Chapter 129 Backing You Up
Despite the woman in front of her looking incredibly good, a stark contrast to four years ago, Tao Zhitao was absolutely certain that this was Lu Zhenyu.
Lu Zhenyu sensed the woman's inexplicable hostility. "Who are you?"
Um?
Crossing her arms and circling the person, Tao Zhitao's mockery deepened. "Miss Lu, are you playing those melodramatic Korean drama tricks and getting your brain fried and losing your memory?"
Seeing Lu Zhenyu frown, she stepped back and clicked her tongue, "So you really are a jinx. After all that trouble, turning the capital upside down and killing so many people, you're still living a good life and have even forgotten all the bad things that happened."
"Hey sis, do Korean dramas get their material from you?"
His gradually cooling fox-like eyes slowly and methodically scrutinized the group of people, finally settling on Tao Zhitao's face, which was now curling into a disdainful smile.
Lu Zhenyu, "What grudge do I have against you?"
The grudges and resentments etched in Tao Zhitao's mind resurfaced with these words.
Seeing the woman's sinister expression, Lu Zhenyu gritted her teeth and said, "It seems Duan Xi'er was right. You really are a jinx. Anyone who gets even remotely connected with you ends up being ruined and reduced to a wretched state."
Lu Zhenyu lowered her gaze, and even though she was outnumbered, her small frame did not lose its imposing presence.
He stared at her intently until Tao Zhitao couldn't take it anymore and demanded, "What are you looking at?"
Lu Zhenyu smiled and said, "Zhitao, you must be living a very unhappy life."
Tao Zhitao's face darkened. "What do you mean!"
Lu Zhenyu tilted her head, her expression a mix of understanding innocence, "It means you're like a fly, buzzing around and giving me a headache."
"You!" Tao Zhitao's eyes widened, and she rushed forward, raising her hand to...
"Slap!" A slap.
"Slap!" Two slaps.
Tao Zhitao, whose cheeks were tied together and slapped twice, didn't even have time to react.
Without blinking, Lu Zhenyu grabbed the person and pinned them in front of her, then kicked them hard on the back of each knee with the tip of her white canvas shoe, shoving them onto the carpet.
"ah!"
"ah!!"
The frightened socialites followed their sisters to their knees with a thud, retreating in terror.
Startled by Tao Zhitao's sharp shout, he snapped out of his daze and rushed forward to help her.
A girl pulled her away, saying, "She seems to have some martial arts skills, maybe we should leave."
One of the girls scoffed, "With so many of us, how can we let her bully us? Two of us hold her arms down, and the rest of you come at her together."
Relying on their superior numbers, and still furious after being slapped twice, Tao Zhitao was even less likely to let it go and led her men to charge forward.
"You wretched woman, let's settle both old and new scores today..."
"Miss Tao Zhitao".
A male voice came from the other side.
Tao Zhitao, her eyes filled with malice, paused, and the large group behind her stopped as well.
Upon seeing who was behind Wang Kai, the socialites all froze.
“Sinking, sinking Jing Si, it really is sinking Jing Si.”
Seeing the women turn around in shock, their faces pale, Lu Zhenyu turned back.
Before she could even see who it was, her view was completely blocked by a tall, broad body.
With his right hand supporting him on a mahogany cane, Shen Jingsi walked over step by step and pulled the weak and helpless person behind him.
He took a deep breath, lowered his eyelids, and glanced at the faces in front of him, faces that could only be described as terrified, before finally looking down at the woman in the lead.
Rui Feng's unfathomable eyes narrowed. "Tao Zhi Tao."
His voice wasn't loud, and he didn't speak fast, but it was that nonchalant air that startled Tao Zhitao so much that her legs went weak and she almost fell over.
She dared not meet Shen Jingsi's eyes, for they held the horrific sight of Duan Xier before her death.
Swallowing hard, she quickly forced a smile, "Mr. Chen, you've misunderstood. Zhenzhen and I are just..."
"Honey, they're bullying me."
A soft, delicate voice, yet it made a certain upright spine tremble.
Shen Jingsi turned around very slowly, and even though he clearly met the girl's eyes looking up at him, he still thought he was hallucinating.
The overhead light made her startled eyelids appear even more wet and red. Lu Zhenyu's gaze shifted almost imperceptibly as she stepped forward and took the arm of the person holding the cane.
Seeing the incredulous look in Tao Zhitao's eyes, Leng Ning coldly said, "Kneel down."
Tao Zhitao's eyes narrowed suddenly. "What did you say?"
Seeing the person frown and retort with dissatisfaction, Lu Zhenyu's expression changed, and she looked up at Shen Jingsi, whose eyes had not moved from the entire time.
