The imperial capital.
The Lu family estate.
Lu Tao sat dazed by the edge of the pond, her pretty face drained of all color, her palms bloody and raw, with no idea where she was.
“Lu Tao, today is your sister’s birthday banquet. How could you push her into the water? Apologize to her this instant.”
An elegant middle-aged woman clutched tightly to a girl whose features bore a faint resemblance to her own, scolding Lu Tao at the top of her lungs.
Numerous sharp gazes pierced into her. “So this is that Lu Tao? The Miss Lu that neither family wanted?”
The girl across from her sobbed, “It’s not my sister’s fault. I accidentally fell into the water.”
The middle-aged woman’s face turned ashen. “Zhixing, I saw with my own eyes that she pushed you in. She stole your engagement and married Gu Xingzhi, and now she’s trying to harm you. Stop defending her!”
The two played off each other in perfect harmony, their bickering making Lu Tao’s head throb.
She rubbed her temples and finally realized a serious problem.
She had transmigrated into a book—the one she’d read yesterday, The Overbearing CEO’s Imprisoned Love: She Flees! He Chases! She Can’t Escape!—and she was now the vicious supporting female character, Lu Tao. The girl before her was the female lead, Qiao Zhixing.
This was a clichéd switched-at-birth story.
Lu Tao had grown up in the wealthy Qiao family, while Qiao Zhixing had lived in the declining Lu family.
A month ago, they’d discovered the babies had been switched, and the girls were returned to their biological families.
Qiao Zhixing, true to her status as the female lead, was the fake daughter of the Lu family and the real daughter of the Qiao family. Both families doted on her endlessly, her protagonist’s halo in full effect.
Lu Tao, meanwhile, had become the one both families despised—no father’s love, no mother’s care.
Back when the Lu family had been well-off, they’d had a marriage contract with the Gu family, the powerful elite of the imperial capital.
In a fit of anger, Lu Tao had married Gu Xingzhi.
But Lu’s mother actually believed she had stolen Qiao Zhixing’s engagement. If Lu Tao had returned a month later, it would have been Qiao Zhixing marrying into the Gu family.
After recalling the plot, Lu Tao lost count of how many times she’d marveled at the absurdity.
Truly, the protagonist’s halo was something else—Lu’s mother loved Qiao Zhixing, who wasn’t even her biological daughter, that much.
Lu Tao shook her head, feeling deeply sorry for the girl who shared her name.
Silly girl, did you really think marriage could change your fate?
Suddenly, a hand extended toward Lu Tao. She looked up and saw a handsome, gentle face, his gaze fixed on her hand. His thin lips pressed together. “You’re injured.”
Faced with such tender, puppy-dog eyes, it was hard for Lu Tao not to melt.
He also carried the poised elegance of an eldest brother. This was the Lu family’s eldest son, Lu Cen.
He was even gentler in person than described in the book. Lu Tao had just reached out her hand when she heard him turn his head, his tone languid even when scolding. “Mom, no matter what Tao’er did wrong, you shouldn’t have pushed her.”
Lu Tao’s fingers froze mid-air. “?”
This bastard was a real show-off, outright cementing her guilt.
And here she’d been melting in his gentleness just moments ago.
Lu Cen turned back, smiling. “Tao’er, be good. Apologize to Zhixing first, and your brother will take you to get your wounds treated.”
Lu Tao now looked at that face—so warm and refined—and felt nothing but disgust. She let out a cold laugh. “Apologize for what?”
Lu Cen clearly hadn’t expected her to be so unyielding. A shadow of displeasure clouded his eyes. “The matter of you pushing Zhixing into the water…”
He trailed off, and when he saw Lu Tao still showed no intention of apologizing, he frowned. “Everyone knows you and Zhixing don’t get along, and Zhixing is soaking wet right now. She…”
Lu Tao snorted twice, blew on her scraped palm, and stood up on her own, looking down at Lu Cen, who was still crouching. “How ridiculous. Couldn’t she have jumped in herself?”
Lu Cen was puzzled. “She? Why would she?”
“Lu Cen, are you really that dense, or are you just pretending? You suspect I’m jealous of her—couldn’t she be jealous of me?”
Lu Cen’s face practically screamed, “What could she possibly be jealous of you for?”
Lu Tao’s voice was clear and resolute. “I’m a student at Qingda. She went to some third-rate college in the sticks. Who do you think should be jealous of whom?”
Today’s birthday banquet for Qiao Zhixing had been insisted upon by Lu’s father and mother. The Qiao family had thrown one, and the Lu family had thrown another, as if competing over who could spoil their daughter more.
