Guide to Rising to Power as a Wife in Beijing's Elite Circle

At two in the morning, all was quiet.

Only a wall lamp remained in the bedroom, casting a dim light, and the air still carried a lingering, alluring, and damp scent.

On the large bed, Chen Nuo was already fast asleep, her cheek nestled in the fluffy pillow. A few strands of her long hair, damp with sweat, clung to her neck. Her breathing was light and deep. On the skin of her shoulders, exposed outside the thin blanket, were still faint marks left from their passionate moments.

The bathroom door was gently pushed open, and Fang Jingxiu stepped out. He had only casually put on a pair of black silk pajama bottoms, his upper body completely naked. His physique, honed through years of training, was sharply defined, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and muscles that were firm but not overly bulging, gleaming like cold jade in the dim light.

Water droplets slid down his not-quite-dry black short hair, meandering down his deep collarbone and the grooves of his chest and abdomen, disappearing into the edge of his pajama pants.

He walked to the bedside, looked down at the sleeping person for a moment, his eyes appearing deep in the dim light. The passion and aggression of the previous moment had faded, and he had returned to his usual, impenetrable calm.

He reached out and very gently lifted the corner of the blanket that had slipped down, covering her bare shoulders. His movements were delicate, carrying a kind of unspoken tenderness that followed.

Then, he turned around, his bare feet stepping onto the thick carpet, and silently walked towards the living room.

As he passed by the full-length mirror, the mirror reflected his broad back in a blur. There were several fresh red marks, diagonally tracing the firm muscles of his waist from below his shoulder blades. They weren't deep, but they were clearly visible, marks left by her unconscious gripping during the moment of climax.

Like a hidden medal, or a rare, personal stamp on the body of a person in power.

Fang Jingxiu stood in front of the dressing mirror, turning to look back. The fresh red marks on his back muscles rose slightly in the dim light, like some kind of hidden totem.

He stared at it silently for a few seconds, and a faint, almost helpless smile suddenly appeared on his usually cold and stern face in the mirror.

The heavy games and cold calculations of the daytime were strangely diluted by these few insignificant scratches, replaced by a very private and vivid feeling that belonged to the bedroom.

He chuckled softly, a sound so faint it was almost inaudible in the quiet living room, mingled with the lingering smell of tobacco.

He turned his head, his gaze passing through the half-open bedroom door and landing on the sleeping shadow on the bed.

"You little brat." He uttered the three words in a low voice, with indulgence and a slightly hoarse, magnetic quality.

During the day at the ministry, he is Director Fang, who strictly controls even the length of his shirt cuffs to be one centimeter below his wrist. He is a young, powerful figure who never shows his emotions, no matter how much pressure he faces.

But just now, when she was lost in passion and her nails unconsciously dug into his back muscles, the momentary pain and pleasure intertwined, giving him a long-lost surge of youthful vigor.

That is the most primal attraction and possession after stripping away all identity, status, and calculation.

This brief loss of composure was both unfamiliar and novel to him.

He didn't dislike it; in fact, he found it...quite interesting.

Like a rose with wild thorns that grows against the rules in a carefully tended garden, it is prickly, but also full of vitality.

He didn't linger, but walked straight to the huge floor-to-ceiling window. Outside the window, Jingjing lay asleep, its lights much sparser, like scattered cold diamonds reflecting against the dark blue sky.

In the distance, the outline of the China World Trade Center stands silently in the night, an arena where countless ambitions and capital vie for supremacy, and also one of the territories he roams in during the day.

He reached for the cigarette pack and lighter on the coffee table.

He pulled out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, lowered his head, and with a soft click, the pale blue flame licked the cigarette butt.

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled a grayish-white smoke. The smoke scattered against the cold glass window, blurring the bustling yet lonely night view outside.

The lights were off, only the distant light from the window illuminated half of his profile. His nose was straight, his jawline was tight, and a touch of scarlet flickered between his lips.

The muscles of his bare upper body rippled in the dim light, and the red marks were faintly visible between the grooves of his back muscles, adding a touch of masculine wildness and decadence that was completely different from his appearance during the day.

But those eyes were clear and sharp, showing no sign of sleepiness, reflecting the city's dim light, as deep as two cold pools.

The pungent smell of smoke stimulates the nerves.

The restlessness in my body, which had not yet fully subsided, and the calmness of my brain working at high speed were strangely intertwined.

During the day, or more precisely, yesterday, there were mountains of documents, probing and maneuvering with the Bai family from several levels away, analysis of the latest clues in the Li Xiaobao case, and smoothing over the final hurdle for the training course that Chen Nuo was about to enter...

Each one requires a tremendous amount of effort.

When I came back in the evening, I saw her eyes shining with excitement because of the film's success. Listening to her rambling on about the film reviews and audience feedback, all that cold calculation and pressure seemed to be briefly enveloped and relieved by something soft.

The subsequent intimacy is an emotional release, a release of pressure, and a silent possession and confirmation of her.

But after the passion subsided, something deeper surfaced.

He never considered himself a Casanova.

Was Chen Nuo initially attracted to you because of her looks?

Perhaps a little. But more than that, I saw in her a rare, undisciplined vitality and resilience, a survival instinct that shone brightly in the rainy night of Yongzhou, and a pitiful look at me, reaching out my hand to ask if I could have some resources.

These qualities seemed especially... endearing to him, given the meticulously crafted docility he was accustomed to.

