Lu Li hadn't expected that Xiao Yaoyao being knocked down by a fan would also implicate her.
When she went out for lunch, one of Ji Zhichen's bodyguards came to the restaurant and invited her to Dijingyuan.
Dijingyuan was also a property under Ji Zhichen's name, while their wedding home was Feicui-yuan, a gift from his grandmother.
She rarely came to this place.
When she walked into Dijingyuan and saw Xiao Yaoyao there too, she had a faint premonition that something was wrong.
Lu Li had already been standing for half an hour.
At the dining table, Ji Zhichen was carefully feeding Xiao Yaoyao.
Xiao Yaoyao's right hand was fractured, and her left hand wasn't accustomed to holding a spoon or chopsticks.
So he fed her.
"Zhichen, I'm full, I really can't eat anymore," Xiao Yaoyao leaned close to him, quickly planting a kiss on his cheek, and said coquettishly, "Secretary Lu has been here for quite a while."
Ji Zhichen pulled out a tissue to wipe Xiao Yaoyao's lips.
He looked at Lu Li.
"Bring the person in."
Following his order, a bodyguard escorted a bald middle-aged man inside.
Lu Li looked on in confusion.
Ji Zhichen asked indifferently, "Secretary Lu, do you recognize this man?"
Lu Li glanced at the middle-aged man and shook her head. "No, I don't."
"What about you?" he asked the middle-aged man. "Do you recognize her?"
The middle-aged man shook his head vigorously. "No, I don't."
Ji Zhichen let out a cold laugh.
The bodyguard holding the middle-aged man kicked his knee, and the man fell straight to the ground.
Lu Li pressed her lips together, watching calmly.
"Secretary Lu, I've already decided not to bother you and Zhichen anymore, yet you still arranged for this man to harm me. You're truly vicious."
Xiao Yaoyao frowned, looking at Lu Li with anger as she questioned her.
Lu Li immediately raised her eyes. "Harm you how? I don't even know this man."
Xiao Yaoyao looked disappointed. "You still won't admit it?"
Lu Li said calmly, "Admit what? I don't even know what's going on."
Ji Zhichen looked at her coldly, then ordered another person to be brought in—a woman.
The moment this woman walked in, Lu Li recognized her.
Zhu Ling was her classmate from junior college.
When the middle-aged man saw his daughter being brought in under guard, he suddenly burst into tears and kowtowed. "I'm sorry, it's my fault. This has nothing to do with my daughter. I'm sorry. I just wanted to help Miss Lu."
Lu Li frowned. "Help me with what?"
Xiao Yaoyao sighed helplessly, her voice carrying a hint of irritation. "Secretary Lu, you instructed this man to pretend to be my fan and have him harass me in public, making me a laughingstock in the entertainment industry. How vicious of you!"
"I didn't instruct him to do anything," Lu Li finally understood what had happened. She looked at Ji Zhichen. "I really didn't. I would never do something like this."
Ji Zhichen said in a flat tone, "I only believe in evidence."
His words made Lu Li's chest feel heavy and tight.
Clearly, he didn't believe her.
Lu Li straightened her back. "What evidence?"
The moment she finished speaking, the bodyguard roughly grabbed Zhu Ling by the hair, about to drag her out for punishment.
"Ah! Dad, save me! Lu Li, save me!"
Zhu Ling felt her scalp burning with pain.
"Yes, Miss Lu Li instructed me to do it. It has nothing to do with my daughter."
Mr. Zhu kept kowtowing and begging for his daughter to be released.
Lu Li asked calmly, "Just because you say it was me, that makes it so?"
"Miss Lu, you transferred two hundred thousand to save my daughter before. I was very grateful to you, which is why I agreed to do this bad thing for you."
Mr. Zhu began to apologize. "I'm sorry, Miss Lu. I've wronged you."
Lu Li looked at Zhu Ling, who remained silent the whole time.
Then she looked at the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground, endlessly saying he was sorry.
She let out a cold laugh. "You father and daughter have indeed wronged me. The story of the farmer and the snake—how fitting."
Lu Li had never met Zhu Ling's father, Mr. Zhu, before. But this time, she would remember this honest-looking face well.
How could some people go against their conscience and treat their lifesaver this way?
Half a year ago, Zhu Ling was hospitalized and needed surgery. Her family had no money, so she went on a fundraising platform to raise funds and also borrowed money from everyone she knew.
Lu Li saw it. They had been roommates in junior college and had a decent relationship.
