Chapter 95: Sowing Discord

Mao Wandou, however, had an astonishingly sharp nose. “Could that car have happened to be yours?”

Xianyu Qing: “...”

How are you suddenly so smart at a time like this?

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Did I really guess right?”

“The car was the one I usually ride in, but I wasn’t in it...”

Mao Wandou did not believe her for a second. She had been Xianyu Qing’s classmate for all three years of high school, nearly inseparable from her. Even without seeing her face to face, she could still guess what Xianyu Qing was thinking.

She hung up and switched to a video call. Xianyu Qing hesitated, then answered.

Mao Wandou stared at her suspiciously for a while before asking, “Why didn’t you tie your hair up during the day? Did you deliberately leave it down?”

It had to be said: she really did know Xianyu Qing far too well.

Xianyu Qing, feeling a little guilty, tucked her hair behind her ear. Mao Wandou immediately shouted, “Holy crap! Fishy, and you still dare say you weren’t in the car! Then what happened to the injury on your forehead?”

Xianyu Qing, startled by Mao Wandou’s booming voice, moved her phone farther away. “I just bumped into something by accident.”

“With your reflexes, how do you even manage to bump yourself like that?”

Xianyu Qing knew that the more she said, the harder it would be to cover up, so she countered, “If I had really been in that car, do you think I’d still be alive?”

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Mao Wandou the truth. It was just that some things were not easy to explain.

The instant the truck hit, no ordinary person could possibly have escaped. Yet Jiang Mohe had done exactly that. If this ever came out, it would only stir up even more suspicion, and some people might even panic.

Mao Wandou still doubted her, but she could not refute Xianyu Qing’s words.

The news reports had said that eyewitnesses all believed anyone inside that car would have died on the spot.

“Even if you weren’t in the car at the time, that crash was still aimed at you, wasn’t it?” Mao Wandou was not foolish on this point.

Xianyu Qing did not want her worrying herself sick, so she soothed her. “That car is registered under my elder brother’s name, so it may not have been aimed at me. Besides, someone is protecting me. I’ll be fine.”

Mao Wandou fell silent for a moment in the video, then sighed. “Fishy, I really think you’re not doing all that well in the Nangong family. On the surface you’re a young lady from a wealthy household, but you keep running into dangerous things every few days. You’d be better off living your old life in peace.”

Xianyu Qing had thought the same thing more than once. But once she had become entangled with the Nangong family, there was no way for her to remain outside it.

No. She had never been outside it to begin with. From the moment she was born, everything had already been decided.

“Does my mother know about this?”

What Xianyu Qing feared most was that Ning Wenyan would hear about it and then spend the night unable to sleep from worry.

“She probably doesn’t. Otherwise she’d already have rushed over to find you,” Mao Wandou replied.

“Mm. Help me keep it from her.”

“Got it. You take care of yourself too, and don’t get tangled up in headlines again!”

Then Mao Wandou became mischievous once more. “If it’s with Master Xi and the entertainment headlines, though, that would be fine!”

“...”

At night.

Xianyu Qing did not want to attend Luolina’s birthday party, but Nangong Xin had actually come in person to fetch her.

Seeing the abrasions on Xianyu Qing’s face and arms, Nangong Xin frowned. “How did you manage to get yourself into this state?”

Xianyu Qing could not tell her the reason, so she could only say, “I fell by accident.”

“...”

Nangong Xin had set aside her prejudices for once and wanted to bring Xianyu Qing out to have a bit of fun. And yet this was the result: someone who could fall off a horse without a scratch had somehow managed to hurt herself in a tumble.

Since Xianyu Qing could not go, Nangong Xin had no choice but to attend the appointment alone.

The Luo family did not have the deep foundations of the Nangong family, but in the Imperial City, their standing was still considered middling.

For one birthday party, nearly half the wealthy young ladies of the Imperial City had come to show their faces.

In the past, Nangong Xin had been the highest-ranking society figure the Luo family could invite. Tonight, they had also added Zhai Yaner to the guest list.

