"Your voice is really attractive. So, speak more often or else I"ll pry off your tongue." AKane added with a mischievous grin. Yan Qing Shan cringed at her guardian"s words. Typical of Akane. But what flabbergasted her the most was the slight smile in Luo Chen"s lips and perceptible word of agreement he uttered."By G.o.d, have I seen it correctly? Aki- nii! Akane"s corrupting my friend! He"s turning the taciturn bookworm into an M!" Yan Qing Shan murmured inaudibly to her self. She shook her head to get rid of her train of thought and turned to the man in question.
"Luo Chen, thanks for the nice follow up a while ago. I got the effect exactly how I wanted it." Yan Qing Shan praised with a grateful smile. Luo Chen nodded back to her in response. Her lips twitch slightly at the difference in treatment. Suddenly, Akane"s cute face magnified in field of vision. Yan Qing Shan resisted her reflex to swat her away.
"Ami-chan! Praise me too! I was the one that whipped Luo Luo"s a.s.sertive and cool ikemen image." Yan Qing Shan eyed her with a dead fish expression. This adult in a child"s body is acting up again. The people present aside from Lan Jing Er shook their heads indistinctly. The Aces specifically was used to this scenario. Despite being gobsmacked for the first time they saw Luo Chen following Akane"s every whim. They didn"t have any qualms about since they were all in agreement that the bookworm needed to be a little bit more social. Which proved to be a correct conjecture as evident of his intervention at the party.
"Luo Chen was already a.s.sertive and cool before even meeting you Onee-sama. Please refrain from tainting his silent and mysterious image." She replied blandly to which Akane merely dismissed with an audible harrumph.
"By the way, what happened with the waiter who locked you up? Did Miss Yui subdue him?" Jia Wei Ren peeked at the Yan Qing Shan who was now slouching on the settee after her short, one-sided bicker with Akane. One-sided because it was mostly Akane fussing about her lack of enthusiasm. Yan Qing Shan pinched her chin and s.h.i.+fted her gaze at Jia Wei Ren.
"We let him be. I"m pretty sure this won"t be the last time I"ll encounter him. He"s still a good p.a.w.n to use against those two. I just had Mamoru-nii lock him up in the storeroom. Maybe he"ll be able too give me something interesting." Yan Qing Shan answered with unconcern.
"Akane Onee-sama, where"s Aki-nii? Why isn"t he here yet?" She followed up. Yan Qing Shan thought it strange that Akane was here alone when she was supposed to meet up with them together Aki.
"Oh, Aki? He went to fetch Mamoru. Said he wanted to make sure Mamoru only locks up the waiter and not inflict unnecessary life- threatening damage. Pretty sure they"ll be here together later." Yan Qing Shan lifted her brow at this.
"Life-threatening damage? Such as?" It was Lan Jing Er who spoke, his voice dripping with curiosity.
"Qing Shan, aren"t you cold? Your gown is still wet, you know. Why not freshen up and change? We can socialize by ourselves here for the meantime. Miss Yui said she"ll be taking some food here since we were unable to eat properly at the party." Jia Yi Lan then commented which drew Yan Qing Shan"s attention to her state of being. She still looked fine though she felt a little ragged. A shower sounded good except she currently didn"t have any piece of clothing in the penthouse. Yui was out and it would be bothersome to the staff is she called for it.
"It"s better for you not to know, Young Master Lan. The certain thing is it will hurt. Badly. Considering how that thug actually laid his paws at Qing Shan." Qi Xia replied with a wry smile. One thing that the Aces had realized over the days they spend with the Izanami Guardians is that they were protective over Yan Qing Shan. Obssessively so. It was a mystery how they tolerated the years that they were apart from her.
However, before Yan Qing Shan could give her a.s.sent the lounge door was again opened hastily. The imposing form of Zi Jue walked in with Liu Ying in tow who was drowning in garment and paper bags in both his hands. Yan Qing Shan grimaced at the pitiful sight. This smiling devil was a bit too unconcerned sometimes. Sigh. Following them along was Yui with a trolley of food.