She wanted to bite her lip to look pitiful, but unfortunately, she didn't have the muscle memory for it. All she could do was purse her lips and blink, which, combined with her fair and delicate face, made her look utterly pathetic.
“Honey, she won’t kneel. She just cursed at me, called me a cursed lone star, and even tried to hit me because she outnumbered me.”
What are you talking about?!
Tao Zhitao was stunned. "How can you make false accusations? Everyone saw it. You were the one who slapped me..."
"Kneel down."
The deep voice made Tao Zhitao shudder.
Shen Jingsi, the wife-obsessed maniac, slowly turned his face away. Four years had made the once unruly young master of the Shen family more and more composed.
His deep-set features were thin and sharp, and his dark, cold pupils could send chills down the girls' spines with just a glance.
He glared coldly at Tao Zhitao, who stood there dumbfounded, and said, "Not kneeling?"
As the woman stared in astonishment, her thin, almost bloodless lips curled into a smile. "Then I'll have Tao Tiansheng and Tao Feng kneel down?"
Tao Zhitao's pupils shrank. "No! Mr. Shen! I'll kneel, I'll kneel, please don't involve my family."
After saying that, Chong Luzhen knelt down with a thud.
It wasn't that she was afraid her family would find out, but rather that Shen Jingsi's methods and ruthlessness were such that no one in the capital dared to provoke him.
The Duan family is now wiped out, with only Duan Yu remaining, whose fate and whereabouts are unknown. The Zheng family is even more devastated, with no descendants left.
Tao Zhitao still vividly remembers that tragic lesson from the past.
With tears welling in her eyes, she looked at Lu Zhenyu, who was glancing at her, and said in a trembling voice, "Madam Shen, I'm sorry. I was ignorant and arrogant. Please forgive my foolishness and persuade Mr. Shen not to involve the Tao family."
Shen Jingsi looked at the little girl nestled in his arms and rubbed her head with his large hand. "How do you want to vent your anger? Choose whatever you feel like."
Looking up at the man's tender, indulgent gaze, Lu Zhenyu smiled wryly.
He first looked at the group of people opposite him, "What about you? Aren't you going to kneel?"
The socialites looked at each other, and with a slight, displeased squint of a certain pair of cold eyes, they all knelt down.
The scene left Feng Manman and her friends, who had peeked out of their private room upon hearing the commotion, completely stunned.
"We are sorry, Madam Shen. We were wrong. Please forgive us. We will never do it again."
The fox-like eyes that had been fixed on the drooping heads no longer held the vigor of Chu Ke'er; a coldness had settled over their exquisite faces.
Releasing her grip on Shen Jingsi's hand, Lu Zhenyu approached Tao Zhitao, squatted down, pinched the woman's chin, and glanced at the face bearing the marks of ten fingers.
A cold smile crept across her lips as she met the woman's evasive eyes. "You're Miss Zhitao, right? I'll remember that. But please remember this too: I, Lu Zhenyu, never bully anyone, but I won't let anyone bully me either. I know about Duan Xi'er and Zheng Yaozong you mentioned; they died tragically, didn't they?"
She slapped the face away with a bit of force, stood up, and glanced at the group of socialites, whose eyes darted away.
Lu Zhenyu raised the corner of her lips slightly, "They deserved it because they committed such heinous crimes. I even feel it's a pity that they died so quickly."
He turned to look at Tao Zhitao again, "But since you've made a good start today, let's take you as an example."
Tao Zhitao stammered, "W-what?"
“Go tell those in the capital who still have the mind to buzz around me that if they don’t want to end up like the two of them, then they can come and try.”
Feeling guilty, Tao Zhitao swallowed hard and lowered her eyes, no longer daring to meet the woman's gaze.
Pianlu Zhenyu pinched her face and turned it back, smiling innocently and naturally, "There's nothing I can do, you all know how much my husband loves me, but I can guarantee that you'll live for ten years in my hands."
"Living a life worse than death."
As soon as he finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted behind him.
Lu Zhenyu turned around and met a long string of heads stacked behind the door like a candied hawthorn.
Everyone was clapping and cheering, with the two girls shouting the loudest.
"Zhenzhen, you're so handsome!"
"So handsome and cool!"
Although it wasn't an act, Lu Zhenyu never expected it to be broadcast live, and she was a little embarrassed.
She gave a slight, bitter smile and turned back to meet Shen Jingsi's piercing gaze.
His gaze was deep, his smile reaching his eyes, and a hint of color crept into his pale lips as he curved them upwards.
He was no longer a stern, intimidating figure who could terrify a group of people with a single glance; he was someone who, after watching the girl he deeply loved undergo a transformation and grow her own thorns, brought him back to life.
Lu Zhenyu raised an eyebrow. "Not a widower today? Mr. Chen."
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