Luolina spent the entire evening smiling from ear to ear.

Luoliya, however, was in a rather gloomy mood. Originally, she had sided against Xianyu Qing only to help Nangong Xin get revenge on her.

But what was the situation now? Nangong Xin and Xianyu Qing had buried the hatchet, and even her own sister was busy flattering Xianyu Qing’s good friend Zhai Yaner. That left her, the “bad guy,” in an extremely awkward position.

Especially after hearing that Nangong Xin had wanted to bring Xianyu Qing to the party as well, her mood grew even worse.

“Liya, it’s your sister’s birthday party today. Why do you look so unhappy?” Xiao Zhiying was always able to catch the slightest wrong note in other people’s emotions.

Luoliya looked at her sister, who was going out of her way to flatter Zhai Yaner, and snorted. “It’s my sister’s birthday. As long as she’s happy, who’s going to care how I feel?”

Xiao Zhiying caught the complaint in her tone and smiled. “Your sister is already at the age where marriage is on the table. Of course she’ll have to plan ahead for herself. The Zhai family... is indeed a very good choice.”

Luoliya curled her lip. “I’m afraid that’s just her wishful thinking.”

What sort of family was the Zhai family? A business giant equal to the Nangong family. How could an ordinary wealthy clan like the Luos hope to climb that high?

Yet Xiao Zhiying did not agree. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Perhaps your sister can create her own opportunity.”

By that logic, she and Luolina were practically the same kind of people, both wanting to climb to the peak of the pyramid. As for whether they would succeed, that would depend on each one’s own ability.

Luoliya did not think very deeply, nor did she have much ambition. What worried her was Nangong Xin, who had said she would arrive early but was still delayed because she had gone to pick up Xianyu Qing.

Just as she was thinking about it, she saw Nangong Xin enter in a gown that was at the very height of current fashion.

Luoliya gave her a slight wave, and Nangong Xin came over to them.

“Xinxin, weren’t you going to pick up your cousin? Why don’t I see her?” Xiao Zhiying asked with feigned surprise. “Could it be that she still resents you and refused to come with you?”

Those words were nothing but an attempt to drive a wedge between them, and Luoliya quickly added fuel to the fire. “Hmph. If she didn’t want to come, then she shouldn’t have come. What’s with all the fuss? Nobody here exactly welcomes her anyway.”

“She didn’t say she didn’t want to come. She just happened to be injured and couldn’t make it.”

Seeing that Nangong Xin was actually explaining for Xianyu Qing, Luoliya could not help but look incredulous. “Xinxin, you really accept that she’s part of the Nangong family now?”

Nangong Xin had only changed her attitude because, yesterday, she had finally gotten her wish and gone to the concert with Xi Junle, which made Xianyu Qing seem a little less irritating than before.

But she had always been proud. How could she admit that so easily? “I’m only bringing her out to broaden her horizons a little, so she won’t embarrass our Nangong family.”

That put Luoliya more at ease. “I thought she’d used some trick to make you, just like your eldest and second brothers, fall under her spell.”

Nangong Xin gave an unnatural little laugh. “Ha, how could that be?”

Yesterday at the hospital, Xiao Zhiying had already noticed that Nangong Xin’s attitude toward Xianyu Qing had changed.

However, she did not expose it. Instead, she smiled along. “Actually, Miss Xianyu seems to have a rather good temperament. Otherwise, Young Master Xi couldn’t possibly favor her so much.”

Luoliya was full of disdain. “What status does Young Master Xi have? How could he possibly fancy her?”

“Heh.” Xiao Zhiying gave a soft chuckle. “That’s not necessarily true. My cousin told me that this time, Young Master Xi asked his company for three front-row tickets to the performance, and they were meant to be given away.”

Xiao Zhiying’s cousin worked at Xi Junle’s agency, handling part of the arrangements for the show. Her words were unlikely to be false.

When Nangong Xin heard this, her face immediately darkened.