"Oh, umm… let's go." Ziyue came back to her senses. She looked in the direction Muchen went to once more before getting into the car.
Since Muchen had taken her phone and kept it from her, she had not gone to buy a new one. There was nothing she could do while in the car as she didn't have a phone.
The driver passed her two magazines when he saw she was bored, but they were both about finance as this was Muchen's car. She could not understand a lot of it, so she put it aside after a while. She turned her head and looked out the window and unintentionally met eyes with someone staring at her. It was a Country J woman in a white dress. She was tall but looked average. She was staring at Ziyue as though she wanted to garner her attention.
There was a slight hesitation in Ziyue as she contemplated getting out of the car.
The bodyguards Muchen had assigned to her were all very alert. They could tell something was happening with one glance at the woman. They turned to ask Ziyue, "Mrs. Qin, we can invite the woman over. It seems she has something important to ask of you."
Ziyue understood that though they said they were inviting her, it was more of dragging her here for an interrogation. She did not support this method, but it was undeniably the most effective. The woman was suspicious.
"Okay," Ziyue nodded.
Once the bodyguards got her consent, they stepped out of the car and brought the woman in white over.
The woman was struggling against their hold and saying, "Why are you grabbing me? It's very rude! I can sue you…"
"Mrs. Qin, I've brought her over." The bodyguard ignored the woman and brought her to Ziyue. The bodyguards were able to act so recklessly because they had Muchen to protect them. No one dared to go against Muchen, and they weren't scared to go against anyone.
Ziyue watched as the two bodyguards had one arm hooked around the woman.
This doesn't look too good. What if she was just looking and didn't mean anything?
"You can release her," Ziyue said gently.
The woman rushed to Ziyue once she was released and smiled at her. "You're too kind, madam."
Ziyue was still seated in the car, but the window was down. She could see the scenery clearly, and people outside could see her too. She would still have the upper hand if the woman made any funny moves because she was behind the car door. Ziyue examined the woman scanned the details of her outfit, jewelry, watch, and hair clip, and concluded that she was from an average family.
"Do you know me?" Ziyue chose not to ask why she was staring at her.
A flash of surprise streaked through the woman's eyes as she had not expected Ziyue to ask that question.
"Madam, do you not remember me? I had an opportunity to attend a banquet and met you there. I know you are Mr. Qin's wife. You're beautiful…" As she spoke, the woman became more excited and stretched her hand into the car through the window, wanting to grab Ziyue's hand.
Ziyue frowned slightly as she leaned back so the woman wouldn't touch her.
When the woman retracted her hand, she saw a ball of paper fall from her palm. Ziyue looked at the ball of paper and at the woman. She dared not make any movements.
The woman's unexpected actions alerted the bodyguards. They immediately pulled her away from the window and did not let go again.
There was a flash of clarity in the woman's eyes before the look she had returned. "I'll be honest. I was just curious about how someone like Mr. Qin landed such a wife. My curiosity got the better of me, and I took a few more looks. I don't mean to do anything bad. Could you please let me go?" She spoke precisely, and it was easy for people to understand. She did not seem like she was pretending.
The bodyguards did not move; they looked at Ziyue.
"Let the lady go and apologize to her. That was too unreasonable. How could you randomly grab someone?" Ziyue accused ostentatiously and rolled up the window, cutting off their sight of her. She leaned back on the car seat and closed her eyes.
"I'm a bit tired. Don't bother my rest," she muttered to the driver, and he pulled the divider down.
Ziyue quickly opened her eyes and looked out the window. The bodyguards had released the woman and were assessing the situation.
She made sure they wouldn't knock on the window, and that Muchen wasn't back before picking up the ball of paper the woman dropped. She did not open it straight away but hid it in her bag. However, after a few seconds, she decided she should have a look first. She hurriedly opened the ball of paper and saw an unfamiliar address and number written in familiar handwriting. 'LU' was written in the bottom right corner.
Ziyue received a shock. This is Shichu's handwriting!
Ziyue's head snapped up, and she lowered the window. She looked in the direction the woman was but realized she was gone.
"What's wrong, Mrs. Qin?" A bodyguard asked.
The corners of Ziyue's mouth twitched, and she tried to control her expression. "Nothing. I just wanted to ask if your boss was back."
"Mr. Qin is still talking. It might take a while," the bodyguard replied without hesitation.
Ziyue nodded her head with a smile. She rewound the window up and released the breath she was holding. All this sneaking around was making her nervous.
She looked through the note a few more times. She memorized the contents of the note before tearing it into pieces. She poured water into her palm and disintegrated the paper before throwing it into the bin. However, once she did all that, she began to feel restless. She was sure Shichu had sent that woman. Only he would think of such a move not to gain suspicion while passing the note to her. It showed how careful he was in the things he did.
Should I meet him? In fairness, I should. The least I can do is make things clear… that we will be enemies the next time we meet. Since the situation has come to this, and we can't change the past, we shouldn't ignore it. Muchen and Shichu will never agree to put their hostility behind them and become friends.
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