Chapter 152: You Don't Get to Decide Anymore!

Chen Jianguo looked terrified, breaking into a cold sweat as he caught the grim, icy smirk on Chen Xiong's face.

He had not expected his older brother to pull such a dirty trick. Clearly, that doctor was a complete fake, brought in solely to provoke him into striking. That way, the accusation of him breaking into the ancestral home in the dead of night to cause trouble would be set in stone!

Chen Xiong wore a triumphant smile, immensely proud of his daughter's clever scheme. Coming up with such an idea on the spur of the moment meant they could legally and righteously drive Chen Jianguo's family out!

"Humph! Your whole family harbors malicious intentions, sneaking into the ancestral home in the middle of the night to commit violence and assault! What? Do you still need me to throw you out? Crawl out of here yourselves, and make it quick!"

Chen Xiong berated them coldly, his face plastered with smug satisfaction.

At that moment, Chen Jianguo and his wife were desperate to flee the place. Hearing this, they lowered their heads and prepared to leave.

However, Su Zheng reached out and blocked their path!

「Why are you stopping me? Are you only going to be happy when my eldest brother sends me away to prison? Hurry up and follow me, let's head back first!」

Chen Jianguo muttered in a harsh whisper, casting a resentful glare at Su Zheng.

"Why should we leave? The old matriarch hasn't shown her face in so long; I suspect she's been placed under house arrest. Dad, don't you want to go and check on her?"

Su Zheng wore a faint, calm smile. The doubts in his heart had now solidified into certainty.

Originally, he hadn't been entirely sure if the old matriarch was still in the ancestral home, but judging by the scene unfolding before them, he was now completely convinced she was right here.

Otherwise, Chen Xiong wouldn't have been in such a frantic rush to chase them away. The more anxious the man was, the guiltier his conscience.

"Dad! I think Su Zheng is right! If we find out that Grandma really has been locked up by Uncle, his crime will be infinitely worse. Serving a life sentence would be getting off easy!"

Chen Muchu finally understood Su Zheng's intent and gently signaled her father not to rush off.

"Hmph! What nonsense are you blabbering about? There's no sign of the old matriarch here at all! I've already told you she's enjoying herself abroad and plans to settle down there permanently. Believe it or not, that's your problem!"

Chen Xiong was clearly flustered, yet he put on a brave front, angrily berating them with a stern voice that masked his panic.

"Whether the old matriarch is in the ancestral home or not is no longer for you to decide!"

Su Zheng glanced at him sideways, then strode past him and marched right back toward the main hall!

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? You'd better not go barging around! There are many female family members living here. If you dare pull any reckless stunts, I will ruin your reputation completely!"

Chen Xiong gave chase from behind, shouting frantic threats.

Ignoring him entirely as if he were deaf, Su Zheng entered the main hall and followed the connecting corridor toward the living quarters in the rear.

With every room he passed, he narrowed his eyes slightly to sense his surroundings.

Having undergone several physical enhancements, his spiritual perception and sensory awareness were far sharper than ordinary people's. He was especially sensitive to the faint lingering scents of medicinal compounds drifting from inside rooms. If the old matriarch was truly in the ancestral home, he would definitely be able to find her!

Before long, Su Zheng paused outside a particular door. After a brief moment of hesitation, he reached out and pushed it open.

Fortunately, the door was unlocked. The moment it swung open, someone inside immediately switched on the light.

"Who's there?" a weak voice demanded.

However, upon hearing it, Su Zheng's brow did not relax; instead, it furrowed even deeper.

Because he could tell from the voice that the person inside this room was none other than Chen Peng!

No wonder he had sensed the smell of medicine earlier—Chen Peng had been beaten nearly to half-death at Junlan Bay, so naturally, he was hiding here to recover from his injuries!

Without stepping inside, Su Zheng continued walking down the corridor.

A short while later, he reached the very end of the passage, yet he detected no medicinal scent emanating from any further rooms.

Could it be that the old matriarch really wasn't here?

Su Zheng felt a twinge of doubt, but he refused to lose heart.

"Muchu, are there any other rooms in the ancestral home?"

He turned his head and asked calmly.

Chen Muchu was also feeling intensely nervous. After pondering for a brief moment, she said uncertainly:

"I haven't walked around the ancestral home in a long time either, but if I remember correctly, right behind this row of quarters, there are a few storage rooms. They're only used for keeping sundries and clutter, though—people shouldn't be living in them."

With that, she shook her head, finding it impossible to believe the old matriarch would ever be relegated to such a place.

After all, those were essentially utility closets. No matter how wicked her uncle was, he surely wouldn't toss his own biological mother into a storage room!

"Let's go take a look anyway!" Su Zheng said noncommittally, heading toward the storage rooms at the back of the residential wing.

"No! Valuable items are stored in there, they can't be opened casually! Get out of the ancestral home right now! I can let go of Jianguo's trespassing and violence, just leave immediately!"

Chen Xiong barred the corridor with outstretched arms, his expression desperate. But his tone lacked its previous arrogance and chill; instead, a rare trace of raw panic surfaced in his voice...

Su Zheng and Chen Muchu exchanged glances, both of them reading naked fury in the other's eyes.

It was glaringly obvious: nine times out of ten, the old matriarch had indeed been dumped into a storage room. Otherwise, Chen Xiong would never make such a desperate spectacle of himself!

Standing far away in a shadowy corner, Chen Wenli watched the scene unfold, gritting her teeth as she shook her head. Her eyes were filled with bitter disappointment and the agonizing realization of failure. After a brief moment of internal struggle, a vicious look hardened in her gaze. She turned on her heel and walked away, slipping straight out of the Chen family ancestral home and vanishing into the night...

Her scheme was on the verge of exposure, and her father's frantic actions had completely betrayed them. If she stayed any longer, she knew Su Zheng's family would never let her off lightly.

Since the Chen family was no longer a place she could remain, and her marriage prospects with the Feng family had evaporated, staying in Qingyang had lost all meaning. Unwilling to accept defeat at Chen Muchu's hands, she resolved to flee to the capital overnight, determined to carve out a future for herself and return one day to exact her revenge!

As for her father, Chen Xiong, Chen Wenli simply could not afford to care about him anymore. At a time like this, rather than sticking around to rot in a prison cell, she was better off gambling everything on her own future.

With her looks, qualifications, and capabilities, she believed the capital offered plenty of opportunities for her to rise to power!

Meanwhile, Chen Xiong had completely lost his composure. In a state of frantic panic, he desperately tried to block Su Zheng and the others, refusing to let them reach the storage rooms at the back.

"Get lost!"

With a single shove, Su Zheng knocked him sprawling to the ground. Glaring down at him with undisguised disgust, Su Zheng turned and led Chen Muchu and the Jianguo couple away from the spot.

Slumped on the floor, Chen Xiong felt as though his entire world had crumbled to dust. Subconsciously, he shouted out for his daughter Chen Wenli, but no response echoed back from the empty corridors—only a few servants stood frozen in place, too terrified to move or utter a single word.

"It's over... everything is completely over!"

Chen Xiong's lips trembled as the agonizing realization struck him that this time, there was truly no escaping his fate...

Guided by Chen Muchu, Su Zheng pushed open the heavy door of the storage room.

Through the gloom of the dim interior, the layout was faintly discernible: miscellaneous junk and clutter were piled haphazardly about, draped in thick, dusty cobwebs. A heavy, suffocating stench of mold rushed into their nostrils, nearly inducing retching.

And there, resting upon a narrow, rigid cot at the very back of the gloomy storage room, lay a stiff, motionless figure...