Chapter 202: The Eve of Turmoil
Of course, it was a clash of gods—and this time, it caused quite a stir. When Du Zhengyu and Old Master Du, Du Hong, heard that their son and grandson were dead, they were petrified on the spot. Du Yuheng was the designated heir of the third generation of the Du family, the hope of their future. Though he was a bit disappointing, he was still destined to inherit the family business.
Now he had been killed by a car under unclear circumstances. How could they possibly let that go? Du Zhengyu and Du Hong didn't waste any time and immediately used every channel available to have the person responsible apprehended.
Naturally, the one responsible was Zhang Yang. But when they learned that the Meining police had already released him, Du Zhengyu exploded with rage. He knew perfectly well that Xia Guoqing was at odds with him. And now, with his son's men arrested for kidnapping, he had already received word beforehand.
His son had been knocked unconscious by Zhang Yang on the road before being run over by a passing car. That clearly made Zhang Yang the main culprit. His son was dead, yet the killer walked free—how could he possibly accept that?
He couldn't rely on the Meining police, but he had other ways. Old Master Du had connections all over the Southeast Province. Plus, as the acting mayor of Mingzhou, it wasn't difficult for him to send a few men to arrest Zhang Yang.
If the Meining police dared to release him, they would simply grab him again.
But soon, he received the latest news—when several police officers from Mingzhou and the Provincial Public Security Department who happened to be in Meining for a conference tried to arrest Zhang Yang, they were instead detained by the local Meining police.
The Du family immediately realized that Xia Guoqing must have intervened.
When Du Hong heard the news, he couldn't care less about saving face anymore. He immediately called his old subordinates, pulling strings on multiple fronts. Eventually, the Provincial Public Security Department issued an official document demanding that the Meining police arrest Zhang Yang.
However, the unexpected happened—the Meining prosecutor's office rejected the document, citing procedural issues.
But the matter didn't end there—the Provincial Public Security Department was stunned.
This was an extremely rare occurrence. They had no choice but to order the Meining Public Security Bureau to clarify the situation and urge them to apply for an arrest warrant from the local prosecutor's office.
Yet again, the Meining Public Security Bureau refused, also citing procedural issues.
"Old Master Du, there's nothing we can do. Technically speaking, you're right—it doesn't make sense. The case happened in Meining and should be handled by the local police. Now that both the local prosecutor's office and police believe Zhang Yang isn't at fault, we can't intervene. Unless there's solid evidence proving Zhang Yang's guilt, we can only send an inspection team to reopen the investigation," said Deputy Director Ding of the Provincial Public Security Department when reporting back to Du Hong.
"Then send an inspection team immediately."
"Alright. But I'll need to get approval from Director Hong first." After hanging up, Deputy Director Ding glanced at Director Hong, whose face was clouded with concern, and asked quietly, "What should we do?"
"Old Ding, do you really think this happened the way Old Master Du claims?" Director Hong looked at him and asked back.
"Of course not. If things were as he said, even if the Meining police wanted to cover it up, they wouldn't dare be so blatant. What's strange is that even so, why did the Meining Bureau reject our order outright? The prosecutor's office I can understand—but we're their superior department. That's not right."
"Heh. I told them to reject it." Director Hong folded his hands on the desk and said with a faint smile.
"Old Hong, what's going on here?" Deputy Director Ding asked in confusion.
"Old Ding, it's obvious. Old Master Du acted in a fit of rage. His grandson was killed—of course he's furious. His first instinct was to bring the killer to justice. But when he heard that the main suspect, Zhang Yang, was released, he immediately assumed the Meining police were in collusion with him. That's why he came to us." Director Hong sighed. "We have to uphold principles, but we can't completely ignore personal ties either. After all, Old Master Du was my superior for over ten years. That's why I let you issue the arrest order publicly. But privately, I called Meining and told them to ignore it and follow protocol. We can lose face, but not our principles."
"I see." Deputy Director Ding chuckled and shook his head, then frowned again. "But do you think Old Master Du will be fooled that easily?"
"I wouldn't call it fooling him. Sending the inspection team is necessary anyway. I want to get to the bottom of this. We can't favor either side—we can't wrong a good man, nor let a bad one go free."
