The Real Young Master is Entangled by the Paranoid Fake Young Master - Chapter 51

Two cars from the Song family drove in tandem toward the Jiang family’s vast villa located on the outskirts of the city. Though the estate was large enough to be mistaken for a castle, it was actually one of the Jiang family’s most modest properties in the country.

For reasons known only to him, Song Shicheng had insisted that Song Yuening ride in the same car as him. Yuening had been about to refuse, but Zhaoqing simply said “Fine” and climbed into the other car, seemingly eager to avoid Shicheng. Shicheng had expected a fight; the silent compliance left his prepared insults with nowhere to land.

Eventually, Shicheng simply spat out a venomous remark: “How scandalous seducing your own elder brother!” He was, of course, referring to Yuening. Had Zhaoqing heard this, he would have been livid. It was Yuening who was constantly clinging to him, yet the “blind” Shicheng insisted on blaming Zhaoqing. Yuening, however, heard the slur and stared coldly at Shicheng’s back. He had more important things to do today, but Shicheng wouldn’t be arrogant for much longer.

When the cars reached the entrance, Zhaoqing saw two figures standing near the gate. Or rather, he saw a shorter person tenaciously clinging to a tall, aloof one.

“Ah-Xuan, why are you ignoring me? I’ve just transferred to Mingsi and I don’t know my way around. Can you show me the campus next week?” Jiang Yizhu was wearing light makeup, looking up at Xie Chengxuan with misty, pleading eyes.

Xie Chengxuan was about to speak when he spotted Zhaoqing standing at the gate. His eyes lit up, and he instinctively started walking toward him. In his haste, he completely ignored the way Jiang Yizhu’s face twisted in fury.

Who is ruining my moment? Yizhu turned and saw a face he knew all too well. It was Chen Zhaoqing or rather, Song Zhaoqing.

Back when Yizhu was still Han Yizhu and Zhaoqing was Chen Zhaoqing, they had attended the same middle school. The school was notorious in S-City for being a melting pot of “riff-raff” from the Old District and was consistently ranked at the bottom of the city’s performance lists.

Even in middle school, Yizhu hadn’t cared about studying. His favorite pastimes included shopping, gossiping, forming cliques, and stealing other people’s boyfriends. He had inherited his mother’s “talent” for seduction; whether a boy liked guys or girls, Yizhu could usually win them over within two months.

But everything changed when Zhaoqing appeared. Several boys Yizhu liked had secret crushes on Zhaoqing. Yizhu couldn’t accept it. Chen Zhaoqing never dressed up and vanished immediately after school, yet people still gravitated toward him. Yizhu had tried to “befriend” Zhaoqing to see his “tricks,” but Zhaoqing had remained indifferent. Eventually, Yizhu snapped. Using his followers, he spread vile rumors and isolated Zhaoqing for a long time.

Later, Yizhu’s mother passed away. He hooked up with a local thug and planned to drop out, but not before scamming the school’s “poverty student” fund for extra cash. That was the year someone found him and offered to make him the Jiang family’s “adopted son” on the condition that he work for them.

Yizhu had initially thought the man was crazy. But weeks later, Old Madame Jiang and the family head actually showed up. Yizhu himself wondered if he was a long-lost son, as he shared a slight resemblance with the head of the house particularly the nose and mouth. However, a DNA test confirmed there was no blood relation. After investigating his deceased mother’s background, Old Madame Jiang was visibly disappointed, but they adopted him anyway. He was sent abroad and transformed from a “wild chicken” into a “phoenix.”

The only flaw in his perfect life was the news that his rival, Chen Zhaoqing, was the biological son of the Song family. Yizhu had smashed everything in his room upon hearing it. How dare that bastard live a good life too! Now that the Jiangs had moved back to S-City, Yizhu had demanded a grand banquet. He wanted Zhaoqing to see that even as a “Young Master,” he was still inferior to a Jiang. He had also set his sights on Xie Chengxuan at school a perfect “distraction” to keep him secure if the Jiangs ever discarded him. But Yizhu overlooked one thing: wherever Song Zhaoqing was, things never went his way.

