Xia Yan was frustrated by her lack of freedom and inability to leave, so on a whim, she thought of Zhan Meng for help. When Zhan Meng received her call, especially upon hearing her words, she was taken aback.
"You mean Lu Zhengting has locked you in the house, restricted your freedom, and won't let you out?"
"Yes, do you have any way to help me get out?"
"That's a bit tough. You know Lu Zhengting—no one dares to offend him easily. I'm not exactly brave; I'm afraid he'll retaliate against me."
"Zhan Meng, stop messing around. I'm really desperate."
"But I'm genuinely scared too." Zhan Meng was in a rare good mood, organizing files in her office, lounging with her legs crossed, biting her finger, and casually teasing Xia Yan.
"Fine, I thought you were truly fearless." Xia Yan frowned deeply, deliberately using such words to provoke Zhan Meng.
Hearing this, Zhan Meng indeed got riled up. She put her legs down, sat up straight, slammed her hand on the table, and raised her voice, "Alright, I'll help you with this." Before Xia Yan could celebrate, she laughed mischievously and abruptly changed the subject, "Are you trying to goad me?"
"Sorry, Zhan Meng, I really have no other choice. You've already agreed to help, so please don't back out."
"Enough, since I've promised, I won't go back on it. Wait for me, I'll think of something." Zhan Meng held the phone, knowing that Lu Zhengting had assigned ten bodyguards to protect Xia Yan. It seemed she'd need someone else's help to get Xia Yan out.
That someone was Feng Yuan.
A switcheroo—that was Zhan Meng's plan.
When Feng Yuan heard about this from Zhan Meng, she was completely dumbfounded.
"Cousin, are you sure you want to do this? She's Lu Zhengting's woman."
"I've already agreed, so of course I have to help. Oh, it's fine. Besides, Lu Zhengting is illegally imprisoning her."
"Give me a break. I finally get why Uncle insisted you come to Jiangcheng. If you stayed in Beicheng, you'd cause chaos."
Zhan Meng rolled her eyes. Honestly, no matter where she was, if she wanted to stir up trouble, she could—it had nothing to do with external factors. Who could stop her?
Feng Yuan reluctantly agreed to help under Zhan Meng's pressure. When they arrived at Xia Yan's apartment, they didn't see anyone and were puzzled. They knocked, and Xia Yan opened the door, quickly pulling them inside.
"Xia Yan, why didn't I see any bodyguards?"
"Don't even mention it. The moment I step out, they pop up from nowhere. It's driving me crazy." Every time Xia Yan found no one outside, but as soon as she opened the door to leave, several people would appear. At first, it startled her, but now she's used to it.
"Did you come up with a plan?" Xia Yan asked urgently.
"Yeah, of course. There's nothing I can't solve." Zhan Meng grinned slyly, then put her hands on both their shoulders, pulled them close, lowered her head, and whispered the general plan.
"Will that work?" Xia Yan asked skeptically.
"Probably. We won't know until we try. What do you think?"
"Let's go with it for now. Head to the room."
Xia Yan took Feng Yuan to the room to change into her clothes, while she put on Feng Yuan's outfit. Luckily, their hair was about the same length. With their hair down, from the back, Feng Yuan even looked a bit like Xia Yan.
The swap was complete. Zhan Meng told the nervous pair to relax, calmly walked ahead, with Xia Yan, disguised as Feng Yuan, following closely behind, while Feng Yuan stayed in the apartment to pose as Xia Yan.
After a close call, Xia Yan successfully slipped out of the apartment. She looked at Zhan Meng's smug expression, full of admiration, and couldn't help giving her a thumbs-up.
"I told you it would work. This just proves that TV plots are based on real life."
Xia Yan nodded, standing at the intersection and looking at Zhan Meng. "Thanks for today, but I have something urgent to handle. I'll go now."
"Wait." Zhan Meng quickly grabbed Xia Yan's wrist and asked rapidly, "What's so urgent? You have to at least tell me where you're going."
"I..." Xia Yan hesitated. "The Xia family."
"Xia Minghui is looking for you?" Zhan Meng's eyes flickered. Xia Minghui never called Xia Yan for anything good. "What does he want from you?"
"Zhan Meng, don't worry about this. I'll be back at the apartment on time, I promise." Xia Yan pulled her hand away, spotted an empty taxi approaching, and waved without a second thought.
She quickly got in as the car stopped and gave the address.
On the way to the Xia residence, Xia Yan felt an inexplicable unease. The usually congested Anning Road was clear today. What normally took forty minutes by car took less than half an hour.
