping act? If I can suspect you, Chen Jinshao can too." Qin Jianguo didn't think Chen Jinshao was unintelligent; on the contrary, Chen Jinshao's cunning was no less than Xu Hanchen's.
Li Buyan countered meaningfully, "And how do you know I didn't intentionally let him find out?"
Qin Jianguo was speechless.
"I really want to pry open your head and see what's inside," he said with a wry laugh.
The two reached a consensus.
No matter what, Chen Jinshao could not be allowed to regain his position. Coupled with Chen Jinshao's current diminished strength, this gave them even more reason to crush him.
Chen Jinshao was unaware that he was being plotted against by two old men.
His mind was filled with Xu Hanchen's words, trying to understand their meaning.
After pondering fruitlessly, Chen Jinshao realized he had arrived at the hotel entrance.
He shook his head, suppressing his thoughts, and then entered the hotel.
Xue Junmin, Qin Fengwu's strategist, had been waiting for him and walked directly up to Chen Jinshao, "Mr. Chen, Mr. Qin asked me to wait for you here. Please follow me."
"You can call me Xue Junmin, Mr. Chen."
Xue Junmin?
That name sounded familiar.
Xue Junmin suddenly remembered something and said with a smile, "It seems we're fated. I used to teach at Ninghai University and was the director of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs. It's natural that you've heard my name."
"So that's how it is. Qin Fengwu is indeed fortunate to have your support," Chen Jinshao said.
Xue Junmin replied humbly, "It is my honor to contribute to the country. Let's not talk about this for now. Mr. Qin has been waiting for you for a long time."
Chen Jinshao and Xue Junmin arrived outside the banquet hall.
As they walked, Chen Jinshao noticed many people in the hotel were Qin Fengwu's people, disguised as waiters and lurking in various corners, covertly protecting Qin Fengwu's safety. If Chen Jinshao guessed correctly, there might even be snipers hidden in other buildings.
Xue Junmin opened the door, and Chen Jinshao entered the banquet hall.
Inside, a round table with a diameter of ten meters was set up. The table was already surrounded by people. To Chen Jinshao's surprise, Li Tianche was also present.
Had they allied?
Qin Fengwu smiled and rose to greet Chen Jinshao, gesturing for him to sit beside him. He then addressed the crowd, "Why are you all standing there? Hurry up and give our great hero a round of applause!"
A sparse applause echoed through the banquet hall, lacking any enthusiasm.
At that moment.
A discordant voice came from a corner.
"Hmph!"
"What hero is Chen Jinshao? He's just a brave but reckless fool. I heard he's no longer as strong as he once was and is unqualified to be here drinking with everyone."