Lin Zeping and Wang Zhengqiang had separate appointments with Ling Ruonan yesterday morning and afternoon.
Maybe because Ling Ruonan’s status was more special, plus she was also inside the system, both Lin Zeping and Wang Zhengqiang spoke very plainly when they talked with her.
They hoped to get Ling Ruonan and the Ling Family’s support, and hoped Luo Ziling could put in a good word for them in front of the other several elders. If Ling Ruonan and Luo Ziling helped them, they were willing to push Ling Ruonan into that circle, and give Luo Ziling more and better opportunities so that he could eventually enter that circle as well.
"Mom, does this count as a bad check?" After his initial surprise, Luo Ziling calmed down as well. He asked Ling Ruonan in a low voice, "I feel that what they promised is completely illusory. With just the two of them, they may not be able to push you into that circle, let alone rely on the strength of one person."
"It’s good that you can see that!" Ling Ruonan said, slightly stern, "The fact that they can even agree to something like this only shows one thing: their relationship over there is very strained, and they’re grabbing at any straw in desperation."
"Was it us that made things so tense between them?"
"We’re one of the reasons, I suppose!" Ling Ruonan sighed lightly. "But the main reason is of course their struggle over interests. Everything revolves around this point, and all the entanglements are born from it."
After thinking for a bit, Luo Ziling asked again, "Mom, does this count as us playing both sides?"
"We haven’t even started playing both sides yet!" Ling Ruonan corrected him. "Next, we should be playing both sides between these two, striving for maximum benefit."
"Play all sides in front of everyone, use their fight to win benefits for us." After saying this, Luo Ziling again asked Ling Ruonan solemnly, "Mom, is that what you mean?"
"Just go with the flow. Don’t deliberately stir things up."
After the mother and son talked for over ten minutes, Ling Ruonan, afraid that Luo Ziling’s whereabouts would be exposed, took the initiative to end the call.
Before saying goodbye, she reminded Luo Ziling once more to pay attention to safety and to find a way to return to Yanjing as soon as possible.
"Mom won’t be at ease until you’re back in the country. As long as you’re out there, my heart is always hanging in my throat."
Luo Ziling of course agreed: "Mom, I’m not used to life abroad either. I’m not used to the food—good thing there’s Chinese food to eat. If I had to eat Western food every day, I’d probably break down in two days. Also, I don’t know any foreign languages, I can’t communicate with those foreigners. If Lin Lan and Wuyue weren’t with me, I’d probably never find my way back once I went out."
Ling Ruonan reminded him again, very seriously, "Watch your own safety. Have Wuyue stay by your side all the time. If anything happens, contact me at once. If there’s trouble, get in touch with the embassy."
Luo Ziling agreed repeatedly, looking all meek and deferential.
After ending the call with Ling Ruonan, Luo Ziling handed the phone back to Wuyue, then collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
In his drowsiness, he saw Wuyue lie down on the sofa. It seemed she hadn’t even taken off her clothes, just lay down as she was.
Luo Ziling was very tired, and he knew he needed a good rest to fully recover his strength. With Wuyue at his side, he didn’t have to worry about trouble, so he fell asleep very much at ease.
When he woke up, it was already broad daylight.
Opening his eyes, he didn’t see Wuyue on the sofa in the room; the woman must have gotten up earlier than he did.
After getting dressed and out of bed, just as he was about to go to the bathroom, Wuyue came in.
Seeing Luo Ziling with his clothes a bit disheveled, Wuyue looked a little shy, but still walked in.
"Young master, their recovery is pretty good," Wuyue reported some things she felt he cared about. "There’s also no troublesome fallout. The Paris police haven’t focused their attention on us. They’re just treating this case as an ordinary gangland conflict."
Luo Ziling asked in puzzlement, "Why would this organization choose to base itself near Paris? And with a conflict causing so many deaths, why don’t the Paris police treat this incident as a terrorist attack?"
"As for why this organization can base itself in Paris, it should be related to them getting support from the French Ministry of the Interior. Personally, I think some of the things they do targeting Huaxia are done under orders from relevant French departments. The reason this organization can exist so openly in Europe is, in my view, because of their hostility toward Huaxia. Western intelligence agencies use them as a tool against Huaxia, to do those shady things that can’t see the light of day. So they tacitly allow this organization to exist, even secretly support it. This time, after the organization was attacked, they also know who did it, and they’re very clear that it’s not something ordinary police can investigate. So the police are just going through the motions. If they really want to seek justice for this organization, only the intelligence services can step in."
"In other words, Western intelligence agencies are already on the move?" Luo Ziling frowned.
"That’s perfectly normal!" Wuyue did not deny it. "In every country’s intelligence system, a lot of personnel are on missions long-term. Whether or not something like this happens, they’re always in action. With an incident like this, it just means more people get involved. Dragon Rise is very clear about these things and made preparations long ago."
After pausing, Wuyue added, "Dragon Rise doesn’t fall under the intelligence system, but their operations receive support from several major intelligence agencies. After Dragon Rise completes a mission, as long as their tracks aren’t exposed, the follow-up is handled by comrades in the intelligence system."
"So if nothing unexpected happens, what comes next has nothing to do with Dragon Rise, or with us?"
"Right." Wuyue nodded lightly.
Luo Ziling didn’t ask anything more.
To know the details, he still had to ask Phoenix and Lin Lan to get the full picture.
After breakfast, Luo Ziling went over and treated Lin Lan, Falcon, and Shanque.
Of the three, Falcon’s injuries were the worst, Shanque’s next, and Lin Lan’s the lightest.
Because of his special relationship with Lin Lan, when treating her, Luo Ziling put in more effort and care compared to the other two.
As a result, Lin Lan recovered the best. After a good sleep, her mental state was the brightest.
The other two actually recovered quite well, too—at least in the eyes of the other Dragon Rise members, Falcon and Shanque’s recovery was already way beyond their expectations. After another round of treatment for the three, Luo Ziling was once again completely drained, and it was Wuyue who helped him back to his room.
Phoenix had been staying here the whole time and hadn’t left. When Luo Ziling treated the three, she also stood by and watched.
After he finished treating them, she followed him over.
"Since you want to understand the whole course of events, I’ll tell you about it while we have some time now." Phoenix sat down calmly in front of Luo Ziling, ready to recount the operation. Before she started, she reminded him solemnly, "But don’t be shocked after you hear it."
"What do you mean?" Luo Ziling immediately grew alert.