Chapter 1123: Pressing the Advantage

At this time, Su Shoudao still hadn't figured out what major event had occurred.

So he looked toward Su Laoyezi and pressed: "Dad, what exactly happened?"

Su Laoyezi let out a soft sigh, saying with deep regret: "Ah... it's about Ruoli..."

Su Shoudao urgently asked: "Have you found Ruoli's whereabouts?!"

Su Laoyezi shook his head: "Not yet... Shoudao, regarding Ruoli, Dad needs to apologize to you... and I hope you can forgive Dad..."

Su Shoudao hadn't expected his grandfather to apologize to him, so he quickly said: "Dad, why are you doing this... if there's something, just say it; even if we ultimately fail to save Ruoli, I won't blame you..."

Su Shoudao also felt that, in trying to save Su Ruoli, his grandfather had indeed put in considerable effort.

But this matter itself is indeed extremely difficult, and it happened in Japan, so the Su family is powerless to intervene; if any accident occurred during the rescue leading to failure, or even resulting in Su Ruoli's unfortunate death, that would indeed be understandable.

Su Laoyezi then sighed deeply: "Ah... I'm just an old fool in this matter! Rescuing Ruoli was inherently extremely difficult, and Ruoli committed grave crimes in Japan—this is fundamentally not something money can solve..."

As he spoke, his eye sockets reddened, and he choked with shame: "Shoudao, I know it's hard to rescue Ruoli, so I reached a secret agreement with the high-ranking officials of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces..."

Su Shoudao was stunned and blurted: "An agreement?! What agreement?! How could you reach an agreement with the Self-Defense Forces?! Ruoli and over fifty other masters were captured by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces!"

Su Laoyezi lamented: "Ah, I was also acting on the principle of maximizing benefits, so I wanted to stage a play with the Self-Defense Forces—on one hand, to let them gain further merit before Japanese society and establish a good cooperative relationship with us; on the other hand, to stabilize the He family. In short, everything was done for the benefit of the Su family..."

Su Shoudao stared in disbelief: "Dad, what exactly do you mean? Are you saying that saving Ruoli was just a performance?!"

Su Laoyezi said in anguish: "I also have my difficulties!"

Su Shoudao struggled to control his emotions and asked: "You've been talking about news pushes all along—what exactly is this news push?!"

Su Laoyezi gave a glance to his second son, Su Shoude, who immediately handed his phone to Su Shoudao and said: "Big brother, take a look at this article first."

Su Shoudao took the phone and read it carefully, word by word.

After finishing the article, Su Shoudao nearly went berserk.

"This old bastard actually used my biological daughter as a bargaining chip to curry favor with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces! Does he still have half a shred of humanity?"

"No wonder Du Haiqing knew about Su Ruoli's situation! No wonder she suddenly wanted to divorce me! It turns out everything was uncovered by Japan's National Security Bureau!"

Thinking back to how his wife Du Haiqing, because of the Su Ruoli matter, had resolutely left home and demanded a divorce, combined with this shocking news like a bolt from the blue, Su Shoudao could barely stand.

He glared at Su Laoyezi and shouted angrily: "Ruoli is your granddaughter! How could you do this?! Don't you know that because of your actions, Ruoli's life or death is unknown, and Haiqing wants to divorce me?! Why did you do this? Why?!"

Su Laoyezi said earnestly: "Shoudao! Even if I hadn't done this, we still couldn't possibly rescue Ruoli!"

Su Shoudao gritted his teeth and countered: "If rescuing Ruoli is impossible, does that mean we must use her as a pawn in a performance?! Must we use her to curry favor with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces?!"

Seeing Su Shoudao's terrible attitude, Su Laoyezi couldn't help but frown slightly, his tone turning icy: "I said it—I did all this for the benefit of the Su family!"

Su Shoudao couldn't contain his anger and roared: "The Su family's benefit?! Does that mean we can sacrifice my daughter's life for the Su family's benefit?!"

Su Laoyezi coldly replied: "Don't forget—she's merely an illegitimate daughter whose identity cannot be acknowledged!"

Su Shoudao shouted back: "So what if she's illegitimate? She's still my daughter, Su Shoudao!"

Su Laoyezi, equally enraged, retorted: "What? Are you questioning my decision?! Do you want to settle scores with me later?!"

Su Shoudao said through gritted teeth: "It's precisely because you staged this farce that my biological daughter has gone missing, and my wife wants to divorce me!"

Su Laoyezi said coldly: "Don't think I'm the one who harmed Ruoli—the real culprit is you!"

"If you hadn't let her exterminate the Matsumoto clan, the Japanese government wouldn't hate her to the bone!"

"Your biological daughter became Japan's top wanted criminal precisely because she carried out your orders!"

"Given the crimes you made her commit, under Japanese law, she certainly cannot escape death!"

"So remember—this is all your fault! You harmed her! Not me!"

Upon hearing this, Su Shoudao's expression was as if struck by lightning, then instantly overwhelmed by profound shame.

What Su Laoyezi said was correct.

If it weren't for his insistence on exterminating the Matsumoto clan, Su Ruoli would never have ended up this way!

Therefore, when he heard this, his inner anger instantly dissipated somewhat due to shame and self-reproach.

Seeing a chance to turn the tide, Su Laoyezi immediately pressed his advantage, shouting fiercely: "So even if I hadn't staged this, Su Ruoli would still have no chance of survival! How can you say I harmed her? Even if she ultimately didn't survive, the primary responsibility lies with you, not me!"

"On the contrary, precisely because I staged this, I actually gave Su Ruoli a chance to survive!"

"You should know—she's currently missing! This proves she's neither in the hands of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police nor the Japanese Self-Defense Forces; she might even find an opportunity to survive!"

Su Shoudao slumped utterly.

He also knew that, given Su Ruoli's crimes, within Japan's judicial system, only the death penalty is possible; Laoyezi is right—if Ruoli truly died, over half the blame would fall on him.

At this moment, Su Laoyezi continued in a cold tone: "As for Du Haiqing, if she wants to divorce you, let her divorce!"

"Unlike us, the Du family holds high positions and cares deeply about reputation; your having an illegitimate daughter exposed would, even if Haiqing didn't divorce you, certainly prompt the Du family to pressure her into divorcing you for the sake of face."

"Anyway, the Du family has already fulfilled its historical mission toward the Su family; in the future, we won't need anything from them, so divorce might not be a bad thing."

Su Shoudao said despondently: "But my feelings for Haiqing come from the depths of my heart..."

"I know." Su Laoyezi snorted coldly, then asked: "Do you know where I'm most dissatisfied with you?"

Su Shoudao shook his head blankly.

Su Laoyezi shouted: "What I'm most dissatisfied with is how servile you are before Du Haiqing! As a man of the Su family, how can you be so abject before a woman?!"