119: Chapter 119 Li Juan's Question, Zhu Wenhao's Choice

The meal ended, and the leftover dishes were cleared away.

Li Zhenguo, after all, was advanced in years and his energy was flagging slightly. Supported by Butler Wang Jianan, he slowly walked to the inner room for a midday nap.

In the main hall, Secretary Zhu Tianhe neatly organized his briefcase.

He had to go to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection compound to find Executive Deputy Secretary Guo Changchun, in order to completely settle the old accounts of Linjiang City's Chengnan New District through official organizational procedures.

"Father, once you arrive at the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, only speak of procedural oversight. Do not mention a single word of any other speculation."

Zhu Wenhao escorted Secretary Zhu Tianhe to the courtyard gate and offered this reminder.

"The Discipline Inspection Commission prioritizes a closed loop of evidence when handling cases. Once you seal your own link of the loop, leave the remaining mess for them to dig through themselves."

Secretary Zhu Tianhe nodded in agreement, patted his son on the shoulder, got into his official car, and drove away.

Watching his father's taillights disappear at the end of the tree-lined avenue of the Cadre Retirement Home, Zhu Wenhao turned around and adjusted the collar of his jacket.

Just as he slipped his car key onto his finger, the sound of high heels echoed from behind him.

Li Juan, draped in a camel-colored cashmere shawl and carrying an unbranded handbag, walked quickly out of the house.

"Zhu Wenhao, don't leave just yet," she called out to stop him.

Zhu Wenhao stopped in his tracks. "Mother, are there other arrangements?"

"I made an appointment with Deputy Director Liu Qiang's wife, who is also Ruobing's mother, to have afternoon tea together."

"Since it's on your way, give me a ride."

The spouse of the deputy director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

This was no mere afternoon tea; it was a clear and open matchmaking session.

With both families' parents making overtures in the provincial capital, what would follow next was as clear as day.

Zhu Wenhao saw right through this intention but did not expose it to her face. He walked to the passenger side, pulled open the door, and responded with a single word:

"Alright."

The Audi drove smoothly out of the southern suburbs and merged into the broad main road of Jingjiang City.

It was very quiet inside the car.

After passing through two traffic lights, Li Juan turned her head and studied her son, who was driving attentively.

Since when had this former troublemaker, who used to do nothing but stir up mischief, become so calm and steady?

"Zhu Wenhao, do you feel that your mother is too utilitarian, or even a bit ruthless in how she does things?" Li Juan was the first to break the silence.

Zhu Wenhao kept his eyes on the road ahead, both hands on the steering wheel.

"No. You surely have your reasons for doing things, Mother."

"Zhu Wenhao, have you ever considered a certain issue?" Li Juan rested her handbag on her lap. "The issue of the labels attached to you and Su Qinghan."

Encountering a red light, the car slowly came to a halt before the stop line.

"From the moment everyone is born, they carry a label."

Li Juan looked at the bustling crowd of ordinary people outside the window.

"No matter how hard you work or how much you want to change, this label of birth cannot be removed. It is a brand brought from the womb."

Zhu Wenhao did not reply, quietly waiting for her to continue.

"Perhaps when you become strong to a certain degree, people will downplay your label because of your noble status, or choose to remain silent about it."

Li Juan turned her head, her gaze falling on Zhu Wenhao's profile.

"It's just like the fairy tale 'The Emperor's New Clothes.' Everyone discovers that the emperor is wearing nothing, but except for that naive little girl who doesn't know any better, no one will stand up to question it."

"Because they cannot afford the price of pointing out the truth."

The light turned green, and the car started up again, crossing the intersection.

"Mother, I will manage my own personal issues," Zhu Wenhao responded. "What you say makes sense. However, as you just mentioned, once a person is strong to a certain extent, this label will naturally be forgotten. As long as one is strong enough, the rules will change accordingly."

"Then how long will you have to go through? Ten years, twenty years, or thirty years?" Li Juan countered. "These are all uncertain things. The path of officialdom is treacherous at every step, and a single slip can lead to a bottomless abyss."

She gave Zhu Wenhao no room to evade.

"For instance, if you weren't the son of Linjiang Municipal Party Committee Deputy Secretary Zhu Tianhe, and if your maternal grandfather weren't the former number three figure of the Provincial Party Committee, Li Zhenguo..."

"Do you think you would still be like a fish in water in Linjiang City and at the Provincial Party School as you are now?"

Zhu Wenhao had no way to refute this; what Li Juan said was an objective fact.

In his past life, he was the crown grandson, the emperor, born with the power of life and death over the world, destined by heaven.

In this life, had the other party not been wary of Secretary Zhu Tianhe's status, coupled with the protection of Elder Li, his career would have already ended the moment he was sabotaged by Liu Family during the provincial civil service exam interview.

Without entering Division Two of the Municipal Organization Department, even if he possessed the heaven-reaching arts of imperial statecraft, he could only have worked as a corporate drone in some private enterprise.

