The Young Lady is a Bit Unruly [Fragrant Harbor] - Chapter 97 Daybreak

Chapter 97 Daybreak

The Nanhua Third Hospital’s 50th Anniversary Gala was held in a large stadium.

Thousands of people were present.

Among these thousands, at least several hundred were prominent figures from Port City.

Meanwhile, millions of viewers were watching the live broadcast on television.

Bystanders eagerly called friends and relatives to turn on their TVs.

This caused ratings to skyrocket, breaking historical viewership records for the time slot.

Fang Dingkun’s icy gaze shot toward Ye Huaizhang and Ye Baoling standing on stage. These two had betrayed their alliance, and he felt murderous rage.

It suddenly occurred to him that they hadn’t signed any written agreement – a miscalculation on his part.

Beside him, Fang Shanxing’s face was even more livid.

Although Ye Baoxin’s face hadn’t appeared in the earlier screen footage, he had recognized her voice.

Others might not be able to tell, but as her husband, he couldn’t possibly mistake it.

His grandfather had actually wanted to sleep with his wife!!!

No wonder he’d forced them to break up earlier.

This was something no one could accept.

He clenched his fists, using his last shred of rationality to suppress the fury within.

Meanwhile, Fang Dingkun’s son Fang Xuhua, after his mind briefly went blank from shock at his father’s comments on screen, remembered the most urgent task – minimizing the spread.

Fang Xuhua and his assistant rushed to the director’s booth nearby, demanding they stop the live broadcast.

The director explained, Sorry Mr. Fang, the ratings have exploded. The higher-ups won’t allow us to stop.

Fang Xuhua hissed in a suppressed voice, This is a broadcast accident!The video contains no footage that violates regulations and can’t be aired. It doesn’t qualify as an accident. The director knew it was an accident but wouldn’t admit it.

Since the station leadership had decided to continue the broadcast, they weren’t afraid of complaints.

Unable to do anything, Fang Xuhua went to find the producer, but the producer had already hidden and couldn’t be found.

When he turned back, a gentle male voiceover with broadcast-standard diction appeared on screen.

[Sir Fang Dingkun not only ‘cares for’ the ladies around him, but for personal gain, also cares for his relatives, friends, and even neighbors.]

The following scene showed the chaotic, lively Fang family dining room, where a male servant was asking Ye Huaizhang for something.

Ye Huaizhang picked up a lighter from the table and handed it to him.

Fang Dingkun remembered the camera in Ye Huaizhang and his wife’s hands during Ye Baoxin’s birthday – they had already been waiting to collect evidence against him back then!

The large screen split into two frames. The left still showed the bustling Fang family dining room, while the right displayed two men.

[Man 1: We are Fang family servants. On the young madam’s birthday, the butler instructed us to place a brand new lighter in front of Mr. Ye Huaizhang’s seat beforehand. Then we put on work gloves. I was responsible for asking Ye Huaizhang for the lighter, and after obtaining it, I secretly passed it to my colleague beside me.]

[Man 2: Then I would give it to Sister Ju. We did this so our boss could obtain a lighter with only Mr. Ye Huaizhang’s fingerprints.]

The venue fell completely silent, everyone holding their breath as they listened.

The scene changed to show another man around thirty years old – this was Old Ghost.

Old Ghost had injuries on his face, his eyes darting nervously, barely daring to look at the camera.

[Old Ghost: Sister Ju is the Fang family’s housekeeper. She works for Sir Fang, and we work for Sister Ju. Following Sister Ju’s instructions, we first made a phone call to lure away the guard at the Ye family’s Mid-Levels Villa, then sent a pager message to Ye Baoling and Ye Baoxin, pretending to be their mother to lure them to the Ye family’s villa on Guling Mountain. After Ye Baoling and Ye Baoxin entered the villa, we splashed two buckets of gasoline inside and outside the villa, secretly locked the door, and used a lighter with Ye Huaizhang’s fingerprints to start the fire. Then, that… we threw the lighter at the main entrance.]

Old Ghost spoke rapidly and urgently, his words somewhat disjointed.

[Old Ghost: We did this to… kill those two, to kill Ye Baoling and Ye Baoxin and frame Ye Huaizhang for it. Ye Baoxin was even pregnant with the Fang family’s heir. I know it was cruel, but the cruelty came from Sir Fang, not from me. We… we were just doing a job for money. But Ye Baoling and Ye Baoxin were lucky—they escaped.]

