Chapter 14: This Woman's Absolutely Shameless

After Liu Haoyu left, Zhao Yingyue immediately made her way to her room.

What Liu Haoyu had told her would ruin her mother. The secret that her mother hid for so long was crazy but it would explain a lot. While she hadn't expected it, she wasn't shocked either.

Once in her room, Zhao Yingyue decided it was better not to dwell on what she had been told and instead prepare for a stream. Since she hadn't been able to before, she definitely had to stream this night. She always tried to avoid missing streams when possible. After all, the stream chat always contained the best conversations of the night and she never wanted to let her fans down.

As she prepared, Bai Xinyi waited patiently in the corner of her room. It seemed as if she was still nervous and wanted to still maintain her distance.

"You know, it's okay for you to sit on my bed Bai Xinyi."

Bai Xinyi shook her head.

"I'm just here to make sure you're okay. I actually have a few other things to handle while I'm here. I'll be fine standing for a few more minutes."

Bai Xinyi put on her cap and sat down in front of the computer.

"Suit yourself. I'm going to stream for a few hours now. Typically, no one comes in around this time since they assume that I'm sleeping."

Bai Xinyi bowed then said, "I will be headed out to handle the other tasks the Young Master has given me then."

Zhao Yingyue knew it probably had to do with the revenge scheme Liu Haoyu had cooking up. After all, it was easier to gather what was needed from the inside and she knew that he wouldn't risk her getting caught and potentially hurt again. She could tell that he still probably blamed himself for what had happened to her before.

Zhao Yingyue just nodded as she booted up her streaming service. Tonight, she'd have a lot of explaining to do to her fans. After all, all the questions that they'd asked still had few answers.

Bai Xinyi just left the room with her phone in hand. Liu Haoyu had texted her with the instructions for her nightly tasks and she was more than happy to do what he requested. More than from just a place of duty, she now empathized with Zhao Yingyue after witnessing the scene that she had seen earlier.

She walked through the halls. It was rather quiet aside from the occasional rustle of the night staff roaming the halls until she reached a certain room.

Inside, she heard Zhao Xiang's voice booming through the room, "Yanya, why must you do this? Do you understand what this marriage can mean for this family?!"

Inside, under the fierce gaze of her husband, Gu Yanya couldn't help but shrink away. She hadn't expected the two of them to be back that night so early if at all. If her plan had worked, none of this would have happened.

"Hubby, I really misinterpreted her words. You know how Yingyue can get. She sometimes can leave out important context."

Zhao Xiang shouted, "There's no excuse Yanya!"

Gu Yanya wanted to plead with her husband. It wasn't fair that she get in trouble for what happened. It wasn't fair at all and even her Yanyan had been so wronged once again. She couldn't allow Zhao Yingyue to officially have a position in which she could step all over them.

"But Hubby, this man also interferes in our internal matters way too much. Don't you think so, too? He made us embarrass Yanyan in front of so many people—including Yingyue. Don't you think that's unfair?"

Zhao Xiang was obviously getting angrier as his voice roared even louder.

"Gu Yanya! That brat has pretty much given everything by us since her father left us. We treated her like our own daughter but she is not. I hadn't personally put her in her place for so long because you begged me not to. It was a matter of time before something like this happened."

"And besides, she overstepped. Thanks to her, we were embarrassed and looked down upon as people who don't even take care of their own family. On top of that, we may have lost a chance to get a good dowry because I had to save face for our family. The least that she deserved was to repent!"

Gu Yanya was getting even more frustrated but still had to control how much of it leaked out. She was so angry. She was supposed to give her Yanyan a good life there but things were getting more difficult. Zhao Yingyue should pay for the pain inflicted on her!

"But Hubby, she already apologized and learned her lesson."

Zhao Xiang scoffed.

"Really? Is that why I heard that she raised her voice at my daughter in front of Liu Haoyu once again today? And you even personally had to correct her."

Gu Yanya was getting nervous as she said, "I did and she understands for sure this time!"

Zhao Xiang asked one question.

"Is she kneeling right now?"

Gu Yanya nervously stuttered out, "W-well she finished not to long ago. Her knees are still bruised from yesterday so I let her up."

It was quiet for a few seconds before Zhao Xiang spoke.

"We can continue this conversation later—after you go to that girls room and enforce a proper punishment. It's been barely an hour and you think she's done?!"

Gu Yanya didn't want to do this. After she'd hit the girl, she thought she could let her off without her having to kneel but her husband wasn't budging. It was especially bad since he wanted her to personally enforce this punishment.

"Hubby, please. I can't do this. How can I punish my own flesh and blood so cruelly?"

From outside, Bai Xinyi found the entire situation ironic. Gu Yanya spoke so boldly of a niece but abused her own daughter.

This woman's absolutely shameless!

Bai Xinyi didn't wait to hear more and instead opted to knock on the door. If she waited for the conversation to be over before knocking, they'd know she was listening and heard the whole thing.

Zhao Xiang's gruff voice called out, "Who is it?"

"It's Bai Xinyi. I have some things to talk to you about on behalf of Madame Liu."

Zhao Xiang got up and opened the door. As Bai Xinyi walked in, Gu Yanya walked out on her way to punish her poor niece once again. It angered her that she once again couldn't protect her and even had to be the one to personally enforce it. She knew that if she didn't, it was likely one of the staff would ensure her husband knew.

Once settled, Bai Xinyi said, "My Madame has what you might consider a strange request. Do you happen to have any pictures of the Young Miss growing up or stories to accompany them? It's important to her to know what type of child the Young Miss was."

Zhao Xiang smiled and walked over to one of his bookshelves. He pulled out a few photo albums before sitting next to Bai Xinyi and showing her the photos.

The photos ranged from when she was a baby up until the present. The only issue that Bai Xinyi saw was that as she got older, all the candid shots seemed to fade into staged ones and Zhao Yingyue had seemed to smile less and less in each picture until she was left between a superficial mask or blank stare.

How sad it was to watch the joy of a child fade right before her eyes.

Bai Xinyi was happy that, at least, this family would soon get what was coming for them and her smile would be permanently restored.