My Queen, My Rules - Chapter 55

Chapter 55

For many years, Ji Mingshu’s disgust toward Li Wenyin had been carved deep into her marrow; a mere glass of red wine was clearly insufficient to make it vanish into thin air.

In the instant she passed by Cen Sen, what she had truly wanted to do was splash the wine directly onto Li Wenyin, or perhaps pour it down from the top of her head.

But her upbringing would not allow it, she didn’t want to cause trouble for Gu Kaiyang, who was managing the event, and even less did she want Cen Sen to see the ugly side of her playing the "bad woman."

The red wine hitting the floor seemed to have a lingering echo.

For a few seconds, the scene fell into a silence that felt as if everything had come to a complete standstill.

However, Li Wenyin was not some naive "white lotus" who would only whimper when bullied. Ji Mingshu had poured this glass of wine right in front of her face as if performing a memorial service for the dead, while simultaneously telling her to stay away from her husband. If Li Wenyin reacted with nothing, then before even walking out of this door, she would be branded with the label of a shameless woman attempting to seduce someone else’s husband.

Her expression shifted, but she quickly steadied her mind and devised a powerful counter-strategy.

—Splash wine directly at Ji Mingshu.

Since Ji Mingshu had provoked her first, no retaliation would be considered excessive. Moreover, it was common knowledge that Ji Mingshu was headstrong and willful; no matter how she spun the story or who she told, she would be in the right.

Just like back in their school days, no matter what the truth was, Ji Mingshu would never be able to extract a single advantage from her.

But the moment she prepared to splash the wine, Cen Sen suddenly turned, his gaze cold and fixed directly on her.

Li Wenyin froze, but the wine glass in her hand could no longer be retracted.

Without a moment's hesitation, Cen Sen gripped Ji Mingshu’s slender white wrist with one hand and gently pulled her behind him. With his other hand, he firmly and accurately caught Li Wenyin’s wrist bone and twisted it inward, forcefully changing the direction of the glass at the very last instant.

The purple-toned red liquid flowed back up Li Wenyin’s arm; her apricot-colored A-line skirt was quickly stained with wine. The liquid then dripped off her arm and the hem of her clothes, hitting the ground with a rhythmic patter.

She pursed her lips, her face turning pale.

First, because Cen Sen was truly showing no chivalry; he had twisted her wrist bone without a hint of mercy, and she was in pain.

Second, because she truly could not believe that Cen Sen had discarded their old bond so completely, going so far as to use force against her for a woman like Ji Mingshu.

Cen Sen met her gaze, his voice cold and devoid of even basic politeness; he had simply run out of patience and was issuing her an ultimatum: "Li Wenyin, know when to stop."

In that moment, Li Wenyin suddenly felt that the man before her was a stranger, completely different from the clear-eyed and gentle boy from ten years ago.

She shook her head slightly, murmuring to herself as if finding the reality impossible to accept, "A-Sen, how could you turn into this?"

In truth, anyone who truly understood Cen Sen would know that he had always been this way.

Li Wenyin was merely trapped within her own beautified memories, sinking into her own filtered fantasies, unable to pull herself out.

She had forgotten that even ten years ago, that clear-eyed and gentle boy had never offered her much tenderness or pity after accepting her advances.

Perhaps what she longed for and loved had never been Cen Sen himself, but rather the envy and admiration from her peers that she gained after dating him; the convenience and "green lights" that Cen Sen provided; and the sense of presence that came from being the center of attention, crowned with the halo of being the girlfriend of a genius student.

In all her life, she had never had a moment of such glory again.

The PR manager controlling the Zero event noticed the sudden incident and was about to step in to mediate, calling for several security guards via walkie-talkie to prevent anyone from intentionally causing a scene and needing to be kicked out.

But just as she took a step, she was suddenly held back. "Leave it alone."

Looking back, she saw it was Gu Kaiyang, who had been elusive since the event started.

"Sister Gu, over there..."

Gu Kaiyang followed the direction of her gaze, watching without blinking, her lips curling up slightly as she emphasized once more, "I said, leave it alone. I am in charge."

—Their little princess had been holding back this resentment for years; now that she had finally waited for Cen Sen to take action, how could they interfere so easily?

The PR manager clearly could not understand, but since Gu Kaiyang had ordered it, she had no choice but to wave off security and turn a blind eye.

This incident occurred in front of the dessert table, and Jiang Chun happened to be nearby.

Attracted by the commotion of this "husband and wife tag-team," she sat up from her lounge chair, instantly becoming so gobsmacked that she forgot to eat her cake. She only waved her small fork involuntarily in her heart, muttering silently: Cut her, cut her, keep cutting her! That big bitch Li Xiao-Lian, who made our little canary baby suffer so much injustice, must perish on the spot and turn to dust right now!!!

Alas, the little "dirt goose's" wish was destined to go unfulfilled.

No matter how many faults Li Wenyin had, she was still an ex-girlfriend Cen Sen had once dated seriously. No normal man would launch a physical attack or resort to verbal insults against an ex-girlfriend in public, let alone Cen Sen.

Actually, the fact that Cen Sen could step in to stop her and issue such a ruthless warning was already a massive surprise to Ji Mingshu. She had originally thought Cen Sen pulling her meant he was going to block that glass of wine for her. Such a rational man—how could he...

Standing behind Cen Sen, it took her a long, long time to realize—what she had imagined, Cen Sen standing in opposition to Li Wenyin to protect her, had actually happened.

She tugged at Cen Sen’s sleeve and peeked at Li Wenyin, only to find herself met with Li Wenyin’s rare, undisguised look of hatred.

