CHAPTER 197: SCHEMES ON A BIGGER PLAYING FIELD.

Mei Mei sat down and pulled Jingzhe down with her. "Not completely. He used my family’s connections to become wealthy. All of the Mo’s benefited from us in one way or another. Had my parents not seen through him, he would have climbed so much higher than he did."

Jingzhe unwrapped a candy while she was talking and placed it at her lips.

She accepted it and still continued to talk. "Let me tell you some of schemes that I have escaped thanks to the chess games my grand father made sure I learned because I learned to observe.

Prince Long Bo wanted me to marry his son Long Qiu. He knew that if he got me, he would have the support of the Jun and Chi family and it would ease his goal to be the next emperor after his brother.

So, when I was fifteen he sent Long Qiu, under a false name to attend the elite class on technology which I was taking. Because Long Qiu has always been sickly, he is not usually seen in public so his face was unfamiliar to everyone.

But, my family opens a file for every child born to the royal family immediately after birth. With technology, we create what that child will look like at different ages. I recognized Long Qiu immediately.

They arranged many "accidental" meetings, Long Qiu even adopted a soft persona, acting adorable, helpless and sweet. Every time I met him, he was being bullied and he would cry out ’sister, save me.’ I never did of course, I am no fool, how can ordinary people bully a member of the royal family? Aren’t they afraid of his royal agents?

Because that plan was not working, they came up with a different one and my bodyguard overheard the planning process. It was to have me kidnapped with Long Qiu, put us in bed together and some indecent pictures of us would be taken. They even said maybe they would put guns to our heads and force us to be intimate. They would film it and send it to my parents. Not only would my family have to pay money but they would be forced to betroth me to Long Qiu.

Mingzhe and I kidnapped Long Qiu, we threw a sack over his head and beat him up. Then we put him on the bed with one of the goons that was supposed to kidnap me. We took pictures and sent them to Prince Long Bo. Long Qiu left the empire after that and he never returned."

"Woah!" Jingzhe shook his head. "You were fifteen! How does someone plan something like this for a fifteen year old girl?"

"Welcome to my world." She shrugged. "Like I said, grandpa said the game of chess started on the day I was born and he was right.

When I was thirteen, I was part of the group which went on an official royal visit to Dubai. I was supposed to deliver a set of ruby jewels to the queen on behalf of the royal family and my great grandfather. Someone from the Zhu family secretly tried to change the jewels when we were in the hotel.

If the secret bodyguards my father gave me had not been watching my bedroom through a window, I would have handed in fake jewelry and caused a scandal which would cause great damage to the empire and my family."

"So it was just a jewelry heist?" He asked.

She shook her head. "They had bribed an employee and got their hands on the design of the jewelry set. If it was a simple theft, they would not have prepared a good fake before hand. But what the Zhu family did not know was that I had already replaced the real jewelry with a fake.

A month before, my uncle Ringo had arrested Zhu Tianwei for crimes he never shared with us. Before the trip, I studied the list of those going with us very carefully. Everyday, I was notified if there were any changes to it. I even had men secretly watching all those people to make sure that none of them was swapped for a fake.

So, when I saw Zhu Mufan’s name on the list just two days to the trip as a replacement for the minister’s secretary whose sick father had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, I became uneasy. I did not know what to expect so I took extra precautions. I traveled with the jewelry on my body, camouflaged of course. I brought my own taste tester to make sure the food and drink were not poisoned. I brought extra bodyguards with extra weapons. I was protected more than the emperor and crown prince.

No matter what the Zhu family planned, I was ready. And Zhu Mufan, he never made it back home. I think he is still rotting in a prison in Dubai to date."

I have had friends that tried to use me for information about me and my family. Twelve years ago, when the Meng family was facing bankruptcy, my friend Meng Xi decided to use me. She was recording all of our conversations secretly, especially all the things related to the royal family and aristocrats. She turned them all into a tell all book which she planned to publish abroad after immigrating.

When I noticed that she was always taking notes in her secret diary, claiming to have a secret boyfriend and a little too interested in my life, I asked our family’s tech department to do some digging into her. As soon as we discovered what she was up to, Mingzhe and I broke into her house at night with bodyguards and royal agents. We got our hands on her devices and physical copy of the book. My mother retrieved the soft copy which had been sent to an editor in America.

The Meng family relocated to Sea city after and Meng Xi is sitting in an underwater prison to date for daring to release private information concerning the royal family and espionage."

"Espionage!" Jingzhe exclaimed.

Mei Mei nodded. "Meng Xi had always been eager to accompany me to the palace, royal office, Phoenix group and other places of high value. She used that opportunity to collect information which she was planning to sell. It was all found when we raided her house."

She laid her head down on Jingzhe’s lap and closed her eyes. "A Zhe, there are many such schemes, I have not even told you about the time a French reporter tried to hypnotize me and send me into a conference on financial support for animal rights with a gun. I overpowered him and hypnotized him instead. He stripped to his underwear and did the chicken dance in front of the press before he was arrested for terrorism. That part was not in the news.

A Zhe, I managed to escaped all the schemes, until that fire messed with my mind, made me lower my guard and brought Mo Liang into my life which I regret." She opened her eyes and looked at him. Mei Mei raised her hand to his cheek and smiled gently. "But you know what, I don’t regret Mingzhu and I don’t regret you. So, if you are going to stay, find out what you are in for and make up your mind quickly."