Late at night in Jiang villa, Jiang Weiyuan stepped into his room as he returned from his short trip to the base. The room was dark and he quietly walked towards the bathroom.

"You are late."

His wife's voice echoed in the night's silence. He paused in his steps.

"And you smell of blood."

Jiang Ninghong switched on the bedside lamp. She was leaning on the bed with her arms folded as she stared at her husband.

He turned to face her and quietly said, "It was messy tonight."

She raised her brow.

"Li is in even more of a bad state than me. He was the one who tortured Wen Yaoting and that goon after all."

"I don't like the smell and you know it."

"There is no bathroom in the base."

Jiang Ninghong shook her head. "Are they dead?"

"Alive. For now. It will be painful."

"What about Shi Ruomei?"

"Haven't touched her yet. Dealing with those two made us already so late."

"Take a quick shower. I have called Ruiling to meet us."

He nodded.

Ten minutes later, they heard a knock on their room's door and Ruiling stepped in. She quietly stood before them. "Mom, Dad."

Jiang Ninghong stared at her daughter and then at the ring on her ring finger. "The ring looks beautiful on you."

"Thank you, Mom," she smiled.

"But it is not something that you achieved on your own."

Silence.

"I want to know what went wrong. The mistake that you admitted in front of all the guests tonight, was it true or a bluff?"

She pursed her lips. "It was true."

Jiang Weiyuan narrowed his eyes. "Jiang Ruiling."

She straightened up.

"Was that your plan of achieving marriage with Shen Yang?"

"...Yes."

"Then you have disappointed us."

Her eyelids trembled and she lowered her head.

"If that was your plan of getting what you want, then I regret leaving the matter up to you. You really thought that people thinking of you as a compromised woman was the best solution?"

Jiang Ruiling clenched her dress guiltily. "Mom, Dad. I am really sorry. I understand my plan had a lot of flaws and more than that, it was morally wrong."

Jiang Ninghong observed her expressions and slowly asked, "What changed your mind? What made you realize this?"

"Jiang Li- sister-in-law."

Just as they thought, it was related to Lihua. The more surprising part was that she was addressing Lihua as her sister-in-law now.

"Tell us everything from the beginning."

Jiang Ruiling narrated the whole incident of Lihua, the car attacking the goon first and then Wei and Lihua finding out about the mess. She said how it was all Lihua's plan to turn the situation in their favor.

"It was her idea to let me admit my plot against Wen Yaoting in front of everyone. It would surely cause a backlash at first, which it did, but if we played the cards right, then she said that she had the confidence to solve the problem I was in."

The parents stared at her.

"I still cannot believe that it actually worked out."

Jiang Ninghong said, "Interesting...You seem quite impressed by her. But don't you think that she might have helped you out of her own selfishness of her challenge?"

She smiled. "I did think that. That's why I asked her to stop poking into my matter. She had offered her help, but I had declined. Cousin was really angry at me."

Jiang Weiyuan slightly widened his eyes in surprise. "Wei was... angry at you?"

"Yes. He even said that he will punish Shen Yang because I insulted her. I somehow stopped him, but he declared that he won't help me and neither will he let sister-in-law aid me if I get into trouble. In fact...even tonight, he already knew that Shi Ruomei and Wen Yaoting had colluded together to ruin my plan, except the fact that he ordered the goon to attack me at the last moment," she cleared his throat, "True to his word, cousin didn't warn me at all."

She said what Wei had told her.

Jiang Weiyuan narrowed his eyes. "I do agree with him. But then why did Lixue help you if he didn't want it?"

Jiang Ruiling blinked her eyes. "That's because he cannot say no to her. Plus, sister-in-law was mad at him for hiding their intentions and keeping quiet. He is quite a doting husband. She said that she would help me and he immediately nodded."

Jiang Weiyuan and Jiang Ninghong - "..."

A soft smile curled her lips. She also explained how Lihua berated her for making this plan that would have only hurt her and her family in the long run.

The elders were once again surprised as they stared at her. "She said all this?"

"En."

Jiang Ninghong said, "To think that a woman younger than you had to make you understand this simple point makes me disappointed in you."

