I Am Already A Queen

To Qiao Meixia, such emotions were completely alien. She had been raised in a brutal, cutthroat environment where maternal affection simply did not exist. In her world, love was a useless liability. Only power, survival instincts, and absolute competence mattered.

She genuinely could not comprehend why anyone would crave something as trivial as a mother’s affection. After a moment of silence, she looked up at Jiang Suhan and answered with complete detachment.

"No... It has nothing to do with me. She can shower her affection on whoever she wants, as long as she stays out of my way and does not interfere with my life." Qiao Meixia stated.

Listening to her matter-of-fact answer, Jiang Suhan clenched his jaw tightly, a wave of profound sorrow washing over him.

In his mind, his younger sister’s detachment was simply the result of growing up in an impoverished orphanage without a mother’s warmth. She did not feel hurt because she had never known what love was supposed to feel like in the first place.

"It’s alright." Jiang Suhan swore softly, his voice trembling with resolute determination. "Your brother will protect you and cherish you."

He silently made a vow right then and there. He would make sure Qiao Meixia eventually experienced genuine warmth. Even if their biological mother refused to acknowledge her, he would personally ensure she knew she had a family member who truly cared for her.

...

Meanwhile, back in the formal dining room, Feng Lan led a weeping Jiang Yanna back to her seat, patting her back soothingly.

"Mom... Eldest Brother really wants to drive me away." Jiang Yanna sobbed into a lace handkerchief, looking fragile and vulnerable.

"Don’t listen to him. As I said earlier, you will always be my most cherished daughter." Feng Lan consoled her warmly, her voice laced with bitterness toward her biological child. "No one can ever replace you, especially not that country girl. I could not care less about her."

"Your mother is right." Jiang Lukang chimed in, reaching out to pat Jiang Yanna’s head reassuringly. "If we did not love you, why would we have gone through all the trouble to track her down and bring her back to the capital? She was brought back for one reason only. To take your place in marrying that crippled man. We would never allow our precious daughter to suffer by marrying a lunatic."

Jiang Yanna wiped away her tears, looking up at her parents with wide, innocent eyes. Ever since Qiao Meixia had returned, seeing how attentive and protective Jiang Suhan was toward her had sent waves of panic through Jiang Yanna’s heart. She had terrified herself with the thought that her parents would eventually abandon her for their true bloodline. Fortunately, her parents’ unconditional favour had not shifted in the slightest.

"Thank you, Dad... thank you, Mom." Jiang Yanna whispered softly, offering a grateful smile through her tears. "Thank you for continuing to love me."

"Of course, sweetheart. You are the jewel of our family." Feng Lan smiled warmly. "Now, dry those tears and eat your dinner. By the way, where is Chinan? Why has he not come down to join us?"

"Enough crying. Eat. By the way, where is your younger brother? Why is he not coming down to eat dinner?" Jiang Lukang asked.

"Chinan is furious with both Eldest Brother and Sister Meixia over what happened earlier." Jiang Yanna explained demurely. "He locked himself in his room and refused to come down."

Jiang Lukang let out a long, heavy sigh, shaking his head in disappointment.

"That boy is simply too emotional." Jiang Lukang remarked, his brow furrowed in irritation. "He needs to learn how to master his temper and hide his true feelings."

"He is still young," Feng Lan immediately defended her youngest son, taking a sip of tea.

"He is only a year younger than Yanna." Jiang Lukang countered coolly.

Hearing that sharp rebuttal, Feng Lan fell silent, unable to offer a fitting comeback to refute his point.

"Dad, Mom, please don’t worry about it." Jiang Yanna spoke up gently, her voice sweet and considerate. "I will go talk to Chinan later and calm him down."

"Hmm..." Jiang Lukang nodded in satisfaction.

"Regarding the formal banquet..." Feng Lan paused, looking toward her husband. "Do we still proceed with our original plan?"

