Chapter 138 - Nine-day Phoenix
Wen Xinya wore a Phoenix brocade embroidered Phoenix gown—its skirt flowing and moving around gracefully following her steps, and at times splitting to reveal a stream of gold. The Phoenix’s gorgeous wings unfolded, fluttering and flying, filled with elegance and honor! The dark embroidered grass in the skirt swayed and moved to the wind. The nine-tailed skirt dragged onto the floor behind her, making her seem like a Phoenix in the grass. She held the noble atmosphere of a nine-day Phoenix.
She slowly descended the stairs, the silver-white Phoenix brocade reflecting light everywhere. Mysterious and graceful, she took the breaths of everyone present.
“Oh my god! It’s the Phoenix brocade! When I was in Italy, I witnessed a similar Phoenix brocade piece at a sensational auction. The Phoenix cheongsam was sold for 10 million dollars, yet the design was not even as refined as this.”
“I’ve heard that the Phoenix brocade was especially used only for the ancient empresses. As the weaving technique was very tedious and complicated, the skill was said to be lost. Who knew that there were still people possessing the technique to weave this unparalleled brocade.”
“I’ve heard that the silk used to weave the Phoenix brocade requires snow silkworms only found deep in the Tianshan Mountains. The snow silkworms were already rare in ancient times, and now, due to air pollution, they practically don’t exist anymore. Can’t believe that they were still able to find snow silkworms to weave this Phoenix brocade. How incredible!”
As the people below continued to discuss, Wen Xinya frowned slightly. This dress was flown back to China from Italy. It was as mysterious as the five ornaments set, which was why she didn’t wear it.
Her previous gown had been completely soaked through. Although the public relations company did prepare a few dresses for her to choose from, none of them satisfied her requirements. And so, she wore this. She didn’t realize that this gown was made of the legendary Phoenix brocade, causing such a commotion!
Zhou Huiyan hurried over and asked in a low voice, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” Wen Xinya let out a long breath of relief as if all the air from her chest had been expelled, including the nightmare from her previous life.
Zhou Huiyan let out a sigh. “That’s great. However, do be careful from now on. This circle may seem bright and fresh, but underneath all the luxurious fabrics hides corruption and evil deeds. One wrong move and you will never get out of it.”
Wen Xinya nodded, learning. She was indeed careless today, not realizing that Ning Shuqian and her gang would act against her in Floral Lingo Pavilion. “I will take today as a lesson learned and not let my guard down in the future.”
Zhou Huiyan smiled.
Wen Xinya felt a little hungry, as her energy had been used up before. She headed for the food section.
Ning Shuqian watched Wen Xinya go to the food section alone and decided to follow her.
Her heart was filled with hatred for Wen Xinya. She painstakingly planned for everything, yet a few of Wen Xinya’s casual remarks undid all of her hard work. Old Mr. Wen even publicly hurt her pride, causing her to drop from Heaven to Hell instantly. In the face of ridicule, whispers, and gossips of all the other noble wives, she felt extremely humiliated and shameful. Even when she married Haowen, the media cooked up a big fuss and made a lot of noise, yet she had never faced such embarrassment in front of others.
Even Yuya was implicated and suffered verbal attacks. Her incident at Zhou Tianyu’s birthday party was brought up too. Angered, Yuya fought with the other people and suffered from the embarrassment. She could definitely imagine the spot left for Yuya in tomorrow’s newspaper.
She originally planned to wait for the effects of the aphrodisiac to attack and take control of her, causing her to lose herself and reveal her ugly state. Who knew that she actually figured it out, was prepared, and left the banquet hall before the aphrodisiac took full effect.
That fragrance oil cost her a huge sum of money, and she bought it privately from a big boss. She heard that the smell was very light and undetectable by even the best aromatic artists. She even tried it on herself. The effects were slow, and she only felt her tongue go dry in the beginning. Slowly, her face flushed red, before her entire body was covered in heat waves.
At such occasions with hot atmospheres, most people would think that such a reaction was due to playing too much and getting too high. When the effects of the drug fully took over, there would be nothing she could do to reverse it.
She heard from the public relations company that Wen Xinya was going to Floral Lingo Pavilion for a beauty treatment and especially sent Yuya and Ruya there too. They added the aphrodisiac essence to her products when they bumped into her.
Finding her cheeks flushed and her eyes dreamy, she knew that the aphrodisiac had worked! But, even so… didn’t the effects wear off too fast?
Maybe it was her physique? The person who sold her the fragrance oil did say that some people had a natural immunity to it, causing the effects not being as strong, and just cause discomfort that would go away after a while. Could Wen Xinya belong to this group?
Thinking about it, Ning Shuqian’s face blanched. She spent over a million dollars on that small bottle of fragrance oil, yet it didn’t have much of an effect. So much money wasted!
Ning Shuqian held the red wine elegantly and stood beside Wen Xinya. “Xinya, congratulations on becoming the true Miss Wen of the Wen Family! You’re now the heiress of the Wen Family.”
Wen Xinya took some seafood and slowly turned around. Her pale face broke into a beautiful smile that did not quite reach her eyes. “Thank you, Aunt Ning!”
Ning Shuqian stared at her pale-white face and quickly asked in concern. “Xinya, you don’t look well, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I was feeling a little unwell earlier and went up to rest for a bit. I’m better now.” Wen Xinya replied gently. She didn’t believe that Ning Shuqian had nothing to do with the fragrance oil. Such a special fragrance oil was not something Wen Yuya and Xia Ruya, those two girls, could get their hands on.
Ning Shuqian was relieved. “That’s comforting to hear.”
Wen Xinya just smiled without another word. She didn’t need to continue this fake relationship.
Ning Shuqian smiled back. “Earlier, I had helped the public relations company come up with some ideas. Seeing how you have made the banquet such success brings me joy too.”
Wen Xinya smirked. “The way Aunt Ning put it makes it sound like I had forgotten to thank you for your hard work!”
She placed special emphasis on “hard work” as her eyes flashed cold. Her gaze moved, and that frosty look glazed over her eyes.
Ning Shuqian was a smart person and could pick up on her meaning. She pretended not to hear a thing. “You may not be my biological daughter, but we all share the Wen Family’s blood. Naturally, I put in more effort to help you a little.”
Wen Xinya acted as if she were spoiled by her. “Aunt Ning, if you treat me like this, Yuya won’t be happy about it. She even locked me in the toilet previously.”
Ning Shuqian’s eyes widened, and her breathing became rushed. How dare Yuya do such a thing. If Old Grandpa finds out, he definitely won’t let her off easily. At this moment, Ning Shuqian, who did not know the full back story of this matter, lost her act on being the caring and kind stepmother. Her entire mind was filled with trying to understand the situation as to remove all blame on Yuya.
“Xinya, you must be mistaken. In the past, Yuya has definitely acted childishly, but she has changed now and truly treats you as an older sister. I will ask her about this matter. If she really did this, I will not let her off without a punishment.”
Wen Xinya nodded.
Ning Shuqian hurriedly turned around and left.
Watching Ning Shuqian’s retreating figure, Wen Xinya’s eyes flashed a cold look.