After the school beauty rejected me, I became her mom's number one fan!

"Xiao Ning is a big businesswoman, isn't it normal for her to have professional and attractive staff? Stop overthinking things."

After saying that, Qiao Feiyu secretly glanced at Ning Xiuyang again, while inwardly screaming:

"Master, this is all I can do to keep this a secret for you! You'll have to explain the rest to Jinlin yourself later!"

At this moment, an incredibly strong sense of absurdity rose in Qiao Feiyu's heart.

She, the top official of Zhonghai City and Ning Xiuyang's future "future mother-in-law," is now actually helping her "son-in-law" to hide the fact that he has many women from her own daughter!

Is there anything more outrageous than this in the world?

Little did she know that Qiao Jinlin, who was beside her, was not angry at all after she "taught him a lesson." Instead, he secretly stuck out his tongue, and a sly glint flashed in the depths of his eyes.

In fact, she had already prepared herself mentally when Ning Xiuyang confessed that he had more than one woman in his life.

She had long suspected that, given Ning Xiuyang's personality and abilities, the number of women around him could not possibly be limited to just the few she knew.

Seeing it with her own eyes now only confirms her suspicions.

She asked the question partly out of a woman's intuition, and partly to test her mother's reaction.

Her mother's reaction struck her as odd.

It's too calm, too protective of Ning Xiuyang.

It was as if... she had known all along and had already accepted it.

This is inconsistent with the mother's consistently strong personality.

A seed of doubt was quietly planted in Qiao Jinlin's heart.

She always felt that there seemed to be some secret between her mother and Ning Xiuyang that she didn't know about.

The plane smoothly entered an altitude of 10,000 meters.

The atmosphere inside the cabin became somewhat awkward.

Qiao Jinlin pulled Ning Xiuyang aside and chatted excitedly about interesting things that happened at school, trying to assert his dominance in this way.

Qiao Feiyu, meanwhile, was holding a cup of tea and a newspaper, seemingly reading intently. However, her gaze behind her gold-rimmed glasses kept drifting towards the "young couple" next to her, her expression so complex that even she herself couldn't decipher it.

There was jealousy, bitterness, helplessness, and even a hint of... morbid excitement.

She was jealous that her daughter could openly enjoy her master's favor.

She felt a sense of relief that her daughter had found such a powerful man.

This conflicting feeling caused her great distress.

Ning Xiuyang, the instigator of all this, acted as if nothing had happened, dealing with Qiao Jinlin while secretly admiring Qiao Feiyu's restless yet feigned composure out of the corner of his eye.

He even mischievously reached out and, out of Qiao Jinlin's sight, lightly scratched the back of Qiao Feiyu's hand, which was resting on the armrest, with his finger.

Qiao Feiyu's body froze instantly, and he almost dropped the newspaper in his hand.

She suddenly raised her head and glared at Ning Xiuyang with murderous eyes.

Ning Xiuyang returned her an innocent yet amused smile.

The plane pierced through the clouds, heading towards the center of power.

A silent game has already begun in the clouds.

……

Two hours later, the plane landed smoothly on the dedicated apron at Beijing Capital International Airport.

Without passing through the noisy terminal, the three went directly through the VIP channel to a black Audi A8L that was already waiting there.

The license plate was black, and the number was ordinary, but the special pass hanging on the front of the car was enough to allow it to travel freely on any road in the city.

A driver, dressed in a dark blue uniform, with gray hair but standing ramrod straight, was already standing by the car door.

Upon seeing Qiao Feiyu and Qiao Jinlin, he respectfully greeted them, "Miss, Young Miss."

Then, his gaze fell on Ning Xiuyang. He simply glanced at him calmly, said nothing, and silently took the camphor wood box containing the "Zizhi Tongjian" from Ning Xiuyang's hand, carefully placing it into the trunk.

Throughout the entire process, he remained silent, his expression calm, like a silent stone.

"This is Uncle Liu. He's been with Grandpa for over thirty years." Once they were in the car, Qiao Jinlin whispered to Ning Xiuyang, "Don't let his quiet demeanor fool you; he has a sharp eye. He reports everything he sees and hears to Grandpa every night."

Ning Xiuyang nodded, indicating that he understood.

These are Qiao Jingtang's eyes and ears, and also the first test.

The Audi A8L quietly drove out of the airport and merged into the traffic flow of Beijing.

Instead of heading towards the high-rise buildings in the city center, the car passed through several quaint old alleyways and finally turned into a secluded street with a sign at the entrance that read "Military Control Zone, No Vehicles Allowed".

The streets are lined with tall poplar trees and gray courtyard walls, silent and still, seemingly a world apart from the hustle and bustle of the alleys outside.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary courtyard house with gray walls and black tiles.

The gate to the courtyard was black, without any signs or markings. Only two gnarled old locust trees stood at the entrance, and a young sentry stood like a statue under the shade of the trees, silently proclaiming the extraordinary status of the owner of this place.

"We're here. This is my maternal grandfather's house." Qiao Jinlin opened the car door, took a deep breath, and spoke with a hint of nervousness, as if he were returning home.

Ning Xiuyang got out of the car and looked up at the legendary Qiao family mansion.

From the outside, it looks no different from other courtyard houses in the alley, and even appears somewhat old.

But only when you actually step inside can you feel the overwhelming, profound historical heritage that is so intense it takes your breath away.

The courtyard was much larger than I had imagined, and it had a standard three-courtyard layout.

The front yard, the middle yard, and the back yard are all more spacious and quieter than the last.

The courtyard is planted with pomegranate trees and crabapple blossoms, and the path underfoot is paved with smooth bluestone slabs.

Above the entrance to the main hall hangs a couplet written in vigorous and powerful strokes.

On the left is "To establish a heart for heaven and earth", and on the right is "To establish a destiny for the people".

In the center hangs a magnificent landscape painting, signed by Ning Xiuyang, a deceased master of traditional Chinese painting whose name I had only seen in art history.

Looking around, there are no glittering or luxurious decorations, but every table, every chair, and every piece of calligraphy hanging on the wall exudes an irreplaceable sense of heritage and tradition.

These things cannot be bought with money.

They represent the accumulation of several generations of a family, and a deep-rooted cultural confidence.

Qiao Jingtang sat in the rattan chair in the courtyard, basking in the sun.

On the small stone table next to him was a cup of light tea with a few goji berries floating in it, and a pair of reading glasses.

The old man was thin, with a head of silver hair that was neatly combed, and he was wearing a gray Zhongshan suit that had been washed to a slightly faded color.

He looked like any ordinary retired old man you'd see anywhere in a hutong, without any intimidating aura.

But when his gaze swept over, Ning Xiuyang felt an invisible pressure.

That wasn't official arrogance, but a kind of insightful power that had settled down after experiencing mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and witnessing too many storms.