Jiang Ruiling bit her lower lip.

"I thought that you had a good strategy in mind, but in the end, it was Lixue who had to save you and that too without harming your reputation. She got Old Madam's approval for Shen Yang without anybody pointing their fingers at you. In fact, not just Old Madam but the whole circle gave Shen Yang their resounding agreement. I have to admit it. She has some spark in her. Rectifying your mistake wasn't an easy task."

Jiang Weiyuan said, "As expected of her."

Jiang Ruiling frowned. "What do you mean?"

"As expected of Lixue to be this capable. Wei married her and my brother accepted her as his daughter-in-law too. It already proved to me that was the right choice. She did a fine job in freeing Xiurang and now she had the brains to pull you out of the pinch."

Jiang Ninghong chuckled. "Don't forget how she scolded you and brother-in-law Weizhe for not helping sister-in-law. Not many people in this world can scold Jiang family's members."

His lips straightened into a thin line.

*Knock knock*

Jiang Ruiling asked, "Who is it at this time?"

Jiang Ninghong smiled. "Lixue. I called her to meet us too."

She opened the door and Lihua's face popped in. "Hello! I got Aunt's message that you wanted to meet me?"

Jiang Weiyuan said, "Come inside and shut the door."

Lihua stepped inside holding a small furry animal in her hand.

"Heheee. I hope you don't mind me bringing Lihua too."

"She is most welcome here. After all, she saved Ruiling tonight. We are in her debt," Jiang Weiyuan said.

*Meowww*

Lihua, the cat sensed the praises and had a pleased expression on her face.

Jiang Ruiling cleared her throat. "Can I hold her?"

Lihua beamed. "Why not!"

Lihua, the cat, grimaced.

Don't just agree on my behalf, dumb human!

Jiang Ruiling slowly extended her arms. Lihua, the cat narrowed her green eyes. She had no interest in this, but in the end, she still jumped into her arms.

This is the last time that I am entertaining you like this!

Jiang Ruiling brightened and patted her furry head.

"She is so cute."

Jiang Ninghong said, "Lixue. I just called to thank you for helping Ruiling tonight. She told us everything that happened."

Jiang Weiyuan nodded. "We are grateful for your help."

Lihua quickly said, "Oh no, no! You don't have to thank me. Jiang Ruiling is like my sister. Of course, I had to help her," she coughed, "Actually, I should apologize on Wei's behalf. He knew everything, but he said nothing."

"You don't have to. We understood where he was coming from."

She sheepishly grinned.

Then it struck her. "Oh yes! I wanted to know one thing."

"What is it?"

"Wei said that it was Jiang Li who brought Mu Qing and exposed Wen Yaoting. He arranged all the evidence. But how did he do that in such a short time?"

The trio looked at each other in surprise.

"Which also reminds me of another thing. Uncle and Aunt seemed comfortable in quickly accepting Shen Yang. I thought that maybe you two had the same thoughts as Old Madam. That's why you agreed for Wen Yaoting and then Jiang Ruiling had to plan everything alone."

Silence.

Jiang Ruiling asked, "You don't know? I thought my cousin told you."

She innocently asked, "Told me what?"

Jiang Weiyuan calmly said, "We already knew of Ruiling and Shen Yang's feelings for each other."

Her eyes popped out of her sockets as she stared at them, stupefied. "Huh? Huh? What?"

"Yes. That is exactly why I transferred Shen Yang's position to be Ruiling's bodyguard."

She was dumbfounded.

"Huhhhh???"

Jiang Ninghong said, "At first, he was just a bodyguard, and then he became the chief. But then we noticed their feelings for each other. Weiyuan decided to make him Ruiling's personal bodyguard so that they could spend more time together. As for Li. We knew that Ruiling was planning something to stop this engagement. To silently support her in the background, Li was ready with his investigation to make our side even stronger against him."

Lihua stammered. "S-so you two hadn't really agreed for Wen Yaoting?"

She smiled. "Of course not. But it wasn't easy to make Old Madam change her mind until something drastic happened. She is the Matriarch of this family. Even if Ruiling is our daughter, we don't have much say because she makes all the decisions."