Chapter 152: The Prey Falls into the Trap

Jiang Buhuai furrowed his brows, watching the person sitting beside his second brother with an amused expression.

"S-Sister-in-law, hello," he stammered.

The Lu, Feng, and Jiang families of the capital had ancestors who all lived in the same military compound. Therefore, before his family ventured into business, their background was identical to that of Lu Yunzhou's family. In a sense, these scions of the capital's high-ranking officials had grown up together since childhood.

Later on, however, Lu Yunzhou, Gu Suizhou, and others chose to enter military academies or pursue medicine, leaving only Jiang Buhuai behind to inherit the family business. Given their history, Jiang Buhuai didn't actually lose face by addressing her as sister-in-law.

Shen Zhaoxi raised her eyes, seemingly reluctant to acknowledge the title at first, but upon seeing Jiang Buhuai's awkward expression, she found it rather agreeable. For once, she didn't bother to refute it. After all, her engagement to Lu Yunzhou was common knowledge in the capital's elite circles and hardly a secret. There was no need for her to offer any explanations at a time like this.

Later, while everyone was playing cards, Shen Zhaoxi glanced at the clock on the wall. It was nine o'clock in the evening.

Her gaze darkened slightly.

The man in the black shirt, with his upright posture and aloof facial features, looked over at Shen Zhaoxi.

"What is it?" Lu Yunzhou tilted his head, noticing Shen Zhaoxi's unusual demeanor.

"I need to go to the restroom."

"Do you want me to accompany you?" Lu Yunzhou asked in a cool tone, lowering his gaze to look at the young woman beside him, fearing she might not find her way since it was her first time here.

Shen Zhaoxi shook her head to indicate it wasn't necessary. She picked up the thin blanket Lu Yunzhou had found for her and placed it neatly beside the sofa. Earlier, fearing she might be cold, Lu Yunzhou had draped a thin blanket over her feet. When Shen Zhaoxi stood up just now, she left the blanket on the sofa behind her. Her delicate, snow-white shoulders were draped in Lu Yunzhou's suit jacket, and her dark hair was gathered loosely.

As she stood up and walked out, the carved hollow door of the suite closed behind her.

Under the cool, subdued lighting, Gu Suizhou raised his eyes, glanced at Lu Yunzhou—whose gaze was still following Shen Zhaoxi—and spoke in a gentle tone: "If you're this worried about her, how could you dare bring her out?"

Last time at the Shen residence, when Gu Suizhou examined Shen Zhaoxi for external injuries, Xiao Xiao had mentioned the circumstances of her kidnapping. Thus, Gu Suizhou was well aware that Shen Zhaoxi had been abducted and injured, and that her physical condition was delicate.

Moreover, Shen Zhaoxi's identity was extraordinary; given the Shen family's standing in the capital, very few people could genuinely guarantee her safety. Those criminals whom the Shen family had previously cracked down on would, to varying degrees, seek revenge against the Shen family members. Consequently, she would be the very first target they thought of.

This little princess, held in the palms of the Shen family's hands, had become the primary target locked onto by those criminals.

Lu Yunzhou's gaze darkened as he parted his thin lips and said, "She likes to go out and play."

"By the way, regarding what you asked me last time, I can only tell that her weak constitution is due to excessive blood loss from her injuries," Gu Suizhou continued. "However, if you want to alleviate or cure her dysmenorrhea, she still needs internal regulation through herbal medicine."

"I heard there is an elderly traditional Chinese medicine practitioner here in Nanjiang who is quite famous in the capital and has opened an herbal medicine shop in this town. It's about twenty kilometers away by car, though I'm not sure if he's around right now. You could take Miss Shen over to see him."

"Mm," Lu Yunzhou replied in a cool voice, his eyes deep as he thought of the young woman's susceptibility to cold.

It was only the beginning of autumn, yet her hands had already felt as cold as ice—completely unlike the normal body temperature of a healthy person. Remembering how she had suffered in pain and even passed out from menstrual cramps last time, he had anxiously called Gu Suizhou to ask for advice.

Gu Suizhou knew all about this. Therefore, the reason Lu Yunzhou brought her here, aside from letting her play, was also to take her to see a doctor in hopes of finding a way to alleviate her chronic coldness and restore her health.

***

After leaving the private room, Shen Zhaoxi walked from the second-floor corridor toward the right-hand hallway leading to the restroom.

"How is your situation over there?" she asked in a low voice, putting on her Bluetooth headset.

Her expression was somewhat cold, as if the time for action had arrived.

Then, Sheng Ting's voice came through the earpiece: "Mm, under surveillance. The prey is about to walk into the net."

"I'll be right there."

The meeting place she had arranged with Sheng Ting was also here, though not in this particular section. Therefore, Shen Zhaoxi had intentionally used the restroom as an excuse to make her way toward the resort's hotel wing.

Many vantage points around here were already under covert surveillance by their people.

"There's one thing you need to pay attention to, though," Sheng Ting added. "A film crew is shooting here in Nanjiang recently, and since today happens to be Saturday, their crew members are getting off work one after another around this time."

In other words, the hotel rooms in the resort were fully booked, and a large portion of the occupants were members of this film crew staying on the premises.

If they were to take action, these people would need to be cleared out.

Shen Zhaoxi's eyes grew cold as she whispered, "That's all the more reason for us to rush and finish everything before that happens."

She was confident she could secure a swift victory, especially since the prey had already entered the net.

