After the heat of her anger faded, Pei Mianman slowly calmed down. Chuyan entrusted this task to me. I don’t want to let her down. So, she began contemplating a plan in her room.
Unlike the others, her spectator viewpoint allowed her to see things from an unbiased perspective. It didn’t take her long to grasp the crux of the matter.
Qiu Honglei and Chu Chuyan have accepted their masters’ actions. Yun Jianyue might use this against Yan Xuehen, but that could still be kept under control. The real problem is how the world would react to this matter.
Yan Xuehen had always been a righteous figure. If this matter became public, she would be condemned, and given her personality, there was a good chance she would end her life to cleanse her shame.
Since that’s the case, we just have to control the story.
A thought popped into her mind. If Yan Xuehen would be condemned here, what if we just move elsewhere? Ah Zu can take them to the Fiend side, where the culture is more open. Yan Xuehen might be less reserved there.
Ah Zu hasn’t seen the little Fiend Empress, Yu Yanluo, and Xue’er for some time anyway...
That thought filled her heart with jealousy. It’s one thing for me to help other women court my man, but to have to push him into the arms of other women on top of that... Unlike Chuyan, I'm not into cuckolding.
She immediately dropped the idea. Since they have to remain here, I can only try the other plan...
A few days passed. Zu An was meditating in his room when an anxious Yan Xuehen suddenly knocked on his door. He was perplexed. It was rare to see such an expression on her. He asked, “What happened?”
Yan Xuehen quickly shut the door, took out a book, and passed it to him. “Take a look at this!”
Confused, Zu An took the book and saw it was one of the trendy novels sold on the streets.
Its title was ‘Fairy Plummets to the Secular World—The Regent Claims the White Jade Sect’s Master and Disciple’. Its cover depicted two cold ladies. They didn't look anything like Yan Xuehen and Chu Chuyan, but the similarity in their dispositions was uncanny. Anyone looking at the cover would immediately be reminded of Yan Xuehen and Chu Chuyan.
Zu An flipped open the novel, and it only further affirmed his guess. It showed how he'd first courted Chu Chuyan, and later, how he'd coincidentally gotten together with Yan Xuehen.
His eyebrows shot up. He had to concede that the author had done a good job of stoking the readers’ emotions. Its content was mostly guesses, but it was somewhat close to the truth. What a prodigy!𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
But seeing how agitated Yan Xuehen was, he consoled her. “Don’t worry, there are many such novels circulating in the market. There are also books about the empress and empress dowager too. No one will take them seriously.”
“It’s different!” Yan Xuehen’s face reddened. “There have been books about us in the past, but those were obviously fake. No one would take them seriously. But it’s different this time.”
She snatched the book over and flipped the pages. “This, this, and this... It’s exactly what happened to us!”
Zu An took the novel back and carefully scanned it with his divine sense. Only then did he realize that the novel was meticulously written to mix fact and fiction. Outsiders would think it was a mere story, but the involved parties knew better.
“Some of the guesses just happened to hit the mark. Most of the content is still gibberish,” Zu An continued.
“No, the author must be someone around us. Someone familiar with us.” Yan Xuehen clenched her jaws. “It could be that demoness...”
Before she could finish her sentence, the door was suddenly blasted open. Yun Jianyue marched into the room with a book in hand. “Ah Zu...”
She noticed Yan Xuehen and quickly swallowed her words. Instead, she asked, “Ice sculpture, what are you doing here?”
Yan Xuehen keenly noticed Yun Jianyue calling Zu An ‘Ah Zu’. They must be in an intimate relationship. She sneered, “Why can’t I be here? What are you doing here then?”
Yun Jianyue instinctively hid the book behind her. “Hmph! Why should I explain myself to you?”
Her action couldn’t escape her nemesis’ notice. Yan Xuehen exclaimed in shock, “Did you also...”
She belatedly realized how inappropriate her words were and bit her tongue.
Yun Jianyue also belatedly noticed the book in Zu An’s hands and exclaimed, “Someone wrote a story about you too?” She snatched the book from Zu An’s hand.
Yan Xuehen also snatched the book that Yun Jianyue was hiding. She was taken aback when she saw the book title: 'The Demoness’ Corruption—The Regent Conquers the Master and the Disciple at the Lake of Hatred.'
Yun Jianyue’s eyebrows also shot up when she saw the book title, but she was more curious about the book’s contents, so she quickly browsed through it. The same went for Yan Xuehen.
Soon, they had indescribable looks on their faces.
Yun Jianyue harrumphed. “You sneaky ice sculpture! I didn’t expect that beneath your pure and virtuous cover, you were so licentious!”
Yan Xuehen felt a mix of awkwardness and shame, but she didn’t let it show. “Hmph, this book about you goes even further. Is it all true?”
Yun Jianyue was rendered speechless. She couldn’t possibly admit to it before finding concrete evidence of Yan Xuehen’s relationship, so she argued back, “This book is elaborately described. I doubt such details could have come out of nowhere.”
Yan Xuehen obstinately held onto her point. “Are you really in that kind of relationship with him?”
Yun Jianyue was vexed. She wanted to admit it and then use it to mock Yan Xuehen. They might have done the same thing, but by virtue of their positions, Yan Xuehen would be more humiliated than her.
However, she gave up on that notion, fearing that Yan Xuehen would refuse to confess to it. That would put her in a bad position. So, she turned to Zu An and asked, “You tell us who’s in a relationship with whom!”
Yan Xuehen glared at Zu An, warning him not to spout nonsense.
Zu An was vexed. “Those money-minded merchants probably came up with this nonsense based on hearsay. Don’t take it to heart. I’ll investigate this matter and clear your names.”
Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue exchanged looks. They felt a twinge of guilt. How can our names be cleared when these are all true? But neither one could lower her head in front of her nemesis.
Yan Xuehen scoffed, “Regent, I hope you can deal with this matter promptly to uphold the White Jade Sect’s honor.” She flung her sleeves and left.
Yan Xuehen’s reaction felt so cold and distant that it made Yun Jianyue doubt herself. Could my guess be off the mark?
That said, she couldn’t be outdone here. “Hmph, our sacred sect also has a reputation to uphold! If you can’t resolve this, I’ll have my men look into it and let the culprit have a taste of our sect’s methods!” With that, she also marched away in a huff.
Her practically tangible killing intent confused Yan Xuehen. Could there truly be nothing between them?
Regardless of how they viewed this matter, the novels had already spread throughout the capital. Everyone was talking about them.