By this point, Fang Shanxing was clenching his fists, on the verge of breaking down.

Fang Dingkun wanted to calm his grandson, but with cameras pointed at him, he dared not make any sudden moves. He could only shake his head helplessly, indicating that he was being framed.

The voiceover from the large screen spoke again.

[Our Sir Fang abused his power to exploit women, used money to commit arson and murder—do you think that’s all? No, far from it.]

[Nanhua Third Hospital was established in 1938 with the original intention of performing charitable deeds and benefiting the people. In 1941, when the Japanese army captured Port City, Fang Dingkun was an executive at Nanhua Third Hospital.]

The screen showed footage of the Japanese army bombing Port City and enslaving its people.

Then, a refined man in his fifties appeared on screen.

[Man: My name is Guo Dunyi. My father was Fang Dingkun’s deputy over forty years ago. My father once told my mother that Fang Dingkun secretly worked for the Japanese, betraying his country for personal gain—he was a major traitor.]

[Guo Dunyi: In 1942, the Japanese had a unit dedicated to human bacterial experiments. They wanted to conduct research targeting Westerners to develop biochemical weapons specifically for them. At that time, Port City had the largest foreign population, so the Japanese chose to set up this laboratory there.]

[Guo Dunyi: To climb the ranks, Fang Dingkun chose to become a traitor. The Japanese made him the director of Nanhua Third Hospital, and he secretly collaborated with Japanese soldiers. Under the pretense of recruitment and providing food and shelter, he gathered a large number of foreigners. After careful selection, over thirty Westerners—men, women, and children—were handed over to the Japanese for human biochemical experimentation.]

The live audience erupted in shock!

This was simply too inhuman!

The famously charitable Sir Fang was actually a ruthless monster?

Fang Dingkun knew he could no longer remain silent. He stood up and shouted angrily, Absurd! These are all lies! A conspiracy! A plot to frame me!

No one paid him any attention, and no one refuted him.

The video on the large screen continued.

Guo Dunyi held up a small booklet.

[Guo Dunyi: This is a notebook left by my father. It records the Westerners selected back then—British, French, American… Here are their names and brief background information. After these innocent people were sent for experimentation, they all disappeared, vanishing without a trace.]

Guo Dunyi: By 1945, Japan wanted to accelerate and deepen its biochemical research on Westerners. To cooperate with them, Fang Dingkun also increased his so-called assistance to Westerners. He needed to recruit more Westerners, so he established a charity organization specifically to help them. It was at this time that Japan surrendered in defeat. The Japanese left, and Fang Dingkun, because he had helped Westerners during Port City’s occupation, instead became an honored guest of the new British governor. Later, he was even knighted by the British Queen. The irony is profound.

Guo Dunyi: As for my father, because he knew too much about Fang Dingkun’s affairs, he was killed by a venomous snake bite orchestrated by Fang, disguised as an accident. To protect our lives, my mother guarded this diary, pretending to know nothing. She dared not report him, nor let us know the true cause of our father’s death. It was only two days ago when I was approached that I learned the truth. If necessary, my mother can testify in court.

At this moment, not only were people at the scene whispering among themselves, but those watching television were also passionately discussing the matter with righteous indignation.

The old director of Nanhua Third Hospital, a man renowned for his charity work, was actually such a hypocritical traitor—a despicable scoundrel.

Fang Dingkun was still shouting, Someone is deliberately framing me!

Though he didn’t explicitly name Ye Baoling and Ye Huaizhang as the masterminds behind the scenes, his glare was fiercely directed at them.

Ye Baoling and Ye Huaizhang stood on the stage, looking down from above, watching coldly and indifferently.

Guo Dunyi: You can verify the authenticity of my father’s diary entries. The police can immediately send experts to Fang Dingkun’s villa on Yunling Hillside. Evidence of his crimes is hidden there. My father mentioned in his diary that Fang Dingkun provided his newly built villa to the Japanese army for use as a bacterial laboratory. After the Japanese withdrew, Fang Dingkun knew the villa contained viruses and bacteria, so he didn’t dare enter to dispose of them and had to seal off the entire building.

Guo Dunyi: Even if Fang Dingkun later cleaned the villa, it doesn’t matter. My father hid evidence of their crimes from that time somewhere in the basement.