“Zhaozhao!” Xie Chengxuan, the supposedly “cold” and “rebellious” youth, was practically acting like a puppy around Zhaoqing.

Yizhu’s nails dug into his clothes. He took a deep breath, plastered on a bright smile, and rushed forward to link arms with Zhaoqing, cutting Xie Chengxuan off. “Zhaoqing? It’s really you! I’ve missed you so much since I came to S-City! Why haven’t you called me?”

It was a classic reversal of blame. The surrounding socialites turned to look. Since this was Yizhu’s “home turf,” they assumed they were close friends. Even Xie Chengxuan was surprised. “Zhaoqing, are you and Little Jiang friends?”

Yizhu was smug. He assumed Zhaoqing would be forced to play along. But Zhaoqing’s next words left him paralyzed.

“No. We aren’t friends. We are enemies who should never cross paths again.”

“Because,” Zhaoqing continued, “he used to bully me. I remember this ‘Young Master Jiang’ was quite fond of spreading disgusting rumors about people, right?”

“Oh, and are you still in touch with Chen Fan? You know, that thug ten years older than you who was already married? Didn’t you say you were with him and didn’t want to go to school anymore? How did you end up as a ‘Young Master’ instead of being with him?”

“Also, we aren’t close. Don’t touch me.”

Zhaoqing pulled his arm away and stood with his arms crossed, looking at Yizhu with mockery.

“Ah!!!” Yizhu screamed, his composure shattering. Being exposed in front of socialites and the media was his worst nightmare. “Song Zhaoqing, what are you talking about?! What did I ever do to you for you to say such things at my banquet?” He began to cry on cue.

Zhaoqing wasn’t falling for it. “Why don’t we look at these?” He tossed a stack of photos into the air. They fluttered down like snow. Gossip is human nature; everyone even the high-status guests leaned down to pick them up.

The crowd gasped. “Heavens! Look at this, his shirt is half-off!” “Is this real? They’re kissing in public?” “I thought this ‘adopted son’ was from a scholarly background? What kind of ‘scholarly’ child acts like this?”

Xie Chengxuan picked one up. It showed a younger Yizhu in a school uniform, sitting on a thug’s lap in a nightclub, locked in a passionate kiss. Most of the photos were like this. Yizhu’s thug ex-boyfriend had a fetish for taking photos, and Yizhu had been too shameless to care. In his previous life, Yizhu had destroyed these. In this life, Zhaoqing had found the ex-boyfriend and secured the evidence.

“No! These aren’t real! He photoshopped them! I’ll sue you!” Yizhu lunged at Zhaoqing but was blocked by Xie Chengxuan.

“What is happening here?” A majestic voice rang out. The crowd went silent.

An elderly woman in a pale green gown approached, accompanied by a tall, steady middle-aged man with a scar on his face. Zhaoqing felt a strange sense of familiarity looking at the man. This was Old Madame Jiang and the head of the house, Jiang Jinhua. Behind them stood other members of the Jiang clan, including Young Master Jiang the Fifth and his mother.

“Grandmother! Father!” Yizhu threw himself at them, claiming Zhaoqing was jealous and making up lies.

Zhaoqing prepared for the worst. If they kicked him out, he didn’t care. He was a high school student; any retaliation would fall on Song Shicheng. Besides, he knew the Jiangs would now be forced to re-investigate Yizhu’s past.

Just as Zhaoqing prepared to argue, Song Shicheng and Song Yuening finally arrived.

“Song Zhaoqing! What trouble are you causing now?!” Shicheng roared, assuming his “bastard son” was acting out again.

Sensing the lack of support from Zhaoqing’s own father, Jiang Yizhu felt a surge of renewed confidence.