But the Lu family’s company was like an old man on his last legs, with barely any vitality left. They’d taken out bank loans just to save face and keep up appearances, determined not to lose to the Qiao family, all to give the daughter they’d raised for twenty years a spectacular birthday celebration.
In the end, their foundations were too weak—the guests who came were mostly second-tier aristocratic families of the imperial capital, and even they had shown up reluctantly.
Hearing Lu Tao’s words, the gossip-hungry tycoons were also a bit confused.
Yeah, who exactly should be jealous of whom?
Qiao Zhixing, nestled in Lu’s mother’s arms, had a slight shift in her expression. Lu’s mother pointed at Lu Tao, shaking her head in disappointment. “Lu Tao, with all these people here today, do you have to say such hurtful things?”
Lu Tao smiled sweetly. “I’ve got worse things to say. Want to hear them?”
Lu’s mother’s lips practically blistered with rage. “Shut up!”
“Oh, I see you don’t want to hear it, but that just makes me want to say it even more.” Lu Tao’s curved eyes held a hint of mischief as she shamelessly aired the family’s dirty laundry. “The Lu family embezzled company assets to take out a loan to throw Qiao Zhixing a birthday party. In all my years, this is a first for me. I’ll put it out there right now—the Lu family will be bankrupt within six months!”
Lu’s mother trembled with rage. It was precisely because Lu Tao was so willful and defiant that she preferred Qiao Zhixing.
The Qiao family had no idea how to raise children—they’d raised her into this. And now she had to clean up their mess. “Security, restrain her!”
“My apologies, Second Miss.” Several security guards surrounded her, looking troubled. One of them lowered his voice to persuade her, “Just apologize properly and this will all be over.”
They didn’t understand—an apology wouldn’t cost her anything. Why fight her own family like this?
Lu Tao parted her lips. “I’m…”
The girl standing close to Lu’s mother fluttered her eyelashes, slowly lifting her head, the corners of her mouth just beginning to curl up in a satisfied fifteen-degree smile—
Lu Tao sneered. “Sorry your head!”
She thrust out her hand—”THUD!”—and Qiao Zhixing plunged into the water like a cannonball.
Screams erupted all around. This Miss Lu was truly ruthless.
Lu Tao said with complete justification, “I didn’t push her. But since you all insist I did, fine—I’ll make the accusation true!”
Chaos broke out on the scene. “Someone save the eldest miss!”
Lu Cen looked at his impeccably pressed suit, hesitated for a moment, then grabbed a security guard and shoved him into the water.
Lu Tao laughed in exasperation at the sight. She strode forward, heading straight for the exit.
Lu Cen caught the mockery at the corner of her lips and raised his voice. “Stop her!”
The remaining three guards lined up to block her path again. Lu Tao turned around with a radiant smile. “I’m married now. My husband is Gu Xingzhi. Are you sure you want to stop me?”
Gu Xingzhi—that name thundered like thunder.
The foremost power among the capital’s elite, a young and formidable man of authority. Even the crown prince of the capital’s inner circle had to call him “Little Uncle.”
The wealthy young heirs watching the spectacle all wore awkward expressions.
Lu’s mother instinctively looked at Lu Cen, whose pupils were also dazed.
They’d all forgotten she was married, falling back on their old habits of dealing with her.
Before, they’d locked her in a dark room, three days and three nights without food, until she changed her words and voluntarily gave up the engagement.
But things were different now. Even if they didn’t respect the monk, they had to respect the Buddha—they couldn’t slap the Gu family’s face.
Lu Cen waved his hand, and the security guards stepped aside.
Under everyone’s gaze, Lu Tao walked out with complete ease.
After passing through the garden, she gathered the hem of her evening gown and quickened her pace.
The original novel really loved writing the female lead as useless and weak, with the female supporting character as a high-IQ, rich, and beautiful woman. The worthless female lead would spout a few lines of trash talk and win the affection of all the male leads and supporting male characters.
What era was this?
[Damn, what kind of brain-dead book is this?]
[Let me savor this—haha, that character with the same name as you is hilarious.]
Back then, Lu Tao had read the promotional post and frantically tagged her best friend.
And because the book had a character named after her, her best friend had read the entire book with her.
Since she’d transmigrated here, then her dear bestie?!
She was lost in her thoughts, walking quickly, when she collided with a blur of motion at a corner. Rubbing her aching forehead, she looked up.
The profanity about to burst from her lips abruptly transformed into a Garden Baby—
“Makka Pakka?”
What answered her was a deep and melodious, “Upsy Daisy!”