I'll Go Only If Aunt Maya Accompanies Me

"You mean..."

"Chloe Zhu," Grace Wan said. "Since she knows the Emperor of the Upper Kingdom, she must already know about the hostage situation. She knows our intentions and deliberately set Chloe Zhu up!"

"But didn't Third Miss admit herself that she did it?"

"That was Chloe Zhu knowing her temper and deliberately provoking her."

"Then, what should we do next?"

"Chloe Zhu... can't be allowed to stay."

Lucy’s expression turned cold. "So what do we do?"

"This is enough to make Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu suspicious of me," Grace Wan said. "We absolutely can't act rashly. Best to... let someone else do the dirty work."

"So whose knife should we borrow?"

Grace Wan thought for a moment, then said, "Sophie Sun. She said in the palace that she wanted to exile Chloe Zhu. Clearly, there’s no love lost between them."

Lucy nodded immediately. "I'll go make contact with her."

...

Lena held Chloe Zhu's hand tightly, her heart aching, never once letting go.

Chloe Zhu actually felt a little guilty.

She did have the antidote for Poison Mink venom, which is why she let it bite her.

But her mother thought she was really on the brink of death.

"Mom... You should go back and rest!" Chloe Zhu said. "I'm totally fine now!"

Lena stroked her little face and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't protect you well enough."

"Mom... You're the real mistress of the Prime Minister's Residence. If you don't control the household, it's like handing our lives over to someone else," Chloe Zhu said. "Today it was a Poison Mink, tomorrow it could be a bowl of rice or a stalk of greens!"

Lena asked in a low voice, "You mean Lady Blue Moon was behind it?"

"It has to be her!" Chloe Zhu said bitterly. "Mrs. Hu was always her right-hand woman!"

"Chloe Zhu," Lena frowned. "Don't jump to conclusions. Your dad will investigate. If it really was her, none of us will let your attacker get away."

Chloe Zhu stayed silent.

This couldn’t be traced back to Grace Wan.

Getting rid of Mrs. Hu and making Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu suspicious of her—that was the goal.

As for her mom, her good opinion of Grace Wan was too deeply rooted. This would take time...

...

Once everyone had left, Chloe Zhu called Nanny, Hope, Claire, and Edward Wang over. She instructed them, "Before, Aunt Wan didn’t guard against me. But now that I have a spirit root and got rid of Mrs. Hu, she’ll definitely start plotting against me. You all need to be extra vigilant—protect yourselves and keep Serenity Pavilion secure."

"Yes!" The three answered solemnly.

...

Later, after Prime Minister Zhuo investigated, it turned out someone who looked just like Mrs. Hu had bought the Poison Mink.

Same height, same build, even a black mole by her eyebrow—it was definitely Mrs. Hu!

So, in a fit of rage, Minister Zhuo actually ordered her whole family to be beaten to death.

When Chloe Zhu heard the news, she gave a cold smile. "Mrs. Hu had so much blood on her hands—guess she finally paid it all back!"

...

After Evan Xiao treated her wounds, Chloe Zhu recovered in just two days.

Once she was better, she went to greet Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu every morning, just like always.

Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu told them, "It’s Lady Selina Shen’s birthday—Selina Shen is Samuel Summers’s mother—so Grace Wan, Maya Summers, and Chloe Zhu, you all have to go."

But Maya Summers flat-out refused.

She said she was going into seclusion to cultivate.

Chloe Zhu shot her a sidelong glance. Seclusion, really? She just didn’t want to see Eric Shen.

After all, she turned down Eric Shen and picked Prince Cheng, but Prince Cheng turned out to be such a disappointment—how embarrassing is that?

Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu glanced at her but didn’t force the issue, and let Chloe Zhu go with Grace Wan.

Unexpectedly, Chloe Zhu also said she was going into seclusion to cultivate.

She really did want to go into seclusion to cultivate.

Right now, her cultivation was stuck at the fifth tier; she needed to break through to the sixth.

"Chloe Zhu, the Shane Family specifically requested you, and I’ve already agreed," Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu said. "I see your wounds have healed, so you should go!"

"I don’t know any of the girls from the Grand Chamberlain’s Residence," Chloe Zhu said. "Unless Aunt Crystal goes with me, I’m not going."

So Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu ordered Maya Summers to go.

Maya Summers was half-maddened by Chloe Zhu, but couldn’t defy her mother, so she agreed.