Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Grab Your Hair and Smash Your Head Into the Wall—You Won’t Even Pry It Out
The fake heiress’s lingering consciousness inside Jiang Tea Tea churned in disgust so violently it almost made her gag.
Jiang Tea Tea took half a step back and met Jiang Yi Cheng head-on. Her smile sharpened, cold as a blade.
“So you do know,” she said, “that your mom and dad sent me to Zhou Jian as a plaything.”
Jiang Yi Cheng’s face tightened. The pained expression cracked into embarrassment, his eyes darting away as guilt flashed across them. “Mom and dad… they didn’t do it on purpose. They did it for the good of our family.”
“They know they were wrong now,” he rushed on. “And you weren’t harmed by Zhou Jian. You even awakened abilities because of it. Let’s just let it go.”
He tried to soften his tone, forcing warmth into it. “We’re family. Don’t make it ugly.”
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t so much as blink. “Since the one getting hurt wasn’t you,” she said, “you sure make it sound easy.”
Jiang Yi Cheng’s jaw clenched.
When she still didn’t budge, his face hardened and his voice rose. “You weren’t harmed! Mom and dad sent you to Zhou Jian and you ran, didn’t you?”
“Dad and Mom raised you for eighteen years. We loved you for eighteen years. Do you really have to be such an ungrateful ingrate—tear your face off and leave no room for us at all?”
There it was.
When people didn’t get what they wanted, they got angry.
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes cooled further. Like father, like son. If the parents were trash, what else could the son be?
She knew exactly where to stab.
“Let me tell you something,” she said. “The Police Bureau called me today and asked whether I wanted to forgive your mom and dad.”
“I said no,” Jiang Tea Tea continued, steady as stone. “Absolutely not. I’ll pursue responsibility to the end and make them pay massive emotional damages.”
Her gaze sharpened. “And now you want me to beg His Highness Chong Ming tomorrow to spare your parents?”
She let out a short laugh. “Dream on. Eat shit.”
Jiang Yi Cheng flushed red. “You—you’re so crude—”
“So what if I am?” Jiang Tea Tea stepped in, cutting him off. “Listen carefully. You and your sister stay away from me.”
“Treasure your time at school,” she said, voice quiet and dangerous. “Because if I can send your mom and dad into the Police Bureau, I can send you and your sister in too.”
Jiang Yi Cheng’s chest rose and fell hard. “You’re threatening me—”
Slap.
Jiang Tea Tea’s palm cracked across his face.
The fake heiress’s lingering consciousness surged with joy, bubbling like champagne.
Jiang Yi Cheng’s head snapped to the side. He stared at her like she’d grown claws. “Jiang Tea Tea, you—”
Jiang Tea Tea shook her hand with disgust. “Thick skin. My hand hurts.”
“You’ve gone too far!” Jiang Yi Cheng snarled. Rage took over. He raised his hand to hit her.
Jiang Tea Tea lifted her chin and didn’t even bother to dodge. Magic power flowed over her hand, ready—if his palm swung close enough, he’d lose that hand.
But before Jiang Yi Cheng’s slap could land, his body flew sideways.
Bang.
He slammed into the wall so hard it dented slightly.
Jiang Tea Tea blinked. Then she drew her magic back and turned toward the source, one eyebrow lifting.
Sui Xuan Chu walked over, flexing his hand like he’d just flung something unpleasant.
Blue-black Combat Department training uniform. High ponytail. Red-black horn buds. The same expressionless face that made people instinctively back away.
Jiang Yi Cheng groaned and pushed himself upright, blood already spilling from his forehead. The moment he saw Sui Xuan Chu, fear flashed in his eyes.
“Junior Sui Xuan Chu,” Jiang Yi Cheng rasped, “I didn’t offend you. What are you doing?”
Sui Xuan Chu didn’t answer.
He grabbed Jiang Yi Cheng by the hair and drove his head into the wall.
Thud.
Jiang Yi Cheng sagged, blood pouring, dizzy, half collapsing before he forced his feet under him again. One hand clutched his forehead while the other braced against the wall.
“Junior Sui Xuan Chu,” Jiang Yi Cheng gasped, voice shaking with pain, “hitting people for no reason violates school rules!”
