Such a brazen display would inevitably attract a great deal of unforeseen attention. For Yun Chuji and Tang Jianxi, the most difficult thing to handle now wasn’t the stares and judgments of strangers, but how to face the acquaintances who had just learned the news.
Especially: their parents.
Less than ten minutes after Yun Chuji’s livestream response on Tang Jianxi’s StarNet account, Miss Tang was holding Yun Chuji’s hand and praising how well she had just spoken. Miss Tang pulled out all the stops, and although she quoted many movies, popular novels, and pop culture references that Yun Chuji didn’t understand, she still successfully praised the little feudal maiden Yun Chuji until her cheeks were flushed and she was glowing with vitality.
Just as Tang Jianxi was about to redouble her efforts, a call came through.
It was Tang Jianxi’s comm.
Tang Jianxi regretfully let go of Yun Chuji’s hand, wondering who could be so tactless. Hadn’t she said not to disturb her today unless it was something that absolutely required her decision?
She looked down. It was her mom.
Tang Jianxi’s expression stiffened. She belatedly realized that she might have gone a bit too far.
Forcing a smile, Tang Jianxi said to Yun Chuji, “I have to take this call.”
Then she quickly ran into the study.
On the light screen, Ms. Tang Ji was as stern and proper as ever. Years of hard work had left indelible marks at the corners of her eyes and brows, but this did not diminish her charm. It was an extremely natural pride that could only be cultivated by a century-old noble family. Tang Ji wore very few accessories, but the blue mechanical watch on her wrist was particularly conspicuous. It was said to be a luxury item from several hundred years ago, now considered an even more luxurious antique, and it had been a wedding gift to Ms. Tang from Tang Jianxi’s father.
Although Tang Jianxi’s parents’ marriage was the product of an arranged union, compared to the many superficial couples in the Empire’s aristocratic circles, their relationship could almost be considered a match made in heaven. In Tang Jianxi’s memory, her mother had never been involved in any AO scandals. When her father was busy with academic research, her mother would even put aside her work to spend time with her and her brother.
This gave Tang Jianxi a very deep bond with her mother. Even later, when she came to despise the Empire’s alphas, it never diminished her respect and love for her mother in the slightest.
But ever since she presented, the distinction between alpha and omega had naturally created distance in their relationship. After Tang Jianshen took over Tang Group, Tang Ji went to A-District to enter politics, maintaining their family’s status in aristocratic circles and within the Tang clan. After that, mother and daughter only had brief conversations at the once-a-week family gathering.
They always talked about the same old trivial matters, like, “How’s work? Jianshen isn’t bullying you, is he? Have you found an alpha yet?”
Tang Jianxi’s standard answers were: “It’s fine; he has; I haven’t.”
Just last week, Tang Jianxi was still answering this way.
In truth, with Auntie Chen as her informant, Tang Ji wasn’t necessarily unaware of Yun Chuji’s existence. But since Tang Jianxi never brought it up, and because Tang Jianxi’s concealment prevented the scent of her permanent mark from being revealed, Ms. Tang naturally assumed it was just an insignificant romance her daughter was having.
Like many omegas in high society nowadays, she was just trying out a few alphas, or just playing around, before marriage.
Tang Ji didn’t exactly approve, but she didn’t feel it was necessary to bring it up and make her daughter change her ways. She was an open-minded alpha, and she was infinitely more so with her own daughter. Besides, the Tang family had plenty of money, so if she wanted to play, she could play.
However, after seeing the video her secretary had just shown her and the subsequent livestream account, Tang Ji realized that even if it was just for fun, Tang Jianxi had taken it a bit too far.
Tang Ji stared at her daughter’s guilty face. It was the exact same expression she’d had as a child when she secretly ate too many snacks and then tried to frame Tang Jianshen. “Are you serious?”
Tang Jianxi nodded shyly.
It was the truth. At the same time, it was also a move to increase Yun Chuji’s value in the eyes of Glory. She had schemed her way into becoming the Tang family’s future alpha, a practically done deal. No matter how you looked at it, that had to count as being an elite in her field, right?
Tang Ji’s expression remained calm. She slowly turned the jade thumb ring on her thumb, a gift from her husband on their fifth wedding anniversary. It was said to have a calming effect.
“Getting married?”
Tang Jianxi froze for a moment, her face flushing slightly. “That depends on her.”
If that little antique could wrap her head around things and let herself be pursued, then of course they would get married. Tang Jianxi had looked up the customs of the Great Liang Dynasty; even dating before marriage required a chaperone for meetings, and they couldn’t even hold hands. Tang Jianxi couldn’t stand being so conservative; she figured they would definitely have to get married to date properly.