At the same time, the sound of people conversing drifted from the spacious corridor ahead, their footsteps sounding somewhat hurried, as if they had just finished work and were eager to turn in early.

"All today's scenes are wrapped up. Look, the only thing left is for the director to shoot those two remaining sets of shots and then we're done with post-production wrap-up."

"Mm, it's good we can finally get some rest."

As the woman spoke, she quickened her pace toward a room ahead, eager to change out of her clothes. However, not watching where she was going because she had been looking at her manager while speaking, she collided directly with Shen Zhaoxi approaching from the front.

At that moment, the woman paused, her brow furrowing slightly. Wearing designer sunglasses and long, chestnut-colored flowing curls, she was dressed in an expensive brand-name long dress. The instant she collided with Shen Zhaoxi, her expression darkened with displeasure.

The manager beside her immediately stepped forward. "How do you walk? Are you blind?"

The manager's complaining voice carried a tone of innate hostility as she glanced sidelong at Shen Zhaoxi.

To be precise, it was they who had bumped into Shen Zhaoxi. Yet before Shen Zhaoxi could even say a word, the other party had started scolding her first?

"Are you a sasaeng fan or something?"

Just as Shen Zhaoxi raised her eyes to look at these people who were casting blame without reason, the female manager—dressed in a white suit—felt upon first sight that something was off about Shen Zhaoxi.

"Following people all the way into the hotel like a lunatic."

Although the Golden Wind and Jade Dew Building was a resort, it was also an integrated hot spring hotel. Being tracked all the way here by obsessive fans was a thoroughly irritating nuisance. It seemed their schedule had leaked to the paparazzi yet again.

"Where are the resort security guards?"

"Go call the hotel security over."

"Is this the kind of place just anyone can wander into off the street?"

The consumption here was exorbitant, and the resort's environment was top-tier, meaning the people visiting were exclusively members of the capital's upper class. In other words, intruders who had sneaked in like this had no business appearing here.

"Forget it, Sister Zhuyu, I don't think she did it on purpose," the woman said, casting a glance at Shen Zhaoxi with an upturned red lip and a gentle, pleasant voice.

"And you're just planning to let her off like that?" The female manager looked thoroughly displeased and formidable. "These days, if you don't teach these obsessive fans a lesson, they never learn when to stop! To think they even managed to dig up your private itinerary. Who knows what else they might pull."

Primarily, because Shen Zhaoxi was wearing a headset and looked as though she were communicating with someone while tracking them, the female manager's eyes were filled with guarded hostility and reprimand.

Hearing the sudden interruption, Sheng Ting raised an eyebrow on the other end of the earpiece and instantly understood. It seemed she had run into trouble.

At that moment, the woman standing before Shen Zhaoxi looked her over once more and said, "Never mind, let's forgive her this time."

With an understanding look, the woman even stepped slightly closer to Shen Zhaoxi and advised, "Don't ever pull a stunt like this again. If there's a next time, you'll be handed over to the police."

"Let's go."

With that, she put her sunglasses back on and walked away with her manager in tow. Before leaving, the manager shot one last suspicious glare in Shen Zhaoxi's direction, as if guarding against any potential mischief.

Shen Zhaoxi's gaze turned cold. Ignoring the departing woman, she crossed the corridor and walked swiftly to the second-floor window of the hotel, lowering her gaze to scan the various passageways of the resort below.

At every single checkpoint, men in plain black clothes were stationed on watch.

Inside VIP room 219 of the resort, every window was under surveillance.

"Have their people gone inside?" Shen Zhaoxi lowered her voice, and her subordinate's voice came through the Bluetooth earpiece.

"Chief, they're all inside."

"Keep an eye on every intersection. Make sure no one gets close—"

"Yes!"

Shen Zhaoxi glanced at the fading daylight, withdrew her gaze, and turned back toward the hallway.

"Execute!" she commanded coldly.

*Bang!*

"Who are you?"

"What do you think you're doing!"

"Don't move!"

Instantly, more than a dozen men in plainclothes—wearing black suits and Bluetooth earpieces—rushed in with pistols drawn and surrounded the room.

Around the lavish banquet table sat roughly five or six people.

"Audacious!" the man sitting at the head of the table roared with authority, slamming his hand onto the table and glaring fiercely at the intruders. At first glance, he had assumed plainclothes police officers had come to arrest people right to his doorstep. "Do you have any idea who I am?" he demanded, scowling at the people who had abruptly burst in to disrupt him.

"You're the Deputy Chief of the First District Intelligence Bureau, aren't you?" Sheng Ting stepped forward and slapped a document down onto the table with a sharp *thwack*.

The person displayed on the cover of the file was none other than him, complete with a confidential archive photograph.

"It's me," the man said, frowning, his expression shifting slightly as he looked at Sheng Ting. "On what grounds are you arresting me?"

Even now, he had yet to realize what was about to befall him.

"The charge of treason. Is that enough?"

Suddenly, a cold voice rang out, carrying an overwhelmingly oppressive presence.

The next second, the room door was violently shoved open.

A young woman stood framed in the doorway, a black suit jacket draped over her shoulders, her dark hair gathered loosely, her brow and eyes severe.

Shen Zhaoxi's cold eyes locked onto the man.

Little did he know that the people surrounding him were no plainclothes police officers at all.

They were members of the military, standing rigidly at attention with straight spines.

"You...?" The man froze in shock.