Chapter 217 - 4.43

[Host, reporting.. Zhao Xinran has used the 'trump card' that you mentioned earlier.] The System spoke out after finishing his surveillance checkups.

The System almost had a shiver travel down his back. If it wasn't for the Host purposely asking him to investigate deeper into Zhao Xinran's connections, then he would've left his information gathering at the Zhao family's atrocities.

How could he have predicted that there as someone helping Zhao Xinran from the side as well, supporting her rise to fame and propelling her social life? He naturally looked over all the information and assumed that she did climb up on her own, although she used the assets stolen from the Xu family in the process.

However, there was indeed a third party in the entire fiasco.

All instigated by a man named Yu Xuan.

This stupid man, Yu Xuan, was the one who was unfortunately dumb enough to help Zhao Xinran with her wicked plans. Whatever Zhao Xinran wanted to obtain, it was delivered to her by him. Whatever she wanted to do, he paved the way for her and made sure that she didn't suffer.

As such, she was able to scale up into the social circles as well, starting with her school, meeting with Song Ziyi, and finally branching out to the inner circles.

Yu Xuan was behind the dirty work, he was the one who made her slip into the

[Host.. What should we do now? We didn't fully account for this nuisance, and we're about to go forth with our plans. What if he becomes a hindrance?] The System was rather worried. He didn't know how large of a ripple this unwanted variable could create for their plans.

As someone who frequently messed around with the world's fate, space, and time, he knew all too well about how significant butterfly effects were. How it worked, and how it played in the ways of the world.

Not to mention Yu Xuan, who possessed considerable power. Even a small hitch, like a random character suddenly not playing into their tune would create a leeway for things to go wrong.

"It's not that big of a surprise, to be honest. I fully expected her to go ballistic sooner or later.. Although, it's slightly concerning that she's this bad at controlling her emotions and fears. To the point that she's contacting her trump card right after a simple phone call, even when she hasn't confirmed anything in particular yet." Xu Jiaqi laughed. "It's a bit funny, but we'll applaud her for not underestimating us, I suppose."

Zhao Xinran acted fast. Right away, she contacted Yu Xuan and voiced out her desire to get rid of Xu Jiaqi.

She has had people make light of what she was capable of in the past, and each and every single one of those encounters did not end well. Although, Zhao Xinran being wary would also not give her a particular headstart.

Because Xu Jiaqi already made sure that the game was in her favor, and that the path to checkmate was already firmly sealed within her hands. The other paths were blocked off by her, leaving her prey with no chance to escape out of her grip.

Xu Jiaqi grinned as she stood up, stretching her body and feeling her muscles- which was still a bit sore from the sudden strenuous exercise relax.

"Did you say that this could ruin my plan? Silly System, if I didn't account for every single possible thing, would I be the Xu Jiaqi that you knew?"

Xu Jiaqi smirked, making the System intimidated and hopeful of what she could pull out of her arsenal.

"Now, now, since she's already in the move, we also have to get on with our own preparations, right? It's time to launch our attacks.. One by one."

Xu Jiaqi was ready for everything. She was just waiting for the right timing. Fortunately, the timing came, and the sweet Zhao Xinran hastily made a move.

Unlike her, she was not at all prepared, judging from her surprised reactions. That was extremely good. 

Xu Jiaqi wanted to get out of the suite and make her way back into her own home to set up her preparations, but she was suddenly reminded of the little note that Tang Yizhou had left her with before and was caught in a slight conflict.

"...I guess I could stream here," Xu Jiaqi sighed. The location was not important. She didn't mean to put up her disguise as the Queen today anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered. In fact, if her background was the suite, wouldn't it be better aesthetically?

Thinking that way, Xu Jiaqi pulled up her phone and called a taxi to be assigned to her, wanting to make a short trip back to her home before coming back here and streaming.

She only had to wait for a few minutes before a cab stopped in front of her, rolling their windows down and revealing a face that she had seen before.

It was the taxi driver who drove her to the Zhao family home. One of the 'seeds' that she planted ahead of time, even before her plans were constructed.

"Ah.. It's been quite some time, right?" Xu Jiaqi amiably smiled. "Am I your passenger? I've called a cab over through the application."

"Yes, it should be. Little lady, your name should be Xu Jiaqi, right?" The driver was quite surprised in a pleasant way that the passenger was someone that he recognized.

"Yes, that is my name." Xu Jiaqi nodded and opened the door to the front seat, getting inside the taxi.

"It's such a coincidence that we're able to meet again. Little lady, do you take cabs often? Meeting the same passenger twice, it's not an occurrence that happens often through the app." The driver spoke, confirming some details on the application before starting their journey.

"Well... In fact, this is my second time trying to ride a taxi. It is quite strange that you're the driver for both of my trips, don't you think?" Xu Jiaqi strapped her seatbelt on and turned her head to look at the driver.

"..Hm?" The driver raised a brow. "Oh, I thought you were heading to your home, the one I took you to in the past. Turns out.. you're headed towards someone's home?"

"Oh, that's actually my current home. I moved out of the... place you're talking about." Xu Jiaqi's brows knitted, showing a difficult expression that the driver picked up.

"..Did I perhaps touch upon a sensitive topic? If so, please accept my deepest apologies. I did not mean to do so in the slightest." The driver was polite, and coughed to clear his throat before beginning to set up the GPS system for directions.

"No, it's not a sensitive topic.. I'm alright. In fact, you might want to pay attention to the media for quite some time after this.. I will be creating some ripples in it." Xu Jiaqi said, her last words having a volume so low that her words were almost not audible.

"En? What was that? This old man has some bad hearing, so you might want to speak a bit louder, ey?" The driver said.

"Oh right. I.. actually- I don't know how to ask you this question, and it might seem weird, but are you perhaps the child star Xu Jiaqi? Like, that Xu Jiaqi?" He added.

This question had stayed on his mind. He recalled their previous interaction. Xu Jiaqi requested to be driven off to her home, but when they arrived at the destination, the inhabitants of said place didn't seem to really.. appreciate her arrival.

Even though she was supposed to be a recovered patient. If everything was truly as what the girl had spoken before, and the family held her up in a positive light, would they really have made such a reaction?

Shouldn't they be happy instead of shocked, and even showing some traces of annoyance in their faces, as they were trying to hide it?

It was pretty uncanny. He didn't want to be a busybody who intruded on someone's business, but he was also a bit worried about this case, since Xu Jiaqi came off to him as an innocent and bright child back then.

Although, from her previous state and disposition, she seemed to have changed a lot. It made him wonder if the family was part of the reason that she changed and left the home.

He didn't have a good feeling about the Zhao family.

Xu Jiaqi didn't reply for a few seconds, showing some signs of restraint before nodding her head lightly. "Well, it's a complicated matter. I believe that I shouldn't relay the details to you since it would defy some of the rules that I have to follow.. It concerns legal matters as well. If I could, I would tell you about what happened, but that isn't possible until I get all of this sorted out, I suppose."

The driver winced at the announcement, beginning to think that something was indeed wrong, as he had predicted from the start.