The next second, that woman struck Shen Chuhe hard across the back of her neck.
A wave of excruciating pain swept through her, and she knew nothing after that.
When she woke again, everything in front of her was pitch black. The loosely tied burlap sack had not been secured properly, so she managed to crawl out on her own.
The room in front of her was beautifully decorated, resembling the bedroom of a wealthy family.
This was when Qiao Zeyu walked in.
The younger son of the Qiao family had no real authority in the family and was a notorious playboy in Beicheng. He had drunk a little too much that evening and was brought to the room by the butler. He happened to run into Shen Chuhe, who was dressed seductively.
His eyes immediately lit up. His hormones got the better of him, and he grabbed her, touching and teasing her recklessly.
After Shen Chuhe slapped him, she tried to run, but at that exact moment, the door was kicked open.
Qiao Wan looked at her and gave a strange little smile. Then came that scream.
Everyone rushed over after hearing it.
Rong Yuchuan was the first to arrive.
The moment his eyes met Shen Chuhe’s, a layer of frost immediately settled over them. Then he looked at the clothes she was wearing, and his gaze became filled with murderous intensity.
Shen Chuhe opened her mouth, then turned her head away without looking at him.
The Qiao family’s banquet that evening was not particularly grand. Almost everyone there was either a well known heir who would eventually take over one of Beicheng’s prominent families, or a wealthy young man or young lady from a rich family.
Shen Chuhe looked at the large crowd in front of her and instinctively moved backward.
But she also knew that someone had deliberately set her up.
“What is going on? Who is this girl? Why is she dressed like that?”
“Could she be the new mistress that Qiao Zeyu is keeping? Tsk, tsk, with that figure and that face, it is a little unfortunate that she ended up with that playboy Qiao Zeyu.”
“Unfortunate? Look at how she is dressed. She probably did it on purpose.
She even chose to pull this trick at a banquet. Is she trying to climb the social ladder and marry into the Qiao family?”
“Why do I feel like she looks familiar?”
Qiao Zeyu had sobered up considerably by then. Realizing that he might have been set up, he became furious and embarrassed.
“Stop making things up! This woman came into my room for no reason while dressed like this! I do not even know who she is! This woman… she was the one who seduced me!”
Everyone’s contemptuous gazes immediately fell on Shen Chuhe.
“She really is an ambitious woman! She has her eyes on the Qiao family’s power and status, so she tried this ridiculous trick. Who would have thought she would be caught red handed!”
“Everyone who can attend the Qiao family’s banquet comes from a respectable family. Whose daughter is she? How embarrassing!”
Shen Chuhe listened to them and pressed her lips together. Her face turned pale, and her eyes reddened slightly. She gripped the clothes in front of her tightly, suppressing the endless grievance and hatred surging through her heart.
“All of you, shut up!”
Jiang Yining suddenly produced a man’s suit from somewhere, stepped forward, and tied it around Shen Chuhe’s waist.
“What? Miss Jiang, you know this woman?”
Jiang Yining froze for a moment but said nothing.
Instead, Qiao Wan stepped forward.
“If I remember correctly, Miss Shen Chuhe, I am truly sorry. You really frightened us just now. Actually, if you and Zeyu genuinely like each other, you can date normally. Neither the Qiao family nor the Rong family would object. But you really should not have dressed like this and behaved so recklessly in our home. If the elders found out that the two of you… sigh!”
She sighed helplessly and glanced at Rong Yuchuan.
“Shen Chuhe? I knew she looked familiar. She is the Rong family’s daughter? Is she not Rong Yuchuan’s niece? That cannot be right. The Rong family has extremely strict rules. How could they have raised someone like this…”
“Besides, with the Rong family’s status, why would she try to seduce that good for nothing Qiao boy? It does not make sense.”
“Of course you do not know. Then why do you think her surname is Shen?
And why has Master Rong been standing there all this time without saying a word for her? She is the illegitimate daughter that the son in law of the Shen family brought along with him. The Rong family simply acknowledged her. She was never a true daughter of the family in the first place, so it is hardly surprising…”
The filthy remarks continued without pause.
A properly dressed man was still whispering to the young lady beside him, but he kept feeling as though a gaze as sharp as a knife was fixed on him.
The man raised his head and happened to see Rong Yuchuan turn his face slightly.
The woman beside him continued, “Hardly surprising what? Keep going.”
The man shook his head and reluctantly shut his mouth.
Everyone said that Rong Yuchuan was cold and heartless, and that Qiao Wan was the only person who received even a little tenderness from him, the sole exception.
That gaze just now… It must have been his imagination.
Shen Chuhe looked at Qiao Wan in front of her.
She really was just like her name suggested.
Her features were gentle, and even her voice was soft and tender.
Rong Yuchuan had protected her too well. In her previous life, Shen Chuhe had never had any direct conflict with this woman, nor had she ever confronted her face to face.
This life was different.
This was the first time.
She had done it deliberately just now.
She had deliberately screamed to attract everyone.
She had deliberately exposed the fact that Shen Chuhe was from the Rong family.
Shen Chuhe calmed down at this moment. She stepped back two paces, turned around, picked up the burlap sack and rope from the room, and threw them in front of everyone.
“I do not know where this place is, and I do not know anyone from the Qiao family. I was stuffed into a burlap sack, tied up, and brought here.”
As she spoke, Shen Chuhe’s eyes flickered. She suddenly reached out and undid the first button of her shirt.
“What are you doing?”
Shen Yining asked anxiously, then glanced at Rong Yuchuan.
Had this man been anxious just now too? She had only heard him say one word, “You.”
Shen Chuhe ignored her. She rolled her shoulder slightly, revealing the bandaged wound. Perhaps because of the large movement, a broad patch of blood had seeped through the white bandage.
“I just underwent surgery to have a bullet removed. I nearly lost half my life.
I have been recovering in the hospital, and about this, Master Rong… Uncle, you know better than anyone.”
Shen Chuhe met Rong Yuchuan’s eyes.
She did not expect him to testify for her. She only hoped that he would not outright deny it.
“I do not even know whom I offended. Someone knocked me unconscious for no reason and brought me to this place.”
She glanced at Qiao Wan. The other woman’s expression remained completely normal. Only then did Shen Chuhe pull her clothes back up and fasten the button.
“You are saying that I seduced some playboy from the Qiao family. Let me ask all of you, what normal person would choose to seduce a man when she is barely clinging to life? And why would she do it so openly that everyone could catch her, only to be humiliated and cursed at all just to marry a playboy and climb into the Qiao family?”
Shen Chuhe’s gaze was firm, and every word was clear. There was a coldness between her brows.
“I am not implying anything else. But if someone is willing to make such a huge sacrifice, why would she not choose a man with greater power and influence than him? After all, in all of your eyes, women only know how to find men and seduce men, is that not right?”
Her words were deeply sarcastic.
She was mocking herself, and she was mocking all of these people as well.
“You woman, what did you just say? How dare you look down on me!”
Everyone else seemed stunned, but Qiao Zeyu was the only one who understood what she meant. He completely lost his temper and shouted.
Shen Chuhe did not even spare him a glance.
In her previous life, she had not paid much attention to the young masters of the various families, but Qiao Zeyu was one of the few she remembered.
His reputation was certainly widespread, but only because it was so terrible.
He had countless scandals involving women. In any case, he was definitely not a good person.
Rong Yuchuan remained silent.
Seeing the situation, someone could not hold back any longer.
“You are saying that someone kidnapped you and threw you into the Qiao family’s home? Tch, who would believe that?”