At this moment, seeing Li Wenting's demeanor, I felt as if her emotions were on the verge of collapse.
If no one were to comfort her, she might very well break down once her emotions reached that point.
With this thought, I quickly reminded Li Wenting, "Sister Wenting, if Mr. He was indeed kidnapped, calling the person in charge of Xinpu Jing now would be futile, as they are likely overwhelmed with trouble!"
"Why don't you try contacting someone else?"
The onlooker sees clearly, while the person involved is confused.
Hearing my words, Li Wenting immediately snapped back to reality, composing herself and her emotions. She began contacting others again...
"Hello, Ah Guang? What's the situation at Xinpu Jing? Why can't I get through to Mr. He or Hu Dinggui?"
"..."
"Ah!!? Really?"
Li Wenting's tone was filled with disbelief.
I knew that Ah Guang, on the other end of the line, must have told her something almost unbelievable.
It now seemed my earlier deduction was confirmed.
Mr. He... had truly met with misfortune!
Indeed, as soon as she hung up the phone, Li Wenting turned to me and said, "Chen Xiang, Xinpu Jing... has undergone a drastic change!!!"
Then, Li Wenting proceeded to describe everything that had happened since this morning... no!
Strictly speaking, it had all begun from the early hours of this morning, and she recounted it all to me in meticulous detail.
According to what Li Wenting heard from Ah Guang, He Zhonghua's power-seizing plan had been implemented at the crack of dawn.
To be more precise, it began the moment I finished my call with Mr. He last night and he sent Li Wenting out. Upon receiving wind of this, He Zhonghua had acted preemptively.
It was only then that I belatedly understood Li Wenting's true identity.
Besides being Mr. He's goddaughter, she also served as his personal bodyguard.
This explained why everyone, including He Zhonghua, had treated Li Wenting with courtesy and respect before any open conflict arose.
Of course, Li Wenting was not the only personal bodyguard Mr. He had.
However, with Li Wenting being taken out of the picture, someone had to temporarily fill her position.
And the person who caused the initial problem, giving He Zhonghua the opportunity to launch his power grab prematurely, was the one who temporarily replaced Li Wenting.
That person was named He Cong. His elder family members were loyal retainers who had followed Mr. He since the early days, and were even bestowed the surname He.
What should have been the story of a wise ruler and a loyal subject was ultimately ruined by He Cong.
He Cong, who had replaced Li Wenting, was bribed by He Zhonghua over the phone that very night. He then promptly revealed Mr. He's location and information about his bodyguard arrangements, exposing everything.
This led to Mr. He being controlled by people sent by He Zhonghua without any prior warning.
In other words, before dawn, Mr. He had already been taken into He Zhonghua's custody!
Now, not only Mr. He's phone, but also the phones of the bodyguards protecting him were unreachable.
And that traitor, He Cong, was nowhere to be found, his whereabouts unknown!
As for the Xinpu Jing establishment, it was in utter chaos from top to bottom, inside and out.
Although the person in charge, Hu Dinggui, intended to conceal the news of Mr. He's inexplicable disappearance, He Zhonghua had already secretly spread rumors, leaking the matter to the He family members.
Consequently, Hu Dinggui was now being hounded by Mr. He's family, struggling to cope and unable to do anything.
At this stage, to break the deadlock, one would either have to find He Cong directly, or deal with He Zhonghua!
...
I listened silently as Li Wenting finished her account.
Only after she fell silent did I frown and ask, "Sister Wenting, what do you plan to do?"
At this moment, Li Wenting no longer seemed like the ruthless female enforcer from before. She appeared as a helpless young girl, covering her face and shaking her head, seemingly blaming herself.
It was evident that Li Wenting was very loyal to Mr. He.
After a moment of silent contemplation, Li Wenting suddenly looked up at me, tears in her eyes, and said, "Chen Xiang, Mr. He mentioned you to me, saying you're a skilled gambler who excels at setting up schemes!"
"In a situation like this, where there's no clear direction, do you have any ideas to break the stalemate?"
Upon hearing this, I let out a soft sigh, "I think I might have a grasp of what trickery and schemes He Zhonghua is up to."
"Tell me!" Li Wenting blurted out impatiently.
"Uh, it's hard to explain in a few words!" After a slight pause, I looked at Li Wenting and said with conviction, "In short! Until He Zhonghua contacts us, there's no need to worry about Mr. He's safety for the time being!"
"To put it bluntly, once tonight's finals are over and He Zhonghua gets what he wants, Mr. He will naturally return unharmed, but..."
"By then, the empire he painstakingly built over half his life might truly change hands!"
After listening to my words, Li Wenting remained silent for a while before speaking again, "I've been with Mr. He for so long, I know his temperament very well."
"Some things, he only gives willingly; others can only ask for them! If he's unwilling to give something, no matter if they fight for it openly, or resort to deceit or trickery, they won't gain anything afterward!"
"Mr. He... he would never want to see the empire he worked hard to build being so easily usurped and schemed against..."
At the most crucial point, Li Wenting suddenly paused for no apparent reason, and then a look of sudden realization flashed across her face.
"Chen Xiang, what you're really saying is that He Zhonghua never intended to harm Mr. He. He wants to use tonight's finals amidst the chaos to seize power!"
Hearing this, I nodded heavily in agreement, "Exactly! And his spreading rumors to have the He family members deal with Xinpu Jing's负责人 Hu Dinggui is also to divert their attention as much as possible!"
"So I deduce that Mr. He is most likely still somewhere within Xinpu Jing!"
As soon as I finished speaking, a flash of inspiration struck me, hitting upon a method that could both rescue him and prevent He Zhonghua from successfully seizing power.
"Sister Wenting, contact everyone at Xinpu Jing whom you believe you can trust and rely on, and have them follow your instructions!"
Before Li Wenting could even ask for the reason, I preemptively interrupted her, my mind constantly replaying and analyzing the events of the early morning, and calculating where Mr. He might be hidden...