"Concerning this matter, it was your father's fault, and he should be held responsible. What he has done has wronged both our families and my father."
"Didn't you hear what your mother just said? She admitted to herself that she seduced my father. She was the one who came in between my parents. She is shameless. Is she thinking of having someone else pay for her shamelessness?"
She had finally understood the meaning of being shameless today. People who were willing to stoop very low are very hard to defeat.
Yun Xi knew very well that Yun Yuanfeng would not take responsibility for what had happened today. That was why she hadn't stopped Liang Xinyi from drugging her father and having her mother get into trouble.
She'd even played along with them and brought her uncle over to witness their show.
After all, it wasn't anything glorious. Chen Lixue had been bold enough to admit before her uncle that she did not love him and that she wanted the director's wife position. It was obvious that she hadn't given herself any room to retreat.
Unfortunately, she had underestimated the selfishness of Yun Yuanfeng.
Before he had been firmly ensconced as a director, both mother and daughter's want for a better status seemed impossible.
Even though he was firmly in his director position, there was still the problem of their presence in the Yun family. Yun Xi could simply produce the video, and Yun Yuanfeng would easily dispel the thought of letting Chen Lixue take the director wife's position.
The story of an affair of a younger sister's husband with his brother-in-law's wife was going to be a joke worth telling over meals. But if anyone had accused Director Yun of visiting a prostitute, it would not be a funny joke any longer.
The ball was in her court. Liang Xinyi wouldn't be able to overturn anything.
Yun Xi glanced at her uncle, turned, and looked at Liang Xinyi, whose face had turned red. "Liang Xinyi, you should be on your father's side now rather than on your mother's, encouraging her to become my stepmother. With me and Grandpa here, do you think your mother can marry into the Yun family?"
"You..." Yun Xi's words were tantamount to trying to sow discord between her and her father.
Seeing that her innermost thoughts had been revealed, Liang Xinyi turned pale. She looked at Liang Weimin and saw that his eyes were turned to look at her face, as cold as the slice of a knife.
"You guys clean up properly. I'll go to the front desk and get the first aid box. Dad, if you are nauseated, don't drive. They have a driver at the resort. Let them take you to the hospital for an examination first."
Yun Xi took a deep breath of cold air after she came out of the room. She looked up and saw Jiang Henglin standing outside. She thought of the absurd request he had just made, sneered, and turned to walk toward her room.
"Yun Xi, aren't you afraid that if the news of today's event gets leaked, it will affect your father's political career? Don't forget, I just need to say a few words to my father, and your father will have endless trouble."
Yun Xi paused, turned her body halfway around, and looked at the proud chap behind her, playfully smiling.
"Jiang Henglin, did you soak too long in the pool and cause water to enter into your brain? Did something happen today? Do you have any evidence? Even if Uncle Jiang believes what you have said or if you find a witness, do you think that given Uncle Jiang's personality and conduct, he would do such a despicable thing?"
In the political world, many people would rub salt into your wounds, but given the relationship between the Jiang family and the Yun family, Uncle Jiang would never stoop so low.
Jiang Henglin's threats to her over such a small matter were dishonourable.
"How do you know he won't? If he won't, perhaps the political opponents of your father might."
"If that's the case, my father will deal with it. After what has happened today, he ought to be responsible for his actions. What does this have to do with me? You just want me to beg you. I have two words for you—FAT CHANCE!"
This man had holes in his brain. Why would he get so much satisfaction by seeing her beg?
She would never beg him for anything.
On the way back home, Yun Xi and Zhao Yumo rode in Jiang Chenghuan's car. This ordeal today had blown up. The one who had been hurt the most was Yun Xi's soft, kind-hearted uncle.
However, if they hadn't done this, he would never have been able to see through Chen Lixue's facade.
What should be done next was up to the adults. Yun Xi didn't worry that anything outside of her expectations would happen.
Right now, Yun Xi's second aunt was in charge of the Yun family, and she was completely in accord with the will of her second aunt.
"Yun Xi, what are you planning to do next?" Zhao Yumo was worried that what had happened today was going to affect Yun Xi's mood. She was thinking of trying to help her come up with solutions.
"No worries. My dad isn't a kid. He knows that he did something wrong, and he has to take responsibility for his actions."
A man who couldn't control the lower half of his body... What great things could he do?
"Well, what if your parents get divorced? That aunt of yours doesn't look like a kind person, no matter how I look at her."
"Hee, hee, hee, I've never taken people on their level seriously. I just feel bad because of my uncle..."
When she mentioned her innocent uncle, Yun Xi raised her head to look at Jiang Chenghuan in the driver's seat, and she said, "Second Master Jiang since my uncle was invited to attend this conference in Jingdu, were the people there has the intention to promote him?"
Typically, if they had the connections, those who were chosen to attend the Representatives Conference wouldn't have a hard time rising the ranks.
