NOVEL WEB Chapter 106 - Rumors
Unless someone spills the beans on the StarNet, the person involved in the rumors is always the last to know.
For the past half month, a rumor had been circulating among the first- and second-year students of Imperial Capital University, claiming that their genius classmate Xi and a boy surnamed Zhuang from the Command Department were a couple. Zhuang Huiya only found out about this when Tony told him.
When Zhuang Huiya heard from Tony that everyone thought he and his cousin were an item, his eyes nearly popped out: “What are you talking about? The captain is like a sister to me, you know that. I’ve always liked Wang Yiyi.”
Because he was so surprised and afraid that his cousin’s reputation might be tarnished, Zhuang Huiya’s words came out in a panic, his voice raised.
“Keep it down!” Tony, being more cautious, quickly reminded him, but it was already too late.
Wang Yiyi and Mai Dongzi happened to walk into the training room just as Zhuang Huiya finished speaking. However, because the door to the training room was wide open, the two of them clearly heard what Zhuang Huiya had said.
Although Wang Yiyi was a generous girl, hearing such words out of the blue inevitably made her feel a bit awkward.
Only Mai Dongzi responded seriously, saying, “The innocent remain innocent, and the guilty expose themselves. Baseless rumors like this will eventually fade away on their own. Don’t worry about these things; focus on your training, that’s the right path.”
Others might think that Zhuang Huiya, caught off guard, blurted out his hidden feelings in a moment of surprise.
But Mai Dongzi didn’t see it that way. Even though she hadn’t spent much time with this cousin, who was only a month younger than Lucy, her sharp observational skills, combined with his lack of effort to hide his true nature, had long made her aware that this seemingly innocent cousin was actually quite scheming.
So, Mai Dongzi didn’t believe his words were spoken unintentionally. She was more inclined to think he said them on purpose, hoping others would hear and shift the focus, making it known that the person he liked was Wang Yiyi, and that he only admired Mai Dongzi.
As for Zhuang Huiya’s feelings towards Wang Yiyi, Mai Dongzi thought there might be a certain fondness, but it wasn’t as deep as a secret crush.
Still, the boy probably hadn’t expected that Wang Yiyi would overhear him so directly, causing his plan to backfire on the spot.
Yet, this kid had remarkable composure. He put on a shy, embarrassed expression, but in truth, his face didn’t even blush. Lowering his eyelids was likely to prevent anyone from seeing the true emotions in his eyes.
Wang Yiyi’s family might not be a powerful clan, but they were of a respectable mid-tier status. On top of that, her own graceful appearance and confident personality, along with being the top first-year student in the Command Department, made her quite popular with the boys. Unlike Mai Dongzi, who was so exceptional that no one dared to approach her, Wang Yiyi was the kind of girl who was well-liked by many.
Thanks to Yu Lan’s big mouth, everyone knew that Zhuang Huiya was a commoner attending university through loans. As a guy who, in every way, couldn’t compare to Wang Yiyi, it was natural that Wang Yiyi had no special feelings for him.
Before they were selected for the Phantom Team, Wang Yiyi didn’t even know who this guy was.
Mai Dongzi had long been aware of this situation. However, stopping rumors takes a lot of effort, and she didn’t care about them. She had no intention of dating, and since the other person in the gossip was her cousin, she simply acted like the rumors didn’t exist.
Mai Dongzi even sent a message to Ren Guang, telling him to ignore these rumors when he heard them. Then, without hesitation, she told him about Zhao Fanni’s attempt to place a bounty on the dark market to have her assassinated, warning him not to reveal that Zhuang Huiya was her cousin.
After Ren Guang’s view of Zhao Fanni’s viciousness was once again reinforced, he remained silent about the matter.
Initially, Ren Guang hadn’t fully agreed with how Mai Dongzi had embarrassed her aunt, Zhao Fanni, in the family. He felt that her actions might make her unpopular with other elders.
However, after learning about the assassination attempt, he understood Mai Dongzi’s approach. If it were him, he would have done the same—skinning her if possible, and if he couldn’t kill her, he wouldn’t make life easy for her either.
Moreover, the family elders were aware of the assassination bounty, so they had nothing to say about what Mai Dongzi did to Zhao Fanni.
Since Mai Dongzi chose to ignore the rumors, she only discovered that they were deliberately spread by someone with ulterior motives when she received a message directly from Prince Arthur himself.
It turned out that Erica had “accidentally” heard rumors that Mai Dongzi had special feelings for Zhuang Huiya. After Zhuang Huiya was seriously injured in the individual competition, she allegedly stayed by his side the entire night, taking care of him more attentively than a girlfriend would.
To disgust Mai Dongzi, Erica, knowing full well that Zhuang Huiya was her cousin, intentionally spread rumors that Mai Dongzi and Zhuang Huiya were a couple.
Mai Dongzi wasn’t surprised that Erica would do such a thing. After all, because of her, Nigri lost the position of the Xi family head, and later she humiliated Zhao Fanni by leaking incriminating information on the family network. It was only natural that Erica hated her.
She was also not surprised that Prince Arthur Li, the esteemed Crown Prince of the Blue and Black Empire, would be aware of such small rumors circulating within Imperial Capital University. After all, she had a vague sense that, aside from her openly assigned bodyguard Su, two or three other secret guards were protecting her, who had followed her into the university.
What puzzled her was why Prince Arthur personally sent her a message this time, instead of passing it through Admiral Chen as he had in the past.
However, this curiosity was fleeting. Prince Arthur was too far out of her reach, and since he was her “golden benefactor,” the fact that he would take the time to inform her directly about information that could harm her was something she appreciated.
This message from Prince Arthur also reminded Mai Dongzi of how Zhao Fanni had swapped the identities of Lucy and Erica, intending for Erica to use Lucy’s status to get closer to Prince Arthur.
But after spending over a decade carefully plotting, just when they were seeing some results, an unknown person exposed the truth about the real and fake daughters, making Zhao Fanni’s painstaking plan to marry off her daughter to a rich and powerful suitor the talk of the entire Blue and Black Empire.
She narrowed her eyes, hatching a new plan to make Zhao Fanni and her daughter’s lives difficult.
…
After Prince Arthur sent the message to Mai Dongzi, he expected to receive a polite yet distant thank-you as usual.
Instead, he was surprised when she asked if he could send her evidence of Erica bribing online trolls to slander Lucy as a useless person, and also if he could reveal that these two pieces of information came from him.
Prince Arthur immediately knew she was up to something again.
He had only recently learned that she had publicly posted evidence of Zhao Fanni’s schemes against the Zhuang family on the Xi family’s network, forcing Zhao Fanni to compensate the Zhuang family.
Given that she was now asking for evidence, it was obvious what she intended to do with it.
Her temper was as fiery and dazzling as ever.
Not only would this move let her vent her frustrations, but it would also strike a blow against the mother and daughter, and help others see their true colors.
Prince Arthur not only provided the evidence but also signed it personally.