Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Acting on his orders, Yang Yu transported Liu Cheng under guard to the detention site Li Xiujin had prepared.

However, halfway there, dozens of military vehicles blocked the road. A contingent of elite soldiers, armed to the teeth, surrounded Yang Yu. Sensing something was wrong, Yang Yu was about to call Li Xiujin when two lieutenant generals restrained him and confiscated his phone.

"What is the meaning of this?" Yang Yu gritted his teeth.

"Colonel Yang, your part in this is over."

The Prime Minister emerged from the central military vehicle and walked over to Yang Yu.

Yang Yu bowed his head in salute.

"In three days, I will give commendations to General Li and you," the Prime Minister said.

Yang Yu replied respectfully, "Thank you, Prime Minister."

The Prime Minister waved his hand dismissively. "Now, take the prisoner back into custody."

Hearing the order to take Liu Cheng away, Yang Yu abruptly looked up.

"I know everything. I will not spare him just because he is my son," the Prime Minister stated.

Yang Yu quickly realized that the Prime Minister must have known about their actions all along. Taking advantage of Li Xiujin's absence, he had sent so many people to intercept them.

Yang Yu shook his head. "The General's orders were clear. I cannot hand him over to you..."

"Then consider this a direct order from me. Hand him over." The Prime Minister narrowed his eyes. "Li Xiujin hasn't been reinstated yet, but you are still a colonel, still under military command. Do you intend to disobey a direct order?"

Yang Yu's expression changed. "I wouldn't dare."

The Prime Minister smiled again. "A man should think about more than just himself. He should consider his family. His wife. His children. Do you understand?"

Yang Yu heard the threat behind the words—a threat against his family. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

*

Lin Ze couldn't wait until tomorrow to see Liu Cheng. However, just as he and Li Xiujin had settled into the car, Yang Yu hurried over, knelt before Li Xiujin, and slapped himself hard twice.

"General, the Prime Minister has taken him!"

A violent fury flashed in Li Xiujin's eyes.

Lin Ze quickly helped Yang Yu up. Unaware that Liu Cheng was the Prime Minister's son, Lin Ze didn't grasp the implications. He tried to comfort them: "Liu Cheng will ultimately be handed over to the military. Being taken by the Prime Minister first is part of the normal procedure. Colonel Yang, please get up..."

Yang Yu hung his head in self-reproach. "General, I failed in my duty."

"Get up." Li Xiujin reined in the rage and hatred in his heart, then ordered, "Make the recording public."

"Yes, sir."

Yang Yu received the order and swiftly carried it out.

After Yang Yu left, Li Xiujin silently held Lin Ze in his arms.

"Xiu Jin, what's wrong?"

Li Xiujin took a deep breath. "The Prime Minister is Liu Cheng's father."

Lin Ze was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood his concern. "Liu Cheng has already confessed. No matter who his father is, he cannot escape punishment."

Li Xiujin buried his face in Lin Ze's neck. In the end, he had miscalculated. He hadn't managed to let Lin Ze be the one to kill Liu Cheng. Of course, these weren't the reasons for his anger and hatred. What infuriated and embittered him was that the Prime Minister had likely guessed seven years ago who killed Lin Ze's teacher and teammates, but because it was his own son, he chose to conceal it.

Now that he had taken Liu Cheng, would he really have him executed?

Li Xiujin's expression turned dark and gloomy.

He composed himself slightly. "Let's go. I'll take you to see Liu Cheng now."

Li Xiujin drove Lin Ze to the temporary holding place for Liu Cheng. The Prime Minister's men saw him but did not stop him.

"The Prime Minister has instructed us. He knows you and Colonel Lin hold grievances against Liu Cheng, so he has specifically granted you permission to interrogate him."

Li Xiujin let Lin Ze go in, waiting for him outside.

