Chapter 1216: Manipulating Lin Yingxin
Since the exquisite and unique flora cakes were highly acclaimed, Wen Xinya naturally wanted to try it too. After all, it was a special delicacy of Boya Pavilion.
Her actions were natural and una.s.suming. However, she managed to catch the attention of Xia Ruya and Lin Yingxin, who stared at her with looks of disdain on their faces. Wen Xinya did not discover it at all.
Lin Yingxin picked up the teacup and sipped on some tea to hide the fact that she was staring at Wen Xinya. Her teacup managed to cover her face a little and her emotions were hidden, though she had an icy cold gaze in her eyes which were raised smugly. One could imagine how devious she looked.
Compared to Lin Yingxin, Xia Ruya was much more open about staring at Wen Xinya. She only shot Wen Xinya a casual glance before looking away. She then grabbed a piece of floral cake and began munching on it gracefully, hiding her emotions beneath her icy cold eyes. She seemed to have completely stopped everyone from looking at her.
Compared to Lin Yingxin, she was much better at controlling her emotions and putting on a pretentious front.
The floral cakes served at Boya Pavilion were indeed very unique and the flavor seemed to become enhanced when combined with specially brewed tea.
After having had her snack and sipped her tea, Xia Ruya curled her lips and remarked, “The cake is smooth and melts in my mouth while the tea is fragrant and rich. The flavor is refres.h.i.+ng too. The floral cakes really live up to their reputation.”
Isn’t Wen Xinya great at stealing the limelight by dressing lavishly? She earned the praises of the host and managed to sit in the leading seat just because her grandfather is Old Mr. Mo.
But so what?
Soon, all of her glory will be gone.
Xia Ruya was an expert at manipulating others, but Jiang Ruoyin, Jiang Yuqian, and Xia Ruxue had all become useless to her. They were no longer p.a.w.ns that she could use and hence, she had to devise a new scheme in order to go against Wen Xinya.
Yan Menglu was one of her targets. However, Yan Menglu was too arrogant and difficult to handle, thus giving her a major headache. Hence, she decided to target Lin Yingxin instead.
Although Lin Yingxin was self-righteous and did not like letting others manipulate her, she was extremely greedy and ambitious, thus making her a good candidate in Xia Ruya’s eyes. Coincidentally, she was also best at manipulating others.
Lin Yingxin said carefully, “Your suggestion is good, but it’s not foolproof. I heard that Wen Xinya is very scheming and shrewd. She’s hard to deal with too. I doubt it’d be easy for me to make use of her to climb the ladder!”
Since her family had already lost their status and reputation, Lin Yingxin had no choice but to rely on the Ye Family while she was studying in Capital city. Soon, she witnessed the tip of the iceberg of all the wealthy and prestigious families of Capital city and was instantly bedazzled by the fame, glory, reputation, high status, and riches of the upper-cla.s.s society. The Heiress’ Gala gave her a chance to showcase her talent and even made her grow greedier. Ever since then, she set her mind to resort to all means, just to climb the social ladder.
Throughout all these years, she had been doing rather well. However, it was impossible for an orphan like her to advance further without the support of a powerful family.
Yet, at this juncture, Xia Ruya happened to look her up and offered her a tempting opportunity.
However, she had been in Capital city for several years and was well aware that Wen Xinya was not to be trifled with, even though she had barely interacted with her before. Hence, she was stuck in a dilemma and contemplated for a long time, unsure of whether she should offend Wen Xinya or not.
Xia Ruya naturally knew that Lin Yingxin was not an ignorant person, for she had managed to get thus far. “Senior Lin, I understand your concerns. You’re only worried because the benefits of this cooperation are not attractive enough for you. Don’t be too quick to turn me down yet. You might be more interested after finding out more about my plan.”
She had always been an expert at dealing with greedy people like Lin Yingxin. She could even manipulate Ning Shuqian, let alone a small fry like Lin Yingxin.
Lin Yingxin nodded hesitantly and said, “Since you’re so sincere, I shall listen to what you have to offer. Let’s see if your plan is attractive enough for me to take the risk and cooperate with you.”
Although Lin Yingxin was eager to gain power and was incredibly greedy, she was no fool and was well aware of the feud between Wen Xinya and Xia Ruya just like everyone else. She was afraid that Xia Ruya would make use of her and dupe her into doing all the dirty work. She was worried that she might end up with nothing in the end. After all, a win-win situation was ideal during a collaboration.
She had already expected that Lin Yingxin would agree. After all, she wouldn’t have looked Lin Yingxin up if she weren’t confident. “As the granddaughter of Old Mr. Mo, Wen Xinya will definitely receive a lot of attention during the gala. There would also be plenty of people asking her for a showdown. Once Wen Xinya wins the t.i.tle, you shall challenge her to a showdown as the t.i.tle winner of the previous gala.”
Xia Ruya paused and looked at Lin Yingxin with an inexplicable look in her gaze. She continued, “Once you defeat Wen Xinya, she’ll be undermined by you even if she had won the t.i.tle. All her glory will go to you. The t.i.tle will give you a greater reputation and she would only be paving the way for you after all the hard work that you had put in.”
Lin Yingxin was instantly tempted, for her reputation would be greatly improved after beating the t.i.tleholder. However, she was not blinded by her greed and still remained rational.
She suppressed her emotions and said in a shaky voice, “Miss Xia, you’ve got a brilliant point, but I have a few questions for you.”
Xia Ruya nodded and exclaimed, “Go ahead and ask!”
She had come prepared and hence, was not afraid of answering Lin Yingxin’s questions.
After a moment of agitation, Lin Yingxin began to calm herself down and asked composedly, “How are you going to guarantee that Wen Xinya will win the t.i.tle during the gala? From what I know, she’s only returned to the Wen Family for three-odd years. Hence, she’s only been learning the four arts for three years which is not very long. Even if she has a brilliant teacher like Old Mr. Mo, how are you sure that she can defeat the other heiresses who have begun learning from a young age?”
She was well aware of how difficult it was to learn and master the four arts. Although the Lin Family felt that her skills were impeccable, she was still not confident of defeating everyone at the gala. She only managed to win the t.i.tle previously by chance.
What is Wen Xinya? Can she defeat me? It’s such a far-fetched idea. Xia Ruya’s point is not valid.