Chapter 138: His Handkerchief  

When everyone from the party had been proficiently handled, Jing Yiran was the only one who stood on his own feet, surrounded by Jing Yichen’s bevy of men.

Ordinary methods didn’t work for Jing Yiran at all. He had been punched by Jing Yichen many times since he was little and yet he was unaffected. He was like a cockroach who could be beaten down, but not for long. He would continue to wreck havoc without a care in the world, thanks to the efficient medical team at the Family Jing House.

However, Jing Yichen didn’t bother to get into a physical scuffle with Yiran this time around. He had thought of something better. Something that would cause Jing Yiran so much pain that being beaten to death would seem like the easier option.

Jing Yiran feigned indifference. He smiled mockingly when he looked at Jing Yichen. He usually did this to provoke Jing Yichen even further.

Although he was smiling on the face of things, the anxiety inside his heart grew by the minute.

Jing Yichen was not like himself today. Typically, he would get extremely furious at the treatment meted out to Shangguan Ning. He would then proceed to award Jing Yiran with a few well deserved punches, before finally letting him go. Today was different. Why did Jing Yichen let him off the hook, especially since he tormented the other three offenders to such a precarious level.

Jing Yiran was surprised and confused. Yet he refused to let this uncertainty show on his face.

Jing Yichen chose to look at the larger picture. He knew the normal process of disagreements between his brother and himself. He would beat his brother to pulp, who would then go and complain to their father. Jing Yiran would recover at home, under the watchful eye of medical experts. Two months later, the same story would repeat itself, under the garb of another disagreement.

Jing Yichen just looked at Jing Yiran in the eye, and then turned and walked away. Jing Yiran wouldn’t be a threat for sometime. He was a strong and capable man. Being beaten every now and then, didn’t seem to make much of a difference to him. He needed to be cut away at, little by little, until there was nothing left at all.

Anyone who bullied his wife, must pay for it and pay for it heavily.

He would not forgive Huang Xinyi, whilst the main schemer Ji Lili would not be able to live in peace henceforth.

He turned around and said to Ji Lili’s security guards who were already half-crippled, “Let Ji Minyu know that if she wants Ji Lili to stay alive, she must step down from the Mayor’s post with immediate effect. Tell Ji Bo that he must come and apologize to my wife and as a token of his apology, ask him to bring with him 10 % shares of Family Ji’s Enterprise. Ji Lili will be released from the prison only when my wife decides to forgive her, otherwise she will spend the rest of her life in prison!”

Almost all of the guests in the banquet hall knew about Jing Yiran. He was second in line to the heirship at the Family Jing Enterprise. He was famous for his affairs with various women and his casanova image. Surprisingly, no one knew of Jing Yichen, apart from Jing Yiran and Tang Yun. He was relatively unheard of, in comparison to his younger brother. Even Ji Lili, who was the daughter of the Mayor, didn’t know of him.

When everyone heard him addressing Mayor Ji by her name, they knew he meant business. He didn’t even care about Ji Bo, who was one of the most powerful businessmen in A city. Jing Yichen decided the terms of compensation. It was obvious that it was Jing Yichen who was calling the shots. Obviously, he must be more powerful than anybody in Family Ji.

Family Ji’s Enterprise had properties of over a 100 billion yuan, and 10% of them would be more than 10 billion yuan. That was not a small amount by any standard! Those who attended Ji Lili’s birthday party were all from affluent families, but most of their families didn’t have properties over 10 billion yuans. These were big numbers.

More importantly, who was this woman that was bullied by Ji Lili today? What was her identity? It sounded simply ridiculous that Family Ji’s Enterprise would pay her a compensation of 10 billion yuan.

After Jing Yichen was done with avenging Shangguan Ning, he picked her up gently and carried her out of The Royal Crown. His men took Ji Lili directly to the police station, in line with Jing Yichen’s orders.They submitted evidence of Ji Lili being involved in a human trafficking and saw to it that she was put behind bars.

In their cozy, luxurious car, Jing Yichen put Shangguan Ning onto his lap and wiped her hair carefully with a new handkerchief.

Seeing her in this state hurt him so much.

How could she be so silly so as to endanger her own life for the sake of saving Huang Xinyi? Didn’t she know that if she was ever hurt, he would suffer hundreds of times more than she did?

“You mustn’t put yourself in such a dangerous situation for someone else’s sake, understand?”

Jing Yichen hardly spoke in this tone with her. He was serious and cold. Shangguan Ning understood that he was really unhappy, so she nodded and answered with a soft “yes”.

No matter how hard she tried to be unaffected by Jing Yichen’s handkerchief, she was still uncomfortable.

Seeing her frown, Jing Yichen couldn’t help but ask, “What is it?”

Hearing his question, Shangguan Ning thought for a while and told him what Tang Yun had said to her. “Tang Yun said that you often cleaned her face with a white handkerchief,whenever she ended up with smears of paint on her face. I don’t like it when you do the same to me, because she got you into this habit of carrying a handkerchief with you, always. It reminds me of her.”

Jing Yichen was startled. He immediately asked, “What does my habit of carrying a handkerchief have anything to do with her? When did I ever clean her face?!”

He had never been in physical proximity with any woman. He had never wiped any woman’s face before Shangguan Ning. He was even politely courteous with Zhao Anan who was closer to him than all of his cousin sisters. What Shangguan Ning was suggesting, had never happened before.

What was more, because of his psychological issues, he hadn’t been able to get intimate with anyone else apart from Ning. He would not tolerate it if someone were to even touch his clothes, leave alone cleaning someone else’s face.

It seemed that Tang Yun had fed Shangguan Ning’s mind with a load of nonsense.

“Ning, you must tell me everything Tang Yun told you and I will provide you with an explanation for all of it. It is important to do this because what she has said to you has made you question our relationship. I don’t want our love to be affected. I got her back to China because I wanted to give her a better life, not to make my own life worse. Now, let me tell you about the handkerchief.”

Leaning against his strong chest, Shangguan Ning smiled.

The storm that had almost suffocated her at the banquet hall, had already passed. All was well now. What remained was the lovely scent of Jing Yichen and his voice, which was music to her ears.

Just being around him, made her feel extremely happy.

“It is a tradition in Family Jing, to always have a handkerchief in one’s pocket. Everyone, including my grandpa, my father and Jing Yiran have the handkerchief with them whenever they go out. That is a habit we have been taught since we were little. Some ancestor of Family Jing married a girl from the British Royal family. Her family members always had a handkerchief with them, when they stepped out. She carried forward this tradition by teaching her children the same. This tradition has been passed down from generations in Family Jing . Also, carrying a handkerchief has proved to be extremely handy. It is a part of our identity now, and also a good habit to have.”

After hearing what Jing Yichen said, Shangguan Ning was pleasantly surprised to learn of their family tradition. No wonder the villas at the Family Jing House had such a strong British influence. Even the décor was classic and in shades of blue and wood, much like the preferences of the English. Now she knew where it all came from. Family Jing had an ancestor who was a British Royal.

So Tang Yun was lying to her! She had talked with such conviction that Shangguan Ning didn’t even doubt her for a moment. Tang Yun spoke as if all the things she had said, had actually happened. Ning may have not brought up this matter, had Jing Yichen not asked her to clarify today. After all, it was something in the past and she mustn’t hold onto it.

She was glad that she had cleared the air between herself and Jing Yichen, otherwise Tang Yun would be able to capitalise on the communication gap between the couple and cause a misunderstanding again.

Jing Yichen smiled seeing her expression change from annoyance to surprise. Then, he passed the handkerchief to her. “Look carefully. Do you notice anything special about this handkerchief?”