Taking the Lead

I Know Your Secret

A wave of soft warmth washed over Xing Yue. Her vision suddenly went dark, and soft breasts pressed against her face. She couldn't see a thing, and her other senses sharpened.

Xing Yue didn't struggle for long. Soon she surrendered to the woman's embrace and held her as she rested.

"Did you really fight with Madam Bu?" she asked, lifting her face to catch her breath.

Bu Yao settled onto Xing Yue's lap, her tail curling around them as they nestled together on the sofa. "Mm. My mom said you're a poor woman and I'm a rich princess. Once I lose her financial support, I'll realize we're not right for each other."

"..." Xing Yue ran her hand along the snake tail, tracing the shape of its scales. "Your mother is honest."

Madam Bu was right. During their marriage and even now, the Bu Family had paid for Bu Yao's every expense.

If those expenses fell to Xing Yue, or even to the two of them together, the problem was obvious. Ordinary people couldn't afford even one pair of Bu Yao's heels. Unless she gave up high heels for comfortable shoes, she would have a hard time finding any she could wear without hurting her feet.

"When are you going home?" Xing Yue asked.

Bu Yao pressed Xing Yue's hand against her tail and kept it there. She looked at her. "Shouldn't you be saying, 'Stay at my place as long as you like, my lady. I'll do everything I can to take care of you'?"

Why was Xing Yue trying to send her home? Bu Yao's face tightened with displeasure. She demanded that Xing Yue take it back and try again.

Xing Yue was past the age of making promises she couldn't keep. "But without your family's financial support, have you thought about whether you could accept a lower standard of living? Your clothes and shoes are custom-made by famous designers. Money alone can't buy them without the right connections. Could you stand seeing someone else wearing the same outfit as you? Your jewelry costs tens of millions. Could you go the next ten years without buying another piece? Forget me being an ordinary person—even if I were a superstar, I couldn't give you the privileges that come with being the Bu Family heiress."

In the heat of the moment, anyone could claim they'd give up everything.

Actually doing it was another matter. Bu Yao was acting like an eighteen-year-old girl fighting with her parents, determined to leave with someone whose status was worlds apart from her family's no matter what they said. Worse, Bu Yao was the only one in love.

Xing Yue had never intended to live with Bu Yao. She had only meant to put her up for a few nights. She hadn't expected Bu Yao to mean it, with no intention of going home.

"Why are you reacting like this?" Bu Yao's restless tail slowly went still, coiled forlornly on the sofa. She didn't understand. "Anyone else would promise to give me a better life. Why are you trying to talk me out of it? Have you even considered getting back together with me?"

Xing Yue's attitude had always seemed ambiguous. Kissing was fine, hugging was fine, going further was fine too. But whenever remarriage came up, she said it "didn't feel happy" or "didn't feel romantic." Now she was outright trying to talk Bu Yao out of it and send her home.

"People only say that to win someone over." Xing Yue was helpless. Bu Yao was twenty-eight and still believed it. "I'm making this choice precisely because I've thought about it seriously. Do you think I can afford the life you have now? If you cut ties with your family, things will be hard for you."

All Xing Yue wanted now was to find someone suitable and settle down. She wasn't thinking about anything else. She couldn't afford more turmoil; she desperately needed a warm home.

"I'm not afraid!" Bu Yao insisted on staying. "Stop worrying about me. If I can't take it, I'll go home myself. Can't you just give us a try? I like you so much, and you keep trying to send me away."

She didn't like crying. Crying was a sign of weakness and solved nothing. She had never been one to cry.

But Xing Yue kept saying such disheartening things. Feeling the distance in Xing Yue's attitude made her angry and sad.

"You really..." Xing Yue faltered, at a loss for words.

She remembered the father she had met only a handful of times. He had been his family's eldest son and was supposed to inherit their large factory after graduation. Then he had met her mother at university, and they had fallen in love.

But her mother was a girl from the mountains who had only been able to attend school because the people in her village helped pay for it.

His family had fiercely opposed the match. Young and headstrong, her parents had eloped anyway.

The good times hadn't lasted. After Xing Yingnuan became pregnant, her symptoms were severe, and she quit her job to rest at home. The pampered heir had already been living a hard life since eloping. Her decision drove their marriage to a breaking point.

When Xing Yue's father could no longer bear it and slipped back home, he discovered that his younger brother and paternal uncles had already carved up the family factory. He took out his resentment and hatred on Xing Yingnuan, blaming her for everything he had lost.

Years of cold, silent cruelty followed. He hadn't even come home when Xing Yue was born. He dragged things out until his once quiet, gentle wife became a hysterical woman and forced a divorce.

Xing Yue's thoughts drifted. Suddenly, she realized that Bu Yao's choice now was almost identical to the one her father had made in his youth...

The woman in her arms was a dazzling jewel. Xing Yue wasn't even worthy of being the setting that held her.

"Will you think it over, my lady?" At Xing Yue's age, she could no longer afford to be fearless.

Her hesitation and retreat both came from the gulf between their backgrounds.

Before meeting Bu Yao, Xing Yue had always been confident. She knew she was capable. She had finished her education and owned a home and a car, with savings in the bank. Yet all the achievements she had taken pride in weren't enough to commission a suitable pair of heels for Bu Yao.

Bu Yao was so angry she could almost cry. Her tail arched up and kept poking Xing Yue's face. "What else is there to think about? Aren't we already trying? How will you know we don't suit each other if you won't even try? You're backing out before we've started."

The more Bu Yao spoke, the angrier she grew. She straightened up to face Xing Yue and lectured her in earnest. "Can't you be like me and have the guts to take on a challenge?"

"Such as?"

"Such as... I want to take the lead. Xing Yue, will you be my Pillow Princess?"