The speed at which Tang Ji turned her ring increased slightly. Looking at her daughter’s smitten appearance, she was inexplicably reminded of how she’d been when she had a secret crush on the kids’ father. Could this sort of thing be hereditary?
Why couldn’t she have inherited some of her father’s better traits?
Before, seeing her noble, aloof demeanor and her scorn for alphas, she had worried she might follow her brother’s example and get into an OO relationship, leaving the old Tang family with no heir. Now she’d finally found an alpha, but from the looks of it, it seemed her own daughter was the one eagerly throwing herself at the other party.
That person had quite a knack for putting on an act, spouting sweet nothings from that little mouth, going on about some “A-Virtue,” and charming a group of naive little omegas until they were head over heels, crying out on StarNet that they wanted to marry her.
Heh, Tang Ji sneered inwardly. Playing innocent, are we?
We’re both alphas; who doesn’t know how the other thinks?
She coaxed someone into a public announcement across the entire Empire, but she hasn’t even met the parents or proposed marriage. A-Virtue—pah! Shameless!
Tang Jianxi, immersed in the shyness and sweetness of her first love, didn’t notice the extremely low pressure emanating from Tang Ji on the other side of the screen. Regardless of her inner thoughts, Tang Ji’s expression remained composed. She made a suggestion very much in line with the customs of the Empire’s aristocratic circles: “Then why don’t you have her over to the house sometime?”
Tang Jianxi thought that it was bound to happen sooner or later, so she nodded in agreement.
“This weekend, then,” Tang Ji decided, leaving no room for discussion.
Tang Jianxi vaguely sensed that something was off, but Tang Ji quickly changed the subject and started talking about those same old trivial matters, and Tang Jianxi answered dutifully.
Speaking of the Tang Group’s recent conflict with the Third Princess, Tang Ji’s expression was quite disdainful. After failing to force her to pick a side, the Third Princess had started picking on the Tang Group to cause trouble. With such a narrow mind, even if she did ascend to the throne, she wouldn’t accomplish anything great.
Although the royal family possessed sufficient power, the nobles in the Senate weren’t pushovers either. If the Third Princess made the situation too ugly, forget ascending the throne, even just staying peacefully in A-District would be a pipe dream.
Tang Ji said coolly, “Don’t worry about the Third Princess. She’ll know when to back off.”
The corners of Tang Jianxi’s lips twitched slightly. She didn’t know if she should tell her mother about Glory. She knew her mother’s character, but Glory involved too many people. She believed her mother would stop Glory’s schemes, but would she bring those people to justice?
Tang Jianxi couldn’t be sure.
Her mother was a model family heir. Unlike her unconventional children, she had always been a paragon for aristocratic circles to emulate. She held the dignity of the nobility in extremely high regard, and as it happened, Glory was a group of pro-alpha nobles.
In the end, Tang Jianxi didn’t say anything. Mother and daughter tacitly swallowed the words they most wanted to say and ended the conversation peacefully.
On the other side of the wall, Yun Chuji was also facing an interrogation from Qin Wan.
The last video incident, probably because Tang Jianxi had taken it down quickly enough, hadn’t alarmed Qin Wan. Only her younger sister, Yun Chuwan, had sent her a message, repeating “Sister, you’re so cool” ten times.
Yun Chuji had replied with “Study hard.”
Yun Chuwan hadn’t replied after that.
But this time, it seemed she had truly caused too much of a stir, as even Qin Wan had been alerted.
A short while after Tang Jianxi went into the study, Qin Wan called her. The very first sentence was: “Are you and Miss Tang together?”
Yun Chuji: “…”
Even after several thousand years, do people still prioritize gossip?
Gritting her teeth and remembering her plan, she knew that if you’re going to put on an act, you have to go all the way. Yun Chuji said, “Yes, Mom.”
Qin Wan sized her up suspiciously. “You didn’t force Miss Tang, did you?”
Yun Chuji thought, A mother truly knows her daughter best. If the original owner were standing here now, she probably would have been seen through already.
But unfortunately for her, the person inside the shell had changed.
Yun Chuji shook her head, trying hard to control her expression to make her lie more convincing. “No, Jianxi and I are in love.”
Qin Wan was still skeptical. “After what happened, you can still be in love?”
Yun Chuji also found this to be a headache. If she were to say that Tang Jianxi could fall in love with the person who forcibly marked her, it would be too much of an insult to Tang Jianxi.
So Yun Chuji decided to insult herself instead. “I fell in love with Jianxi at first sight. At first, I was impulsive and did something wrong. Afterward, I sincerely repented, serving Miss Tang hand and foot, kowtowing and apologizing. Jianxi was moved by my sincerity and reluctantly accepted me.”
