"Why is she here?! Wasn"t she locked up?" Zhao Ming Hua fumed internally as she gazed at Yan Qing Shan"s nonchalant form. Yan Xiaoyi"s confused eyes bored a hole through her.
"It doesn"t matter. The damage has alreay been dealt with. She can"t refute it even if it"s all false. After all a rumor known by everyone becomes truth." Zhao Ming Hua pacified her anxiety and returned Yan Xiaoyi"s eyes with a.s.surance.
"Qing Shan, dear, here you are. Where have you been?" Yan Qing Shan lips quirked up in mockery when she heard Zhao Ming Hua"s question. The latter"s smile stiffened upon seeing her expression.
"Dearest aunt, shouldn"t you be asking yourself that?" Yan Qing Shan replied playfully, her lips pouting in pretend grievance.
"Aunt Ming Hua? How is aunt supposed to know where you"ve been? That is why she"s asking in the first place." Shen Ling contradicted Yan Qing Shan followed by a hateful glare on her person.
Yan Qing Shan sighed loudly and pitifully lowered her head.
"But the waiter who accompanied my said that the organizer has been meticulous for every possible scenario that might occur in this party and thus prepared a specific suite for special emergency. Take for example, a dress being stained by wine. I had a.s.sumed that since he said that it"s the organizer"s arrangement that meant it was my stepmother"s. If it was like that then she should know which suite was arranged for such. Am I wrong?" Yan Qing Shan inquired innocently as she looked around the people.
"Th- that…I- I did make preparation for those circ.u.mstances but I was not entirely sure of every detail. I had the hotel help me with it. So, I didn"t really know. Were you able to freshen up then, Qing Shan dear?" Zhao Ming Hua replied uneasily. Yan Qing Shan was tempted to laugh at her expression and lame attempt of changing the topic. She smirked to herself.
"Oh, unfortunately before I was able to even get rid of my wet clothes I realized that my phone was missing along with my purse. I decided to go back for it. Except, for some strange reasons that door was locked from the outside. I couldn"t open it no matter what." Yan Qing Shan paused and held her chin lightly in contemplation.
"It was a good thing a hotel employee was pa.s.sing by the corridors. I was able to come back for my things. I didn"t expect to arrive at this kind of scenario however." Yan Qing Shan sighed, projecting a wronged demeanor.
"You mean someone locked you in a hotel room? So what? You just don"t want to admit that you were fornicating with a waiter at your sister"s party. That"s expected for someone the likes of you. Besides, why would anyone lock you from the outside in the first place?" Shen Ling retorted her statement with a glare.
Yan Qing Shan turned her gaze to her, a chill emanating from within. She took slow steps to approach the foul-mouthed busybody that her stepsister and stepmother employed to use against her. Yan Qing Shan halted when they were closely face-to-face."Why, indeed?"
---
"Those people are idiots. Why is Ojou-sama even paying attention to them?" Akane commented snidely as she watched the commotion from the monitor of the surveillance cameras. Aki chuckled in response.
"They are idiots. But sometimes idiots also needed to be dealt with. They"re good enough for venting anyhow, as long as it makes Ojou- sama happy." Aki turned to the small person leisurely munching on snacks at the corner. He sighed; Akane is too carefree as of late. Aki couldn"t help but wish this farce would end already so that they could start their real objective.
As he lamented internally, Aki saw Yan Qing Shan make a subtle hand gesture. He turned to his comms device connecting him to Mamoru who was also on site.
"Mamoru, it"s your time to s.h.i.+ne."
A snicker sounded out from the earpiece followed by an annoyed voice. [Ugh, that took too long. I was itching to end these people since I saw them. I ought to cut their tongues out and sew those mouths of theirs.]
Aki sighed. This Mamoru has always been very protective of their Ojou-sama. The two were partners- in- crime. Though, it was usually Mamoru who thinks of all mischiefs and merely dragged their Miss with him. In some ways, Mamoru was one of the rare people who could evoke emotions from Yan Qing Shan then.
"Oi, your siscon is showing. Rein it in."
[Tsk. Shut up, Aki. Ah, this is far from satisfying. I just wanna beat them up. I can"t vent on that guy since he looks strong and Ami-chan might beat me up instead.]
Aki furrowed his brows. What was Mamoru saying?
"That guy?" He asked in confusion.
[Ami-chan"s boyfriend. Aaaargh! Even saying it infuriates me. My cute Ami-chan was taken just like that. I should have followed her here sooner. Ami-chan is so innocent that she doesn"t even realize she"s being taken advantage of. Men are all wolves. And now, she got together with a dangerous one. My Ami-chan!]
