523 The Secret About the Past 141 (2/2)

”Tell Shixin to remove all information regarding the birthday of our closest friends, family, and subordinates from the Internet,” An Xiaoning instructed Jin Qingyan.

Jin Qingyan shot Fan Shixin a knowing glance, after which the latter responded by making an OK sign with his hand. He then turned around to call his subordinates at Wei Ni Estate.

Everyone stood rooted to the ground like a statue and remained silent for several minutes.

”Mother has left us,” An Xiaoning declared.

Jin Qingyue wailed in agony while Jin Qingyan teared up silently.

Tears welled up in An Xiaoning's eyes as she stared at the ground. At this moment, she realized that both she and Jin Qingyan had to work harder in order to achieve a peaceful life.

Clearly, her own abilities were not sufficient to ensure the safety of the people around her.

Their enemy was hiding in the dark while they were in the open, susceptible to all possible attacks.

While it's true that there are some things that simply cannot be guarded against, An Xiaoning ought to still do her best to strengthen her power.

”Yangyang, follow me to buy a shroud.”

”Alright,” Mei Yangyang agreed.

The two of them left to buy a shroud from a shroud garment store before driving back to the mansion.

They arrived home to find that there was already a coffin.

It was made of wood of the best quality.

An Xiaoning and Jin Qingyue helped Mrs. Jin put on the shroud.

Jin Qingyan then lowered Mrs. Jin's body into the coffin.

Fang Xiaotian could not recover from the shock of what was happening.

He wanted to leave but was not allowed to.

In less than an hour, they managed to prepare all the necessary items for a funeral and placed Mrs. Jin's coffin in the living room.

”Young Sir, do we inform the media about Madam's death?”

”They'll find out even if we don't tell them. There's no way we can keep this under wraps. Release a statement to say that she passed away due to an illness.”

”Yes.” Fan Shixin strode out quickly.

An Xiaoning reached out to hold his hand and asked, ”Do we hold an extravagant funeral?”

”No, Mother died a painful death. I don't want anyone else to disturb her. I'll definitely get to the bottom of this matter. I won't spare the culprit's life, no matter who it may be,” Jin Qingyan said sternly with a sullen expression on his face, almost as austere as Hades.

”Where do you plan to bury her?” An Xiaoning asked.

”I doubt we can bury her in the ancestral graveyard. Mother was the one who caused Grandma's death, after all. Father will never agree to it. Let's bury her in the mountains.”

”The burial can only proceed three days from now, according to customs.”

”No need for three days. We'll bury her tomorrow since you have to return to the Autumn Palace tomorrow evening. Yo wouldn't be able to attend the burial ceremony if we wait three days. By then, the media will definitely make an issue out of your absence. I don't wish to see any negativity about you being spread online,” said Jin Qingyan. She was heartened to see that he was still sparing a thought for her despite the grave situation.

An Xiaoning expressed assent and said, ”Let's take this opportunity to find out who Mother had been seeing and where she had gone lately.”

”I've already instructed Shixin to carry out the investigation. Mother is getting on in her years, she doesn't really go anywhere else apart from the garden, mahjong dens, or beauty salons. It should be easy to find out what she had been up to recently.”

”Brother, do we call Father?” asked a teary-eyed Jin Qingyue.

”Go ahead.”

Jin Qingyue nodded and whipped her phone out to give Mr. Jin a call.

Mr. Jin was at a sudden loss for what to do the moment he heard the shocking piece of news. However, he stated clearly over the phone that he would not be attending the burial ceremony and that they could forget about burying her in the ancestral graveyard.

Jin Qingyue ended the call. She did not hold it against Mr. Jin for making such a harsh decision.

Somehow, she could not help but feel disappointed and heartbroken.

It was hard to pinpoint who to blame, for it seemed that everyone was at fault for their mistakes.