"Shan er, I"ve brought you your clothes. Take a hot bath and change before you eat. I met Miss Yui on her way, I asked her to prepare something warm along with your favorite pudding. Tsk. Look at you still going about with these wet clothes. You look fantastic in them, my love, certainly. But that doesn"t mean you can just let yourself continue wearing them. What if you catch a cold from these? Your health is a priority over everything else." Zi Jue greeted Yan Qing Shan with a barrage of nagging as he sat straight by her side on the settee.
"You"re nagging again." Yan Qing Shan remarked as she tried to hold out a giggle from escaping her lips. She takes it back. The smiling devil isn"t totally unconcerned. His concern was only for a select few, namely her, Yan Qing Shan. She felt smug and warm from the pampering.
"Who asked me to be helplessly in love with you huh? I"m constantly worrying about you since you"re always so careless not to mention reckless and unaware." Zi Jue replied to her with his attractive brow raising up in amus.e.m.e.nt. This time Yan Qing Shan didn"t hold back her delighted laugh to which Zi Jue merely sighed with indulgence.
"I"ll go change." Yan Qing Shan stood and proceeded to rescue Liu Ying from the stack of garments and toiletries in his hands. She was surprised when Zi Jue got up as well and held her wrist. Yan Qing Shan eyed him curiously.
"Should I go with you?" He asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and devious smile in his lips. Yan Qing Shan rolled her eyes at his antics and shook his hand off.
"You should be glad that none of my brothers are here." Yan Qing Shan stated, smirking. Zi Jue grinned widely.
"They can"t beat me anyway." He answered matter-of-factly. Yan Qing Shan snorted audibly at this and turned her head away from him and walk. Except the adamant man followed her every step.
"How conceited of you. Stay at the couch, will you?" Yan Qing Shan waved her hand at him dismissively but Zi Jue laughed it off and kept up.
"Heh. It seems like they forgot we were here. How mean. Ami-chan is all grown up and in love. She even forgot about our existence." Akane murmured which made the people within the room spit out blood. Yes. Everyone of them were single dogs who were just fed copious amounts of dog food from two unfeeling deities. Silence fell with the lounge and only the non-existent sound of crickets could be heard amidst their darkened expressions.
---
Yan Estate.
"Dear, please believe me. I would never hurt Qing Shan. She"s your and my beloved sister"s daughter. She"s basically my daughter too. Why would I seek to hurt her? Xiaoyi also looks up to her. We were framed, dear." Zhao Ming Hua wailed loudly in front of Yan Tian Yu. He looked at her crying form neutrally before sighing. This woman is so good at acting. If it weren"t for the fact that the situation had benefited them, Yan Tian Yu may not have held on any longer and confronted her about everything.
"Sigh. I know, dear. Stop crying, alright. I"ll get to the bottom of this. For now, stay home with Xiaoyi. The media"s eyes will be on us in the coming days. A few people at the party are quite troublesome people." Yan Tian Yu pacified Zhao Ming Hua half-heartedly.
"Alright. If you say so, dear. But what about my work at the company, I can"t possibly handle everything at home. Xiaoyi also has commitments and school." Zhao Ming Hua argued back. She couldn"t afford to be absent from the company. They were at a crucial time. Except, she was helpless if Yan Tian Yu forces to refrain from working. After all, the scandal this time will surely impact even the company stocks. Zhao Ming Hua clenched her hands tightly. That Yan Qing Shan truly did nothing but get in her way.
"I"m sorry, dear. It will be better if you stop work for now. I can protect you both better at home. I"ll deal with Xiaoyi"s schedule and talk to the school. Besides, Qing Yu has come home. He can a.s.sist me with the company. He"ll be taking over your post temporarily. I hope you understand. I"m at a loss as well." Yan Tian Yu replied. Zhao Ming Hua froze at his declaration. Yan Qing Yu taking over her post? Isn"t that the same as saying her powers at the company is going to get cut off? This can"t be happening. Yet as much as she wanted to oppose, Zhao Ming Hua had no acceptable defense.
"Q-Qing Yu? That"s right. He"s here. Then, alright. I"ll stop worrying then. Thank you dear." Zhao Ming Hua relented. It seems she needed to revise her plans.
"Yan Qing Yu. If I can"t get rid of your sister, I might as well deal with you first."