A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Xia Yu was jealous and bitter about it.

After the wave of anger had subsided came a wave of panic — what was she to do now? Now that Ye Xingling had found a way to seduce Brother Ziheng, and even get pregnant with his child, will he marry her?

No, she could not let such a thing happen!

She had seen too many of these stories, an ordinary Cinderella using such means to marry into a wealthy family. Even Xia Yu herself had plotted such a scheme.

But she had not managed to execute it.

How could she watch Ye Xingling succeed in this?

Xia Yu decided, this child had to be gone!

As she was pacing about the corridor plotting against Xia Ling, she saw Feng Kun walk out of an escalator while on the phone with somebody sounding a little helpless. “Yes, I understand. Xiao Ling’s temperament isn’t all that good, so don’t agitate her any further. I’ll try to appease her. Anyway, it’s just leaving home, not too big of a deal.”

What? Ye Xingling left home?

Xia Yu felt a spark in her train of thought; even the Heavens were helping her — if Ye Xingling were with Pei Ziheng all the time, she would not have the opportunity to act on her plan. But since she had decided to take it upon herself and leave the house, Xia Yu had more than enough to work with.

She quietly tailed Feng Kun and arrived at Yanyun Hotel.

Taking a mental note of Xia Ling’s room number, she then took a tour of the hotel. That was when she noticed a few familiar-looking men hanging around the area; they appeared to be well-trained and ready for combat anytime. Xia Yu thought harder and realized that these must be the bodyguards Pei Ziheng had sent.

She knew that it was too risky to act now.

It would be too easy for the bodyguards to spot her. Moreover, there were too many surveillance cameras planted in every nook and cranny of the place — every small act could be captured clearly.

It didn’t take her long to give up on executing her plan personally.

When she saw that Feng Kun had bid Xia Ling goodbye, Xia Yu decided it was time she left too.

She gave herself a makeover, entered an Internet cafe, and used a proxy IP address to post the following online: Ye Xingling is pregnant but was seen entering a hotel room with another man. Is the child she’s expecting really Pei Ziheng’s?

In a mere few minutes, there were countless views and comments.

To be fair, although Xia Yu was just baselessly slandering her, she had managed to arrive at the truth in some sense.

The public liked entertainment and gossip, to begin with, and this was the second piece of sensational news about the pregnant Ye Xingling that day. Gosh, this female celebrity with a humble background not only managed to get herself pregnant with Pei Ziheng’s child, but she was also even daring enough to get a room with another man while expecting?

She couldn’t be this nonchalant about it, unless… the child she was expecting really wasn’t Pei Ziheng’s?

The public was going nuts about this.

Many journalists found their way to Yanyun Hotel right away, all hoping to verify the online rumors personally.

It did not take long for the entrance of Yanyun Hotel to be crowded with people.

Xia Ling was easily fatigued these days and had fallen asleep on the bed after sending Feng Kun off.

The telephone by the bedside rang suddenly.

She was reluctant to reach for it, but the ringing was unrelenting. After tossing and turning for a while, she finally went to pick it up. “Hello?”

On the other end was Chu Chen, sounding a little anxious. “Miss Ye, are you at Yanyun Hotel right now? Did Feng Kun visit you at your room earlier?”

Xia Ling took a while to react and recall that it had happened before she went to sleep. “Yes. Why?”

“You…” Chu Chen sighed. “The paparazzi probably got a few shots of Feng Kun leaving your room. It’s all over the internet now, and people are crowding right outside your room. They’re saying that you got a room with a man. Please don’t come out of your room or let anyone in, got it?”

She was being surrounded? Xia Ling was fully awake now and got off the bed immediately. She cautiously peeped through the curtains and saw the incredible crowd that had formed outside the building. Besides the reporters with all their filming equipment, many fans were there as well.

She was getting a headache now. How did this happen?

In fact, she took note to be extra careful when checking into the room yesterday, and Feng Kun was an expert in avoiding being stalked, so what could have gone wrong? She was still trying to figure out when Chu Chen continued, “Fortunately nobody posted any photos yet, and it’s just a text post made online. Don’t worry, as long as we find a way to get you out of the hotel, we’ll just deny any accusations that come after that.”

“But I didn’t get a room with anyone, so why can’t I just leave openly?” Xia Ling asked naively.

Chu Chen almost hurler the receiver. It used to be Xia Ling, and now there was Ye Xingling, why did they all not use their brains? He swallowed his anger and said, “Logically speaking, Boss and you should be on very intimate terms at this point, so why would you suddenly check into a hotel room? The public is speculating that something has gone wrong in your relationship, or as they’re guessing online, that there is a third party. Miss Ye, regardless of whether you were seen with a man, there will be too much for people to speculate and spread about you if you’re caught leaving the hotel.”

“… Oh.” Xia Ling just realized what he meant. “So what should I do now?” She could not be bothered to think about how to deal with it. Anyway, Pei Ziheng and Chu Chen were more concerned about this and would come up with better ideas than her.

“You’ll wait in the hotel for now. Someone will go and get you.”

Xia Ling said she understood and hung up, before going to sit on the couch and wait for instructions. She was counting her blessings that she had picked Yanyun Hotel — the hotel’s security here was tight, and the service staff was well-trained. No matter how chaotic the situation was outside, nobody managed to find their way to her door.

But that gave her another worry. If the security were so tight, how was the person who was supposed to get her going to enter?

About a half hour later, someone knocked on her door — three long pauses and two short ones, it sounded like a code. Xia Ling guessed it must be the person who was there for her and went to open the door, only to see two cleaning attendants with a cleaning cart. They quietly slipped into her room.

The door closed behind them.

She looked at the tall attendant. He looked like he was in his fifties, and had very tanned skin. His face and arms were heavily wrinkled, and yet he seemed to have a well-toned physique, and also a strangely calm look in his eyes.

It was a stranger, but somehow, she felt a sense of familiarity.

“Xiao Ling.” It was Li Lei’s voice.

Xia Ling could not hide her surprise. How… how did he get in here? She had been thinking and longing for him in the past many days, and now that they finally got to see each other again, it felt like she was reborn.