Xie Yuqing had been daydreaming and imagined how Han Yichen would fall for her at first sight. At the same time, his family would accept her as well and she would become the queen of his empire. However, reality had cruelly slapped her in her face.

  The man whom she had targeted had already belonged to another woman! Xie Yuqing’s bubbles burst, and she reflexively wanted to know who was the woman who had grabbed away her good match, only to find that she had no idea of the woman’s identity who stood next to him.

  There were only two possible reasons why she had no impression of that woman. One, that woman was not from Shalnork so she had not seen her before.

  Two, that woman was not from upper-class society.

  As such, Xie Yuqing had asked that question in order to confirm her own speculation. As expected, the woman was not from upper-class society. In fact, she was only an ordinary woman, a Cinderella in real life!

  After she had confirmed this, Xie Yuqing’s desire of getting Han Yichen grew stronger. With her family background, even the famous and noble women from upper-class society had to make way for her, much less the ugly duckling from an underprivileged background.

  In terms of her looks, that woman was not even one ten-thousandth of her. In terms of her family background, they were like heaven and Earth. Apparently, onlookers would know who had a more privileged background at a single glance.

  With this thought in her mind, the way she looked at An Yue grew increasingly disdainful.

  Little did she know that when Zhao Youlin and the rest of her group had taken note of her in her current state, they furrowed their eyebrows unhappily.

  “Ms. An, so you are not from the same circle as us, huh? I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this. I thought the young and talented eldest young master of the Zhao family would fall for a woman from the same circle as him. I never thought… It’s my mistake. Ms. An, you won’t blame me for this, right?”


  Xie Yuqing sounded like she was apologizing to An Yue. However, there was no hint of sincerity from her words. Besides, her words were filled with sarcasm.

  She was mocking An Yue for coming from a lower-class society and that she could not possibly share the same interests as Han Yichen. She also mocked her for not being highly educated and was not a good match for Han Yichen.

  This was An Yue’s first time attending such a banquet. As such, this was also her first time interacting with people from the upper-class society with malicious intent. Even though she knew that his woman was not as innocent as she appeared to be, An Yue did not know how to respond to her.

  An Yue did not know how to handle such a situation. However, this did not mean that Zhao Youlin and the rest of her group also did not know how to handle it.

  After Duan Yarong heard Xie Yuqing’s words, her face darkened. She had already accepted An Yue as her daughter-in-law, so how could she possibly let her daughter-in-law suffer a grievance at her own territory?

  Duan Yarong snorted and replied to Xie Yuqing without hesitation, “Ms. Xie, you must be President Xie’s daughter, am I right?”


  When Xie Yuqing saw Duan Yarong taking the initiative to ask about her, she was delighted and hurriedly answered, “Yes, I am. Nice to meet you, Madam Zhao. I am Xie Yuqing. You may call me Yuqing. My father has something urgent to handle so he couldn’t attend your banquet today. He asked me to come here to wish you on your birthday. I hope you won’t mind, Madam Zhao.”


  “Mine is only a small birthday banquet. I’m sure it is not so important to the extent that President Zhao has to personally come over. Anyway, from this, I could see the way President Xie treats Zhao Enterprise. Regarding our cooperation with the Xie family, I believe it’s best to re-evaluate our partnership again. Rong, what do you think about it?”


  Duan Yarong turned her head around and cast a glance at Zhao Shunrong. Zhao Shunrong received the hint. He nodded as he said, “I have the same thought too.”


  For a moment, the smile on Xie Yuqing’s face turned stiff. She looked at the two, who had cooperated with each other, in disbelief. She belatedly came to understand that Duan Yarong had purposely said this to her.

  “Madam Zhao, President Zhao, I didn’t mean this. My father…”


  Xie Yuqing got worked up and wanted to explain herself. However, Duan Yarong had interrupted her, “Ms. Xie, you seemed to have realized that you have asked inappropriate questions. Now that you know you are wrong, it’s best to shut your mouth up to save the hassle from going worse as you talk more.”


  The threat in Duan Yarong’s words spoke for itself. Xie Yuqing’s expression turned ghastly pale.

  At that moment, if she still had not been able to receive the hint that Duan Yarong was actually speaking up for An Yue, then Xie Yuqing had been wasting her time in the social circle over the past.

  When An Yue heard this, she was equally stunned. She looked up at Duan Yarong in puzzlement and saw that her expression had turned cold.

  ‘Is Mother speaking up for me?’ An Yue subconsciously looked at Han Yichen.

  Han Yichen instantly understood the hint of puzzlement in her eyes. His gaze softened up and nodded.

  An Yue’s small face turned red. Her face had turned red not because of embarrassment, but because she felt happy. She had been protected by an elder…


  An Yue had never felt this way before, the feeling of being truly accepted by the Zhao family. They were a family now.

  On the other hand, Xie Yuqing had no idea why the elder lady taught her a lesson for the sake of an ordinary young lady. She was not happy with this but at the same time, she also knew how she should behave herself.

  Xie Yuqing bit her lips in resignation and kept quiet. However, the way she looked at Han Yichen remained the same. In her heart, she kept on looking for other ways. After all, as long as he was still around, there must be a way to his heart.

  If she could bear with them at this moment, that man would belong to her sooner or later.

  Zhao Youlin saw Xie Yuqing’s expressions. A mocking smile unwittingly arched across her lips.

  The fact that Duan Yarong had taken the initiative to speak up for An Yue was equivalent to telling the crowd that no matter what An Yue’s background was, the Zhao family had acknowledged her as their daughter-in-law. If the outsiders dared to speak against her, it was tantamount to speaking against the Zhao family.

  Unfortunately, certain people failed to understand this. Or, perhaps they were too narcissistic and deliberately overlooked this. Such types of people were destined to meet a tragic fate.

  The brief interlude ended soon. The crowd had slowly recovered their senses from the former master’s multiple announcements.

  When the crowd had thought that that was all for now, reality showed them otherwise.

  They always saved the best for the last.

  After Duan Yarong’s case was settled, Mu Tingfeng looked impatient and faked a cough. He wanted to remind a certain old man, who was in the mood for watching some good shows, that he had not made yet another important announcement.

  The former master was happily watching the sight when he felt a sense of chill creeping down his spine. When he turned his head around, he unexpectedly met a certain one’s bone-chilling gaze.

  Initially, Zhao Youlin had no idea why Mu Tingfeng had faked a cough. After she saw the former master looking at her teasingly, she instantly understood… everything.

  She swore to god that this old coot had done this on purpose. He knew that Mu Tingfeng was about to die of his own nervousness yet, he had deliberately saved this matter for the last. He certainly wanted to wreck Mu Tingfeng’s nerves!