Chapter 1066: Fighting Over the Inheritance

"Thank you for your favor, Uncle President, but I am too young to shoulder such an important responsibility. If you would allow me to stay by your side to serve tea and water, I would be deeply grateful."

Chen Ran's humility made the President even happier.

In fact, that remark just now was also a test; the President would not hand a position as important as Finance Minister to a child who was not yet seventeen.

But he couldn't show no reaction at all, after all, Madam Chen had handed over half of the family assets.

If there were no response at all, he feared it would chill the hearts of the people.

"You are young, yet you are neither arrogant nor impetuous, which is very rare. It would be a grievance to have you serve tea and water. How about this, I am still missing an assistant; you come and be my assistant."

Chen Ran was secretly delighted; this move had been the right one.

He had gone to great lengths to persuade his mother to donate half of their assets, all for this very moment.

He struck while the iron was hot: "Thank you, Uncle President, but then you would be missing someone to serve tea and water. I have a very close neighbor, Brother Zhu Qingxiang, who is mature and steady in his work, and does not speak much. Could he come?"

This was the second step in his plan.

By getting his brother Zhu Qingxiang into the Presidential Palace, with the President as a protective umbrella, he would no longer fear the Sheng Family making trouble.

Even if the matter were exposed, the President would protect his brother's safety; otherwise, it would be the biggest scandal in L Country, and the President would lose face.

Chen Ran thought his plan was seamless... if he hadn't met Shi Youxuan.

After Minister Chen was buried.

Several of the older Chen children took their stepmother to court, demanding a redistribution of the inheritance.

But the court acted contrary to its usual behavior and refused to accept the case!

Unable to swallow this, the group returned to the old mansion and smashed everything in the house to pieces.

Unsurprisingly, this incident made the headlines again.

Before their father's body was even cold, the Chen family was fighting over the inheritance. The Chen family was now at the center of the storm, and news about them even overshadowed public opinion news.

The vast number of onlookers were overwhelmed; for the past few days, everything being passed around the streets and alleys was about the Chen family.

Shi Youxuan held a newspaper, sitting there in deep thought for a long time.

"I have a way. I'm going out."

She turned and went out.

The eldest son of the Chen family told his younger brother and sister mysteriously: "Madam Sheng wants to meet with us. Shall we see her?"

"Madam Sheng? Is that Madam Sheng from the Dingsheng Group?"

"Yes, who else could it be besides her?"

"Let's meet her. Maybe she has a way to help us," the sister said.

The second brother was a bit hesitant: "Would she have the kindness to help us? When Father was alive, he had a bad impression of the Sheng Family. The Sheng Family and the Qi Family are particularly close. Don't forget that Qi Heng is the murderer who killed Father."

The eldest brother said: "Not necessarily. None of us were there at the time, and we don't know what the situation was in the house. Everything we heard was one-sided from that woman; no one can guarantee that what she said wasn't a lie."

The three of them discussed it for a long time and finally agreed—the enemy of an enemy can be a friend.

What if she had a way to deal with that woman and her son?

A coffee shop.

Inside a very luxurious private room, the three Chen children met with Shi Youxuan.

Shi Youxuan didn't waste words and got straight to the point: "The maid Marie by Madam Chen's side is a man, and the relationship between the two of them is not simple."

The three of them were so shocked their eyeballs almost fell out: "No way?"

"How do you know?"

"You can't just say things like that. How could she possibly be a man?"

The "maid" by their stepmother's side was actually a man!

This was too much information; they were stunned by it.

She smiled slightly: "It's not difficult to figure this out. As for the process, I don't need to tell you, do I?"

They didn't need the process; they knew how.

The problem was, if it were fake, their already meager reputation would drop to the very bottom.

"What if it isn't true?"

"Exactly. If you're trying to trick us, we're the only ones who lose anything, and you lose nothing."

The group still couldn't believe it—not because they felt bad for their father being cuckolded by that woman, but because this matter had exceeded the scope of their understanding.

It is difficult for people to believe things that exceed their scope of understanding, unless the truth has already come to light and there is conclusive evidence.

Shi Youxuan was not annoyed and stated calmly: "If it isn't true, do you lose anything? But if it is true, is there any benefit for you?"

The three of them put their heads together to discuss it.

Although the Chen children were not very smart, they weren't entirely stupid either.

Soon, the three decided—cooperate!

The group arrived home aggressively, only to find that the maid by Madam Chen's side was gone.

"Where is Marie?"

Madam Chen was alert: "Why are you asking about her?"

"Nothing, just asking."

"She went back to her hometown. Times are different now; your father is gone, and I can't afford so many people. The household is downsizing, so I laid Marie off."

"Where is her hometown?"

"I don't know."

"You're lying! You're her personal maid, and you don't even know her background?" The eldest sister was very angry and insisted that the stepmother hand Marie over. If she didn't, it meant she had something to hide.

Madam Chen was no pushover and called the police directly.

However, she overlooked one thing: after reporting to the police, the police had to investigate the cause, and the several stepchildren exposed their suspicion that Marie was a man and had an illicit relationship with their stepmother.

This matter spread like wildfire and soon became the talk of L Country.

The juicy gossip from Minister Chen's household came in wave after wave, leaving the masses of onlookers overwhelmed.

With the maid in the Chen household finally exposed to the public, people began to wonder if there was some hidden truth behind Minister Chen's murder.

Just at this moment, the audio recording of Qi Heng's statement was suddenly leaked.

He confessed that upon arriving at Chen Fu, a tall, delicate-featured maid led him to the Study.

He sat in the Study for a while, and then he knew nothing more...

If this incident hadn't occurred, his statement would surely have been dismissed as lies and sophistry.

But since the three Chen children exposed the affair between their stepmother and the maid, and that the maid was not a woman but a man in disguise, the matter became worth pondering.

The Vice President seized the opportunity to pressure the police station, demanding a reinvestigation.

The police visited again, demanding to see that original maid to verify their identity.

Madam Chen claimed at one moment that the maid was in the countryside, then that Marie had stolen her money and run away, and then that the person was dead.

In any case, her story was full of holes, and when she truly couldn't justify herself, she "fainted" away.

When a mother's reputation is damaged, the one directly affected is her son.

The President had his Secretary notify Chen Ran: "The matter of working at the Presidential Palace should be put on hold for now; he is still young, and should focus on his studies."

This was effectively a rejection.

If he had no chance, Zhu Qingxiang had even less!

Chen Ran returned to Chen Fu.

The young master, who had not been seen for a long time, had returned, and the butler went to report to the mistress: "Madam, the young master is back."

"Quick, have him come over."

"Ranran, my son, you must stand up for your mother; in the few days you were gone, I was almost torn to pieces by those wolf cubs, sob sob sob..." She wept in a miserable and sorrowful manner.