Fang Dingkun was completely stunned.

He never expected that the Guo family had left such a backup plan back then.

Nor did he anticipate that Ye Huaizhang and Ye Baoling would track them down.

The only thing he could do now was to deny everything to the death.

After the video finished playing, the lights brightened once more.

The venue fell into a brief silence again.

Ye Baoling turned to the host and asked, Will the award still be presented?

The host snapped out of her shock and quickly said, We’ll now take a commercial break.

During the commercial break, the audience erupted into animated discussions.

Fang Xuhua had lost all desire to negotiate with the television station by this point.

He walked forward, looked at his elderly father, and asked softly, Dad, is this… is this true?

Are you even my son?

As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Shanxing, who had been sitting beside him seething with rage, stood up and grabbed Fang Dingkun by the collar.

Fang Shanxing angrily demanded, What about the first recording? Was the first one fake too?!

Only then did Fang Xuhua realize that the female voice in the first recording was Ye Baoxin?

He looked at his father in disbelief.

Fang Dingkun stared at his grandson, whose eyes were red with fury, wanting to defend himself but unable to speak for a long moment.

The elderly man in his seventies, shaken by his grandson gripping his collar, had no strength to resist.

Audience members with cameras eagerly snapped photos of the front row, eager to witness the unfolding family drama.

Ye Baoxin was absent today, and she didn’t appear in the earlier video footage either. Currently, people likely don’t know the woman involved was Ye Baoxin.

Fang Shanxing clenched his fists, suppressing overwhelming rage, but was ultimately restrained by his father. He only shoved Old Fang roughly into a chair.

Fang Dingkun nearly fell to the ground, and as someone helped him up, he dusted himself off in embarrassment.

Ye Huaizhang and Ye Baoling were already supporting Guan Lao Taijun down the steps toward them. Ye Baoling shook her head slightly, playing dumb: I never imagined Grandfather Fang was such a person.

Though filled with resentment, Fang Dingkun dared not drag the Ye family into this mess. After all, without the foreigner’s remains being found, he could still defend himself. Once they were discovered, he would lose any chance to explain.

At that moment, a large team of police officers surrounded the scene. The leading officer stepped forward, presented an arrest warrant, and said, Mr. Fang Dingkun, we have reason to suspect your involvement in an arson case and a murder case. Please accompany us to the police station for investigation.

Fang Dingkun’s face turned ashen, and he remained silent. Officers approached to handcuff him and place a black hood over his head.

Reporters on site rushed forward to take photos and record videos. What should have been Fang Dingkun’s most glorious day ended up making him the laughingstock of the entire city. The climax came when he was publicly taken away by the police. Despite everything, the old man maintained his steady gait, though his expression was grim. His physical resilience was far superior to Ye Qizu’s.

Ye Huaizhang walked over and patted Fang Shanxing’s shoulder without speaking.

Reporters swarmed to ask, Mr. Fang Shanxing, why did you want to hit your own grandfather? Do you know something hidden?

Ye Huaizhang shielded Fang Shanxing, stating, No interviews.

Ye Baoling spoke for him: It’s only natural to react that way upon discovering one’s grandfather is a traitor.

She had promised Ye Baoxin to expose the matter but not her identity.

A reporter then asked Ye Baoling, Miss Ye, why did Sir Fang want to kill you and Ye Baoxin, then frame Ye Huaizhang?

Ye Baoling replied, You should ask the perpetrator, not us.

Was it because you intended to expose Sir Fang as a traitor, so he sought revenge… The reporter’s imagination ran wild.

Ye Baoling smiled without confirming: It wasn’t us who exposed it.

Dong Jian and Chen Yulan stepped forward to block the reporters, while Ye Baoling escorted Guan Lao Taijun home first.

Ye Huaizhang stayed to talk privately with Fang Shanxing for a long time.

By then, it was already past 10 PM.

Radio and television programs immediately followed up with reports, disclosing various unaired footage from the scene. The entire city spent the evening gossiping about the scandal.

The next day, major news outlets featured extensive front-page coverage of the shocking revelations about Sir Fang at Nanhua Third Hospital. While the public indulged in the drama, public opinion universally condemned him for hypocrisy, dishonoring his age, employing despicable methods, and betraying the nation for personal gain… among other accusations.

Sir Fang had become Fang the Traitor.

