“Got careless, didn’t you? By not wanting the police to know what you were investigating, you made it possible for your enemies to find out. Why do you think that testing center operates in the gray zone? Who provides its protective umbrella?” Yu Qin laughed.

Ling Lie showed no surprise, nodding. “So even a DNA test can be done under your nose. It shows that the Yu Group’s power has grown unchecked and it’s time it was brought to order.”

Yu Qin paused, then sneered. “I received the same results you did. Officer Ling, whatever deductions you’ve made based on those results, I can make too. I didn’t want to make a move against you, but there’s no other way. You know too much.”

Ling Lie said, “Is it too much? I think it’s not enough. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered coming to meet you today.”

Yu Qin tried to find fear in Ling Lie’s eyes, but his eyes seemed covered in a mist to her. through that mist, she couldn’t see what truly lay at the bottom of his pupils.

She frowned in displeasure.

“You knew the real Yu Qin in Country L. She gave birth to Yu Ge and was admired and pursued by Bi Jiang. But before she could return to China, she fell victim to your vicious hand. You replaced her and brought Yu Ge back to China. You had plastic surgery, and since Yu Qin had been away from the Yu family for too long, no one discovered your secret when you returned.”

Ling Lie spoke his deduction at a steady pace. “But there was one person who might have exposed you, and that was Yu Ge. He was old enough to remember things, and the blood connection between mother and son is a mystical thing. You looked at him and feared him, so you had to make him disappear.”

Yu Qin wore an expression of disdain, as if listening to a clumsy and tacky story.

“The Yu family didn’t call the police because Yu Ge was an illegitimate child, and no one knew who his father was. I guess you didn’t have a good life in the Yu family at that time and were heavily condemned by family morals.” Ling Lie continued, “But you are an ambitious person. You not only wanted everything that should have belonged to Yu Qin but also wanted to seize the power of the male heir from Yu Qianming. Looking back now, it seems you succeeded.”

Yu Qin was very dissatisfied with the word “seems.” “The men of the Yu family are all useless. The victory between me and Yu Qianming was decided long ago.”

“Is that so?” Yu Qianming’s impenetrable gaze appeared in Ling Lie’s mind. He knew clearly that Yu Qianming was definitely not the useless waste Yu Qin described. “Many of Yu Qianming’s actions have logic hidden very deep. What I can’t figure out is why he insisted on adopting a child from the welfare institute to pose as Yu Ge back then.”

“Hahahaha—” Yu Qin stopped laughing. “Of course you can’t figure it out, because from the very beginning, you deviated from the truth.”

Ling Lie lowered his hands, braced them on the table behind him, and hopped up to sit on it lightly.

“I told you, it was the Yu family that hurt Alice, not me!” Yu Qin said. “If the Yu family truly loved Alice, how could they have thrown such a young, weak girl into a chaotic place like Country L!”

Ling Lie knew that Alice was Yu Qin’s nickname; the oil painting in the old mansion was titled “Princess Alice.” When he and Ji Chenjiao learned that Yu Qin was sent to Country L at the age of sixteen, they were also puzzled. After much thought, they couldn’t avoid suspecting internal family struggles.

“Did Yu Qianming want to kick Yu Qin out of the future power struggle?”

Yu Qin gritted her teeth. “That old thing Yu Qianming had been wary of his own sister since childhood because Alice was intelligent and charming, with talent far surpassing his. The Yu family isn’t like other wealthy families where daughters are only fit for marriage alliances. The previous generation of the Yu family produced an outstanding female entrepreneur, so the cultivation of daughters is no less than that of sons.”

“But Alice herself had no interest in the family business or power.” Yu Qin smiled helplessly and bitterly. “Even so, Yu Qianming still feared her. From the time she was only fourteen, he proposed sending her to Country L for training.”

Ling Lie said, “That’s unreasonable.”

“Don’t use ordinary people’s logic to deduce the actions of the wealthy. The Yu family doesn’t talk about humanity.” Yu Qin’s tone was teasing. “But Alice was too young then. It wasn’t until two years later that Yu Qianming finally persuaded the family elders to send Alice over. She cried day and night, unwilling to leave her homeland, and even less willing to live in such a barren, dangerous place like Country L.”

Ling Lie was silent for two seconds. “What about you? Who are you to Yu Qin?”

“A friend.” Yu Qin said, “I was born in Country L and grew up in Country L. Alice and I hit it off immediately. My name is Shaman.”

Ling Lie scrutinized Yu Qin—Shaman’s face. To be able to become another person through plastic surgery, even fooling the other’s family, they likely looked similar to begin with.

“Speaking of which, I’m not entirely unrelated to the Yu family. My parents were thrown into Country L by the previous generation of the Yu family to fend for themselves. Officer Ling, it’s a society ruled by law now; you probably can’t imagine that the Yu family was no different from gangsters in the beginning. My parents offended them and ended up like that. Before I grew up, they died in the crossfire in Country L. Those old immortals of the Yu family would never have guessed that I, a pitiful wretch who barely survived, would meet Alice and become friends with her.”