Every time a landmark appeared in her sight, Xia Yan silently counted. For some reason, it brought her a sense of calm.
Returning to the long-unvisited Xia residence, a place she'd lived for nearly ten years, the memories weren't pleasant, but at least they involved Xiao Lanzhi. Xia Yan thought this as she stood at the door, lost in thought for a moment.
She happened to run into Xia Siyue coming out of the villa. The first reaction upon seeing Xia Yan was surprise, then disdain. Even though Xia Yan appeared before her less often now, she still couldn't be civil.
Likewise, Xia Yan couldn't muster a normal smile for her.
Xia Siyue held her head high, the bag on her wrist swaying slightly, looking down at Xia Yan with a haughty gaze. Seeing her unflappable expression, she felt annoyed, still believing Xia Yan was the one who had leaked the video of her and Mu Chengfeng online.
She had never changed that belief and didn't want to.
Facing Xia Siyue, Xia Yan followed the principle: if the enemy doesn't move, she doesn't move; if the enemy moves, she strikes back.
But today, she was here to see Xia Minghui. He hadn't explained things clearly on the phone. Xia Yan glanced sideways at Xia Siyue, ready to ignore her and go inside.
The worst thing was dealing with someone who was stubborn and unreasonable. Xia Siyue sneered, took a big step, and stood in the doorway, blocking Xia Yan's path. "What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.
"Don't worry, I'm not here for you, and it has nothing to do with you."
"You being here now has everything to do with me. Xia Yan, don't think I don't know what you're up to. Did Lu Zhengting dump you, so you're crawling back to us for support?"
Hearing this, Xia Yan was unimpressed, eyeing Xia Siyue coldly. "You're overestimating yourself."
Xia Siyue knew Xia Yan wasn't as aloof as she seemed on the surface; she just hid her true side from others.
"Whether I'm overestimating myself isn't for you to decide. Your business with Lu Zhengting is all over Jiangcheng. Or maybe you don't know that the woman by his side now is Ke Yaru?" Xia Siyue dared to say this because reporters had caught Lu Zhengting's sudden decision to go to the UK.
Xia Yan had been locked in the apartment these past few days, too busy fighting with Lu Zhengting to care about anything else. Besides, since Ke Yaru had sent her that photo, she'd already mentally prepared herself.
Seeing Xia Yan's tense face, Xia Siyue thought she'd hit a nerve, her expression growing smug. She covered half her mouth with her hand, chuckled a few times, and added, "Xia Yan, I told you long ago that Lu Zhengting was just playing with you, but you took it seriously."
"Xia Siyue, while I can still control my temper, get as far away from me as possible," Xia Yan said coldly. Without a doubt, every word Xia Siyue said felt like a fishbone stuck in her throat, hurting so much she couldn't speak.
"Hit a nerve? You don't want to hear it, but I'll say it anyway. You trapped me at home for a whole month, and I've been waiting to see you make a fool of yourself, you know?" Xia Siyue calmly adjusted her coat, delighted to see Xia Yan losing her composure.
For Xia Siyue, there was no greater joy than seeing Xia Yan sad and hurt.
Xia Yan was furious but helpless, standing at the Xia residence's doorstep. At this hour, the old lady Xia was likely home. If she couldn't keep her cool now, she'd only cause more trouble.
Weighing the options silently, Xia Yan chose to stay quiet, ignoring Xia Siyue.
"Move."
"Why should I? Who do you think you are?"
"I'll say it one last time: move."
"Xia Yan, remember, this is the Xia residence, my home. Who gave you the nerve to be so arrogant?"
"Xia Siyue, I know why you've hated me since we were kids." Xia Yan didn't respond to her taunt but shifted the topic instead.
This caught Xia Siyue off guard. She widened her eyes at Xia Yan and followed her lead, "Because you always put on this innocent act while secretly seducing men."
Hearing this, Xia Yan sneered in rebuttal, "Wrong. It's because you're jealous. You've been jealous of me since I came into this family. You framed me when we were kids—I won't even bother listing it all. Do you know why you're jealous of me?"
"Jealous of you? On what grounds?" Xia Siyue asked, her face darkening.
"Because I can easily get what you want but can't have—people and things." Xia Yan said this coldly, staring straight at her, not missing a single expression on her face, then laughed, "If I remember correctly, Mu Chengfeng liked me at first, but..."
"You're lying!"
"Lying? Xia Siyue, don't think I don't know you deliberately gave the wrong name and left your number instead of mine."
"You know? How, how do you know?" Xia Siyue stepped back weakly, asking. She had never told anyone about this.