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

The light in the study shone on the mahogany table and onto the open document.

Huang Zeshan sat in a grand chair, with the document in front of him.

"Dad," Huang Jinwen said, his voice a little hoarse, "I've been investigating the Bai family case for three months."

Huang Zeshan looked at him without saying a word.

Huang Jinwen opened the materials and pointed them out to him page by page. "These are the victims' testimonies, this is the trafficking route, this is the list of buyers, and this is the financial statement of the Bai family's trafficking group. The chain of evidence is missing the last link: the financial transaction records between the Bai family and the Liu family. With this, we can bring Liu Yang down."

Huang Zeshan looked down at the materials, page after page, densely packed with text. He looked at them for a long time, so long that Huang Jinwen thought he had fallen asleep.

"dad?"

Huang Zeshan opened the bottom drawer of the bookcase, took out a kraft paper envelope, sealed with sealing wax, and stamped with his personal seal.

"Dad, what's this?"

Huang Zeshan did not answer. He used his key to pry open the sealing wax, took out a small, black USB drive from the envelope, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Huang Jinwen.

"This is a complete record of the benefits that the Bai family transferred to Liu Yang. Thirteen years, 15,023 transactions, totaling 3.47 billion."

"Dad, you had this, why didn't you take it out sooner?"

"Because I'm waiting. Waiting for someone I can entrust my life to."

"Fang Jingxiu has gone in," Huang Zeshan said slowly, "but his woman is still outside. Go find her."

Huang Jinwen frowned. "What Chen woman? That deputy director of the Film and Television Bureau? Dad, is she trustworthy?"

"She's not trustworthy, but what she has is. Before Fang Jingxiu went in, he probably left her his last trump card. That trump card is the only chance to turn the tables."

Huang Jinwen was silent for a moment. "Fang Jingxiu? When...when did he start setting up this scheme?"

Huang Zeshan leaned back in his chair. "I don't know either. I only know that I got involved when he first came to beg me."

Huang Jinwen remained silent, waiting for his father to continue.

"He came to me with a document. He said he had a criminal record of the Bai family in the southeast. Trafficking in women, money laundering, bribery—the evidence was conclusive and enough to send the Bai family to jail."

"Then why...?"

"Because he wanted to make a deal with me, to tie himself to me," Huang Zeshan interrupted him. "He said he could give me this thing, but on one condition."

"What are the conditions?"

"He asked me to do him a favor: to get one of the girls he was working with into Liu Changhe's new project."

"this one?"

"That's it. He didn't want an official position, money, or power. He just wanted a girl to join the project. At the time, I thought this person was either an idiot or a madman."

"And then?"

"I helped him with it later. That girl was Chen Nuo. She rose all the way to deputy director. Fang Jingxiu used this criminal record to get an admission ticket. Not his ticket, but hers."

Huang Jinwen's hands trembled slightly. "Dad, why did you accept this? You don't need it."

"Jinwen, do you think I can make a comeback?"

Huang Jinwen remained silent.

"I've been retired for several years. That's enough time for everyone to forget me. No position, no power, no connections. I'm just a wretched old man, sitting in this old house, drinking herbal tea, watching the news, and waiting to die."

He paused. "But you're different."

Huang Jinwen's heart clenched suddenly.

"You're still in the public security system, you still have a chance. When Fang Jingxiu gave me this document, he said something. He said, 'Teacher, you don't need this document. But Huang Jinwen does.'"

Huang Zeshan looked at his son. "He's telling me that if you want your son to go further, you have to rely on me."

"Dad, you really believe him that much?"

Huang Zeshan picked up the USB drive on the table and weighed it in his hand. "I don't believe him. I believe in his abilities. He's calculated every move, every person, every juncture. He predicted he would go to jail, that the Liu and Bai families would join forces, that Chief Meng would kick him when he was down, and that his secretary would betray him for personal gain. He even predicted that I would hand over this evidence to you today."

Huang Jinwen's hands began to tremble.

Huang Zeshan continued, "He used himself as bait to lure out the Bai family, the Liu family, Chief Meng, Liu Changhe, and even me. Once everyone thought he was dead, once everyone thought they had won, once everyone lowered their guard, he then closed the net."

He put down the USB drive and looked at Huang Jinwen. "Do you know what's the scariest thing?"

Huang Jinwen shook his head.

"To this day, I still don't know when he started setting up this scheme. Was it the day he first came to see me? The day he met Chen Nuo? Or even earlier?"

Huang Zeshan leaned back in his chair, his gaze falling on the chandelier on the ceiling. "This man is too shrewd; we can't outsmart him. He's so shrewd that you think you're using him, but actually you're being used all along. So shrewd that you think you've won, but actually you've just stepped into his chessboard."

Fang Jingxiu was certain he would get out. He was certain someone would rescue him. He was certain he had already finished this game of chess.

"Dad," he stood up, "I'm going to find Chen Nuo."

Huang Zeshan nodded. "Go. Tell her that Fang Jingxiu is not fighting alone."

"Dad," he said, pausing at the doorway, "Do you regret it?"

Huang Zeshan did not answer.

No regrets.

The love of the parents is far-reaching.