Lu Ming’s face darkened as he looked at Jiang Lan, "What, are you eagerly wishing for my death?"
Jiang Lan shook her head, "No, no, that's not what I meant. I was just worried you might be killed by Yan Jie. Since all three of us fell asleep at the same time, it was obvious we were poisoned by Yan Jie. And with you not around, I became concerned."
Lu Ming smiled.
As he placed various breakfast items on the table, he casually said, "You weren't poisoned by Yan Jie. I put some sleep-inducing traditional Chinese medicine in your food yesterday. Coupled with your exhaustion from a long day, that's why you fell asleep so quickly."
"What?" The three women were startled.
So, they hadn't been poisoned by Yan Jie, but by Lu Ming's concoction!
It made sense.
With them being three frail young women, if Yan Jie had wanted to deal with them, why would he resort to poison? He could have simply cut them down with a few swift moves.
Jiang Mengxin rolled her eyes.
Suddenly, she began to check her clothes and said, "Lu Ming, did you take advantage of us while we were asleep and do anything bad?"
"Huh?" Lu Ming was a bit confused, "Do what bad things?"
Jiang Mengxin's face flushed slightly, "You know… that kind of thing!"
"What kind of thing?"
"Lu Ming, don't play dumb with me!"
Jiang Mengxin carefully inspected herself and found her clothes were all in place, with no signs of buttons being undone. Most importantly, she didn't feel anything amiss about herself.
Jiang Lan also shyly checked herself, finding nothing inappropriate.
Only Yuan Keying was very disappointed. She took a large bite of a steamed bun and said while chewing, "Sigh, dear brother, why are you so innocent? With us three beautiful women sleeping defenselessly, you didn't have any thoughts? Even if you'd sneakily touched us a couple of times, it would have been acceptable."
Lu Ming rolled his eyes, completely speechless.
Would the dignified Dragon Warlord stoop to such sordid acts as groping? What did they take him for?
Lu Ming said with utmost seriousness, "Rest assured, I would never take advantage of anyone's vulnerability! Nor would I do anything immoral after you've fallen asleep."
Yuan Keying sighed, "I wish you would do something immoral to me."
Jiang Mengxin glared at her and said sarcastically, "Keying, rein yourself in! Lu Ming is my fiancé. Is it appropriate for you to say such lewd things in front of my fiancé?"
Yuan Keying laughed, "Alright, alright, I won't say anything more. Does it need to be escalated like this?"
The group bickered amongst themselves.
Finally, Jiang Lan regained her composure and said sternly, "Yan Jie didn't make a move last night, but that doesn't mean he won't in the future. In short, Jinling is very dangerous now. Lu Ming must leave as soon as possible!"
Jiang Mengxin and Yuan Keying nodded in agreement.
"Ahem," Lu Ming said, "Actually… we can wait a bit. Perhaps there's no need to rush leaving."
Jiang Lan said righteously, "No, you must leave immediately! Every second you stay, the more danger you are in! Lu Ming, you're being so reckless because you don't know Yan Jie's strength. By the time you actually face Yan Jie, it will be too late to regret it!"
Oh?
Too late to regret?
Lu Ming couldn't help but want to laugh. Little did they know, the Yan Jie they were all hyping up had already been dealt with by Lu Ming last night.
Lu Ming didn't dare to reveal the truth, fearing he would frighten the three women.
Helplessly, he could only sit down and eat his breakfast, letting the three women arrange his escape route.
As they were making plans, the secretary rushed in, flustered, "President Jiang, Manager Jiang, something terrible has happened! The eldest young master of the Yan family, Yan Shihong, has arrived with over a hundred people!"
The three women stood up simultaneously, nervous and fearful.
Jiang Lan said, "Here it comes. It seems the Yan family really doesn't plan to let Lu Ming go. Not only Yan Jie, but they've brought a hundred thugs. This is trouble."
Jiang Mengxin said, "We can't delay any longer. Lu Ming, you should escape through the back door quickly, hurry, hurry!"
Facing the urging from the three women, Lu Ming smiled slightly and said righteously, "I will not leave. Now that the Yan family army is outside, if I leave, they will surely hold you accountable. If I escape and let you suffer punishment in my stead, would I still be a man? I will not leave, even if it means death today!"
With that, Lu Ming walked downstairs to confront Yan Shihong directly.
In reality,
Lu Ming knew that Yan Jie was dead, and Yan Shihong, having lost his backing, wouldn't be coming to fight. That's why Lu Ming deliberately said that, his intention being not to leave Jinling.
The three women were anxious and hurried after him.
They arrived at the entrance of Xunrong Company together. The employees of Xunrong were hiding in corners, trembling.
At the main entrance, Yan Shihong, with over a hundred people, blocked the door of Xunrong tightly.
Seeing so many people, Jiang Mengxin's brow furrowed. It seemed escape was impossible today!
However, Jiang Mengxin scanned the crowd but did not see Yan Jie.
It was strange.
Did Yan Jie look down on the Jiang family? Not even bothering to come?
As she was pondering, Yuan Keying stepped forward first. She intended to once again use her relationship with the Yan family to shield Lu Ming from disaster.
She hoped that Yan Shihong would spare Lu Ming for her sake and buy Lu Ming time to escape.
But!
Before Yuan Keying could speak, Yan Shihong waved his hand and roared to the sky, "A disgrace to the Yan family, Yan Shihong, along with a hundred lackeys, has specifically come to apologize to the great hero Lu Ming! We hope the great hero Lu will be magnanimous and forgive the despicable behavior of us societal trash, and give us a chance to repent and reform!!!"
With that.
Yan Shihong flicked his sleeve and led the way, kneeling down.
Following him, the hundred thugs knelt down in unison, one after another, forming a continuous line. The entire entrance of Xunrong Company was filled with kneeling people.
This scene completely stunned everyone.
The employees of Xunrong were dumbfounded. They thought the group had come to cause trouble, but instead, they were here to apologize collectively!
Jiang Mengxin and Jiang Lan's eyes widened, their jaws almost dropping in surprise.
Yuan Keying retracted the foot she had stepped out, and all the polite, flattering words she had prepared were swallowed back down.
Everyone was baffled.
How could Yan Shihong, who was so aggressive and demanding yesterday, be as cowardly as a grandson today?
After a long moment.
Jiang Mengxin managed to stammer out, "Young Master Yan, what… what are you doing?"
Yan Shihong, with a face full of repentance, said loudly, "In the past, I acted immorally and caused much trouble for society and the nation. It was Hero Lu who showed me the true meaning of life and made me repent! Today, I bring everyone to atone for our sins, only seeking forgiveness from the great hero Lu!"
As he spoke, Yan Shihong took off his shirt, exposing his bare chest.
Then, thugs came forward and tied a bundle of thorns to Yan Shihong's back.
Yan Shihong kowtowed vigorously in Lu Ming's direction, "Societal outcast Yan Shihong has specifically come to offer a humble apology, hoping the great hero Lu will overlook past transgressions and give me a chance to reform!"