Sui Xuan Chu slid one hand into his pocket. “So what if I violated them? So what if I didn’t?”
He leaned back slightly, eyes cold. “Go report me if you’ve got guts. Let the school investigate. Let’s see whether the cameras caught what you just said to your so-called sister.”
Jiang Yi Cheng’s eyes flicked instinctively to the surveillance cameras.
They were everywhere.
If his words got exposed, he and Jiang Yi Zhu—already on thin ice because of their parents and Chu Ming—would sink even deeper.
He swallowed hard.
Still unwilling to give up, Jiang Yi Cheng looked past Sui Xuan Chu toward Jiang Tea Tea. “Sister… think about what I said. Our family’s love for you for over ten years—none of it was fake.”
Jiang Tea Tea stepped closer until she stood beside Sui Xuan Chu. Her eyes were ice.
“I hope your family ends up with nothing,” she said calmly. “Why would I care about your fake love?”
Jiang Yi Cheng’s face twisted. “You—”
“Leave,” Jiang Tea Tea said. Then she smiled. “Or tomorrow, when I see His Highness Chong Ming, I’ll tell him you threatened me—told me to beg him to spare your parents.”
She tilted her head, almost playful. “Tell me, dear brother. When that happens… will His Highness spare your parents?”
“Or will His Highness get angry and add another charge?”
Jiang Yi Cheng ground his teeth so hard his jaw trembled. He shot Jiang Tea Tea a look full of hatred, clutched his bleeding forehead, and turned away.
He stalked off fast, nearly stumbling.
Jiang Tea Tea glanced at Sui Xuan Chu, about to thank him—
Sui Xuan Chu had already turned and walked into the dorm building without a word, posture arrogant like the world owed him something.
Jiang Tea Tea watched him go, then sighed.
Grandmother had always said it: some species were born wild.
Dragons were one.
Phoenixes were one.
White tigers and vermilion birds were wild too.
Only demons like her—who struggled and clawed their way into human form—learned to keep their heads low before they became great demons.
Jiang Tea Tea headed into the dorm building as well.
Sui Xuan Chu was waiting for the elevator. When it opened, Jiang Tea Tea stepped in without hesitation. The doors shut, sealing them in silence.
The fake heiress’s dorm was on the eighteenth floor, room 1818. A “lucky” number—if you were the type to think eighteen floors of hell sounded lucky.
The doors opened.
Jiang Tea Tea stepped out—and watched Sui Xuan Chu walk straight to room 1818, open it, go inside… and even leave the door open.
Jiang Tea Tea stopped dead.
She tapped her forehead and dug through the fake heiress’s memories.
Nothing.
The fake heiress hadn’t even known who her roommate was.
Since age fifteen, after the real heiress returned, the Jiang family had cut her off financially. She’d worked outside constantly. When she finally got into the Royal Military Academy, her life had been nothing but class and work. In half a year, she hadn’t met her roommate once.
As for why a male and a female were assigned to the same dorm…
The reason was simple: dragon clan cub birthrates were low. The policy was apparently to mix dragon clan males and females together and hope proximity turned into romance, and romance turned into cubs.
Jiang Tea Tea entered the dorm.
It was a double room with a shared small living area, but each person had an independent bedroom, bathroom, and study space. Privacy was excellent. Once you shut your door and locked it, your roommate might as well not exist.
The only downside was the height.
As a tree demon, Jiang Tea Tea wanted to sink roots into soil and drink in the earth’s essence. On the eighteenth floor, that was a problem.
But she could work around it.
She cracked her window open just enough, flopped onto her bed, and transformed her legs into branches, resting them in the narrow gap like she was hooking herself into the world. Sun and moon essence would have to do.
She fell asleep.
She slept so deeply she only woke when her lightbrain started ringing like an alarm.
Groggy, she transformed her branch-legs back and raised her wrist to check the caller.
Huang Da Zhuang.
She answered with a yawn.
Before she could speak, Huang Da Zhuang’s voice exploded through the line, shrill with hysteria.
“Jiang Tea Tea! Where the hell are you?!
What time is it?! Why aren’t you at the school gate welcoming my male idol—His Highness Chong Ming?!”