Ling Lie said, “You wanted revenge?”

Shaman turned her face. “Yes, I wanted revenge on the Yu family, not on Alice.”

Her gaze seemed gentle for a moment. “Alice was innocent. She was just a girl who wanted freedom.”

The year Yu Qin arrived in Country L, Shaman was doing small business at a gang base near the Yu family estate and practicing a few moves along with them. Yu Qin, newly arrived, was extremely disappointed with her family and deeply depressed. By chance, she ate food from Shaman’s stall—it was the taste of her hometown. The two girls with vastly different statuses interacted more and became sisters.

Shaman sympathized with Yu Qin. Yu Qin confided freely in her, but Shaman never mentioned her own parents’ fate. Yu Qin grew weary of the wealthy lifestyle and, after adapting to life in Country L, actually felt free. Her contact with her family dwindled, and she even entertained the thought of never returning to China and fleeing to another country.

Because they looked somewhat alike, whenever Yu Qin didn’t want to attend a party, Shaman would put on heavy makeup and go in her stead, never once being exposed. The only accident was at one party where Shaman met a suitor—Bi Jiang.

Of course, Shaman couldn’t tell him she wasn’t Yu Qin. Later, Bi Jiang appeared at parties several times, his admiration evident.

Days passed, and Shaman pondered how to take revenge on the Yu family. She could use Yu Qin, but she was unwilling to destroy this pure friendship. Until Yu Qin told her she was pregnant.

Shaman couldn’t believe her ears and pressed to know who the father was. But Yu Qin shyly shook her head.

Miss Alice, who always liked to hold her arm and pour her heart out, had someone she liked, had a secret, and had a crystal of love with this person.

Shaman was extremely worried. Yu Qin would have to return to China sooner or later. Would she go back with a child? The Yu family would absolutely never accept it.

But Yu Qin told her shocking news: “Shaman, I’m not going back. My brother hates me, my elders treat me as a tool. Going back is returning to a cage. I want my own life.”

Shaman asked, “Where will you go? How will you leave? What about the child?”

Yu Qin stroked her belly happily, smiling without speaking.

This disrupted Shaman’s plan. She had intended to follow Yu Qin when she returned to China and take the opportunity to enter the Yu Group. But now that Yu Qin was running away, how could she proceed with her next step?

More than half a year later, Yu Qin gave birth to a chubby, fair-skinned baby. As if the arrival of the child had triggered infinite maternal instincts, she spent her days in the garden holding the child, calling him “Xiao Ge, Xiao Ge,” and singing to him. The song was called “Ballad of Drifting Clouds.”

Xiao Ge’s full name was Yu Ge.

Seeing Yu Qin so happy, Shaman could only convince herself: Forget it. Either give up revenge or find another way.

But a change occurred suddenly when Xiao Ge was only six months old. Yu Qin said she had to go to the north but didn’t say why. Shaman didn’t think she was trying to run away because Xiao Ge was still at the estate.

However, Yu Qin never returned from that trip.

Soon there was another party requiring Yu Qin’s presence. Shaman put on makeup to look like Yu Qin and attended the banquet. A new plan suddenly formed in her mind—since Yu Qin wanted to escape the Yu family, why not replace Yu Qin and return to the Yu family herself?

It was a plan that served both ends.

Shaman began to “change” herself, transforming little by little under the scalpel into Yu Qin’s likeness.

When the domestic Yu family learned that Yu Qin had a child but couldn’t name the father, they were furious as expected. Yu Qianming, however, was relieved because such an unruly woman was no longer his rival, and he had firmly established himself in the group over the years.

Shaman proposed bringing the child back to China. The elders of the Yu family fell silent, but Yu Qianming “open-mindedly” agreed.

The moment she stepped onto her homeland, she forgot the identity of Shaman and became Yu Qin.

Thanks to the backward technology of that era, no one thought to do a DNA test on a relative who hadn’t returned for years. A girl changes eighteen times as she grows; the returning Yu Qin seemed very different from when she was sixteen, but it wasn’t enough to make people suspect the name had a new owner.

As she expected, she was given the cold shoulder and not allowed to touch the family business. She wasn’t in a hurry. While secretly learning about the Yu family, she took care of Yu Qin’s child.

She had thought about caring for this child as her own.

But when Yu Ge was a little over four years old, he inexplicably went missing.

How could a child who never even left the old mansion get lost? Someone must have deliberately taken Yu Qin’s child.

At that time, she searched for Yu Ge frantically, but Yu Ge was like dead—there was no news. She knew Yu Qianming had taken him, perhaps even killed him. This ruthless man wouldn’t stop even knowing she was no longer a rival; he had to “pull up the weeds by the roots”!

She began to feign madness, occasionally interfering in group affairs under the pretext: without a child, she must have work. If she lost all her anchors, she might as well die!

Yu Qianming originally treated her as a joke, but unexpectedly, despite seeming crazy, she actually facilitated several important collaborations.

And all of this was seen by the person in power at the time.

Yu Qianming panicked. Pretending to search diligently for Xiao Ge, he brought back a child from a welfare institute, insisting that it was Yu Ge.

