The national management guild has twelve administrators, and Su Man is one of them. As people who work for the country, Su Man and Shen Qi naturally knew each other.
"May I ask what important matter brings Captain Shen to this humble place?" Su Man led them into her office and poured each of them a cup of tea.
Lu Zhi was also utterly bewildered. Shen Qi hadn't brought him to find his brother, but instead brought him to the guild.
Shen Qi placed his hands clasped on his knees, sitting with a commanding posture. He said, "Don't you want to know about the conflict between your sister-in-law and the guild? She's the one who knows best."
Lu Zhi was even more confused.
Su Man, however, understood the implication and exclaimed, "So you're the younger brother of Lu Chengxuan, the guild master of Kuangye Guild?"
Lu Zhi looked at Su Man's exaggerated surprise and couldn't help but laugh, "Miss Su's acting is a bit over the top."
It wasn't that Lu Zhi was boasting, but his reputation seemed quite significant. Otherwise, the state wouldn't have secretly monitored his every move. The national guild would surely have investigated him thoroughly, and with Shen Qi's connection, Su Man couldn't possibly not know him.
"Is it that obvious?" Su Man touched her face and sighed, "I really am not suited to be an actress."
Lu Zhi got straight to the point, "Miss Su, can you tell me everything you know? For example, the matter of my sister-in-law being kidnapped by people from Huarong Guild."
Su Man smiled and countered, "Why don't you ask your brother yourself?"
Lu Zhi took a sip of tea and glanced at Shen Qi's profile. "If my brother were willing to tell me the truth, Shen Qi wouldn't have brought me to you."
Su Man cast a sidelong glance at Shen Qi and nodded, "Indeed, according to the guild's rules and regulations, many things cannot be disclosed to outsiders. However, due to your relationship with Captain Shen and your connection with Lu Chengxuan, I will make an exception and secretly reveal some information to you."
Lu Zhi instinctively straightened his back.
Su Man got straight to the point, "Jiang Nuannuan is your sister-in-law, meaning she is your brother Lu Chengxuan's fiancée. This is not much of a secret among the guilds, but you might not know that Jiang Nuannuan is the biological younger sister of Jiang Shi, the vice guild master of Huarong Guild."
Lu Zhi indeed didn't know. Besides his own lack of interest and failure to ask, another reason was that he felt Jiang Nuannuan was his brother's fiancée, and her background had little to do with him, so he never inquired.
Su Man pushed a document towards Lu Zhi and said, "For reasons unknown, Jiang Nuannuan has been in a comatose state. Medically speaking, she is in a vegetative state. However, based on our investigation, Jiang Nuannuan's condition is very special; her bodily functions have been maintained in a state of stasis."
Lu Zhi quickly skimmed through it and exclaimed, "Jiang Nuannuan's personal time has stopped?"
Even in a vegetative state, the body's metabolic functions would still operate normally, just like a healthy person. Time always moves forward, but Jiang Nuannuan's bodily state remained perpetually frozen at a specific point in time.
"What does this have to do with Huarong Guild kidnapping my sister-in-law?" Lu Zhi still didn't understand.
Su Man shrugged. "It's a melodramatic love story. Jiang Shi, Jiang Nuannuan's brother, disagreed with their relationship. The primary reason, it is said, is that Jiang Nuannuan's current condition was caused by your brother."
Lu Zhi paused. He had heard this from Lu Chengxuan before; Jiang Nuannuan was cursed while protecting him, and the one who cursed her was a false god. "So, the current situation between my brother and my sister-in-law is..."
Su Man explained, "Simply put, after Jiang Nuannuan's incident, Jiang Shi vehemently demanded that Lu Chengxuan return his sister. However, your brother refused and kept Jiang Nuannuan hidden, leading to a very hostile relationship between the two guilds."
Lu Zhi glanced at the calm and collected Shen Qi and asked, "Then what about the kidnapping of my sister-in-law?"
"It's not quite a kidnapping... well, you know, although your brother and Jiang Nuannuan were in a relationship, legally speaking, your brother's relationship with Jiang Nuannuan was not as close as her brother's. Your brother's act of secretly hiding Jiang Nuannuan was illegal." Su Man spread her hands. "Jiang Nuannuan being taken away by people from Huarong Guild is not considered kidnapping. According to Jiang Shi, he was simply taking his sister home."
Lu Zhi nodded, "I understand." He then looked at Shen Qi, "I don't think you brought me to the guild to understand only these things, right?"
Shen Qi, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, "Aren't you curious about who this false god your brother mentioned is?"
Lu Zhi's expression flickered. How could he not be curious?