*

Thunder cracked and lightning flashed through the rainy night. A cold wind blew.

The woman in the car wore a jeweled hairpin and a Zen-style blouse. Even on a trip made at short notice, she looked elegant and composed. She was reading the messages on a phone.

[Uncle Li, please go to the garbage station in Xing Yue's residential complex and look for a black bag. There are paper stars and a handmade house inside.]

[Of course, my lady. Should I collect it and give it to Miss Xing, or...?]

[Put it in the storage room at the house. Xing Yue threw it away, and I don't know if she'll want it back. Once the sanitation workers take it in the morning, we won't be able to find it. I'll keep it for her for now. Don't tell her yet.]

[Of course, my lady.]

After reading the messages, Ji Wenyan glanced at the black bag on the back seat and handed the phone back to Housekeeper Li.

She pressed her lips together. "Our Yao knows how to care for someone now. That's good."

Bu Yao was afraid Xing Yue had thrown away those old things in a fit of anger. What if she wanted them back one day? They held special meaning for Xing Yue.

It would hurt terribly if she couldn't recover them. So right after Xing Yue threw them out, Bu Yao had asked Uncle Li to retrieve them.

Housekeeper Li knew Madam Bu was upset. She had doted on her daughter for twenty-eight years, and this was the first time they had fought so fiercely. He tried to comfort her. "Madam, perhaps the young lady takes after you and your husband. Once she loves someone, she loves deeply. I doubt her feelings will change easily."

The Bu Family were devoted lovers. They were wealthy and held extraordinary standing in business and politics, yet despite all that power, none of them had ever been involved in a romantic scandal.

In other prominent families, sordid affairs, whether public or private, were common enough.

They were snakes. Though they practiced monogamy, their nature made infidelity common among them.

People at the pinnacle of wealth and power were usually too arrogant to bother fighting their nature. That every member of the Bu Family remained faithful to one partner made them a rarity in this world.

The car stopped at the hotel entrance, directly in front of He Zhiwen.

The window rolled down, revealing Ji Wenyan's sharply defined face. They had spoken once three years ago. Even after only one meeting, He Zhiwen couldn't forget that wealthy, striking face.

"I know your secret," the woman said with a smile.

Those few words drained the color from He Zhiwen's face. She stumbled two steps back, her eyes wary.

Ji Wenyan's voice was low and measured. She was smiling, but there was no warmth in her eyes. "Don't be afraid, child. I won't hurt you. I also know how many cruel and painful things your family has endured over the centuries."

She got out of the car.

Housekeeper Li moved to follow, but she raised a hand. He understood and returned to the car, driving it away. In the boundless darkness, only the two women remained. Ji Wenyan's expression was gentle, but a frightening aura radiated from her. He Zhiwen could almost smell blood. She lowered her head and tried to hurry past.

"Some people simply meet the wrong people at the wrong time," Ji Wenyan said. "Without anyone to help them, their talent goes unnoticed. Given a chance, they might become famous."

He Zhiwen stopped.

Ji Wenyan took out an envelope, grasped He Zhiwen's hand, and placed it firmly in her palm. "Have Miss Great White Shark take this letter with her when she applies."

The letter felt impossibly heavy. He Zhiwen knew she shouldn't take it, yet her hand closed around it and refused to let go. Her lips trembled. "Why are you... helping me? What do you want?"

"I'm offering this recommendation because I feel like it. I don't need anything from you. Don't be afraid." Ji Wenyan gave a soft laugh, then added meaningfully, "But the chance to apply alone is far from enough. Miss Great White Shark is very talented. Can you bear to see her eliminated? I'd like to make a deal with you—"

"Give me six thousand milliliters of blood and three Snake Scales, and Miss Great White Shark will shine on that stage."

"You don't have to refuse right away. Whether you agree or not, I'll keep your secret. I won't harm you. You're free, and you're safe."

The first time Ji Wenyan had approached her, He Zhiwen had believed her without question. A promise from someone of her standing had seemed trustworthy.

He Zhiwen let out a bitter breath. "Do you remember what you said three years ago? Did you find someone to treat A Yue? Madam Bu, you broke your word. I didn't even hold that against you, and now you've come to make another deal?"

She hadn't pursued the matter because Ji Wenyan had given her a chance to breathe.

He Zhiwen had wavered over her love for Xing Yue. She knew that marrying Xing Yue might mean caring for someone with a disability affecting her legs for the rest of her life, and that had left her torn.

She wanted to leave but couldn't bear to part with Xing Yue. She was also afraid of hurting her.

Madam Bu's appearance had given her the push she needed, as though making the decision for her. He Zhiwen had left Xing Yue, telling herself it was for the sake of treating Xing Yue's snake tail and easing her guilt.

Ji Wenyan found her expression ridiculous, but held back. "I came to you again precisely because I remember our agreement from three years ago. I've spent vast sums and employed countless people over those three years, but I haven't found another way to heal Xing Yue's snake tail. Except..."

She left it there. He Zhiwen's face went from pale to flushed.

The lessons of centuries past made the possibility of her secret coming out terrifying to He Zhiwen.

Ji Wenyan raised a hand and stroked He Zhiwen's hair as though comforting a beloved child. "Of course, you have another choice. If Xing Yue leaves my daughter, I won't care whether Xing Yue is disabled. Then you won't have to give any blood or cut off any scales, and Miss Great White Shark can still shine. Everyone wins, doesn't everyone?"

He Zhiwen dodged her hand. Ji Wenyan's body temperature was higher than a human's, yet her touch chilled her. She backed away in a daze. "I... I don't know what to do..."

"You do," the woman said with certainty. She removed the costly jeweled pin from her hair and tucked it into the braid He Zhiwen had carefully arranged that night. "You dressed up for someone you want to please. You still have feelings for her, don't you?"