Jiang Chenghuan looked at her in his rear-view mirror and nodded slightly, "They did have that intention. Your uncle has a decent political track record in the countryside. All he lacked was a network and connections. If you want him to be shifted over to Jingdu, I can get someone to arrange it. Anything not to spoil your plan."
"All right, understood," Yun Xi replied. Regardless of whether Uncle and Aunt were going to divorce, even if Uncle shifted over to Jingdu, his official position wouldn't be higher than Yun Yuanfeng's.
With Chen Lixue's ego, she would never reconcile herself to give up on contending for the place as the wife of a director, even if she became the spouse of a small official.
There were way too many temptations in Yun Yuanfeng's position as a director. With Chen Lixue's background and status, she couldn't enter the Yun family. In the end, all of her efforts were going to go to waste, and she would end up failing to please anybody.
...
It was still early when Yun Xi got back home. Yao Ying was a little startled when she saw Yun Xi coming back so early in the morning, carrying her backpack. She looked behind Yun Xi, only to see that no others were returning with her, so she hurriedly came forward.
"Yun Xi, weren't you guys supposed to be coming back tomorrow night? How come you are back so early? What happened?"
Yun Xi told her Second Aunt what had happened that morning. She didn't tell her about Liang Xinyi drugging Yun Yuanfeng, but Yao Ying's expression turned ugly after hearing about the story.
After all, this was a family scandal. If it became known by outsiders, it would be immensely shameful for the Yun family.
"What a disgrace! How could Brother do something like this and that aunt of yours... Shameless!"
"Don't tell Grandpa about this. It would seriously upset him. Besides, I don't think my father could handle such humiliation either."
"I know. Wait till they come back. We'll see how they have chosen to handle this whole thing."
Yun Xi roughly knew how Yun Yuanfeng would deal with such a thing.
As she expected, when Yun Yuanfeng came back, Liang Xiuqin and Chen Lixue came back as well. The moment Chen Lixue came back, she was chased upstairs to pack up her belongings.
Yun Xi looked at Yun Yuanfeng, who had already bandaged his wounds, as she came downstairs. She asked, "Dad, where's Uncle? Why didn't he come over?"
"Your uncle came to Jingdu for a conference. He has a place to stay."
"Oh, then what about Aunt? Is she moving out?"
"Erm, she'll be able to take better care of your cousin for the high school graduation exams by moving out," Yun Yuanfeng muttered, obviously exhausted. Of course, he'd paid a hefty price to reach such a compromise in the end.
"Move to where? It's not easy to find a house in such a hurry, right?"
"I got someone to rent a house for them to stay in temporarily. Yun Xi, don't tell Grandpa about this."
"I understand." Yun Xi nodded. All of these arrangements were within her expectations.
Chen Lixue had no desire to leave like this willingly, but now that things had reached this stage, she had no other choice.
If everything had gone according to Liang Xinyi's plan, Yun Xi's uncle wouldn't have appeared, and it had seemed possible that Chen Lixue would succeed in taking over Liang Xiuqin's role. Too bad...
If she didn't leave now, she could forget about divorcing Liang Weimin. Without a divorce, she had no legitimate way of getting into the position of a director's wife.
So to get a divorce, she had to make a compromise.
With Liang Weimin's personality, after catching her and Yun Yuanfeng in bed today, there was no way he would continue living in this marriage. And now, after the conference, he would have a great career ahead of him.
Chen Lixue's biggest wish right now was a divorce, but she had underestimated Liang Xiuqin and overestimated Yun Yuanfeng.
Yun Yuanfeng's cheating, together with the fact that he had just obtained the position of director, would create a lot of controversies if he divorced now.
No matter how foolish and rash Liang Xiuqin was, she wouldn't want to divorce Yun Yuanfeng at this juncture now that he had just become a director.
With all that settled, Yun Xi was now able to study in peace during this period leading up to the high school graduation exams.
Liang Xiuqin would be very busy during the following days. She would have to keep an eye on Yun Yuanfeng's private life and, at the same time, wracking her brain thinking about ways to keep her position as a director's wife. She wouldn't have time to pick noisy fights or cause trouble for Yun Xi.
...
As soon as he dropped Yun Xi off, Jiang Chenghuan dialled Mu Feichi's number.
The phone was passed to multiple people before reaching Mu Feichi. Jiang Chenghuan held back his laughter as he said, "While you're not here, your sweetheart's darling fiance is trying his absolute best to loot a burning house."
Mu Feichi snorted. "Her engagement has already been cancelled, what fiance are you talking about? Besides, who would dare to lay their eyes on my woman?"
"Even if the engagement has been cancelled, there are many people who have their eyes on her. Besides, nobody even knows that she's your woman. That girl has both the looks and the brains. It's not a surprise that people are paying attention to her."