Earlier in the car, Lin Ze could still communicate normally with Li Xiujin. But after entering and seeing Liu Cheng, who showed no remorse and instead smiled at him, a surge of intense hatred welled up in Lin Ze's heart.

To prevent any harm from coming to Liu Cheng, he was separated by bulletproof glass. Handcuffed, Liu Cheng said leisurely, "Colonel Lin, we meet again."

"Tell me everything about what happened seven years ago, in detail," Lin Ze said coldly.

"Seven years ago..." Liu Cheng recalled. "I was only seventeen then. To get back at Li Jie, I made a rather immature decision."

"Actually, I didn't really intend to kill them at the time. I thought that as long as the mission failed, Li Jie's husband wouldn't be able to get a promotion. I just didn't expect to go too far and end up killing everyone."

"Oh, right, Colonel Lin. Although everyone respected you back then, there were also disloyal people in your team. Otherwise, I couldn't have killed so many people alone."

"Who was it?"

"I've forgotten the name, but it's not important anyway, because he died in the end too."

Lin Ze trembled slightly.

"Actually, you weren't supposed to survive either. But then I thought, someone had to take the blame, right?" After saying this, Liu Cheng rolled up his sleeve, revealing a black watch on his wrist. "I didn't expect you to see this before you passed out and almost discovered me using this clue... Luckily, that fool, Su Wang's younger brother, diverted your attention."

"Did you also kill Su Wang's brother?"

"I don't just kill people on a whim," Liu Cheng said helplessly. "Su Wang was a relatively upright official. He couldn't let his brother seek personal gain, so his brother turned to me. While he was in prison, I just had someone say a few words to him, and he got scared and committed suicide."

Liu Cheng stared at Lin Ze. "I originally thought that once you got here, you would stay home peacefully and have children. I didn't expect you to join the Regeneration Plan and then obstruct some of my affairs."

Liu Cheng sighed deeply. "Actually, I really regret it. I deeply regret letting you live back then. I didn't expect that after being tormented for seven years, you would still persistently investigate the events of seven years ago. I also didn't expect Li Xiujin to love you so much, risking his life multiple times for your innocence."

"If you had died with them seven years ago, given Li Xiujin's ruthless and cold-hearted nature, I doubt he would have cared or interfered with anything I did. Then I wouldn't be wearing these handcuffs..."

Lin Ze hadn't expected that even at this point, Liu Cheng showed no remorse for the murders. Instead, he regretted not considering things thoroughly enough and not killing Lin Ze back then. Lin Ze's reddened eyes flashed with killing intent. He pulled out a gun that had evaded inspection and pulled the trigger, aiming at Liu Cheng's head...

However, the glass was bulletproof. Liu Cheng remained unharmed.

Soldiers rushed in to restrain Lin Ze, but Li Xiujin tightly shielded Lin Ze in his arms and took him away.

On the way back, Lin Ze remained silent, his eyes red.

*

The contents of the recording were released online. Soon, Liu Cheng's true identity was exposed, instantly igniting public fury. The clamor for Liu Cheng's execution was deafening.

Yang Yu showed the news to Li Xiujin. Looking at the screen filled with vicious comments demanding Liu Cheng's death, Li Xiujin felt no satisfaction. Instead, he felt that none of this could ever make up for even a fraction of the suffering Lin Ze had endured all these years.

"With such a huge uproar now, the Prime Minister has no way to go easy on Liu Cheng," Yang Yu said with unusual vindication.

Li Xiujin said coldly, "Have Li Wei also give a media interview and then reveal his identity."

He could've had Lin Ze kill Liu Cheng himself, but now his hatred extended beyond Liu Cheng to the Prime Minister himself... This time, he'd use public opinion to push him out of power.

Yang Yu caught his drift right away and went to make it happen without a second thought.

When Li Xiujin arrived home, Lin Ze was looking after Li Chongyi. Soon, he noticed something was off because when Li Chongyi accidentally bumped his head and started wailing, Lin Ze didn't even react.

