A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)
Chapter 982 The Plan of Li Er and the Others

That night, Chen Ao, Li Er and Lei San made their way hurriedly to Mount Yunding Villa.

They had to pay respects to the deceased Ye Fan and extend their condolences to Qiu Mu-Cheng and Ye Xi-Mei. They also had to verify if what they had heard was true and confirm if Ye Fan was truly dead. Last night's dinner was still on the table when they arrived.

Qiu Mu-Cheng was sitting in front of the dining table. She was not crying at all. She was simply sitting there, like how she had last night, waiting for Ye Fan to come home.

She had not accepted the fact that Ye Fan had died.

"Miss Qiu, Nannan has told us what's happened to Mr Chu. We're really sorry for your loss. He's the leader of Jiangdong and its 18 cities. His death is a huge loss to Jiangdong too. But we cannot lose ourselves to grief. The living must still go on with their lives. Please pull yourself together, Miss Qiu, and help us sort things out in Jiangdong. The province cannot go leaderless for too long. Trouble will make its way to us that way."

Li Er, Chen Ao and Lei San tried to make Qiu Mu-Cheng see sense after they had paid their respects.

Everything that they had said were words of well intentions that had come from the bottom of their hearts.

Li Er ended up bowing and pleading with the young woman.

"Miss Qiu, please, you have to take Mr Chu's place as the chief and lord of Jiangdong!" The trio said in unison as they tried to convince Qiu Mu-Cheng to assume power over Jiangdong.

As a woman, Qiu Mu-Cheng might not be the ideal replacement.

But Ye Fan had just died, so people still feared and respected him.

Letting his wife take over the reins while banking on Ye Fan's reputation to keep everyone in place was the best way forward for them right now.

No one would question her authority for the time being.

But she was going to have to rely on her own abilities to keep her place as the lord and chief of Jiangdong.

To the men's utter surprise, Qiu Mu-Cheng didn't seem to care for the immense power that was resting within her reach.

She simply sat there silently, seemingly oblivious to what they had said.

"Miss Qiu, won't you say something? Jiangdong was Mr Chu's lifework. It's going to fall into the hands of someone else if you don't do anything," pleaded Li Er earnestly.

Qiu Mu-Chen did not utter a single word. All she wanted to do was to tend to this house and wait for her husband to return to her.

She wouldn't believe that Ye Fan had died so easily.

The three men finally left in exasperation.

They gathered at the Haiyuan Restaurant to privately discuss what they were to do about Jiangdong.

Ye Fan might be dead but they still had plans for Jiangdong.

"What do we do now? Mr Chu is dead and he has no children. In Miss Qiu's current condition, she won't be able to rise to the task of managing Jiangdong. The province is leaderless right now. Trouble's going to come knocking at our door when news of Mr Chu's death spreads." Li Er's words were filled with worry.

Within the brief year that Ye Fan had taken control over Jiangdong, he had consolidated the various entities and powers in the province. The businesses under Ye Fan had boomed.

He had the businesses taken over from Zhao Wu-Ji's men across the 18 cities in the province. He also had the Meng family's businesses too. Coupled with the companies that were under the names of Li Er, Chen Ao and Lei San, Ye Fan's empire spanned a sizeable portion of Jiangdong.

But as the saying went: beasts died for a meal while men perished for gold.

Mr Chu's reputation had kept the other powers in Jiangdong at bay and stopped them from coveting his vast and sprawling businesses.

But the man was gone now. His vast empire was now leaderless. If someone with significant clout did not step up and take over, one wouldn't have to try too hard to imagine the chaos that would descend upor Jiangdong soon.

Silence stretched out amongst the three men.

Chen Ao and Lei San had no solutions to address Li Er's worries.

There was no way out of this!

They could find another leader for Jiangdong but they couldn't prevent the inevitability that was going to befall Ye Fan's businesses. Someone else would undoubtedly take them over.

This wasn't something that any of them wanted.

Ye Fan had tasked them with the management of most of his businesses.

The next leader of Jiangdong might not regard them as highly as Ye Fan had.

"Chen Ao, why don't you take Ye Fan's place? Your reputation in Jiangdong is second only to Mr Chu. With Li Er's and my support, you should be able to hold the position of head of Jiangdong easily," said Lei San suddenly.

Chen Ao's face darkened instantly.

"Are you trying to sabotage me? Who cares if I can maintain control over the 18 cities in Jiangdong? I shouldn't even if I can. I was well treated by Mr Chu. I can't just take his place now that he's gone. What would everyone think of me? They're going to call me an ingrate. Besides, we've not located Mr Chu's body. Who can be certain that he's truly dead? He might come back. What am I supposed to do then? Mr Chu might massacre my entire family!"

Lei San's suggestion wouldn't work.

It couldn't and shouldn't be done.

If Chen Ao had possessed such capabilities, he would have united Jiangdong before Ye Fan had turned up.

"There's no other option. We must keep this under wraps."

The news of Mr Chu's death had not spread in Jiangdong.

The three families were the only ones who knew that Ye Fan was dead.

They simply had to keep the news of his death under wraps. There would be no upheaval or revolt in Jiangdong then.

However, they knew that they were simply postponing the inevitable.

Everyone was going to find out sooner or later.

Drastic change would descend upon Jiangdong as soon as someone else found out that Mr Chu had died.

The meeting at the Haiyuan Restaurant lasted through the night.

At daybreak, the three men returned to their respective homes, then went about their business as usual. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

Chen Ao instructed Chen Nan to keep Ye Fan's death a secret and not to mention a single word to anyone.

Li Er and the others also paid a visit to Qiu Mu-Cheng and Ye Xi-Mei and told them not to speak about Ye Fan's death.

"Madam Ye, we're sorry for what happened to Mr Chu too. But you and Miss Qiu must not speak a word of his death to anyone.

That is the only way to protect the Mufan Group's position as a leading business in Jiangdong. If anyone is to find out about Mr Chu's death, your daughter-in-law's and your positions of power will come under attack. You will lose everything. In fact, your lives might be at stake then. We only mean well. Please remember what we've said!"