My Queen, My Rules - 25

Backstory

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To be honest, Ji Mingshu knew very, very little about the Cen family's old affairs. It wasn't until she was in her second year of middle school that she accidentally learned Cen Sen had a rather dramatic and bizarre backstory—

He and Cen Yang had been switched at birth.

The specifics of how the switch happened and how it was discovered when they were seven or eight years old were unclear to her. She only remembered that when she first learned of it, her initial feeling was shock.

Because the day before she found out, middle-schooler Shu-bao had just finished a romance novel about a wealthy young lady deliberately switched at birth by a wicked nanny. The female lead, of course, was the real daughter.

After reading it, she automatically put herself in the shoes of the fake daughter, fantasizing: What if I was switched? What if, just when I'm about to get married, some ugly duckling little white lotus suddenly pops up to steal my identity, my wealth, and my husband? And no matter what underhanded tricks I use, I can't defeat the little white lotus female lead, ending up miserable, penniless, and unloved?

Her second feeling was: Cen Sen was just so, so, so despicable!

Apparently, the Cen family's initial idea was to bring Cen Sen back to acknowledge his ancestry. As for Cen Yang, having raised him for so many years, the bond was deep; they planned to continue raising him as their own. The two brothers could even keep each other company. It wasn't like the Cen family was short on the petty cash needed to raise an extra child.

But they never, ever expected that Cen Sen would disagree.

Even at that young age, his attitude was abnormally firm. He stated very directly: if they wanted to bring him back to the Cen family, then Cen Yang had to go.

The Cen family was very traditional. On the surface, all was harmonious, but in reality, they prioritized sons over daughters and the direct line over collateral branches, let alone distinctions based on blood kinship.

So, when faced with this choice, satisfying the demands of the true heir, Cen Sen, became their first priority. Almost without dissent, they directly sentenced Cen Yang to exile.

Cen Yang was packed off and sent back to the An family in Xingcheng. The Cen family also gave the Ans a large sum of money for his upbringing, telling them to take the whole family abroad and forbidding them to set foot in the capital or Xingcheng until he came of age. From then on, the Jingjian Cen Family only had Cen Sen. No one was allowed to mention Cen Yang again.

Back then, Ji Mingshu thought, Couldn't he just come back? Why did he have to make Brother Cen Yang leave? So Brother Cen Yang didn't go abroad to study; he was forced out by this male ugly duckling!

This ugly duckling is simply too ruthless and cunning. If he's this cruel as a kid, what will he be like when he grows up?

She genuinely empathized with Cen Yang's position, feeling his pain as her own, and developed a genuine dislike and disdain for the cold, taciturn iceberg that was Cen Sen. This revelation was, in fact, the direct trigger for Ji Mingshu's constant opposition to Cen Sen throughout her adolescence.

However, as she grew older, Ji Mingshu's childhood affection for Cen Yang gradually faded from memory. She also became more capable of seeing things from Cen Sen's perspective.

After all, from beginning to end, he wasn't the one at fault. No one had the right to stand on the sidelines, watching the drama unfold, and be generous with his feelings on his behalf.

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The Maybach turned around from the airport and headed towards the Xingcheng University Faculty Apartments.

The closer they got to the university, the more nervous Ji Mingshu became. Every few moments, she would lift her compact mirror to check her makeup, smoothing her hair over and over to ensure it was silky smooth.

Before getting out of the car, she even switched to a more modest shade of lipstick and fished a trench coat out of the trunk to drape over her shoulders. She was fully on high alert, seeming even more tense than Cen Sen.

There was no helping it. She had no mother-in-law; Cen Sen's mother had passed away, while Cen Yuanchao was in poor health, now living most of the time at an estate in the capital's suburbs to recuperate, with visits restricted. So, she had very little experience dealing with in-laws.

Mr. and Mrs. An had raised Cen Sen for several years, accompanying him through the most innocent years of his childhood. No matter how much they'd cut contact, there had to be some residual feeling there.

Logically speaking, these two could be considered half-father-in-law and half-mother-in-law to her. And they were both Xingcheng University professors. For her, the half-daughter-in-law, meeting them for the first time was genuinely a bit nerve-wracking.

So preoccupied with her own nerves, Ji Mingshu failed to notice Cen Sen's excessive silence throughout the journey.

Standing in front of the old faculty apartment building, she gave her appearance one final adjustment, fished her wedding ring out of her bag and put it on, then intimately linked her arm with Cen Sen's, putting on the very picture of a devoted, virtuous, and perfect wife.

However, this paragon of wifely virtue encountered her first obstacle on the way upstairs.

Who knew how many decades old the Xingcheng University faculty apartments were? Forget about no elevator; the staircase was narrow, small, high, and steep.

As luck would have it, Ji Mingshu was wearing a pair of pointy, stiletto-heeled, sparkly Christian Louboutins. After just two flights, she was already struggling. And the An family lived on the seemingly unreachable sixth floor :)

"No... I can't. I need a break. This is too much."

After a mere three floors, Ji Mingshu had effectively turned herself into a gasping salted fish. She clung to Cen Sen, refusing to take another step, strongly resembling a professional con artist who collapses and feigns unconsciousness ten meters away from their target on the street, demanding to be carried.

Cen Sen glanced at her, said nothing, then descended two steps, bending slightly at the knees, and said in a low voice, "Get on."

Ji Mingshu: "…?"

Rubbing her calf, she almost couldn't believe this dog-man had suddenly sprouted a conscience.

