News of Jiang Xuan’s injury spread like wildfire, and her dedicated fans swarmed her social media pages, leaving countless messages of prayer and concern for her .
*”Xuanxuan, please be careful! What on earth were the security guards doing? How could someone smuggle a knife into such a high-end banquet and actually stab someone?”
*”That is terrifying! Has she been safely treated? Is she out of the woods yet?”
*”Our Xuanxuan is a literal angel; the heavens will surely protect her. Someone so kind shouldn’t have to face such danger.”
*”I need an update on her condition right now. How could a madman just break in like that? The organizers need to be held accountable and screen guests more thoroughly in the future.”
*”I saw the leaked photos of her being rushed into the ambulance—her Gaoding [high-end custom couture] dress was soaked in blood. My heart is breaking. How could a celebratory night turn into such a nightmare?”
*”Wait, I heard Su Yue was also at the scene and got hurt? But why aren’t there any photos of her injuries?”
*”Word on the street is that Jiang Xuan was stabbed because she lunged forward to shield Su Yue from the blade. If that’s true, why hasn’t Su Yue said a single word of thanks? Where is her gratitude?”
…
It was impossible to tell who had cast the first stone, but the tide of public opinion quickly turned into a deluge of criticism against Su Yue. Jiang Xuan only learned of the brewing storm when her manager, Sister Fang, came to visit her hospital suite.
“Sister Fang… I didn’t actually save Su Yue,” Jiang Xuan explained, her delicate brows knitting together in a troubled frown.
“It doesn’t matter,” Sister Fang replied dismissively. “These are just the netizens’ own speculations. We’ll adopt a policy of neither confirming nor denying. Let the Yingxiaohao [marketing accounts/online trolls hired to stir up publicity] run with it. This is a golden opportunity for some high-level PR.”
Jiang Xuan hesitated. She didn’t want to admit she hadn’t saved Su Yue, but she also feared being caught in a lie. She whispered tentatively, “Sister Fang, that’s not right. Su Yue will be furious with me. We’re family, after all. Please, just have the trending topics taken down.”
“You are far too honest for your own good!” Sister Fang sighed, exasperated. To her, Jiang Xuan was simply too soft-hearted, always putting others first. “When Su Yue was busy stealing your hot searches [a term for when a celebrity uses bots or scandals to push someone else’s news off the top trending lists], you weren’t nearly this lenient.”
Jiang Xuan lowered her gaze, hiding the flicker in her eyes. “Sister Fang, I really didn’t save her, nor did I take a blow for her. I want to clarify this immediately.” In truth, she wasn’t happy about the criticism Su Yue was receiving; she was uneasy. She knew that the more Su Yue was vilified now, the more violent the backlash would be if the truth ever came out.
“Sister Fang, you must send out a clarification now. My mind is made up,” Jiang Xuan insisted, her tone uncharacteristically firm.
“Fine, since you’re so insistent, I’ll handle it,” the manager grumbled. She dialed her studio to arrange a statement, but as soon as the line connected, a staff member’s panicked voice cut through: “Sister Fang! Something has gone horribly wrong!”
“What are you screaming about?” Sister Fang’s voice turned shrill with shock. The sudden tension made Jiang Xuan’s heart skip a beat before sinking into her stomach.
She had a premonition of disaster.
Sure enough, when the manager hung up, her face was grim. “Xiao Xuan, why did you lie to me? Why didn’t you tell me the truth—that you used Su Yue as a human shield? A video from the banquet has been leaked online. The situation has completely flipped, and the netizens are absolutely livid.”
“What? A video?” The little color that had returned to Jiang Xuan’s face vanished instantly. She lunged for her phone on the nightstand, her fingers trembling as she pulled up the web.
The moment the page loaded, a barrage of vitriol and hateful private messages exploded onto her screen. She bit her lip until it bled, forced to stare at the wall of insults.
“Holy crap! Jiang Xuan actually grabbed Su Yue to take the hit for her? What kind of sociopathic move is that?”
“Is this video for real? I watched it three times—she literally pulled Su Yue in front of the knife! And here I thought she was a ‘Kind Fairy’ and a ‘Breath of Fresh Air’ in the industry. What a joke!”
“The ‘Kind Fairy’ image has officially shattered! My God, if I were Su Yue, I would hate her for the rest of my life. Being used as a shield in a life-or-death crisis? That’s traumatic.”
“Poor Su Yue. She gets physically hurt, then gets smeared online as an ingrate while the culprit plays the victim. Jiang Xuan is a total White Lotus [a slang term for a woman who appears pure and innocent on the outside but is calculating and ‘fake’ on the inside]. I almost fell for her act!”
“She used someone as a shield, and yet she’s the one who got stabbed? Talk about instant karma. Her fans are always bragging about her ‘benevolence.’ Well, here’s the face of your benevolent goddess! It’s a slap to everyone’s face.”
“Before this video dropped, everyone was calling Su Yue trash. Now your faces are swollen from the truth, right? Su Yue is the only victim here.”
“Goddess Jiang is so fake I actually want to vomit. If I hadn’t seen the raw footage, I’d still be deceived by her ‘pure’ persona. I’m officially a hater.”
…
Jiang Xuan scrolled through the comments, a deep, primal panic glinting in her eyes. She looked up at her manager, her voice small. “Sister Fang… what do we do now?”