Aki"s face darkened as Mamoru continued to blabber on. He waved his hand in exasperation as he spoke. "I"m pretty sure you got it all mixed up. This is Ami we"re talking about. Besides, you seem to have forgotten that you"re a guy too. Whatever, just… just do your work."
---
"Why, indeed?" Yan Qing Shan took a step back from Shen Ling and put on a naïve, pensive look. Her hand traced the wet patch on her gown repeatedly as if drawing her answer from there.
"Well it could be because someone wanted to ruin me completely; mind, body, reputation, and spirit. That way I won"t be a nuisance in their plans along with the bonus of being able to shame me for their own voyeuristic gratification and satisfy their petty sense of envy. It"s quite simple, really." As Yan Qing Shan said her piece, her eyes never left Yan Xiaoyi and Zhao Ming Hua"s. If one were sharp enough, they would be able to notice the uneasiness radiating from the two, their stiff forms and s.h.i.+fty eyes giving them away.
Shen Ling stomped her foot in outrage while Yan Xiaoyi covered her mouth to tear away the anxiety building in her heart.
"How dare you insinuate something like that Yan Qing Shan?! Don"t you even feel a slightest bit of remorse at what you"re doing? You"re ruining Xiaoyi"s party with your attention-seeking fiasco. Is it still not enough? You"re the shame of the Yan family. Aunty, Uncle, and Xiaoyi are unfortunate to be related to you!" Shen Ling vehemently and righteously shouted as she went to embrace Yan Xiaoyi in an attempt to pacify her.
Yan Qing Yu"s face hardened at the words of the woman. But before he could even protest, his sister"s cold smile brought him to a stop.
"What a pitiful sidekick. Being curbed to your death and not even realizing it." Yan Qing Shan scorned in her mind as she gave the signal to Aki and Mamoru.
Ironically, Yan Qing Shan"s plan was similar to Zhao Ming Hua and Yan Xiaoyi. It was also a presentation consisting of a single video. One might say that in comparison it was quite a weak defense. But considering the principle of quality over quant.i.ty, Yan Qing Shan was far from losing out.
It may only be a single record of a conversation between mother and daughter nonetheless the power of media and the internet is a scary one. Plenty of people have been ruined by rumors circulating in this cyberworld. In a way, it was a brutal s.p.a.ce. Despite the fact that the issues may be forgotten as time pa.s.ses, the fact that it can be retracted anytime is still unnerving. Even if one is a hacker, deleting everything could only do so much.
Yan Qing Shan has also experienced this observable fact in her past life. Thus, she had no doubts as to the effect of her countermeasure nor had she no qualms in using them to these poisonous people.
The widescreen in front of the ballroom once again whirred to life. Two distinctly feminine voices and faces odiously familiar to everyone on site echoed within the area.
The screen projected a luxurious room with a Yan Xiaoyi and Zhao Ming Hua in house clothes. Both had a disdainful, smug smile in their countenance; a far cry from the usual amiable and gentle ones that the people in the ballroom know of.
[My daughter looks happy, huh. Something good happened?]
[Of course I"m happy, mom. That s.l.u.t Yan Qing Shan is the talk of everyone in the web. No one even bothered defending her from all the slander. Your idea was brilliant, mommy. Young Master Lan"s reputation precedes him. I won"t be surprised if Yan Qing Shan gets mobbed by his admirers.]
[She"s too full of herself. Humiliating you like that and taking away your Ace position, she"s getting her just desserts. But this much still isn"t enough.]
The silence turned to a clamour resembling a wave getting larger and larger as the video progressed. The scene then changed into another setting where a man and Zhao Ming Hua could be seen talking, with the latter bearing a malevolent expression as she spoke.
[Well, your job won"t be that difficult. That Yan Qing Shan b.i.t.c.h is stupid. She"ll fall for whatever tricks you employ. Just make sure that before the presentation is played, she"ll be locked up and unable to go back to the party.]
[Then after that? After I have dealt with the presentation, what should I do with her then?]
[Oh, that"s entirely up to you. You can ravage her for all I care. In fact, even that is also good. She"ll never be able to match up with my Xiaoyi ever again. She wasn"t contented with s.n.a.t.c.hing my daughter"s man; she even stole her Ace position. This will teach her a lesson.]
[But she"s also your neice, isn"t she? So ruthless of you. But I like it. Just don"t forget the payment.]
Another silence enveloped the place. The people were too aghast to even utter a syllable. Then a snicker shattered the fragile silence.