She never considered warning the smiling tiger, as that was simply not an option! She knew maintaining a partnership with the Great Tang Group was the more profitable choice.
With that in mind, she seemed to have made up her mind—since she had chosen profit, there was no reason to sit idle!
This was a golden opportunity to expand the power of Flame Castle, a chance to secure tangible benefits that were far superior to a false reputation.
So she quickly made arrangements, started mobilizing her forces, and prepared to seize the chance of the smiling tiger's sudden death to encroach on his assets.
"Ugh... cough cough cough!" In the dimly lit room, an old man was incessantly coughing. For some reason, his health was deteriorating, and even breathing had become painful recently.
He wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief and struggled to open his eyes, glancing at the subordinates standing by his bed. "Did you find anything?"
"Sir, we've tried our best to investigate... but, but we still don't know what poison you've been afflicted with," a man said, disheartened.
"Sofia, that woman, has been brazenly buying up our properties recently. It must be her doing! It must be her!"
"Who it is... is no longer important! I'm done for! I know it..." The old man lay on the bed, feeling that his hand holding the handkerchief was beginning to disobey his commands.
Yesterday he felt unwell, and today his condition had worsened to the state it was now.
Even a fool would know he had been poisoned, but there was no such poison on the market that could delay its effects and yet be so potent.
Unable to determine the culprit or even when the poisoning took place made this assassination utterly despairing.
The doctors were at a loss; they tried nearly every method but couldn't delay the onset of the poison. The poison seemed unstoppable, easily ravaging the victim's body.
"None of my sons are ready; they're all too young... So, don't think about, don't even consider, don't... seek revenge for me!" he said, gradually losing control over his speech.
Agonizing pain tormented him but didn't take his life immediately, leaving him in excruciating suffering. In his haze, he seemed to see images of the past.
"Hold on... protect all that we have... do not show any weaknesses..." the old man stubbornly spoke, insisting on using his remaining life to give his final orders.
He rambled on because his estate was too vast for the average person, vast enough to be coveted.
On the other hand, his sons had already begun to calculate in their minds how they could seek allies by trading away parts of the family interest, to eliminate those siblings competing for the inheritance.
No one truly had the patience to listen to the endless ramblings of the smiling tiger; they were utterly mesmerized by that enormous estate worth tens of millions of Gold Coins, drooling at the thought of becoming the ultimate winner.
"Find out... investigate... get to the bottom of it..." The old man, barely able to speak, finally grabbed the arm of one of his subordinates and commanded in fits and starts, "At all costs! Kill, kill the one who harmed... me!"
The subordinate nodded slightly, his loyalty not permitting him to refuse the old man's order. Even if it was the very last order.
Soon, Gold Coin could no longer speak; he struggled to open his mouth but couldn't squeeze out a single word.
By evening, he died in his own bed, justifiably so, and then his family began to fall apart.
Before the crowds at his bedside could disperse, gunshots echoed through the vast castle. One of the deceased's sons publicly shot his brother dead, and then he was captured by the castle guards.
Some of the remaining people hurriedly left, while others, unafraid of dying, stayed to watch the excitement unfold as if a morbid celebration had just begun.
The middle-aged man in charge of intelligence walked to his carriage, nostalgically looking back at the castle, now mostly swallowed by darkness, and suddenly felt a twinge of desolation.
Another ancient and enormous family had crumbled without any warning. He straightened his collar and then climbed into his carriage.
The moment he climbed into the carriage, he regretted it, for he saw a person sitting inside, someone he didn't recognize.
Regrettably, he had no chance to dwell on his regret, because the stranger was holding a sophisticated hand crossbow. The coachman had not warned him of the threat inside, clearly having been replaced.
"It seems sorrow has indeed caused you to drop your guard." The carriage began to rumble and sway as the man holding the hand crossbow spoke emotionlessly.
"So it's you who've won! Can you tell me? Who sent you? Sofia, or Great Tang Group?" With the hand crossbow pointed at him, the middle-aged man asked with a wry smile.
"Even though you're a dead man, I still can't tell you," the other man said with confidence in his voice.
Without waiting for the middle-aged man to react, he pulled the trigger. A crossbow bolt pierced the man's chest, pinning him to his seat.
"Ugh..." The middle-aged man grunted, just as he tried to struggle, the assailant held him down and covered his mouth: "Shh! Don't struggle! It will be much easier for you... Relax! Yes, relax!"
With the assailant's words sounding almost hypnotic, the minion of Gold Coin gradually relaxed from his violent struggle, his flailing arms drooping, and his legs stretched out more and more.
Without any doubt of his prey's death, the assailant dropped the crossbow and tapped lightly on the carriage twice.
Soon, the carriage came to a stop, and the man inside jumped out, disappearing into the night along with his accomplice dressed as a coachman.
"Report back to the superiors! The commander involved in the assassination attempt on Countess Alice has been taken care of," he said in a lowered voice after turning several corners and ensuring no one was tailing him.
His companion, disguised as a coachman, nodded slightly, and then the two of them went their separate ways, quickly vanishing into the darkness.
It was several minutes later that the patrolling guards discovered the carriage stopped on the road. Curiously, they approached and found the carriage door ajar. After they called out a few times with no response, they realized the coachman was gone, and only a cold corpse remained inside.
There are fewer words today; this isn't considered a supplementary update...