I Am Already A Queen

Chen Xiaoqing intentionally left her sentence hanging in the air, unfinished.

Even so, the heavy implication was loud and clear. Everyone present in the classroom immediately understood the scandalous rumour she was trying to subtly birth into existence. She was publicly implying that Jiang Yanna didn’t look like any of her biological relatives at all.

"Chen Xiaoqing, shut your mouth and stop talking absolute nonsense!" Jin Zexi glared at her coldly, her voice rising in protective fury.

"Nonsense?" Chen Xiaoqing raised an eyebrow with mock innocence, resting her hands on her hips. "When have I ever spoken a single word of nonsense? I am simply stating what I can see clearly with my own two eyes. What? Am I not even allowed to voice my own casual, harmless observations now?"

"Xiaoqing, I know you are still deeply angry with me because of what happened with Zhang Shizi." Jiang Yanna finally spoke up, her voice dropping into a perfectly calm, smooth, and pitiable cadence. "But even if you resent me, that still does not give you the right to spin something so incredibly absurd about my family."

The exact moment Zhang Shizi’s name was deliberately weaponised and dropped into the conversation, Chen Xiaoqing’s smug expression vanished, and her face turned a bright, furious shade of crimson.

The reason behind her explosive reaction was painfully simple. She had once harboured deep, unrequited feelings for the school’s star prince, Zhang Shizi. She had even gathered all of her courage to prepare an elaborate, public confession for him.

Unfortunately, Zhang Shizi had gently yet decisively rejected her in front of a crowd, explaining that there was already someone else he deeply liked and that he could never accept her feelings. After quietly investigating his social circles for some time, Chen Xiaoqing eventually discovered that the elusive girl Zhang Shizi secretly pinned after was none other than the campus goddess, Jiang Yanna herself.

From that humiliating day onward, Chen Xiaoqing’s bitter dislike toward Jiang Yanna only continued to grow stronger with every passing day.

"So now, just because a boy did not choose you, you are willing to stoop so low and say something so malicious? Chen Xiaoqing, you have really gone way too far this time." Jin Zexi said angrily, seizing the upper hand.

The luxurious classroom immediately fell into a dead, suffocating silence.

Almost everyone present in the class knew the exact details of that embarrassing, failed confession. However, because of Chen Xiaoqing’s powerful family background, very few people had ever dared to bring it up so ruthlessly in front of her face.

Chen Xiaoqing was absolutely furious, her chest heaving, but she forced herself to viciously suppress the humiliation rising inside her.

"That’s entirely true. I did have feelings for Zhang Shizi once, and I am not ashamed to admit it." Chen Xiaoqing admitted frankly, staring daggers through her rival. "But the moment I found out that he liked you instead, I completely gave up on him like a sensible person. Besides, we are absolutely not talking about his feelings right now."

She folded her arms tightly over her chest before locking her sharp gaze directly onto Jiang Yanna’s trembling eyes again.

"We are currently talking about your family." Chen Xiaoqing narrowed her eyes slightly, stepping closer. "Tell me completely honestly, Yanna. Is there some kind of massive, scandalous secret involving your sudden twin sister?"

Jiang Yanna had originally calculated that Chen Xiaoqing would finally back down and stop pressing the dangerous issue out of sheer embarrassment after she deliberately dragged Zhang Shizi’s rejection into the open. Unexpectedly, Chen Xiaoqing remained just as stubbornly persistent and aggressively sharp as before.

"That is more than enough." Jin Zexi stepped in physically once again, blocking Chen Xiaoqing’s line of sight. "This is entirely Yanna’s private family matter. Why are you, a complete outsider, so obsessed and determined to interfere?"

"It seems there really is a massive secret hidden here." Chen Xiaoqing smiled meaningfully, completely ignoring Jin Zexi as she watched Jiang Yanna’s rigid posture. "Well, ugly secrets always have a funny way of coming to light eventually. I’ll just happily wait around until that day arrives."

After leaving behind those highly cryptic, threatening words, she turned around on her designer heels and walked arrogantly out of the classroom. The clique of girls who had come with her as backup quickly followed directly behind her.

Even though Chen Xiaoqing did not directly and explicitly accuse Jiang Yanna of being adopted or fraudulent, she had successfully planted a dark, heavy seed of deep suspicion in everyone’s minds. She had successfully made the entire class believe that there was something profoundly wrong about Jiang Yanna’s mysterious twin sister, something toxic that the powerful Jiang Family was desperately trying to hide from high society.

"Yanna, please don’t pay any attention to her petty words." Jin Zexi turned around, gently patting Jiang Yanna’s trembling shoulder in comfort. "She is just desperately venting her pathetic frustration because the boy she likes doesn’t like her back."

"Yeah, I know..." Jiang Yanna smiled softly and sweetly, perfectly masking the violent, terrifying turmoil raging deep within her heart. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to hide them in the folds of her uniform skirt. "To avoid causing any more unfortunate misunderstandings for anyone, I will make sure to keep a very strict distance from Zhang Shizi from now on."

Not long after that, the tense lunch break period officially came to an end.

The strict classroom teacher walked through the door with a textbook, and all the elite students immediately hurried back to their respective seats, whispering quietly as they went. Jiang Yanna and Jin Zexi also returned to their designated desks, sitting gracefully like everyone else, as the lively classroom gradually fell into a quiet, orderly silence once more. Yet beneath the calm surface, the rumours had already begun to spread like wildfire.

***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***