He carried her all the way up to the sixth floor. After getting off his back, Ji Mingshu secretly observed him. Strange. She never saw him work out, yet carrying someone up six flights hadn't even left him winded.

Had he been secretly taking New Gaizhonggai High-Calcium tablets on the side?

No. It must be because she was as light as a canary, inside and out.

The soundproofing in this old apartment building probably wasn't great. The two had just reached the landing when the very dated-looking security door on the right creaked open from the inside.

A thin, delicate face peered out. "Are you... An... Cen, Brother Cen Sen?"

The girl looked about nineteen or twenty. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a plain black band. She wore no makeup and looked like a simple, pure college student.

Cen Sen paused slightly, then returned to normal, nodding with an "Mhm."

The girl stared at Cen Sen, her gaze not shifting for a long moment. When she noticed Ji Mingshu behind him, she was stunned anew.

She had never seen such a beautiful woman in real life. Too beautiful. Her whole being seemed to glow. Just by standing here, this whole building felt like it had gone up in value.

The girl stood there dazed and dumbfounded for a good while before stammeringly ushering them inside.

The apartment was nearly 140 square meters, already the largest unit in the entire Xingcheng University faculty complex—a privilege owed to Mr. and Mrs. An both being professors.

But, just as a certain female celebrity once said that diamonds under one carat are all just ‘crumbs’, in Ji Mingshu's mind, anything under 300 square meters could only be termed a ‘crumb apartment’.

Upon entering, she was immediately thrown off balance by the overwhelming dated atmosphere and the cramped space, utterly unsure where to stand.

She looked pleadingly at Cen Sen, but he ignored her. His gaze lingered on every object in the room, an unusual softness in his expression.

The dazed, pure college student, after letting them in, neither introduced herself nor offered tea. In her fluster, she ducked into the kitchen to notify Chen Biqing.

Shortly after, Mrs. An, Chen Biqing, emerged hurriedly from the kitchen, wearing an apron, her hair already streaked with silver.

Chen Biqing must have been a beauty in her youth. Perhaps it was the poise that comes from learning; even dressed plainly in an apron, she carried an innate, graceful scholarly air. It's just… she didn't much resemble a returned overseas Chinese who had emigrated over a decade ago. There was a weathered sense of vicissitudes about her.

The old apartment was dusty. Light streamed in through the window, illuminating particles of dust floating motionless in the air.

The apartment was also very quiet, save for the faint sound of a range hood from the kitchen.

Chen Biqing stood about three or four meters away from Cen Sen. Almost the moment she saw him, her eyes reddened.

Then she covered her mouth, staring at Cen Sen without blinking, tears rolling straight down her cheeks.

For some reason, in that instant, Ji Mingshu felt her own heart clench painfully.

It was so strange. She was someone who could laugh and pick apart plot holes while watching a tragic love story. But she couldn't help feeling that if she had a mother who loved her very much, the way that mother looked at her should be exactly like the way Chen Biqing was looking at Cen Sen now.

Right, Cen Sen. She glanced at Cen Sen.

No expression.

Facing the woman he had called mother for seven or eight years, he was just like this... expressionless.

She felt it would probably be very difficult to ever find any excess emotion on Cen Sen's face in this lifetime.

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They sat down to eat at noon. Ji Mingshu never saw the long-absent Cen Yang or the presumably Mr. An. Around the small square table sat only Chen Biqing, Cen Sen, herself, and Cen Sen's sister, An Ning.

When Cen Sen left, An Ning was only one year old, just a baby. The two didn't share much of a sibling bond and naturally had nothing to say to each other. Cen Sen was silent by nature, and Chen Biqing remained choked up, only able to distract herself by constantly putting food on their plates. Thus, the heavy responsibility of lightening the atmosphere somehow fell squarely onto Ji Mingshu's shoulders.

Ji Mingshu sat on pins and needles. She didn't know how to address Chen Biqing. Following Cen Sen's lead? But Cen Sen hadn't called her anything the entire time. Making small talk about recent life? That didn't seem appropriate either. Her intuition told her that Mr. An and Cen Yang were minefields not to be stepped on. She even felt that asking An Ning where she went to school might accidentally trigger an explosion.

In that case, the only possible topic was the food in front of them.

"This stuffed lotus root is so delicious. I've never had it before.”

—That's because she never eats fried food.

"This leafy green is so fresh, and very fragrant too."

—That's because they're stir-fried in lard. She would normally never touch a weight-killer like lard.

"This fish is so tender..."

In her effort to physically, albeit awkwardly, praise the fish, Ji Mingshu took a huge piece and heroically tried to swallow it.

The next second: "Cough! Cough, cough!"

She suddenly grabbed Cen Sen's arm, pointing at her own throat, coughing until her face turned red.

Chen Biqing: "What's wrong? Do you have a bone stuck?"

An Ning: "Sister-in-law, are you okay? Swallow a spoonful of rice, use some force."

Ji Mingshu, trusting her dubious advice, actually tried to swallow it, only to nearly die from the pain on the spot.

Chen Biqing hurriedly stood up again. "I'll get you some vinegar."

After gulping down a whole bowl of vinegar, waiting for the fish bone to soften, Ji Mingshu looked at the three people standing around her, listening to their overlapping words of concern. She actually felt a small sense of gratification.

To lighten the mood, this baby has sacrificed too much.

Cen-shi Sensen, you owe me, and you're going to pay me back with an aircraft carrier :)

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