Jiang Chenghuan then briefly recounted what had happened at the Lin Xi Resort today. Of course, he didn't forget to mention all kinds of things that Jiang Henglin had done in the most exaggerated way he could.
Come to think of it, this kid seriously had no clue how to play the game. Who would try to gain the attention of a girl like this? He was pretty much digging his own grave.
But it's also a good thing that he was so clueless. Otherwise, our dear Young Commander would be in a very precarious position.
"Since Jiang Henglin has nothing to do at the moment, then you should go find something for him to keep busy. Do you need me to teach you something so simple?"
"Yeah, finding something for him to do will be easy. I just wanted to get your approval for it."
Acting as a spy for Mu Feichi to keep watch over Yun Xi, Jiang Chenghuan was having an easier time saying things rather than putting them into action. In addition, he's enjoying watching all the drama.
"Why would you need my approval for that?" Mu Feichi snorted, then hung up straight away.
Initially, he wanted to call the girl. However, after thinking it over for a while, he decided to call the Mu family's executive director, Gu Baifan.
"Young Master!" The call went through, and a deep, clear voice sounded on the other end of the line.
"Before I return, could you please make some trouble for the Jiang family? Could you just make sure that Jiang Henglin is so occupied that he won't be able to leave to do something else?"
Gu Baifan knew Mu Feichi's way of thinking well enough, and he immediately understood what he meant. He didn't ask why and answered straight away, "The Jiang family recently took on a few infrastructure projects. The Mu family is interested in them as well. I'll immediately get people to work on it."
After the call ended, LI Zilan turned from the surveillance screen that she was looking at and glanced at the Young Commander who was acting like a tsundere. She commented, "You keep a pretty close watch on that girl. You don't look like someone who's so unconfident of himself."
An ice-cold gleam flashed through Mu Feichi's half-closed eyes.
"Confidence is one thing, but whether I'm willing to let anything happen to her is another."
He just didn't like other people casting their gazes on his woman or even having her on their minds!
In the blink of an eye, 20 days passed, and, during this period, Yun Xi met Liang Weimin once for a meal.
Liang Weimin did not vent his anger on Yun Xi for the scandal caused by his wife and Yun Yuanfeng.
But on this trip to Jingdu, Liang Weimin had realized that both his wife and daughter had changed.
Both of them had been completely mesmerized by the great bustling city of Jingdu. He had asked them about it and had found out that they no longer wanted to return to the countryside.
He was only left with the option of divorce. This would turn out to be a relief for both Liang Weimin and Chen Lixue.
Once the conference ended, Chen Lixue followed Liang Weimin back to the countryside to arrange for the divorce procedures. She did this immediately because she was afraid that problems could arise if she waited.
Chen Lixue did her best to fight for the custody of her two daughters. It wasn't only because she wanted the best for her daughters' futures; she wanted to enjoy them too.
Liang Weimin yielded and gave in. So his daughters would end up going with their mother, and he would fulfil his duties of helping to raise them until they reached the age of 18.
Chen Lixue went back to Jingdu as soon as she got the divorce agreement. She wanted to send her second daughter, Liang Danyi, to a high school in Jingdu for her senior year.
Now that she had enough money, as Yun Yuanfeng had given her a sum to keep her quiet about the scandal, she wouldn't be creating any problems for the time being.
But for Liang Xinyi, this was all a missed opportunity. She hadn't managed to get Liang Xiuqin out of the picture and had even failed to force Yun Yuanfeng into getting a divorce. She was bitter as she felt like all her efforts had been wasted.
With less than a year left, she had to find a way to push her mother up the social ladder before the socialite banquet.
Soon after Chen Lixue returned to Jingdu, Liang Weimin received a transfer order telling him to report to work in Jingdu. Also, he was given a rank just below Yun Yuanfeng.
Yun Yuanfeng held the rank of Director, and Liang Weimin became a Deputy Director. Although they did not belong to the same department, Liang Weimin's position was still pretty high up in the hierarchy.
Yun Xi delivered the news personally to Liang Xinyi and Chen Lixue. Even if she couldn't make them regret their actions, it was still fun to annoy them.
"Yun Xi, what are you trying to do by telling us that information?"
"Nothing. I am just here to say that don't you feel that you have wasted your energy, trying to plot against my father by getting your mother to get in bed with him? Now, Uncle has been appointed as an official in Jingdu. He might get to an even higher position than my father in the next few years if he does well. But, Aunt, it's too late to regret it now. Also, my mother is not a fool, so she would not ask for a divorce even if my father cheated on her. Do you know why?"
"Why?" Chen Lixue stared at Yun Xi, as that was what she wanted to know too.
Liang Xiuqin is not being as magnanimous as everyone thought. She did not ask for a divorce even when Yun Yuanfeng cheated on her because she still wanted to be a Director's wife. She would never give up that position, even if she had to risk death.
