At that moment, years of civil unrest in S Country had settled down, and Chu Yanhan’s father sent people to retrieve his son, who was seriously injured in a car accident, back to the country.

After his recovery, Chu Yanhan learned that he was a noble of S Country and intended to bring his lover, Xia Tingxuan, to S Country, but was stopped by his father.

Because of the unrest, the Chu Family had been greatly weakened, and Chu Yanhan’s father ordered his son to marry Miss Xuan Yu of the Xuan Family and use the marriage alliance to revitalize the Chu Family.

Chu Yanhan stated he already had a fiancée in China and continually procrastinated.

Meanwhile, Xuan Yu had long set her sights on the prestige of the Duke of the Chu Family and the handsome Chu Yanhan. After getting drunk at a banquet, she ended up in Chu Yanhan’s bed and even became pregnant.

When the news of Xuan Yu’s pregnancy reached him, Chu Yanhan could no longer withstand the pressure from the old Duke and finally went ahead and married Xuan Yu first.

Just when Xuan Yu thought she had finally won this man, Chu Yanhan secretly returned to China after the wedding and met with Xia Tingxuan without her knowing.

It was then Xuan Yu realized that despite using the power and means of her family to make him her husband, his heart was forever with another woman.

The one her husband could never let go of was also that Xia Tingxuan from China.

Before long, news came again; Xuan Yu found out that Xia Tingxuan was unexpectedly pregnant.

She wanted to kill that woman.

With her status as the daughter of the S Country’s foreign minister and the Duchess, sending out any assassin would’ve meant an early death for Xia Tingxuan.

But she also knew that if her husband found out she killed Xia Tingxuan, he would never forgive her in this lifetime.

So, Xuan Yu sent someone to tell Xia Tingxuan that she and Chu Yanhan were already married and had given birth to a pair of twins, mocking her as the third party, interfering in another’s family, with all sorts of humiliation and assaults.

Xia Tingxuan, who had been kept in the dark about Chu Yanhan’s marriage, was shocked when she found out and stopped communicating with Chu Yanhan.

To avoid Chu Yanhan, the pregnant Xia Tingxuan even left China and moved to a small town in a small country to live in hiding, making her untraceable by everyone.

It wasn’t until years later, facing the situation where Chu Xinyu was to marry Ya Chen, the paraplegic, that Xuan Yu thought again about Xia Tingxuan’s child.

Xuan Yu sent people to inquire and learned that Xia Tingxuan gave birth to a daughter, who was just fifteen years old. She secretly went to that foreign town where Xia Tingxuan was hiding, planning to bring Jiayi back to S Country, ostensibly to recognize her ancestors and return to her roots.

Xia Tingxuan, of course, knew Xuan Yu was up to no good and did not let her daughter go back with Xuan Yu to S Country. Jiayi was also unwilling to leave her mother.

In the end, Xuan Yu used some tricks to successfully bring Jiayi back to S Country, taking on the role of a stepmother looking after a stepdaughter.

Unexpectedly, it had been so difficult to scheme and bring that little wretch back to S Country.

It had been so hard to deceive that little wretch into agreeing to replace Chu Xinyu in marrying the crippled royalty.

And she had the audacity to run away while on a trip with the Chu sisters!

Xuan Yu, lost in thought, frowned at this moment as her daughter’s shrill crying broke through her reverie:

"Mommy, I don’t want to, I don’t want to marry that cripple... I don’t want to be the wife of a disabled man! The one I like is Brother Yixiao!"

Xuan Yu soothed Chu Xinyu a few times:

"Don’t worry, if Mommy wanted you to marry a disabled person, she wouldn’t have bothered to bring that little wretch back to the Chu Family in the first place. Now that we’ve found her, Mommy will send someone to China right away to bring her back, and she’ll marry that cripple in your stead!"

Chu Xinyu nodded with tears in her eyes.

Chu Xinyue, however, arched her brows slightly and glanced at the newspaper again: "Mommy, look at the stage name Jiayi is using for acting now, it is... "

Xuan Yu gave a cold laugh, which was also one of the things that had surprised her just now.

Xia Tingxuan...

Ha!

That little bitch fled from her wedding, and shooting films was bad enough, but to actually use that name...

This name that Xuan Yu detested to the extreme!

Xia Tingxuan... and that little bitch was her own biological mother!

Was this a provocation to oneself face to face with S Country?

Chu Xinyue’s face moved slightly as if she wanted to say something.

Xuan Yu noticed and looked at Chu Xinyue, "What is it?"

Chu Xinyue spoke slowly, "During the year Jiayi disappeared, daddy had people secretly search for her in China, alive or dead, and they never found her. Given our Chu Family’s network and capabilities, this is almost a very strange thing. The only reason is..."

Xuan Yu understood her younger daughter’s implication, "The only reason is that this little bitch has a person of very high status and power in China who has been secretly keeping her, not letting her come out into the open at all. And this time, it’s also because of that big shot’s support behind the scenes that this little bitch dared to shoot the Ye family’s film and even dared to use that name, not at all afraid of being found by us."

Chu Xinyue nodded, "So, this trip to China to bring her back won’t be so easy just with a few private bodyguards of the Chu family. No matter who is behind Jiayi, since they support her like this, they definitely won’t let her return easily. It seems we’ll need to have our Chu family people show up personally."

Xuan Yu pondered for a moment.

Her husband, Chu Yanhan, had been at the palace these days attending to the old King’s reception of foreign envoys and had not returned.

As a Duke’s wife, she had to manage household affairs, making it inconvenient to leave S Country at any time.

Her younger daughter, Chu Xinyue, was weak and often ill, so then—

She looked at her eldest daughter, "You and Yixiao take some bodyguards and go to China to bring Jiayi back!"

Xinyu was spoiled by her, always impulsive and reckless, and Xuan Yu did not feel reassured sending her alone. Anyway, since Nie Yixiao was currently with Xinyu, it made sense to send them together so they could have each other’s company.

Chu Xinyu nodded, her excitement tinged with a trace of joy. That girl had been missing for a year, and she was ready to resign herself to the fate of marrying into the Ya Family, with that paralyzed man. She never expected that the girl would fall into the trap herself and be found!

This was good, once Jiayi was captured, she could replace her in marriage!

Chu Xinyue watched her sister’s joyous face, yet she didn’t feel a fraction of her sister’s happiness. Her delicate fingers curled slightly, clenching into a fist in the shadows, as her pale, frail face darkened a few shades.

—

In China, G City.

The box office success of "Demon Slayer Chronicles" had led to a celebration event being scheduled at Shenghua Grand Hotel.

It was a weekend, so there was no need to attend class.

Early in the morning, Jiayi was woken up by Auntie Li.

Shortly after the movie wrap, Huo Zhenyang had Auntie Li transferred from the Huanglong Mountain Villa to Huo Garden to facilitate taking care of Jiayi’s daily needs.

"Miss Jiayi, get up quickly. Today is the film’s celebration event. Director Ye called you yesterday, inviting you to attend on time. Don’t forget," Auntie Li said.

Early in the morning, Auntie Li pulled back the curtains, urging her warmly.

The sunlight streamed in with a piercing glare onto the soft little figure sprawled on the bed.

Jiayi turned over, her mind cleared, and she sprang up at once.

Oh, right, this celebration today was hard-won. She even pleaded for a while with a certain someone before he finally agreed to let her go.