Li Xiujin scooped up Li Chongyi and moved him away from the railing, and only then did Lin Ze snap out of it, becoming overwhelmed with guilt: "Chong Yi, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Li Xiujin cupped his face, looking him straight in the eye: "It's alright."

Lin Ze calmed down, then covered his face: "Xiu Jin, let the servants take care of the child for now. My mind is a mess..."

"Mm."

Li Xiujin pulled him into a hug.

Two days later, the verdict on Liu Cheng came down. Yang Yu came to Li Xiujin's place to brief him.

"Probably figuring his days were numbered, he'd already pushed through Liu Cheng's sentence—to be transferred to an International Prison and executed six months later..."

"If he really wanted Liu Cheng dead, he wouldn't have pulled strings to get him transferred. He's definitely got another angle."

"When is the transfer?"

"Tomorrow night."

Li Xiujin thought it over and told him to check out the International Prison.

After Yang Yu left, Li Xiujin went to the room and saw Lin Ze sleeping soundly. He gently held Lin Ze in his arms and turned off the light.

In the darkness, Lin Ze opened his eyes.

Yang Yu, who had secretly visited the International Prison and returned, didn't even have time to grab a drink of water before filling him in on what he'd found out.

"General, we've found out..."

Li Xiujin, who had been watching cartoons with Lin Ze and Li Chongyi, stood up: "Let's talk in the study."

After the two went upstairs, Lin Ze stared at the location of his second-floor study, then called a servant to watch Chong Yi and quietly went upstairs as well.

The study door was slightly ajar.

"I didn't want to show my face there directly. I sent a subordinate to find the head of the International Prison, and he told me they hadn't received any notification about accepting new prisoners."

"Choosing nighttime for the transfer must mean they plan to release Liu Cheng on the way." Yang Yu said angrily: "This Prime Minister really dotes on his son, willing to sacrifice his own future just to save his life."

"General, what should we do next?"

"Tomorrow, take a few people to..."

After discussing the plan with Yang Yu, Li Xiujin returned to the room and noticed Lin Ze staring blankly at the empty crib. Only when Li Xiujin embraced him did Lin Ze's eyelashes tremble slightly: "Xiu Jin, thank you..."

Li Xiujin frowned: "Why are you suddenly saying something like this?"

"I'm really grateful to you..."

In fact, at the first banquet they attended, he had already planned to end his life because he couldn't bear the pain in his heart. Unexpectedly, that door was pushed open by him, and from then on, his life became as bright and happy as a turning point.

Li Xiujin sat him on his lap and gently kissed his cheek: "I'm also very grateful to you."

Lin Ze shyly responded to his kisses and, noticing his arousal, blushed and began to lick him.

Li Xiujin held Lin Ze's shoulders, feeling that something was off about him.

Lin Ze lowered his gaze, slightly dejected: "Xiu Jin, don't you want me to help you like this?"

Li Xiujin couldn't stay rational anymore.

Lin Ze was even more passionate than before, tightly wrapping his arms around his neck. The two of them kept going until noon the next day. When Li Xiujin tried to get up, Lin Ze hugged him from behind and whispered: "Xiu Jin, I'm not feeling well..."

Li Xiujin asked worriedly: "Where do you feel unwell?"

Lin Ze covered his face, shamefully spreading his legs: "Here..."

Li Xiujin's breathing grew slightly heavier.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Lin Ze sat neatly dressed on the edge of the bed, watching Li Xiujin, who had fallen into a deep sleep after drinking water laced with sleeping pills. His phone kept ringing beside him, with "Yang Yu" flashing on the screen.

He couldn't let Liu Cheng continue to live, nor did he want Li Xiujin to risk danger for him again.

Lin Ze gently held Li Xiujin's face and kissed him. Then, he went to the nursery, took one last look at Li Chongyi, and, suppressing the heart-wrenching reluctance, walked out of the house.