So she lent Zhu Ling two hundred thousand.
She never expected that lending her money out of kindness would lead to this kind of trouble.
Zhu Ling suddenly raised her head. "Lu Li, I'm grateful you lent me money, but you shouldn't have made my father do this kind of thing for you. I will definitely pay your money back."
"Just the two of you saying so is enough to splash dirty water on me?" Lu Li turned her head back to look at Xiao Yaoyao. "Miss Xiao, I lent Zhu Ling two hundred thousand for medical treatment, but that doesn't mean I instructed them to do things for me, does it?"
"Well…" Xiao Yaoyao looked at Ji Zhichen, hesitating. "Zhichen, what Secretary Lu said makes sense too. This time I only fractured my hand, so let's just let it go."
Lu Li felt a lump stuck in her throat, unable to go up or down—uncomfortable.
Ji Zhichen poured a cup of tea for Xiao Yaoyao, his gaze sharp and cold. "Take good care of your hand. I won't let anyone who hurts you get away with it. Leave this matter to me."
Xiao Yaoyao's eyes curved into crescents as she blushed shyly.
As for Lu Li, she only felt a chill running down her spine.
Zhu Ling and her father were escorted away by the bodyguards, and Ji Zhichen went to the balcony to make a phone call.
Xiao Yaoyao walked over to Lu Li and lowered her voice, "Secretary Lu, you only got a marriage certificate. What does that prove? Besides, Zhichen told me that your marriage is just a contractual arrangement."
He actually told Xiao Yaoyao about their contractual marriage.
Lu Li's expression was cold. "Contractual or not, the marriage certificate is real. As long as the two of us haven't divorced, you will always be the third party."
Xiao Yaoyao shook her head helplessly. "Secretary Lu, Zhichen doesn't love you. Why bother? You might as well let go."
Lu Li smiled. "If you have the ability, you can get him to divorce me."
She didn't have enough money to pay the breach of contract penalty.
Seeing Lu Li's smile, Xiao Yaoyao's eyes also curved with a smile. She said, "Secretary Lu, feel free to come visit whenever you have time. I'm living here now."
He actually moved his ex-girlfriend into Dijingyuan.
After finishing his phone call, Ji Zhichen called Lu Li to follow him to the study.
Xiao Yaoyao watched Lu Li's retreating figure going upstairs, her brows arching as she smiled.
She was thinking about something else.
If Lu Li found out that she had slept with a strange man, she wondered if she would go crazy.
Xiao Yaoyao's lips curled slightly.
＊＊
In the study.
It was too quiet.
Lu Li pinched her own palm, feeling a bit nervous. "I didn't instruct Mr. Zhu to make a move on Miss Xiao. I'll investigate this matter and give Miss Xiao an explanation."
In truth, investigating this would be very difficult.
This time, the other party had used ambiguous matters to set her up.
It was to first get her covered in filth.
Lu Li actually had a suspicion that this might have been orchestrated by Xiao Yaoyao.
That woman Xiao Yaoyao could even torture a newborn kitten to death—her heart was naturally nowhere near kind.
Four years ago, Lu Li had witnessed with her own eyes Xiao Yaoyao stepping on a kitten only a few months old to death with her high heels.
Not only had she seen it, but Grandmother Ji had seen it too at the time.
This might also be the reason Grandmother Ji was so strongly opposed to Ji Zhichen marrying Xiao Yaoyao.
In the quiet study, Ji Zhichen walked over to Lu Li, making her feel immense pressure.
He finally spoke. "I'll send someone to investigate this matter."
He didn't believe her.
"Where did you move to?"
He asked again, his tone indifferent.
After a few nights, he had finally learned that she had moved out of Feicui-yuan.
"A hotel."
"Why did you move?"
Lu Li was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath. "You're already together with Xiao Yaoyao. I don't want to live there anymore."
Feicui-yuan was the wedding home that Grandmother Ji had given to the two of them.
She couldn't continue living there, torturing herself.
The man's deep, dark eyes stared at her. "Lu Li, do you have the right to talk about this?"
Two years ago, the moment she signed the agreement, she had lost the right to act freely.
Lu Li wanted to laugh. "I just changed where I live. Is that not allowed either?"
"If you move out and Grandmother gets wind of it, you can't afford the consequences," he said with a cold smile curling at his lips, his words sinister and venomous. "Lu Li, stop being clever."
His slightly cool fingers tapped her head.
"Watch your head."