The Real Young Master is Entangled by the Paranoid Fake Young Master - Chapter 53

Inside the banquet hall, Jiang Lican (Young Master Jiang the Fifth) felt as if his head were about to explode from the relentless whispering of the crowd.

Damn it, I want to kill someone. He instinctively reached into his pocket, but it was empty not a single sedative pill remained. The arrogant Fifth Master could only frown and grab a glass of red wine. However, before he could take a sip, a waiter collided with him. With the sharp sound of glass shattering, the red wine splashed squarely across his trousers.

“You must be tired of living!” This minor accident snapped Lican’s frayed nerves. The violent tendencies in his blood surged; he grabbed the waiter by the collar, ready to throw a punch.

“Heavens! Look!”

“He’s actually going to hit someone.”

Before he could strike, his mother, Liu Shu, intervened. “A-Can, don’t be reckless!” She was more calculating than her son. They had already been humiliated by the Song family’s drama; to assault a servant in public would be handing their enemy’s ammunition. She whispered in his ear: “Don’t waste your energy on this low-life. If you’re frustrated, take it out on those two new girls we bought for you when we get home. The Old Madame and the Head of the House are here if they see this, they might cut off our business funding. Your father is gone; we must endure this for now.”

His eyes bloodshot, Lican clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, forcing his rage back down. He didn’t want to be penniless. He shoved the waiter aside with a cold snort and headed upstairs to deal with the stain. Liu Shu sighed in relief, thinking the farce was over.

Meanwhile, Old Madame Jiang refused to let go of Song Yuening’s hand, and Yuening refused to let Zhaoqing leave his side. Thus, Zhaoqing was forced to sit at the head table with the two most influential figures in the room.

“So wonderful, truly wonderful,” the Old Madame murmured, her eyes brimming with tears as she watched Yuening.

“Old Madame, what are you saying?” Yuening asked, genuinely puzzled.

“It’s nothing, child. What year were you born? Can you tell me… what kind of person was your biological mother?” Her eyes were filled with a desperate hope.

Mother? At the mention of Pei Yan, Yuening instinctively looked toward Zhaoqing. He bit his lip nervously, gauging Zhaoqing’s reaction. Pei Yan was their unspoken secret a forbidden subject Yuening desperately tried to avoid.

Zhaoqing sensed the awkwardness and excused himself to check on Lili. Seeing him move to leave, Yuening’s attention vanished from the Old Madame. She realized then that this boy was of paramount importance to Yuening, and her demeanor toward Zhaoqing became even more gracious.

“Stay, children. Sit with me. I have no ill intentions; I simply feel a deep connection with you both. This house is so large and lonely; I just want to chat with good children like you. You won’t mind, will you?”

Zhaoqing found it increasingly bizarre. He had just publicly shamed the Jiang family’s side branch, yet the matriarch was treating him like an honored guest. Even the Head of the House, Jiang Jinhua, kept stealing glances at them while socializing, as if he were deeply invested in their every movement.

Suddenly, the electronic screens displaying “Welcome Ceremony” flickered. The celebratory patterns vanished, replaced by a strange video, as if a hacker had bypassed the security.

“What’s happening?”

“Why did the music stop?”

“Is that, a security feed from inside the villa?”

“It looks like a bedroom…”

The guests stared at the screen. Soon, the content was revealed: the speakers filled the hall with the sound of rhythmic, ambiguous moans.

“Faster! Faster!”

The crowd gasped as two figures appeared on a king-sized bed.

“Is that, the Fifth Master and the newly adopted son? What are they doing?”

The ladies blushed and turned away; parents covered their children’s eyes. Old Madame Jiang’s face turned ghastly. On screen, the two were oblivious to the world, engaged in a scandalous tryst.

Jiang Jinhua was the first to react, ordering his assistants to break down the door. They rushed upstairs, but the video couldn’t be stopped. The guests watched as the door was kicked open, revealing the “wild mandarin ducks” still lost in their passion.

When they were finally pulled apart, a disheveled Jiang Yizhu (Han Yizhu) screamed: “How is it you?! It was supposed to be—”

Lican, appearing dazed, slapped him across the face. “Get lost, you little slut! You were enjoying it a moment ago; don’t start acting now!”

The assistant finally found the pinhole camera and snapped it, ending the broadcast. But the storm was just beginning. Liu Shu shrieked and ran upstairs; soon, the sounds of cursing and a physical brawl echoed from the second floor.

Zhaoqing was stunned. Even Xie Chengxuan was horrified; he had thought Yizhu was a “pure” student, yet here he was with his own “cousin.”

As Zhaoqing stood frozen, a cool, cunning voice whispered behind him, the voice of a fox-dog waiting for a treat. “Zhaozhao, was that a good show?”

Zhaoqing turned to see the mischievous glint in Yuening’s eyes. In his previous life, Yuening had been too ill to attend this banquet, and this scandal had never happened. Now, standing side-by-side in the Jiang mansion, Zhaoqing watched as the person who had once sabotaged him was utterly ruined.

“Zhaozhao, it’s alright. Anyone who has ever bullied you will pay the price, no matter who they are.”

In the heavy darkness, Yuening’s voice was as clear as water but as resolute as an unbreakable curse.

The banquet ended in silence. Old Madame Jiang, despite her chest pain from the shock, insisted on using the Jiang family’s car to send Yuening and Zhaoqing home. Song Shicheng had no choice but to watch his sons be treated like high-ranking associates.

The Old Madame even wanted Yuening to stay with her, claiming they were “destined” to be family. When they insisted on leaving, she sent her own trusted personnel to the Song house under the guise of “training servants,” but in reality, she was protecting the boys from Shicheng’s potential wrath.

Lili’s engagement was officially dead. Because Lican had committed such a scandalous act in public, the Fifth branch was at fault, and Liu Shu could no longer demand anything.

Back at the Song house, Zhaoqing retreated to his room with Yuening following close behind.

“Why are you following me?” Zhaoqing asked.

“Zhaozhao, I know you have questions. I don’t dare stay too far away.” Yuening acted the part of a submissive, “virtuous wife,” while Zhaoqing felt like a tyrant who had kidnapped a commoner.

“I do. Was this your doing?” Zhaoqing asked. “You’re bold. If Director Jiang had traced it back to you, how would you have escaped?”

Yuening’s eyes sparkled. “Zhaozhao, are you worried about me?”

“Listen to my tone, does it sound like I’m worried?”

“It’s no big deal,” Yuening said dismissively. “Bribing a few Jiang servants was a bit troublesome, but for enough money, they’ll do anything. I paid them enough to disappear forever. It won’t lead back to me. Zhaozhao, let’s not talk about those unlucky people. Vacation is coming where do you want to go? Tahiti? Seychelles? Or my private island? We can stay there the whole break.”

Zhaoqing wasn’t swayed. “Tell me: was the waiter who spilled the wine your man? Was the camera your doing? Lican and Yizhu looked dazed did you drug them?”

Yuening scrambled to defend himself. “No, I didn’t give them aphrodisiacs. Lican already had a violent streak and took medication for it. I only had a bit of hallucinogenic incense lit in Yizhu’s room. They were the ones being indecent; my plan only worked because of their own lack of restraint.”

Zhaoqing didn’t believe a word of it. He knew that if this plan hadn’t worked, Yuening would have had another.

“One last question,” Zhaoqing said. “Why do this to Jiang Yizhu? You just didn’t like his face?”

“Of course not! It was because—” Yuening stopped. He didn’t want Zhaoqing to see him as a “paranoid freak,” even though he was.

“Because of me?” Zhaoqing finished for him. “You’ve investigated me, Song Yuening. You know everything about my past. Impressive, Young Master Song.”

Yuening’s voice turned small and cautious. “Zhaozhao, I didn’t ‘investigate’ you. I care about you. When I heard how that lowly Han Yizhu treated you, I wanted to kill him. But I couldn’t, so I did this instead. I’m sorry… I should have discussed it with you first.”

His eyes were clear and full of a “puppy-dog” sincerity. Zhaoqing looked at him with a heavy heart. Love that wants life, hate that wants death. Yuening’s emotions were too extreme.

“I’m tired. Leave,” Zhaoqing said softly.

“Zhaozhao! I—” Yuening tried to argue, but Zhaoqing shut the door.

A while later, after Zhaoqing had changed into his pajamas, he heard three rhythmic knocks. Then, silence. He waited, then opened the door. On a silk handkerchief lay a blue-purple Water Lily (Nymphaea Colorata) with a small card:

[Zhaozhao, don’t be mad at me. Goodnight.]

Zhaoqing picked up the expensive flower and Yuening’s “heart” and placed them by his pillow. He was a lover of flowers; he couldn’t bear to let such a thing go to waste.

He remembered Xie Chengxuan asking him earlier that night if he still wanted to proceed with their original plan. Xie had clearly seen Yuening’s protection and suspected Zhaoqing was wavering.

But how had he answered? Zhaoqing recalled staring at Xie for a long moment before saying with absolute certainty:

“Proceed.”

He had to proceed. In this life, he would never let a moment of mercy stop his march toward freedom.