Qin Wan remained cautious. “Are you truly sorry, or are you just acting this way to make the omega soften up?”
Yun Chuji began to think that the relief Qin Wan had shown during their last meeting might have been partly an act. Perhaps then, just like now, she had thought Yun Chuji was faking it. It had to be said, the original owner’s behavior over the years had indeed left a considerable shadow on her mother.
“Mom, I truly love Jianxi.” Yun Chuji suppressed the heat in her face while desperately dredging up lines from the few movies she had seen to prove her sincerity. “Please don’t look at me with the same old eyes. Love has reshaped me from head to toe. I’ve come into contact with the most beautiful emotion in the world, and so I want to become a better person myself. Only then can I be worthy of the happiness Jianxi has given me.”
As expected of movie dialogue, the effect was astonishing. Qin Wan finally stopped questioning her intentions, and perhaps even attributed her insights on A-Virtue to this baptism by love.
They chatted about recent trivialities. Yun Chuji asked about Yun Cheng and Qin Wan’s recent sleep patterns. If they had improved significantly, she would prepare another type of medicinal foot soak packet to send them.
When they had nearly exhausted all the small talk, Yun Chuji suddenly asked, “Mom, aren’t you going to ask how I suddenly became an S-rank?”
Qin Wan’s expression relaxed, and she gave her a look of fond exasperation. “Your genetic report said you were an S-rank from the beginning. Your dad and I were puzzled when you presented, so it’s good that you’ve had a secondary presentation now.”
Yun Chuji had no memory of this, but with the passage of time and her recent frequent and deliberate attempts to access the original owner’s memories, the traces of memories she couldn’t recall were growing fainter and fainter in her mind. They might soon disappear completely.
A genetic report… it probably wasn’t anything important.
A minute later, Yun Chuji ended the call.
She turned her head and saw Tang Jianxi staring at her with a smile. No matter how you looked at it, it was a mischievous smile, just like the look she had whenever she was about to tease her.
Yun Chuji felt her whole body go numb and wished she could find a hole to crawl into. “You heard?”
Tang Jianxi tapped her smooth, jade-like chin with her index finger. She didn’t answer directly, instead saying with feigned ignorance, “Heard what?”
“Did I hear that you actually have the skill to prepare medicinal foot soak packets?”
“Or did I hear that you kowtow to me every day to atone for your sins?”
“Or perhaps, did I hear you…” Tang Jianxi slowed her speech, her final tone especially drawn out.
“…professing your love for me?”
Yun Chuji’s ears were bright red. She was genuinely worried Jianxi would misunderstand and think she had ulterior motives, lumping her in with the original owner. She denied it quickly and anxiously, “No, I was just fooling my mom. I was afraid Glory would investigate her.”
Tang Jianxi looked at her for a moment longer, her beautiful eyes holding an expression Yun Chuji couldn’t decipher. She sighed and sat down beside Yun Chuji. “Of course I know. I even know where you got those lines from.”
Secret Affairs and The Night of October Ninth, two of Tang Jianxi’s favorite romance movies.
Unbelievable.
How could this person be so good at finding the right lines, yet be so infuriatingly dense in other ways?
Hearing that Tang Jianxi hadn’t misunderstood, Yun Chuji’s body instantly relaxed. Seeing her like this only made Tang Jianxi more annoyed, but she still had to discuss serious matters. “It just occurred to me, if you’re going to continue playing the part of the original Yun Chuji, you need to be careful to wear pheromone perfume when you see your parents again, so you don’t give yourself away.”
“A secondary presentation can change a pheromone scent, but not to this great an extent. I already altered your files with the Empire, but I forgot about your parents. I don’t know if they’ve noticed.”
“So, did you wear a suppressor patch when they came last time?”
Alphas and omegas can’t smell their own pheromones, so Yun Chuji had no idea her scent had changed. She thought back hard, then said with certainty, “I did. I even wear a suppressor patch when I sleep.”
“…”
All she could say was that if it was Yun Chuji who did something like this, it was somehow understandable.
After all, she was a little antique who hadn’t even shown her arms yet.
Tang Jianxi was just about to give Yun Chuji a few more instructions when her comm rang again. Tang Jianxi thought, It couldn’t be my father, who treats academia as his life, calling to ask about my love life, could it?
But luckily, it wasn’t.
It was an unknown number.
Not entirely unknown, though. Tang Jianxi was very familiar with this number format; it belonged to the scout she had sent to find Helen.
Tang Jianxi quickly answered the call. A rough, hoarse male voice came from the other end. “Miss, we’ve found her.”
“But there’s a problem.”
“What problem?”
“We found the young lady in a hospital.”
“She’s pregnant.”
Get instant access to all chapters now.
