Luo Ziling didn’t demand anything from Chen Xiaoyi. He felt that if he made a direct demand in this situation, it might backfire. Anyway, he won’t lose contact with Chen Xiaoyi, so he would influence her slowly in the future.
He asked Chen Xiaoyi to pay attention to the situation in Yanjing, understand the severity of the matter further before making any decision.
Instead of making direct demands, Luo Ziling asked her to first understand the situation, and instructed her to take care of herself and her child first before considering anything else, which made Chen Xiaoyi feel warm inside. In Luo Ziling’s heart, her and her child’s wellbeing weighed the most, which naturally made her happy.
One thing she clearly understood was that both Luo Ziling and Ling Ruonan hoped she could influence the future of the Chen Family and even step up to manage its affairs.
She also inquired about Luo Ziling’s recent conflicts with the Chen Family.
When Luo Ziling told her that the Chen Family hadn’t stopped hurting him, Chen Xiaoyi felt a bit sad.
The main reason she came to Europe was to escape the family feuds; she didn’t want to see her family and Luo Ziling fighting fiercely against each other. After coming to Europe, she hardly paid attention to the matters in Yanjing—except for news related to Luo Ziling.
She almost never actively inquired about family matters, relying on her parents who occasionally called to update her.
When her father faced trouble, she didn’t actively investigate further until her mother called and told her that her father might end up in prison. She then took notice and called Luo Ziling, hoping he could spare her father out of consideration for her.
But she didn’t expect that the feud between the Luo Family and the Chen Family had reached such a life-and-death stage.
She believed that her brother Chen Jiahai’s death was a result of actions by either Luo Ziling or Ling Ruonan.
Later, the official investigation concluded that Chen Jiahai died from a drug overdose.
She accepted this conclusion and did not intend to pursue the truth further.
She used this self-deceptive method to force herself to believe.
After coming to Europe, she lived in her own little world, ignoring other matters.
If she hadn’t been pregnant, her feelings for Luo Ziling might have slowly faded with time and distance.
Moreover, she might have fallen in love and married someone she didn’t dislike too much after meeting this person.
She might have even completed a family-arranged marriage mission.
But after getting pregnant with Luo Ziling’s child, she couldn’t accept anyone else’s feelings anymore, nor would she involve herself in family affairs.
Whenever she heard about disputes between the Chen Family and other families, she felt irritated, depressed, and almost suffered from depression because of it.
After listening to Luo Ziling today, she understood fully the intensity of the conflict between the Chen Family and Luo Family, and the crisis currently facing the Chen Family. She was even clearer about the crisis surrounding her father.
"Seems like I can only cooperate with you to save my father?" Chen Xiaoyi asked Luo Ziling with sadness.
"Not necessarily!" Luo Ziling shook his head, "If your father is ultimately found not guilty, is willing to give up everything from the past, and lives a simple life, then he won’t have any problems. Of course, his absolution largely depends on whether we want to pursue him or not. If not for you, the incident where he instructed someone to chase and kill me in the Northwest would have been enough to send him to prison. If he doesn’t want to give up everything and wants to compete with Chen Yijing, he will surely rely on support from others. He can turn to people from the Fang Family, Ling Family, or Yang Family; they might help him for their benefit. Comparatively speaking, my mother’s and my power is the weakest, offering the least support; others can definitely offer more support. It’s up to your father to decide how to proceed."
After hearing this, Chen Xiaoyi was silent, not fully recovered from the conversation.
Luo Ziling continued: "Another thing I want to make clear is that if your father still holds grudges against me and my mother, then cooperation is impossible, and we will continue to suppress him and hold him accountable. The ongoing case is partly pending based on his attitude. If this case goes to open court trial, with complete witnesses and evidence, losing his political life and freedom is entirely possible."
"If he’s willing to let go of old grudges, then we can stop pursuing him on account of you. If he lets go of grudges and chooses to cooperate with us, we’ll give him the most needed help, even help him to rebecome the Sect Leader of the Chen Family." At this point, Luo Ziling paused.
"Then what do you need for you to cooperate with my dad? Or, what kind of return do you require?" Chen Xiaoyi’s intelligence is high, and even though she’s still somewhat confused, she identified the key issue.
Her question made Luo Ziling pause for a moment, he sighed, shook his head with a bitter smile, and said: "Actually, I most hope that the Chen Family won’t continue to hunt me down so I can live peacefully. Of course, I also hope to cooperate with the Chen Family; after all, the Chen Family is an established family. To be honest, I intend to build my own influential establishment, but the combined influence of my mother and me is too small, with your family as our enemy, creating my establishment is extremely difficult. It takes three helpers to make a hero; we need more allies and fewer enemies."
Chen Xiaoyi took a serious look at Luo Ziling and finally said faintly, "I understand!"
"If you think I want to influence the future of the Chen Family through you, I won’t deny it!" Luo Ziling said very frankly: "What I hope most is that by helping you, your father gains power against Chen Yijing, and ultimately, with our help, you and your father regain control of the great business of the Chen Family. Once you gain control over everything in the Chen Family, we can cooperate well, no longer be rivals and enemies, but collaborators, even allies."
Chen Xiaoyi asked again: "Do you mean that if I don’t participate, you won’t help my father?"
"That’s not entirely absolute!" Luo Ziling shook his head, "If your father takes the initiative to admit wrongdoing to us, gives up hostility, and hopes to cooperate with us to receive our help, then even without you, we will cooperate with him. With your involvement, the cooperation’s foundation gets broader."
After a pause, Luo Ziling formally stated: "If you are involved, our trust in the power you represent greatly increases. Among the Chen Family, I only trust you. Also, openly, Chen Yihe and Chen Yiping have long been in contact with my mother and me, hoping we’ll help them control everything in the Chen Family. If your father is unwilling to abandon hostility toward us, then we’ll have no choice but to side with Chen Yihe and Chen Yiping, who are in discord with your father and Chen Yijing."
Listening to Luo Ziling say this, Chen Xiaoyi sighed softly.