Chapter 323: A Silver Tongue

In the afternoon, Jiang Lai found time to go to Hexin Yiyuan to see Lin Shutong.

Lin Shutong's injuries were much worse than Ke Zhongyu's, with a bandage wrapped around her forehead, a cast on her leg, and thick bandages on her arm.

Seeing her, Lin Shutong was not surprised.

She said, "The police have already come to question me; brake failure isn't my problem, it was just an accident."

Jiang Lai saw through her feigned calm.

"If it was an accident, why are you so uneasy?"

Lin Shutong's unease stems from the Ke family's intimidation; her current situation is hardly better than being convicted and imprisoned.

Hatred for Jiang Lai flickered in the depths of her eyes.

"Can't you see? What's the difference between the Ke family now and putting me under house arrest? The Ke family are aristocrats and the powerful; crushing us lowly folk is as easy as stepping on ants. Jiang Lai, Ke Zhongyu clearly got hurt saving you—why does the Ke family blame me for this?"

She almost shouted the last words, then coughed violently, turning her originally pale face red.

Jiang Lai wasn't led by her nose; after opening the recorder in her bag, she asked, "Why did you drive into me?"

Lin Shutong: "I already said it was brake failure!"

She wasn't fooled.

Jiang Lai continued, "Do you suspect that I'm the one behind what happened to Ji Lao?"

Lin Shutong glared at her: "Isn't it?"

Jiang Lai spoke calmly: "No."

Lin Shutong sneered, "Who would believe that? Besides you, who else would want me and my grandfather to meet misfortune? Because I stole your man, and because my grandfather always targets you at the research institute!"

Jiang Lai: "Shen Xun has already been given to you; I don't need trash."

Lin Shutong chuckled lightly: "You should let Ah Xun come listen, listen to how the person he likes evaluates him."

Jiang Lai: "I don't mind."

When you don't care about something, it can never hurt you.

Jiang Lai continued asking, "You suspect I reported Ji Lao, so you think I deserve to die."

"Don't you deserve to die?" Lin Shutong blurted out.

Jiang Lai pressed her advantage: "So you want to run me over."

Lin Shutong opened her mouth.

The next second, she abruptly stopped herself.

She suddenly smiled: "You're deliberately provoking me; I won't fall for it. I really do hate you because of my grandfather's affair, but the brake failure has nothing to do with me."

She still said the same thing.

It seems Lin Shutong has prepared this for a long time; these excuses have been deeply implanted in her mind.

Jiang Lai changed the subject: "After your car accident, it was Shen Xun who sent you to the hospital."

"Right." Lin Shutong looked at Jiang Lai with a hint of provocation in her eyes, "Ah Xun ultimately still stands on my side."

It's not about helping her; it's about standing with her.

So Shen Xun must know something.

Having figured it out, Jiang Lai got up, left Lin Shutong's ward, and upon stepping outside ran into the dust‑covered Gu Zhiyan.

Fate narrows the road for enemies.

Gu Zhiyan stopped, his gaze toward Jiang Lai as cold as a blade, piercing her.

"It's you." Gu Zhiyan questioned coldly, "You and Ke Zhongyu reported Ji Lao."

Jiang Lai: "You're the only lawyer I've ever met who speaks without evidence, opening with slander; it's a miracle your career hasn't been ruined."

A silver tongue.

It's practically learned from Ke Zhongyu.

Gu Zhiyan has already heard about Ke Zhongyu's social‑media post; his mother at home has begun worrying over his sister's marriage to Ke Zhongyu because of it.

Jiang Lai, by her own power, has disrupted the lives of the woman he loves and the sister he dotes on.

"My career isn't your concern; rather, you should worry about yourself. You can't tolerate the petty grudges of seniors in the circle—how long can you last in it?"

"And as for you and Ke Zhongyu, does just dating make everything fine? The Gu and Nian families have been allied since the founding of the country, old family friends; the Nian and Gu families have a marriage alliance, and among the unmarried in the Nian family only Ke Zhongyu remains, so my sister and Ke Zhongyu will certainly marry—your love can't overcome the elders."

Just like him, for thirty years he's only been able to follow the elders' arrangements.

"Unless Ke Zhongyu is willing to give up everything for you." Gu Zhiyan snorted coldly.

Ke Zhongyu is not him.

Ke Zhongyu holds the entire commercial empire, his power and status radiating domestically and abroad.

"Ke Zhongyu doesn't need to give up everything for me." Jiang Lai stared at Gu Zhiyan, who puffed up like a fighting cock provoking her, "Needing a partner to sacrifice everything for you is just your own inadequacy."

When she chose to be with Ke Zhongyu, she already had a preliminary solution in mind for their class issue.

Teaching at A Da is her first step.

Two people walk their own path together.

Gu Zhiyan didn't expect Jiang Lai to hear about Ke Zhongyu's engagement and remain unmoved—it was like punching cotton, futile and infuriating.

"You're still overestimating yourself, a grassroots upstart daring to challenge the powerful." Gu Zhiyan tossed off that line, brushed past her, strode into the ward, and the tone that had been razor‑sharp instantly dulled when faced with the injured Lin Shutong in bed.

Jiang Lai ignored Gu Zhiyan.

She wanted to find Shen Xun.

But before going to find Shen Xun, she had to return to her home on Yanping Road to retrieve a chip Ke Zhongyu had once handed her.

A chip concerning Shen Xun.

Since everyone is muddying these waters, she might as well jump in—who knows, there could be an unexpected gain.

Thinking of Ke Zhongyu's injury, Jiang Lai felt uneasy.

……

Shen Xun received a call from the front desk saying a woman surnamed Jiang was looking for him.

Shen Xun was obviously stunned.

"Jiang? Which Jiang?"

The front desk's inquiry came through the phone, and Jiang Lai's answer followed.

"The Jiang of ginger."

The front desk was about to tell Manager Shen, but who knew Manager Shen had already hung up.

The front desk was about to send her away when Manager Shen came running over, looking anxious and breathing heavily.

"Manager Shen?"

"Jiang Lai, you, how did you come here?" Shen Xun had just run over, wind had gotten into his throat, making it dry and sore.

But he didn't have time to worry, afraid Jiang Lai would leave, he immediately said: "Let's go sit over there."

He then turned and told the front desk to bring water to the reception room.

After sitting down, Shen Xun placed his hands on his knees, feeling nervous as if meeting someone important for the first time, his eyes full of cautiousness.

Jiang Lai got straight to the point: "You were also at the car accident scene, and Lin Shutong was the hospital you sent her to; I came to ask you, do you know whether Lin Shutong did it on purpose?"

Shen Xun immediately recalled the sentence Lin Shutong had blurted out when faced with his questioning.

"She ruined my family, left me homeless; shouldn't she die?"

That was absolutely spoken from the heart.

The car accident was deliberately caused by Lin Shutong.

But……

Shen Xun took a sip of water to soothe his throat: "You came for Ke Zhongyu; Ke Zhongyu got injured, and Ke Zhongyu made your relationship public."

Although the two things seemed unrelated, they were actually Shen Xun's deep-seated jealousy.

At that time, sending Lin Shutong to the hospital was out of guilt.

He didn't step forward because the injured person wasn't Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai didn't waste words with him; instead, she took out a document and pushed it toward Shen Xun.

"Lin Shutong's miscarriage was a procedure performed at Hexin Yiyuan; her report shows the cause was not just a fall, but also medication."