Pawns.. right. She noticed how everyone was so obedient to Bai Keran. She suddenly remembered what Bai Zichen said to his brother after their wedding.

"This is why I told you to always be obedient and listen to the old fox from the start. Now look at what you have gotten yourself into. You ended up marrying a dumb woman."

Now she understood but at the same time, another question popped inside her head. Why were they willing to be used by him? Unless he has something he could use.. was he blackmailing them?

At the thought of blackmail, it was even harder to believe that Bai Keran was such a man. They were his own family.. Why was he treating them like pawns? He looked so kind and gentle but behind that fa?ade, who would have thought that he was actually a cruel man?

"Good thing I advised Jingye to fake your marriage certificate. We were able to do it without being caught by that crafty old fox."

"The marriage.. certificate is fake?" She looked at her in shock.

"Yes. So basically, you are not married to him. The divorce papers were just a pretense. We were worried that you might tell Bai Keran if you know the truth. He will surely keep an eye on you once we land." Mengmeng appearing in the scene was a great opportunity for them, even better when she was now joining their rebellion against the old man.

"He has already planted eyes and ears in the place you will be staying so we need to be careful. We can only talk freely right now since we rode a plane that is scheduled earlier. We may be able to escape Bai Keran's men for now but once we land, we will be surrounded again. He will never stop monitoring us so we have to be careful."

How could he do this to her? How could he use her against his own grandson?

"For now, we should get some rest. Especially you. Let's talk about the plan later."

..

A mansion stood tall, different from the usual style of Japanese houses that they passed by earlier. It had a similar design like that of Bai Keran's house. There was no touch of Japanese architecture in the building. Kyoto may be known to have the purest wellspring of traditional Japan but the place they were in right now was in the city where there were tall buildings seen a few kilometers from where the mansion was located.

The servants lined up and greeted Mengmeng and her husband. Despite being in a foreign country, the servants in the place all came from the Mainland. Tian Ruyi didn't come with them after landing in a foreign country. Instead, she left with another car since she had other matters to attend to.

Bai Jingye and Mengmeng were led into their room. They were a married couple so it was only right to share a room until..

"Prepare me another room," said Mengmeng to the servant who accompanied them.

The servant looked at her in wonder. "But Madam.." he trailed off.

Mengmeng shot a sharp look at her husband. She has been quiet for a while ever since they arrived but now, she finally spoke up in disgust, "do you think I can sleep in the same room after learning that my husband has another woman?"

It was all an act that she prepared with Bai Jingye just so they could sleep in separate rooms.

Now that she has become friends with Tian Ruyi, staying away from her lover to avoid any future misunderstandings should be her first priority. It was an act to deceive the eyes of their watchers.

"Go, prepare her another room," ordered Bai Jingye to the servant.

"You're really shameless, aren't you?" She turned to him with a frown. "Can't you at least try and change my mind about sleeping in another room?"

He looked at her indifferently as he coldly replied, "why should I? I never agreed to this marriage in the first place." He entered the room and shut the door in front of her.

Mengmeng clenched her fists tightly, biting her lower lip as she glared at the door.

Meanwhile, the servant who witnessed this smirked inwardly, "I can prepare another room for you, Madam.. it's just.. it won't be as good as this room, is that alright?"

"I don't care," she sighed and turned to him with a subtle smile, "any room will do."

"Very well."

And so, she was led by the servant to a guest room. Just like what he said, it was not as good as the master bedroom but it was enough for someone like her. As long as it was neat and comfy, Mengmeng didn't care about the room's size.

"By the way, may I have your name?" She asked, turning at the servant who was standing by the door.

The man looked like he was in his thirties. His hair was neatly combed backward and he was wearing a butler attire. Mengmeng didn't have to guess what his position was in the house. He was the first person who greeted them and by how other servants acted in his presence, she could easily tell that he was the head of them.

"My name is Fang Zheng. I am the house steward of this place," he replied with a polite smile. "If you need anything, please let me know."

Huh.. from the looks of it, it seemed like he has been managing this place for a while. It must also mean that he was the number one person to side Bai Keran in this place. His spy.

When steward Fang finally left her room, she went and hung her cloak up in a hook. That one act seemed to take the rest of the energy out of her. She headed straight to the bed and threw herself down. All her muscles finally relaxed as she closed her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.

"Mengjie.."

------------

A/N: historical

I am a slow writer. Thinking and writing a chapter takes time and effort hence this author will be shamelessly asking for all your power stones hehe~ Power stones will serve as my fuel~ *winks*

This book is my entry for Spirity so I hope you can give me all your support! Reading your comments and reviews gives me more inspiration to write! Thank you for giving this novel a chance. I hope you can accompany me on my writing journey for this book until the end! <3

IG: @berriapplepi

Discord: https://discord.gg/z56kkGG