He had a change of heart, wanting to bring her under his wing and see what kind of shape this unpolished gem could become.

However, things gradually went beyond being fun or a training exercise.

The Bai family's relentless pressure, the devastation of the Yongzhou incident, the display of her own talent, and... a surge of emotions deep within his own heart that he himself had not anticipated, all made this relationship complex and profound.

He paved the way for her, shielded her from disaster, and planned for her future; it was no longer just out of interest.

There's a scheme behind this; they want to cultivate a comrade-in-arms who can fight alongside them and talk about anything.

We also have a responsibility here. Since we've taken her in, we must protect her and give her the future she deserves.

But it seems that there is also an increasing amount of concern that is beyond calculation.

Seeing her injured makes me uncontrollably angry, seeing her succeed makes me sincerely gratified, and seeing her sleeping peacefully brings me a strange sense of peace and contentment.

This concern was unfamiliar to him, and even carried a hint of danger.

It gave him a weakness and added more variables to his game. But he never considered cutting it off.

In Fang Jingxiu's life philosophy, there are no words like "escape" or "sacrifice." Since they have appeared, they should be incorporated into the calculation and transformed into an advantage.

Just like now, as he stands here smoking, his mind is not only on tomorrow's departmental meeting, the Bai family's possible new moves, and how to more closely link the evidence chain of the Li Xiaobao case with the Bai family's gray industry, but also clearly planning the next step for the famous woman.

The training program is just a starting point. How to perform after entering, how to make truly useful connections, how to avoid possible jealousy and traps, and even... how to find the most suitable niche for her development within the system in the next few years.

He would pave the way and clear the obstacles for her, but he would never walk the path for her.

Just like he was back then.

He recalled that when he graduated from university, his father, Fang Zhenguo, asked him if he wanted to go directly to the General Staff Department or the general office of a core ministry, as it offered a high starting point and faster promotion.

He refused and chose to go to that county-level city that didn't sound very prestigious. His mother was puzzled and even a little angry, thinking that he had asked for trouble.

His father didn't say much at the time, but just looked at him with deep eyes. Later, at the grassroots level, he encountered difficulties and was ostracized. He also offended people because he was too principled. During the most difficult time, he worked overtime until dawn for several months in a row to resolve a historical land acquisition dispute. He lost more than ten kilograms, but he never complained to his family or used any family connections to smooth things over.

What he wanted to prove was not only his own abilities, but also the integrity of the Fang family's descendants.

The Fang family doesn't need to rely on others.

This is not just empty talk; it is something etched into the very backbone of every member of the Fang family.

It was that experience that shaped his way of doing things today: believing in the rules, but also deeply understanding the undercurrents beneath them; valuing tangible results, because they are the foundation that no one can take away; and being flexible in his methods, but always maintaining a clear bottom line.

Resources can be utilized, but resources must never be relied upon.

Therefore, the reason my father proposed the marriage alliance with the Liu family was due to considerations of diversifying long-term risks for the family.

The Liu family is a well-known and strictly regulated household. Liu Sihua herself has also received the best education, so she can at least be a decent and virtuous Mrs. Fang who can help stabilize the home front and deal with all kinds of complicated situations.

More importantly, once they are truly tied to the Liu family, many people who want to harm the Fang family will have to think twice. This is like providing insurance for both the Fang family and themselves.

The Fang family is a unified whole; their fortunes are intertwined, and their losses are shared. If something happens to one of them, it will affect far more than just themselves.

But he himself never really considered it.

In Fang Jingxiu's view, relying on women and nepotism to secure one's position is both incompetent and shameful.

He feels more at ease only if he achieves what he wants through his own efforts.

The cigarette burned to the very end, scalding my fingertips.

Fang Jingxiu snapped out of his reverie and stubbed out his cigarette in the crystal ashtray beside him. Several cigarette butts had already accumulated there, all left behind when he was alone late at night.

He turned and glanced in the direction of the bedroom. The door was ajar, and all was quiet inside.

The Bai family's affairs must be resolved as soon as possible.

The longer it drags on, the more variables there are, and the greater the potential threat to Chen Nuo. Li Xiaobao's death was a breakthrough point, but Bai Qi's death made that breakthrough point even more delicate and dangerous.

He needed a more meticulous plan and a sharper edge, to achieve his goal of striking at the Bai family and removing obstacles, without getting himself into trouble or dragging the Fang family into an uncontrollable quagmire. Finding the right balance required his utmost composure and calculation.

And Chen Nuo... she is the most important piece on his chessboard, and a vibrant existence that he is willing to dedicate a space in his heart to properly settle.

He will continue to take her under his wing until she is strong enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, and even become his support at times.

That would be the intersection of his ultimate ideals of power and emotion: a partner he had personally nurtured, with whom he was deeply bound, and whose interests and emotions were highly aligned.

This is difficult and even risky.

However, Fang Jingxiu has always enjoyed challenges and believes he has the ability to control the situation.

The night wind was chilly, and he could feel the cold even through the glass. He took one last look at the horizon outside the window, which was gradually turning gray, then turned around and walked barefoot back to his bedroom.

The person on the bed seemed to sense his return and unconsciously leaned closer to him.

Fang Jingxiu lay down and pulled her into his arms. Her body was warm and soft, carrying the peaceful scent unique to sleep. The scratches on his back stung slightly with each movement, and he gave a barely perceptible smile before closing his eyes.