"Of course." Jiang Lukang stated with absolute authority. "We will stick to our initial strategy. We will officially introduce Meixia as our daughter, Jiang Yanna’s fraternal twin."

"But what about her surname?" Feng Lan pointed out the glaring loophole. "If we don’t provide a convincing explanation as to why she carries a different surname, people in high society will immediately suspect something is amiss and begin poking holes in our narrative."

"I have already crafted a plausible solution." Jiang Lukang explained calmly, leaning back in his seat. "If anyone raises questions about her surname, we will tell them this. When she was born, she was frail and plagued by severe illness. We sought countless medical treatments to no avail. Eventually, after consulting a renowned temple abbot, he revealed that her destiny clashed violently with the Jiang family name. To save her life, she was required to take the Qiao surname instead."

"That’s a clever cover story." Feng Lan nodded in full agreement, her eyes lighting up.

"Dad, do you think everyone will accept that explanation without question? Especially Grandpa and Grandma?" Jiang Yanna asked, putting on a look of delicate concern.

"Yes, Father and Mother adore that girl." Feng Lan chimed in, nodding again. "They likely would not appreciate us spinning a fabricated story about her identity."

"Don’t worry." Jiang Lukang stated indifferently. "I will handle Father and Mother when the time comes."

...

The next day after classes concluded, Qiao Meixia found herself dragged along by her energetic classmates to a popular dessert shop located just a short distance from Hannan First High School. Word had quickly spread across campus that the shop was launching a highly anticipated, limited-edition line of speciality pastries today.

Naturally, it was not just their class that had caught wind of the launch. Students from nearly every grade had swarmed the area. Since the majority of the wealthy heirs and heiresses attending the academy possessed a soft spot for fine confections, the boutique was already packed to capacity with lively high schoolers.

The establishment was owned by a world-renowned pastry chef who had claimed top honours in multiple international culinary competitions. Numerous prominent aristocratic families had previously offered astronomical salaries to hire him as their private personal chef, yet he had turned every single offer down. His lifelong ambition was simply to build his own independent dessert empire, and today, his signature shops could be found flourishing across the entire country.

As Qiao Meixia approached the entrance, her eyes landed on the prominent storefront signage. Her lips twitched imperceptibly the moment she read the bold lettering displayed across the glass facade:

’Not Today, Salad Can Die.’

Noticing Qiao Meixia staring at the store’s absurd name with a rare look of silent disbelief, Ruan Jiaojiao let out a bright chuckle.

"Hilarious, right? I was completely rendered speechless when I first saw it, too." Ruan Jiaojiao teased with a grin. "But trust me, after you take one bite of their signature cakes, the name does not even matter anymore."

"She is completely right, Meixia." Shou Meiling agreed, nodding enthusiastically. "Don’t let the weird name fool you. Their desserts never disappoint!"

"Come on, let me get in line before the queue gets any longer! We can talk more later." Han Mengyu urged, pulling them toward the end of the line.

While waiting for their turn, Qiao Meixia’s sharp gaze quietly swept across the bustling crowd outside. She observed several students emerging from the shop with carefully packaged boxes, only to hand them over to other students waiting in luxury cars or by the side of the courtyard.

Noticing Qiao Meixia’s subtle, puzzled scrutiny of the interaction, Shou Meiling leaned in slightly.

"Meixia, are you wondering why those students are buying desserts only to hand them off to others?" Shou Meiling asked softly.

Qiao Meixia gave a small, quiet nod.

"Well, some of them are getting paid generously to act as line-standers." Shou Meiling explained in a lowered tone. "And as for the rest... they are being coerced by student bullies to queue up for them. You can usually tell just by looking at their facial expressions."

Qiao Meixia paid closer attention to the subtle dynamics at play. Shou Meiling was spot on. A few students casually tossed a stack of cash at the errand-runners as compensation after receiving their cake boxes, while others acted blatantly overbearing, snatching the boxes away with sneers.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko***