Chapter 429 — Designing a Scheme
Hearing Sun Jie's words, Yang Ce actually breathed a sigh of relief!
What Yang Ce feared most was Sun Jie wanting to contest something with Chen Shutang—say, the position of empress of the harem, or the title of official girlfriend. These were things Yang Ce simply could not give her!
Because all of it had been promised to Chen Shutang in the first place; Yang Ce could not turn around and promise the same to Sun Jie! If Sun Jie truly set her heart on contending for such things, Yang Ce would only find himself in a tighter bind, caught in the middle!
Even if he refused and stayed out of it, he would still worry himself sick—after all, how could Chen Shutang ever be a match for Sun Jie? If Sun Jie set her mind on seizing the position of empress of the harem, Chen Shutang would have no choice but to yield it gracefully!
But now Sun Jie was not contending for any of that. She merely wanted to safeguard their standing and interests, to have Chen Shutang accept them; and only if Chen Shutang refused would they band together to force her acceptance!
That was somewhat unfair to Chen Shutang, but if Yang Ce tried to stop Sun Jie from doing it, that would be unfair to Sun Jie, to Xiao Qing, and even to Zhao Ying, who had joined them so late!
Unfair either way, Yang Ce could only pretend ignorance and keep out of it! As long as he did not take part and did not side with anyone, then no matter how they clashed, no great disaster would come of it.
But the moment he leaned toward one side, the consequences would be grave. Lean toward Chen Shutang, and what would become of Sun Jie and Xiao Qing? Lean toward Sun Jie, and how could he ever help her move against Chen Shutang?
Women's business was best left for women to settle; staying out of it himself was what mattered most.
Yang Ce sighed. Since Sun Jie was a woman who understood reason, she surely would not make things hard for him; she knew how to spare him worry. Yang Jinzong smiled—he had been overthinking it after all.
Meanwhile, up in the room, Zhou Yanning heard Sun Jie's words and breathed a sigh of relief as well, nodding. "As long as it's not about opposing Sister Mengyan, that's fine! If it's only about finding a way to secure everyone's interests so that Sister Mengyan will accept you, then I support you too!"
Zhou Yanning was, at heart, a very kind soul. She herself had barely managed to be with Yan, and she wanted others to be happy too; so when she heard Sun Jie put it that way, she voiced her support.
Having won Zhou Yanning's support, Sun Jie was delighted. She glanced at Xiao Qing with admiration—who would have thought Xiao Qing could so quietly and effortlessly win Zhou Yanning over, bringing her to their side.
"Then you must keep our secret, Jiajia!" Sun Jie said with a smile.
"Th—that goes without saying..." Zhou Yanning nodded, her face flushed.
"Heh, well then, since we've already formed an alliance, let's talk it through—what do we do if Chen Shutang won't accept us?" Sun Jie said. "Let's all put our heads together..."
Hearing this, Yang Shuoxuan no longer wished to listen on. So long as Sun Jie had no intention of taking the fight to Chen Shutang and only wanted to protect their own interests, Yang Ce could rest easy.
As for what plan they came up with, Yang Shuoxuan did not want to meddle—knowing would only do harm. Better to leave them some room of their own!
Fan Ce first found a clinic to have the wounds on his face and body treated, cursing Yang Juehuan's entire family line up and down eighteen generations all the while. Once patched up, he got in his car and sped off toward Donghai's Sea Moon Resort.
"Yang Ce, if I can't beat you fair and square, I'll play dirty with you—just wait till I ruin you, till I cripple you!" Fan Ce thought with a cold sneer. "Aren't you shacking up with Zhao Ying? Fine, then—I'll go tell Chen Shutang about this and watch you die. Wahahahaha..."
Fan Ce's mind was a dark, twisted place; he wanted to use Chen Shutang to vent his own spleen! Once Chen Shutang saw Yang Ce together with Zhao Ying, she would surely raise holy hell with Yan, and then Yang Ce would no longer be able to be with Zhao Ying—and he would have his chance!
Still, he had to time it just right—best of all when Zhao Ying and Yan were alone together in a room, so that Chen Shutang could catch them in the act. Only then would it work. Otherwise, if the two were merely together doing something else, and that brat Yang Ce proved a smooth talker, wouldn't all his effort be wasted?
So Fan Ce felt he must land his blow in a single strike! He drove into Donghai's Sea Moon Resort, but rather than joining the main group first, he meant to search the private villas for Yang Juehuan's car.
In his view, Yang Ce and Zhao Ying would certainly not be staying with the main group—they would surely have lodgings of their own! The thought of the two of them booking a room alone together made Fan Ce deeply uncomfortable!
Damn it, the woman he fancied had actually taken up with someone else? And they were living together? But Fan Ce no longer cared. This was not the old days, and he did not care a whit about factory-fresh or secondhand—so long as he could get Zhao Ying into his hands, that was enough!
A monstrous possessiveness had taken root in his heart. It had never been so intense before, but now, after Yang Ce had set the Bomb Brother on him and had him beaten, he had reached the point where he could not go on living without revenge!
Fan Ce drove around Sea Moon Resort. He had already spotted the school's coaches, but there was no sign of Yang Ce's Audi A8 anywhere nearby.
Where the hell had the brat taken his car? Fan Ce was puzzled. He circled the school coaches once, then circled the lodging building once, and still found no trace of Yang Ce's car!
Could he not be staying in this building? Fan Ce frowned and drove around a few other buildings, and still found no sign of Yang Juehuan's car!
"Don't tell me the guy's gone and checked into a villa?" Fan Ce thought. Yang Ce did seem quite well-off, so a villa was possible; only villas would be hard to find—there were over thirty standalone villas here, none of them close together, and circling them all would take at least two hours!
Still, to get his revenge on Yang Ce, no matter how hard the search, Fan Ce would not give up. He drove round and round the resort, and at last, before a standalone villa by the sea, he spotted Yang Juehuan's Audi A8!
"Huh? Why is there an R8 and an A6 here too? Whose cars are those?" Fan Ce frowned, then suddenly slapped his forehead as a name came to him. "Could they be Sun Jie's?"
Was Yang Ce trying to bag two birds with one stone? Fan Ce was envious, yet at the same time consumed with jealousy and hatred for Yang Ce. He wished he could be Yang Ce himself, but that was plainly impossible—winning Zhao Ying would already be a fine feat, and Sun Jie was not even to be dreamed of! That girl was a fox who devoured men bones and all; he was no match for her!