Well, inexplicably, it felt great.

She instantly forgot the setting and gave Li Wenyin a soft, "bitchy" smile, even shrugging her shoulders, her eyes full of helplessness that seemed to say, Oh, so sorry, my husband is being protective and I simply can't stop him.

The next second, Cen Sen turned back, and she instantly switched her face to play the "naive girl" role, timidly tugging his sleeve, looking like a kind soul who didn't want to nitpick with that woman.

Surprisingly, Cen Sen really bought into this act, taking her hand and stroking her head to soothe her.

The "plastic sisters" watching the show were people who had been immersed in a world of luxury and decadence for over a decade; their ability to read a situation was sharp as a razor. Earlier, they had been quiet as mice while watching from the back, but now, sensing that it was the end of the show, they stepped forward one after another to put on a performance, comforting Ji Mingshu while taking the opportunity to dish on Li Wenyin.

"Darling, you’re just too kind! What kind of person is she? Bullying you to your face and you’re still not making a fuss? I’m so angry I could explode!"

"Xiao Shu has always been kind-hearted, right? Did you only just meet her today? Oh, by the way, I suddenly remembered my friend saying she’s most afraid of offending those who write books, paint, or make movies. If they get unhappy, who knows how you’ll be uglified in their so-called 'works.' These days, there are more and more people settling personal scores under the banner of artistic creation."

"Exactly! If you ask me, people like that should be blacklisted!"

"And those with questionable private morals should be blacklisted too."

"I think the scariest thing these days isn’t settling personal scores under the banner of art, but daydreaming under the banner of art. I’ve truly never seen a man who dreamt of having a wife act so obsessed and deeply devoted after he’s already married."

"Well, look at that, you’re seeing it right now."

Several girls couldn't hold it back and burst into giggles.

After laughing, someone said, "Xiao Shu, let’s not attend these kinds of events in the future. Anyone can get their hands on an invitation."

"Even without an invitation, they can just tag along with someone who has one; who can stop that?"

They all shared a smile, tacitly glancing at Li Wenyin, their eyes filled with identical disdain.

Ji Mingshu usually didn't think much of such compliments, but standing there with Cen Sen and being praised like this, she felt a bit guilty. Besides, the mocking and the looks from these "plastic flowers" were just too on-point; she didn't even have the heart to turn back and look at Li Wenyin’s expression.

But—it just felt so good! TVT!

She felt so good she was a bit dizzy, yet afraid that if she went too far, it would cause Cen Sen to feel disgusted with her and pity Li Wenyin. So, she hastily agreed to a few events where she would be expected to "splash her cash," then apologized and said they needed to leave.

As she spoke, she looked around the periphery for Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun. Gu Kaiyang had probably run off because she felt too guilty about her "betrayal," but Jiang Chun was easy to spot.

She secretly made a gesture to Jiang Chun to "call her later," then pulled Cen Sen away, leaving the smoggy, toxic event behind under the escort of a crowd of plastic flowers.

"Um, do you think I was a bit too much toward Li Wenyin?" Amidst the falling winter snow, on the way home, Ji Mingshu couldn't help but ask Cen Sen this question.

"No."

Cen Sen was checking his schedule on his tablet and answered without a second thought.

Ji Mingshu felt slightly relieved. She stole a few glances at Cen Sen, tucked some stray hairs behind her ear, and pretended to be nonchalant while playing with her phone. "Li Wenyin said you’re completely different from how you used to be, but how come I feel like you’re the same... when you were dating Li Wenyin, were you gentler?"

After not getting an answer for a long while, she muttered to herself, "Anyway, I’ll find out when the movie comes out."

Cen Sen covered his tablet. "The movie won't be released."

...?!

He had warned Li Wenyin more than once not to film it, but she wouldn't listen. After Junyi withdrew its capital, she was so determined to save face that she insisted on pulling investment from the Yuan family. In that case, it would be hard to guarantee at which stage this film might encounter insurmountable problems.

After all, from a film's initial inception to its formal release, the process was complex and the wait was long. The film and television sector was currently very sensitive, and it was not impossible for a film to be pulled from theaters the day before its release. Moreover, the later the problem appeared, the heavier the cost would be. Before the audience had finished watching and given their reviews, who would dare to say they had truly released a movie?

"Won't be released?" Ji Mingshu repeated, confirming hesitantly.

Cen Sen gave an "Mm" and added, "Wait a bit longer. No need to rush."

The last stone weighing on Ji Mingshu’s heart had finally been removed by Cen Sen’s own hand. She turned her head toward the window, but she couldn't flatten the corners of her lips as they curled upward.

The Bentley drove all the way from the event site to Ming Shui Mansion. At the intersection about to lead into the suburban city, Cen Sen looked at the fresh food supermarket sign not far away and suddenly asked, "Mingshu, do you want to eat braised pork ribs today?"

"..."

Now, whenever Ji Mingshu heard the word "ribs," she had a conditioned reflex and would blush and feel her heart race. She continued looking out the window, and just as the traffic light was about to change, she stammered, "It... it's fine. Haven't eaten them in a long time."

The driver understood and turned toward the supermarket.

After replying, Ji Mingshu felt like a teenager blushing to the point of explosion. Her heart was beating incredibly fast, and she had no choice but to open a tiny crack in the window to let in some air.

The snow in the Imperial Capital was always thick and biting.

The cold wind, carrying snowflakes, drifted in through the crack, landing on the tips of Ji Mingshu’s hair. Cen Sen suddenly leaned over to help her brush the snow off, then leaned close to her ear and murmured in a husky voice: "I’ll make them for you when we get home.”