Appearing with the child was even a forged paternity test.

Shaman knew that wasn’t Xiao Ge.

Yu Qianming also knew that wasn’t Yu Ge.

A’Dou also knew he wasn’t a child of the Yu family.

But Shaman and Yu Qianming each had their own agendas, and thus, Xia Xiaodou became Yu Ge.

“You know the rest.” Shaman lit a cigarette. “Yu Qianming miscalculated. Even if he had brought back the real Yu Ge then, it would have been too late. Because the old folks had seen my capabilities, I deserved a place in the group.”

Ling Lie fell silent. He had to admit that the truth Shaman told was more logical than the truth he had deduced, but hearing the latter part, his mind uncontrollably wandered.

To think there was such a coincidence between him and Ji Chenjiao in this world. He once thought their encounter at McDonald’s was the supreme masterpiece of fate, yet they had shared a name.

Yu Ge.

Guided by him, he came to the Linglan Xiang Welfare Institute and “inherited” the name that should have belonged to him from the welfare institute.

Ji Chenjiao had said he dreamed of a large estate, a woman gentle as the wind, humming a song and calling a name he could never remember after waking up.

Now he found the answer. That name was Yu Ge.

Without time to dwell on what their fates would have been like if Ji Chenjiao hadn’t gone missing, Ling Lie asked, “Did you kill Bi Jiang? Because he returned to the country, and he was a huge threat to you?”

Shaman smiled disdainfully. “Yes, it was me. But I later realized that was a wrong move. If I had ignored him back then, an ordinary person like him couldn’t have stirred up any waves.”

Ling Lie said, “Instead, acting against him brought you trouble. That trouble was Yin Hanshan, right?”

A trace of anger appeared on Shaman’s face. “That cop… Officer Ling, haven’t you noticed? Your relentless digging is very much like that death-wish cop.”

Ling Lie said, “So I guessed right. He discovered you killed Bi Jiang and chased you to Xiarong City, only to be silenced by you and become a sacrifice for your Yu family’s superstition.”

Shaman sneered. “I never believed in any sacrifices or altars. Those county projects were just for show for the older generation. After all, they believe the Yu Group’s success relies on the blessings of gods. I don’t care at all if the dead are odd or even numbers. But since Yin Hanshan crashed into it, let him sleep forever in this ground too!”

Ling Lie went over Shaman’s words again and found a contradiction. From start to finish, she hadn’t mentioned “Floating Light.” She wanted to fight Yu Qianming, wanted revenge, wanted to swallow the Yu Group, but what about “Floating Light”?

She once used “Floating Light” as a knife, and upon discovering “Floating Light” was controlling the group, she wanted to enter “Floating Light” to counter-control it. But she still hadn’t realized that “Floating Light” seemed to have some relationship with Yin Hanshan, and “Floating Light’s” methods against the Yu Group were definitely not as simple as those against other large enterprises.

“Alright, I’ve let you know everything you wanted to know. Now…”

“Wait.” Ling Lie interrupted. “Will ‘Floating Light’ let you go?”

Shaman was slightly stunned, then said, “It doesn’t matter if I tell you; you’re going to die anyway. Of course I know ‘Floating Light’ won’t give up easily, but isn’t there your police force to surround and intercept them? If an important police officer like you dies at the hands of ‘Floating Light’ and the entire Rongmei turns into a sea of fire, would the police still tolerate ‘Floating Light’ doing evil within the borders?”

Ling Lie picked up two meanings. Shaman was going to burn him to death here, reenacting the fire from years ago, and frame it on “Floating Light.”

“Floating Light’s” people were also here?

But Yu Qin not only failed to answer his real question, she didn’t even understand it.

The death threat had been issued, but the man in front of her remained unmoved. Shaman frowned slightly in unease, her gaze becoming increasingly vigilant.

Ling Lie said calmly, “President Yu—I’ll still call you President Yu. What I mean is, haven’t you realized that ‘Floating Light’ is deliberately screwing you over? Who do you think made the bigger ‘contribution’ to the current chaos of the Yu Group?”

Shaman’s face was expressionless at first, then, as if realizing something, she said with restraint, “‘Floating Light’ wants to take the Yu Group, but they won’t get their wish.”

“More than that.” Ling Lie smiled. “Since you told me so much, I’ll reveal a piece of news from the police too. Yin Hanshan, he once got close to ‘Floating Light’s’ lair. The detective you killed very likely had deep ties with ‘Floating Light’.”

Shaman stood rigid, but Ling Lie caught an intense fear in her dilated pupils—fear stemming from the unknown and lack of preparation.

Half a minute later, Shaman swayed, bracing her right hand hard on the edge of the table. When she looked at Ling Lie again, her gaze became exceptionally fierce. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Officer Ling, you’d better worry about yourself. You are about to be burned to ashes in the flames along with this building.”

After speaking, Shaman took a gun from her handbag. At the same moment, a group of men in black rushed in through the back door of the lecture hall, each holding a gun.

Shaman slowly backed away, disappearing into the crowd of black.