Chapter 39: Framing

Xia Rui personally inspected Xia Yu’s room. True to his expectations, apart from that book, there was nothing else suspicious. Unable to make sense of it on his own, he took the torn pages in his hand and went to consult with the Old Madam.

Meanwhile, in Xia Rusheng’s room, Nanny Chen was tugging at her, asking nervously, "What exactly is the Chairman looking for? The way he looked, it seemed like he was targeting me. Did I bring trouble upon you, Rusheng?"

Xia Rusheng quickly comforted her, saying, "I drove him to desperation. He is now frantically searching for my mother’s diary, which is why he suspects you. I am the one who has implicated you."

Nanny Chen was still trembling with fear. She hugged Xia Rusheng and whispered, "Silly child, I am not afraid of anything, only that something might happen to you. Isn’t that diary in your possession? What if they find it?"

Xia Rusheng smiled. "And have they found it?"

Although the bodyguards who searched the room earlier were thorough, they had not found anything suspicious in her quarters.

"Look, Nanny Chen!" Xia Rusheng turned around and lifted the hem of her thick pajamas. The diary was tucked against her body. Xia Rui had only ordered a search of the rooms, not a body search. Having guessed that Xia Rui would come looking for the diary, she had kept it on her person all along.

"You child—" Nanny Chen was both exasperated and amused, but then she felt something was wrong. "I heard the commotion earlier; it sounded like they found the diary in the second young lady’s room. What is going on?"

"They didn't find the diary, only a few pages. I planted them in Xia Yu’s room for him to find. Since Xia Yu could sneak into my room to steal keys, I could certainly sneak into hers to plant evidence. It is only fair to return the favor. This way, they won’t suspect us, and perhaps they’ll even turn on each other."

Nanny Chen said worriedly, "Won't this just alert the enemy? Xia, you must be careful not to trap yourself!"

Xia Rusheng knew Nanny Chen cared for her, but she could not halt her path of revenge. For the moment, she could only offer a vague reassurance: "Don't worry, Nanny Chen. I won't be implicated. You really don't need to worry about my affairs. Just rest for now; there will be a good show to watch later."

"What show? What are you planning now?"

Xia Rusheng stuck out her tongue and smiled. "I don’t have to do anything. I can just sit back and enjoy the show."

Nanny Chen’s anxiety only deepened; she could not rest. Her ears were pricked like a radar. Two hours later, Lin Yichen’s voice drifted up from downstairs. Nanny Chen immediately hid in the corner of the stairwell to eavesdrop.

"Uncle Xia, I’ve found out. The photos were leaked from Shen Rou’s mobile phone."

Xia Rui asked in disbelief, "Shen Rou? She leaked all of them?"

Shen Rou and Xia Yu had always been close friends, so she would have had access to such things. But why would Shen Rou turn against Xia Yu?

Lin Yichen nodded firmly and continued, "Excluding the photos involving herself, the other six photos first spread from her private social media feed before being reposted by others. I went to the Shen family to ask, but Shen Rou denied it, claiming her phone had been stolen. There is no way to verify if it’s true or false. Furthermore, there is a mastermind behind this; someone deliberately hired internet trolls to hype it up. The methods are very sophisticated; it is impossible to track down who wrote the news."

Xia Rui also sensed that this situation was extraordinary. He wondered if this was aimed at Xia Yu personally or at his entire family. If it were the former, it might end here, but if it were the latter, this was likely just the beginning.

"I also went to the hospital to check. The surveillance footage outside the restroom from last night was removed, and we can’t find out by whom. The person behind this is likely not simple. Could it be a business rival?"

Xia Rui could not be sure, but he was determined to get to the bottom of this; otherwise, he would never have peace of mind.

Nanny Chen, hiding in the stairwell, hurried back to the room after hearing this and asked sternly, "Xia, did you have something to do with this news?"

Nanny Chen had seen the photos in the news, and since only Xia Rusheng had the diary, she was certain it was related to her. However, she did not believe Xia Rusheng had the capability to blow this up to such a scale.

"I did it. The other day, I heard Shen Rou and the others planning to spread rumors to smear me, so I stole her phone and leaked those photos under her name. Rather than letting them destroy me, I decided to destroy them first. However... I didn’t expect it to escalate to this point."

Xia Rusheng spoke lightly, though her heart was not at ease. Her own capabilities were only enough for minor schemes—enough to make it ripple through the social circles of City A. She truly had not expected this news to become a nationwide entertainment sensation.

Could it be, as Lin Yichen suggested, that there was a hidden hand helping her?

Who could it be?

"Then what about the hospital surveillance? Tell me, or I won’t be able to rest."

Xia Rusheng suppressed the questions in her own heart and hesitated for a moment. "Nanny Chen, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t want to say. The less you know about this, the better. Don’t worry, I won't leave any evidence behind for anyone."

She still remembered what Nanny Chen had told her when she first woke up: in this world, the only person she could fully trust and rely on was herself.

At this point, Nanny Chen knew she wouldn't get a full confession. After giving a few cautious warnings, she returned to the attic. Since Xia Rusheng wanted her to act as if she knew nothing, she would do as she wished.

After Nanny Chen left, Lin Yichen came up to see her. She asked, feigning indifference, "Did that mother-daughter pair, Xia Yu and her mother, see the news?"

"The internet is flooded with this story; it’s hard for them to miss it... Xia, does this—does this have anything to do with you?" Lin Yichen’s gaze lingered on her face. Her calm, inscrutable expression made him suspicious, yet she was so beautiful that he couldn't look away. He didn't want to believe it was her doing, because if she could accomplish this so silently, it would be truly terrifying.

"Of course it has to do with me, because I am the biggest victim in the news," Xia Rusheng suddenly smiled at him, her demeanor proud and mysterious. She cunningly twisted the logic and changed the subject. "By now, Xia Yu and her mother must be famous, right?"

Lin Yichen shook his head. They weren't famous; they were infamous.

The news was well-supported with evidence, and some had even dug up the Xia family’s old skeletons to corroborate it. Besides Xia Rusheng, everyone in the Xia family had become a laughingstock: the Old Madam’s indulgence of her son, Xia Rui’s infidelity, Tan Li being the mistress who broke up a family, and Xia Yu’s character as an illegitimate child. Even Shen Rou and Zhang Biting had been dragged into the mud.

Although some doubted the authenticity of the claims, the timing of Xia Yu’s birth and the hospital photos were powerful evidence that shattered those doubts. In high society, having mistresses and illegitimate children was not exactly rare, but having it dragged out and aired before the public was an entirely different matter.

This time, even if the Xia family had a thousand mouths, they would never be able to clear their names!