That very night, police surrounded Fang Dingkun’s Mid-Levels Villa at Yunling Mountain and established a special investigation team. Two days later, experts in protective gear conducted a thorough search of the villa. Numerous pieces of evidence were collected and neutralized after examination.

Fang Dingkun’s identity as a traitor was virtually undeniable. However, he stubbornly refused to admit his crimes.

Several days later, Fang Dingkun was released on bail.

Returning to No. 5 Qing Tang Street, Sister Ju had been taken for investigation and not yet released. The two remaining servants in the house avoided him as if he were a ghost, scrambling to get away.

Fang Shanxing and Ye Baoxin had moved out completely.

Only Fang Xuhua remained, overwhelmed and burdened with a pile of messy matters to handle.

He had lost his position as Chairman of Nanhua Third Hospital due to his father’s involvement.

Now the entire family was in dire straits.

After the lawyer left, father and son sat in the study on the second floor.

In just a few days, Fang Dingkun had aged considerably.

Previously, he refused to acknowledge being a seventy-year-old man, but now he had to admit that he was old.

Where is Shanxing? he asked.

Fang Xuhua replied, He moved out.

Fang Dingkun gritted his teeth. No conscience…

Fang Xuhua immediately retorted, If you had any conscience, you wouldn’t have committed those misdeeds.

Fang Dingkun looked at his son, his gaze gradually turning cold. He snorted, Now you blame me for dragging you down?

Do you think just because you deny it, the judge won’t convict you? The Governor approached me. He’s furious. He told me your knighthood is to be revoked by the Queen.

Fang Dingkun instinctively wanted to drag the third branch of the Ye family down with him: Ye Qizu and his two brothers killed the British noble, Baron Raymond, back then. If I’m going to hell, I’ll take them with me.

Fang Xuhua said, That murder happened forty years ago—it’s long past the statute of limitations. Besides, two of the three killers are dead, and the remaining one is half-crippled. The Ye family holds no titles; they were never under the protection of the British monarchy to begin with. Do you think they care, especially now that they’ve dared to break ties with you?

Fang Dingkun said fiercely, Even if they don’t care, I’ll still drag them down…

Fang Xuhua impatiently cut off his father. Right now, only the Ye family can offer Shanxing a decent, respectable job. If you end up cutting off this last lifeline for him, Dad, you truly, truly don’t deserve to be called a human being!

Fang Dingkun froze. No wonder Ye Huaizhang and Ye Baoling were so bold—they had planned all along to use his grandson to control him?!

Fang Xuhua paced back and forth in the study, hands on his hips. The family assets we have left will be used to compensate the Ye family for their burned villa, cover Ye Kaimin’s medical expenses, and pay restitution for all those people you killed. On top of that, we have to cover the losses for Nanhua Third Hospital. Do you really think what’s left of the family fortune can be preserved? Stop thinking about wasting more money on lawsuits.

He glanced at his father. If you go out now, you’ll be like a rat scurrying across the street, everyone shouting for your head. What’s the point of living like this? If it were me… I’d end it myself, rather than stay in this world and be disgraced.

With that, Fang Xuhua left.

Only Fang Dingkun remained in the study.

He sat there until late into the night, unwilling to accept his fate.

So many years had passed peacefully. He had looked forward to enjoying a leisurely retirement—how… how could he have failed at the final hurdle?

He had been defeated by Ye Baoling and Ye Huaizhang. One played the good cop, the other the bad cop, and they had deceived him.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, yet he was powerless to change anything.

Sitting alone on the sofa, he contemplated his fate: his reputation in ruins, abandoned by all…

This was not the outcome he had wanted.

With trembling hands, he pulled open the drawer and took out the pistol inside.

The magazine was full. He placed the gun on the table.

Outside the window, dawn was breaking.

A new day was about to begin.

He couldn’t bear to die. He didn’t want to die.

The sun gradually rose, and a bird hopped on a branch outside the window.

Thump.

The bird, startled, flew off into the distance.

Author’s Note: What follows is the conclusion of the female lead’s career arc and the romantic storyline between the male and female leads. It should only take a few more chapters.

I might not write many extra chapters. If you have any requests, feel free to leave a comment.

Seeing some comments, I’d like to add: the secret of the Ugly King Jade Pendant hasn’t been revealed yet. There’s still a bit more to the story—it’s not over.