Without even the qualification to sit at the table, how could he talk about playing the game of chess with the world?

Seeing Zhu Wenhao's silent assent, Li Juan leaned back against her seat, her voice softening slightly.

"Once upon a time, I also had a beautiful relationship and a lover I was with for many years. Back then, being young, I always felt that love was enough to sustain us, and that love was greater than heaven."

She gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"But your grandfather, my father, still tore us apart by force and married me off to your father, Secretary Zhu Tianhe."

"Looking back now, isn't life quite good? He reached the position of deputy secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and is completely submissive to me."

In this social stratum, marriage is never about romance, but rather the integration and complementarity of two sets of resources.

"Zhu Wenhao, the stances of your respective fathers are completely different, which destines that you and Su Qinghan can never be together."

Li Juan pointed directly to the core conflict.

"You know better than anyone that Mayor Su Changming is suspected of violating discipline and law; it's just that the Discipline Inspection Commission hasn't gathered conclusive evidence yet."

"If one day in the future, Mayor Su Changming's misdeeds are exposed and he is taken away for investigation, and you have married Su Qinghan, do you think she will be a boost to your official career, or your greatest obstacle?"

Li Juan's words were sharp and merciless.

"Will your enemies make a big deal out of this? How many rounds of scrutiny will the son-in-law of a corrupt official have to undergo during promotion evaluations?"

"What about your future children? A single phrase of 'complex background' from others could weld your promotion channel shut!"

The car drove into a tree-lined avenue, and the French plane trees on both sides flew backward outside the window.

"I have my own ways. You don't need to worry about this, Mother," Zhu Wenhao replied.

"Your way?" Li Juan sneered. "Your way is to have Su Qinghan place justice above family."

"You are leveraging her position in the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection to exert great effort in the secret investigation of her father, Mayor Su Changming."

"You are even planning to have her personally gather and submit the ironclad evidence of Mayor Su Changming's crimes."

Li Juan analyzed this ruthless scheme with absolute clarity.

"Then, you want her to rise to power by stepping on her biological father's blood, using this to prove her innocence to the organization, while concurrently staining her own official hat a deeper shade of red."

Zhu Wenhao stepped on the brakes, smoothly avoiding a taxi that was cutting in aggressively.

"Since you already know all this, Mother, then what are you still trying to advise me on?" Zhu Wenhao countered.

"That's why I say you are foolish!" Li Juan refuted mercilessly. "Have you ever thought about what kind of situation Su Qinghan would find herself in if she actually did that?"

"A ruthless person who could personally send her own biological father to prison!"

"How would the leaders of the Organization Department view her? How would her colleagues around her view her?"

"When she can bite even her own biological father to death, who would dare to work with her in good faith in the future? Who would dare to promote and heavily rely on her?"

In traditional ethics and moral standards, being "ungrateful and heartless" is an extremely dangerous profile.

"Keeping such a woman by your side is like having a time bomb that could detonate at any moment," Li Juan delivered her final verdict.

A brief silence fell over the car.

"Even taking a step back, even if she manages to land safely," Li Juan threw down her final card.

"Do you know that Liu Ruobing's father, Deputy Director Liu Qiang, might be on the move recently, stepping up to a higher level?"

A deputy director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission stepping up another level would become an influential official at the department-director level.

"Secretary Lao has already seized the initiative in the Standing Committee, and the province's economic landscape needs someone who knows the ropes to take the lead."

Li Juan revealed the core trends within the Provincial Party Committee Compound.

"This time, whether Deputy Director Liu Qiang remains in the province to serve as the head of a department, or is reassigned to a local prefecture to serve as a mayor, as long as he goes up, it will be a solid, powerful source of assistance."

"Your grandfather has retired, and his influence diminishes with every bit used; there will eventually come a day when his resources are exhausted. Your father is also under the thumb of others in Linjiang City, finding it difficult to make any progress."

Li Juan looked at Zhu Wenhao's profile.

"If you marry Liu Ruobing, with this father-in-law relationship with Deputy Director Liu Qiang, your connection at both the provincial and municipal levels will be completely established."

An exchange of resources, a powerful alliance.

"I've said all I have to say. Weigh the pros and cons yourself," Li Juan concluded.

The car had smoothly arrived at its destination, in front of a high-end teahouse on Changfeng Street in Jingjiang City. A valet walked quickly down the steps, ready to receive the car.

Zhu Wenhao shifted the car into park and pulled up the electronic handbrake.

Li Juan pushed open the passenger door herself.

With one foot stepping onto the bluestone-paved ground, she did not immediately stand up to leave.

She turned her head and looked at her son sitting in the driver's seat.

"Zhu Wenhao."

"Are you going to unbuckle your seatbelt and come in with me to meet Ruobing's mother?"

"Or are you going to shift gears right now, step on the gas, and drive away?"

"Make a choice yourself."

She stood outside the car door, waiting for her son's final response.