"Then why the long face?" Deputy Director Ding asked, puzzled.
"I'm afraid when gods fight, mortals suffer," Director Hong said quietly.
…At the Cai family residence in Beijing, Cai Yu hurried into his grandfather's study. Inside were his father Cai Xingteng and his uncle Cai Xinglong. His grandfather Cai Yong, still recovering from illness, looked pale.
When they saw Cai Yu enter, his uncle Cai Xinglong's face immediately showed displeasure.
"Yu'er, was the Meining incident your doing?" Cai Yong asked bluntly.
Cai Yu glanced at his father, whose expression was sour—clearly he'd just been scolded.
"Yes." Cai Yu answered calmly.
"Cai Yu, how dare you instigate someone to run over Du Yuheng with a car?" Cai Xinglong slammed the table in fury. "How could our Cai family produce such a lawless descendant?"
"Uncle, that's not quite right." Cai Yu glanced at him lightly. "How could Du Yuheng's death be my doing?"
"Still denying it? Why else would Qin Shun suddenly flee abroad? Don't think I don't know—he went to Meining with you. He's an excellent driver. I also found out he rented three black Toyotas while there."
"That's right. Since Uncle already knows, I won't hide it anymore." Cai Yu looked around at the others with a faint smile. "My purpose was simple. First, the Du and Qiao families were still entangled. Now that Du Yuheng is dead, the Du family will blame Zhang Yang and want him dead. The Qiao family will have to protect him. That will pit the Du and Qiao families against each other—and afterward, the only ally left for the Du family will be us."
"Heh, hear that, Father? Brother? That's my son! Smart, cunning—truly worthy of being my son!" Cai Xingteng laughed proudly, giving his son a thumbs up. "Good boy. So that's the first goal. What's the second?"
"Second, during my trip to Meining, I used Du family funds to short-sell Yimao, planning to acquire it later as our Cai family's first step into the Meining market."
"Wait—acquire Yimao? What does Yimao do?" Cai Xinglong asked curiously.
"Yimao's main business is electronic communications," Cai Yong interjected. "It overlaps somewhat with our industries. He had informed me about it. The real goal wasn't the acquisition itself—it was to draw some of the Du family's funds into our hands. That way, the Du family would be tied to us inseparably. But since the plan failed, we didn't tell you to avoid implicating you."
"Yes, Uncle. My main goal was to get Du's cash flow into our accounts. But if our left-hand-to-right-hand shorting scheme got exposed, our reputation would suffer. I didn't expect anyone to find out, but then the Qiao family intervened, pulling a dirty trick and acquiring our Xinjin Fund."
Looking remorseful, Cai Yu continued, "That means the Qiao family must've known about our scheme. I had no choice—Du Yuheng was the only one who knew the full details. He had to disappear."
"Xinjin Fund was acquired by the Qiao family? What? Wasn't Fan Changlong the head of Xinjin?" Cai Xinglong exclaimed.
"Fan Changlong ran away…" Cai Yu explained everything.
"You've basically shot yourselves in the foot," Cai Xinglong said coldly, showing no sympathy—only disappointment.
"Now the Qiao family has officially declared war on us." Cai Yong shot a helpless glance at his elder son. How had he ended up with such a rigid child? "You're the future heir of the Cai family. Shouldn't you do something?"
"Father, if we acted honorably, I'd have no complaints. But these shady tricks—I refuse. I have plenty of work to do, so unless it's a true emergency, please don't bother me."
With that, he excused himself and left.
Once he was gone, Cai Xingteng was displeased, pouting, "Dad, my brother's unbelievable. He's the highest-ranking official in the family, yet refuses to lift a finger."
Cai Yong gave him a calm look and smiled faintly. "I've always known your brother's temperament. I called him here today not to ask for help but to make things clear so he doesn't stab us in the back later. He doesn't have to help—but he must stay neutral."
"So, Father, you really plan to openly go against the Qiao family?" Cai Xingteng's eyes gleamed. He'd been waiting for this day.
Cai Yong didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Cai Yu, leaned back in his chair to get comfortable, furrowed his brows, and asked, "Do you think the Qiao family would really go to war with us over that Zhang Yang?"