Chapter 715

Li Chen had stayed with the Shuyski family for quite some time.

During this period, his gains had been considerable.

Not only had he completely won over Olga and Lyudmila, two sisters with vastly different personalities yet equally alluring, but also, through Olga’s highly effective missionary efforts,

he had smoothly “accepted” several beautiful noblewomen and young ladies from the Shuyski family—some drawn by reputation, others inspired by the “Glory of the Witch Ancestor.”

His villa was filled with nightly revelry, thick with an air of seduction.

Yet within this territory that seemed entirely under his control, one “ice block” remained unmelted—that was the sisters’ mother, the still-graceful Mikhailovna.

No matter how wildly Li Chen caroused with her daughters and other women in the villa, no matter how scandalous the noises he made, this anxious noblewoman steadfastly held to her final boundary.

She was like a lioness startled yet dutiful, pacing anxiously at the edge of her den, watching for danger, yet never stepping into the vortex itself.

All his overt or covert hints, all his provocative and threatening “excessive demands,” she had gritted her teeth, forced calm, and rebuffed—never yielding.

Li Chen rubbed his chin, beginning to reflect on his strategy.

He realized that perhaps, in Mikhailovna’s eyes, since her two daughters had already fallen and become his, her own “sacrifice” to secure their safety would make no logical sense.

Moreover, the women who had already submitted to him—willingly or unwillingly—might have lost all “redemption value” in her eyes; after all, among nobility, such affairs, though disgraceful, were not uncommon.

“It seems a new ‘stimulus’ is needed,” Li Chen’s eyes flickered with calculation. “I need a target she truly cares about, one I have not yet tainted. If I act against it before her eyes, will she still watch indifferently, as she does now?”

His gaze quickly settled on the perfect candidate: Dmitri’s wife, Valentina.

This sister-in-law, famed for her sharp tongue and dazzling beauty, held a unique status within the family.

She was deeply favored by her mother-in-law Mikhailovna, for it was Mikhailovna herself who had arranged the marriage.

Valentina had been raised almost under Mikhailovna’s own eyes; their bond was as close as mother and daughter, and she was the very image of the obedient, intelligent, perfectly matched “virtuous daughter-in-law” in Mikhailovna’s heart.

Precisely because of Mikhailovna’s favor and protection, Valentina dared to be so arrogant and domineering within the family—even going out of her way to mock her nominal son-in-law, Leonid.

“It’s her,” Li Chen’s lips curled into a sly smile. “Targeting this beloved sister-in-law will yield extraordinary results.”

With the plan settled, Li Chen began seeking an opportunity. He did not rush to use supernatural means, but chose a more “natural” approach.

That afternoon, sunlight filtered through dense maple leaves, casting dappled shadows along the garden path.

Li Chen timed his stroll perfectly, “accidentally” encountering Valentina, who was picking flowers to decorate the parlor.

“Good day, honored Wizard,” Valentina paused slightly upon seeing Li Chen, then softened her usual sharpness and bowed formally.

Though she had heard whispers behind his back about his liaisons with the family’s women and dismissed them as nonsense, to her face, she treated this guest—whom even the Ancestor seemed to fear—with caution.