Chapter 58: Xie Qiang Has a Brother?
Si Ye immediately shouted to the men outside, “Stop them! Don’t let them leave!”
The guards at the door had been wary of the crowd trying to break in, but upon hearing Si Yeās voice from behind, half of them immediately pivoted to block the entrance.
Lei Lie found his path blocked and burst into a string of curses at Si Ye. After a few choice words, he reached out and shoved one of the guards.
It might have been fine if he hadn’t used force, but the moment he did, the guards converged. They glared at Lei Lie, their expressions fierce and intimidating.
While these guards weren’t regular soldiers, their combat skills were formidable. If Si Ye gave the command, they were more than capable of taking Lei Lie down.
However, Si Ye remained rational. He didn’t actually want to start a brawl.
The guards he had sent were meant to prevent outsiders from breaking in and harming Xie Qiang, not to fight with Lei Lie.
With the guards blocking the door and Lei Lie refusing to back down, the two sides reached a stalemate.
Xie Qiang felt a massive headache coming on. Earlier, she only had to be angry with Si Ye; now, all three of them were aggravating her in different ways.
She couldn’t help but scream, “Enough! All of you, stop it!”
She wrenched her hand out of Lei Lieās grasp. Lei Lie looked like he wanted to fight for her again.
He put on that familiar, aggrieved expression. “Qiangqiang, I really do want to protect you. Youād have your freedom and soldiers as bodyguards. Isn’t that great?”
“It is not!”
Xie Qiang retorted sharply. She rubbed her temples, feeling the throbbing pain, and returned to the sofa to state her position firmly.
“First, I am not going to any of the places youāve mentioned. Whether itās Yan Ciās house or Lei Lieās military base, neither of those is my home. Iām not going, and I wonāt recklessly abandon the place I belong.
Second, don’t even dream of imprisoning me. All of you who shouldn’t be here, go back to wherever you came fromāand that includes the three of you.
Si Ye, tell your people to leave. Otherwise, I will sever our spiritual connection and revoke your Spiritual Release Imprint.”
That final sentence finally struck fear into Si Ye.
The moment he heard about severing the connection and revoking the imprint, his heart skipped a beat. His entire composure crumbled, and he dropped to one knee beside Xie Qiang.
“No, please don’t sever it. I understand. I know what to do now. Iāll send them all back, and I wonāt restrict where you go. At most… at most, Iāll just accompany you… No, Iāll only be there when you need me. Just don’t cut the connection.”
This was the first time Xie Qiang had seen Si Ye like this. Since she had met him, he had always maintained a serious, unyielding demeanor.
Except for when he was being intimate with her, he was always high and mighty, coldly managing affairs and handling everything with effortless grace.
But now? Now he was actually kneeling. Even if it was only on one knee, the tearful quality of his voice and his visible trembling were things she had never witnessed before.
Xie Qiang didn’t say a word. she simply crossed her legs, the tip of her high heel resting lightly against his shoulder.
“Then what are you waiting for? Get them out of here!”
Xie Qiang truly felt she had been far too kind to them. Someone like Lei Lie, who was straightforward, was at least manageable; he usually did what she said and avoided what she forbade.
The other three, however, were always up to something in the shadowsāif they weren’t targeting each other, they were subtly trying to manipulate her decisions.
Fortunately, she was firm and never let herself be swayed.
Thus, even after Si Ye withdrew the guards, Xie Qiang didn’t soften her stance. She maintained the cold war.
Although she hadn’t actually severed the spiritual connection, she had to make her attitude clear. She needed them to know that they were the ones who couldn’t leave her, not the other way around.
The Empireās security protocols were quite efficient; anyone who dared to break into a private residence would be captured immediately.
Step one foot inside, and youād be hauled away before you could take the second.
Because of this, Xie Qiang was relatively safe at home, and she was protected whenever she went out.
As long as they weren’t busy, the four menāYan Ci, Lei Lie, Si Ye, and Bai Zhiātook turns accompanying her, especially when she left the house. At least one of them was always there to guard her.
Among them, Bai Zhi was the most free. He was by her side almost every day when she went out.
Having spent so much time together, he had even learned how to make several types of desserts from her.
Sometimes Xie Qiang wondered. In her mind, a doctor shouldn’t be any less busy than a soldier or a commander; in fact, they should be busier. So why was Bai Zhi always on break?
One day at noon, after finishing the rush at the dessert shop, the two were preparing to have lunch. Xie Qiang finally asked, “Don’t you have work at the hospital? Why are you free to be with me nearly every day?”
Bai Zhi lowered his head and suppressed a smile. He had, of course, taken a leave of absence, but fearing Xie Qiang would think he was making a mountain out of a molehill, he made up an excuse. “I don’t do on-site consultations much anymore. At my level, there isn’t much need to be physically in the hospital. Any issues can be resolved through my terminal. Didn’t I just handle two remote consultations this morning? Thatās more than enough.”
Xie Qiang nodded thoughtfully. She had heard of online consultations; though she rarely fell ill, she had used her phone to buy medicine and consult doctors remotely before transmigrating.
Still, thanks to Bai Zhiās company these past few days, her mood had improved significantly.
What she didn’t realize was that Bai Zhi had been using their spiritual connection to subtly soothe her.
In the past, Bai Zhi could only passively receive the influence of Xie Qiangās emotions. Now, he could also transmit calm, warm, and positive emotions back to her.
Aside from that, Bai Zhi had discovered something else that he hadn’t shared with Xie Qiang. He didn’t dare tell her, fearing that while she was at the center of a public controversy, the news would cause an even stronger emotional upheaval.
And so, when Yan Ci arrived to join them for lunch, Bai Zhi sat by the window with Yan Ci, holding two drinks. With a calm expression, he whispered, “Prince Lotia has a plan. He wants to kidnap Xie Qiangās brother.”
Yan Ciās face changed instantly. He had never heard anything about Xie Qiang having a brother.
Without changing his posture, his eyes flickered toward Xie Qiang several times before he asked, “Are you sure? Xie Qiang has a brother? A real human brother, not a failed experiment?”
Bai Zhi nodded. “Positive. My information network doesn’t make mistakes. Her brother hasn’t awakened his abilities yet, so the bond between him and Xie Qiang is quite faint.”
Hearing this, Yan Ci began to understand. It seemed her brother was healthy.
But why did Lotia want to kidnap him?
To use him as leverage against Xie Qiang? Or did he want to use him for experiments?
Bai Zhi followed up with a question: “What should we do? Should we go rescue him? But then Xie Qiang would find out. If we don’t, and she finds out later, sheāll never forgive us.”
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