“All you can do is stay quiet and recover. Now that the footage is public, the ‘disgust factor’ is too high. Anything we say will just look like an excuse and alienate your remaining fans. We stay silent and wait for the heat to die down. I’ll have people start scrubbing the most abusive comments.”
Sister Fang looked at her client with a new, colder perspective. Even she had believed in Jiang Xuan’s gentleness. Looking at the video, she realized Jiang Xuan wasn’t just a star; she was a terrifyingly good actress.
Jiang Xuan bit her lip, tears finally spilling over. She felt a profound sense of grievance. Everything she had meticulously built—her reputation, her brand, her future—was lying in ruins.
On the other hand inside the private villa, Jiang Ci received a report on the viral news, his dark eyes deepening like a stormy sea.
After hanging up, his expression softened as he watched Su Yue descend the stairs. She was wearing a loose, charcoal-gray sweater dress paired with a long, plush white cardigan and soft-soled white slippers. She looked cozy and ethereal. “Come here,” he commanded softly, his thin lips relaxing into a rare smile.
Su Yue walked to his side. “Where’s Hao Hao?”
“Washing his hands,” Jiang Ci said casually. He picked up a porcelain bowl and a small silver spoon, clearly intending to feed her. “This is calming soup [a traditional tonic used to soothe the nerves and improve sleep]; you were restless last night.”
“That’s because you were being a nuisance,” Su Yue grumbled, her face flushing as she remembered the previous night. He had used the excuse of “disinfecting” the scratch on her side to press his lips against almost every inch of her skin.
Jiang Ci didn’t miss a beat, skillfully bringing the spoon to her lips. “You enjoyed it.” It wasn’t just his imagination; her body was becoming exquisitely sensitive. A simple touch was enough to make her blush and let out those soft, melodic whimpers that drove him mad. She was becoming a little enchantress.
Su Yue took small sips of the soup. It had a delicate, honey-like sweetness that lingered on her tongue.
“Daddy feeding Mommy!” Jiang Haoyan skipped back into the room, tilting his head to watch them. He cupped his chubby cheeks in his hands, his eyes bright. “Shy!”
“Come and sit,” Jiang Ci glanced at the boy before returning his gaze to Su Yue’s glistening red lips. His eyes darkened with a possessive heat.
The little boy tiptoed onto a chair, watching the scene with pure curiosity. Su Yue felt the weight of the child’s gaze and nudged Jiang Ci. “I can drink it myself.”
“No. You’re ‘injured.’ I’ll feed you,” he replied with mock gravity.
“It’s a scratch on my back, not a broken hand,” Su Yue hissed through her teeth.
“Mommy is hurt?” Jiang Haoyan’s mouth fell open. He scrambled toward her, looking anxious. “Does it hurt? Hao Hao will blow on it! When I fall, blowing makes the ‘ouchie’ go away.”
Su Yue’s heart melted. She patted his head, “Hao Hao is so—”
“No need,” Jiang Ci interrupted, his chin tilted with a touch of arrogant pride. “I’ve already ‘blown’ on your mommy’s injury quite thoroughly.” Not only had he blown on it, he had kissed and licked it until she was breathless.
Su Yue quickly changed the subject before Jiang Ci could say something even more scandalous to the child. “Ao’ao [a pet name/nickname], did you release that video?”
“Yes,” Jiang Ci replied lazily. He hadn’t even truly begun his retaliation yet, and people were already begging for their own destruction.
“Ao’ao, you’re so sweet.” Su Yue smiled, her voice turning soft and sugary after the soup. She usually didn’t care for public opinion, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed being a target for bullies. Having Jiang Ci as her Jin Zhu [a ‘Gold Master’ or powerful backer] felt surprisingly good.
“If you think I’m so good, then once you’re healed, you’ll have to be very ‘obedient,'” Jiang Ci whispered, his eyes drifting to the chaise lounge in the corner of the room. There were several positions they hadn’t explored yet.
“What exactly do you want me to do?” Su Yue caught the predatory gleam in his eyes and knew he was up to no good.
He leaned into her ear, his voice a low, vibrating growl. “You don’t need to do anything. I’ll do all the work.”
The tips of her ears turned a bright peony red hearing this . This man’s skin was getting thicker by the day.
After the meal, Su Yue took the little Tyrannosaurus Rex—Hao Hao in his favorite dinosaur jacket—out to the garden to walk off the food. As soon as she was out of earshot, Jiang Ci’s phone rang. It was Jiang Muhang.
“What is it?” Jiang Ci asked, his tone ice-cold.
“Brother, did you post that video?” Jiang Muhang’s voice was sharp with accusation. He was heartbroken from watching his wife sob in her hospital bed, and his respect for his elder brother had vanished in the face of his protectiveness.
“I did. You have a problem with that?” Jiang Ci leaned casually against a marble pillar, his eyes following the two figures in the snow. Su Yue, in her white coat against the white landscape, looked like a spirit of the winter, breathtakingly beautiful.
“Even if Xiao Xuan made a mistake in a moment of panic, she’s already seriously injured! That’s punishment enough,” Jiang Muhang’s voice rose. “There was no need to slander her reputation like this. I’m going to have the trending topics removed.”
Jiang Ci watched Su Yue laugh at something the child said, his own lips curving upward. Into the phone, he dropped five heavy words:
“Oh? You’re welcome to try.”
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