"Because she only has my father and nothing else. Only because of my father is she a Director's wife, enjoying all the glory and wealth. So if she decided to divorce my father, she would only be left with Yun Ziling. She doesn't work and has no money, so what could she do after the divorce? Didn't you think she would want to hold on to being a Director's wife? When one has nothing, one knows one's weaknesses very well. So even if my father asked for a divorce now, she would find ways to make sure that my father couldn't get it."
Yun Xi looked at Liang Xinyi when she said that. Liang Xinyi was glaring straight at her as if she wanted to cut a piece of flesh from her body.
"So, Liang Xinyi, I advise you not to make any more useless moves. If you want a rich and powerful stepfather, you can find one easily enough in Jingdu. It just depends on which high-ranking politician or wealthy businessman you can get your mother involved with. Of course, your mother must first be able to go all out, and the other party also needs to be willing to accept a slightly desperate woman."
No one could say that Yun Xi wasn't speaking nicely, as she had phrased her words in the most civilized manner possible.
It is a form of art to be able to insult someone without any vulgarities or swear words.
Chinese is an extensive and profound language. With Yun Xi being so frank, it would have been impossible that Liang Xinyi didn't understand what she meant.
"Shut your foul mouth!"
Liang Xinyi's face had turned white, but she hadn't answered Yun Xi as she had probably already thought of doing exactly what Yun Xi had just said. Instead, the person who spoke up was Chen Lixue, who couldn't take listening to Yun Xi any longer.
Yun Xi already knew what was going through Liang Xinyi's mind when she saw the downcast look on her face.
For Liang Xinyi to try and use her birth mother as a bargaining chip for her glory and wealth, her courage and actions were certainly commendable.
Well, if Liang Xinyi could be so cruel to herself, there was nothing else she wouldn't do.
As long as they could achieve their goals, stand at the top of society, and grab onto glory and wealth, everything else probably meant nothing to them.
Still acting completely dignified and graceful, like the noble and reserved Young Madame of the Yun family that she was, Yun Xi raised her eyebrows and smiled at Chen Lixue, who was fuming mad.
And just the opposite of Yun Xi, Chen Lixue didn't look good at all with a flustered, exasperated expression on her red face.
"Of course, an apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Liang Xiuqin is shameless, and you are even more despicable than she is. Just wait, I will make sure Yuanfeng divorces her. I am the mistress of the Yun family, so the Director's wife should have been me."
Having no fear of her, Yun Xi smiled calmly. "Sure, I'll wait. Don't disappoint me, Aunt!"
Turning away, Yun Xi tidied herself and pulled her jacket closer. It looked like it was about to rain, and there was a bone-piercing cold as the gloomy wind had picked up.
"Liang Xinyi, it's less than a year to the Socialite Ball. If you want to attend, or if you want to climb up the social ladder, then you need to work harder. I will be looking forward to your success."
Liang Xinyi looked up quickly when she heard what Yun Xi had said. Then, with a surprised look on her face, she stammered, "How...how did you know that I wanted to go to the ball?"
Liang Xinyi had only told Han Zhongteng and her mother about this. So how did Yun Xi find out?
"That's not important. But I can tell you this. Don't waste your time on my father. He is much more selfish than you think. Also, as long as I am around, I will not let the divorce happen. If you want a backer, then you need to..."
She glanced at Chen Lixue and Liang Xinyi and smiled in an amused manner as she said, "It depends on what you and your mother can accomplish and how far both of you are willing to go."
Since she had already passed on the news that she wanted to tell them, Yun Xi laughed softly and left without saying another word.
Liang Xinyi and Chen Lixue were already too far gone on their route to destruction.
Yun Xi's reminder would speed up their destructive process. Once they had decided to embark on this journey, there would be no room for regret.
And now, Chen Lixue had divorced Liang Weimin, and their only way out had also become a dead end.
...
As the high school leaving examinations drew near, all the seniors were tense and excited because these results would determine where and if you got into university.
The numbers on the countdown calendar at the back of the classroom had gone from three digits to a single-digit number. As the number became smaller, it was a reminder to everyone that a war was about to begin.
Mu Feichi hadn't been around for almost two months, since he was busy with the military. Yun Xi would receive calls from him occasionally, and they would talk about things that had happened recently.
The moves she had planned in her game had all started to coalesce. She was growing up, and there were many things that she wanted to do.
At times like this, the more she wanted, the more she knew she had to remain calm.
It would be the big day of the high school leaving exam soon. Yun Xi was clear about her strengths and abilities, and she knew that it wouldn't be difficult for her to get into Jingdu University. It was just an obstacle she needed to cross.
And, the struggle to get into Jingdu Univerity would be the final battleground between Qiao Ximin, Liang Xinyi, and herself.