Phoenix Lady's Manor War

Mistress Becomes Pregnant

Laura leaned against the bay window, a book and a cup of hot tea by her side.

"Has Zhou Wen bo gone to school yet?" she asked.

The maid nodded. "Yes, Madam."

Laura thought for a moment and spoke again. "Send the driver to deliver him some food."

"Send... food?" The maid was stunned. She had never heard such an order before.

"Yes."

Seeing Laura's calm demeanor as if it was the most natural thing to do, the maid suppressed her doubts and asked, "What should we send?"

"The crab meat lion's head and Ping qiao tofu from today's meal were quite delicious. Also, send some fruit." Laura didn't even look up from her book.

The maid nodded and left.

As she walked away, the maid couldn't help but think, "Why am I so obedient to Madam's orders?"

Wang Yue, who was standing guard outside the door, was also puzzled.

Laura suddenly seemed like a changed person.

Only now did she finally act like the real Mrs. Zhou.

At that moment, a phone ringtone echoed in the room.

The maid quickly picked up the phone and took it to Laura. "Madam, it's for you."

Wang Yue watched the servile behavior with eyes bulging out of their sockets.

Laura didn't think anything was amiss.

In the past, she had many attendants, each skilled in different tasks, to ensure she had no worries when managing the household.

Laura answered the phone.

A tense, unfamiliar voice came over. "Is this Mrs. Laura?"

"Yes."

The voice relaxed. "Thank goodness, you didn't hang up on me right away."

Taking a deep breath, the voice spoke in one go. "Hello, this is from the 'Spy' movie set. Mr. Yuan Wengjia had suddenly gone missing during filming. We've searched everywhere, but there's no sign of him. Our director asked us to call you..."

"Yuan Wengjia? Who?"

"..." The staff on the other end stumbled. "Don't you know him?"

Laura scoured the original host's memories and the book's plot before finding a matching character.

Zhou Chao's younger brother, Zhou Wengjia.

"He's missing from the set?" Laura asked.

"... Yes, yes." The staff unconsciously shrank back, not understanding why the person on the other end suddenly seemed menacing.

Laura immediately jumped off the tatami mat. "Prepare the car."

The maid overheard the conversation and knew something was up. Without hesitation, she ran downstairs to notify the driver and bodyguards.

Laura put on a jacket, tied her hair into a ponytail, and grabbed a pair of sunglasses.

Although she wasn't used to wearing them, they were comfortable for blocking the sun.

Laura frowned slightly but didn't find it troublesome.

As a member of a prominent family, enjoying its resources and sharing its honors and misfortunes, encountering troubles was only natural.

She wondered if Zhou Wengjia's disappearance was related to Zhou Chao's or if another enemy had taken advantage of the situation...

Regardless of the circumstances, she had to find him as soon as possible to prevent any threats to the Zhou family.

If a few days ago, Laura still had no sense of belonging to this world, these days, the charm of its "technology" had captivated her.

The Zhou family was a decent place to live and thrive.

So, she should protect it well, including the people in it.

Meanwhile, Jian Changming also received the news.

Zhou Wengjia was missing.

And Laura had gone to look for him.

Jian Changming turned the page of his newspaper.

Not many people read newspapers anymore, but he still retained this old habit.

After meticulously reading every inch of the paper, including the small ads in the margins, Jian Changming lifted his head and frowned. "What's Laura doing meddling in this?"

At a top university in Jing City.

"What the hell? Zhou Wenbo, your family even sends you food?"

Zhou Wenbo looked at the thermos in the bodyguard's hands, feeling a strange warmth deep inside.

It wasn't anything extravagant.

But a small thermos was something he had only seen with other students when he was younger.

Author's Note: Jiang Er realizes he might just be a tool.

A black Cadillac pulled up outside the 'Spy' movie set.

Luxury cars came and went frequently here, so this one didn't stand out. But soon, the car door opened, and a bodyguard dressed in black stepped out.

The bodyguard approached the passenger side and opened the door.

Someone staring at the car exclaimed, "The license plate! Look at the license plate number!"

"... Zhou Chao's car?"

"What the hell!"

"Isn't he missing?"

The set erupted in chatter, and they couldn't help but glance at Jiang Meng, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

"Could it be for Jiang Meng?"

"It's possible."

Jiang Meng heard the whispers but didn't feel happy; instead, she felt uneasy.

No, it couldn't be... Zhou Chao had been missing for so long with no news. How could he suddenly appear here?

The passenger door swung open, revealing a pair of straight, snow-white legs.

Then, the occupant stepped out.

She wore a white coat, her hair tied up high, revealing her exquisite features without reservation.

Jiang Meng's pupils dilated, then relaxed.

It was Laura.

But...

Jiang Meng's relief abruptly choked in her throat.

Even if it was just Laura, there was nothing to be happy about.

Jiang Meng worriedly thought that her emotions fluctuating so much might harm the fetus.

Laura didn't notice Jiang Meng. She entered the set and asked, "Who's the director?"

Director Li overheard the voice and put down his megaphone, jogging over, a bit disbelieving. "Mrs. Zhou?"

"Yes."

The people around them overheard the exchange and soon, word spread throughout the set that Zhou Chao's legitimate wife had arrived!

Initially, they had envied Jiang Meng for being Zhou Chao's mistress. But now that his wife was there, they no longer felt envy; instead, their gazes toward Jiang Meng became** and even difficult to describe.

Jiang Meng received stares from all sides, secretly seething.

She never expected her spur-of-the-moment idea would not only fail to solve her troubles but also plunge her into a more difficult situation.

Now, whenever she saw Laura, she could still faintly hear the sound of the belt slapping skin.

Plip-plap, plip-plap.

"This way, Mrs. Zhou." Director Li respectfully led Laura to the backstage restroom.

Once Laura left, the set erupted in gossip.

"I remember seeing her in a magazine a few years ago, and she didn't look like that..."

"Did she get plastic surgery?"

"No, she looks natural. If any doctor can achieve this, please introduce me."

"Mrs. Zhou is so beautiful."

...

As they spoke, they couldn't help but glance at Jiang Meng.

Of course, Jiang Meng was pretty, but compared to Laura, she paled in comparison.

One had a mixed-race look with features men might find attractive, but the other had a stronger facial foundation, outstanding temperament, and features that perfectly suited Chinese aesthetics. She was an icy beauty, unforgettable at first sight.

Feeling their scrutinizing gazes, Jiang Meng felt even more humiliated.

How dare Laura, that fool, be compared to her?

Jiang Meng seethed with anger outside, while inside the restroom, Laura watched a surveillance video provided by the set.

The footage showed that three days ago, at 1 AM, while the night shoot was ongoing, Zhou Wengjia suddenly left the set's perimeter.

"It's not unusual. Mr. Zhou seems to enjoy going to bars... I heard from his agent that he's even raced cars. Sometimes, on a whim, he'll take a private jet to Las Vegas to play..."

"The second young master didn't want to participate in this film, but I specially invited him. He's not enjoying the shoot. Occasionally, taking a break to clear his head is understandable."

"But this time, he left without his agent, assistant, or bodyguards..."

Director Li grew more and more agitated as he spoke.

Some believed Zhou Chao would never return, while others held out hope. Director Li was among the latter. He feared being reprimanded by the Zhou family.

But after finishing, Director Li looked at Laura with a hint of suspicion.

When Zhou Wenbo was walking upstairs, the tightly closed door of Zhou Wenjia suddenly opened.

The two men looked at each other, and their eyes were indifferent.

Zhou Wenjia's gaze shifted downward, falling on the thermos.

"Did she send it to you?"

Zhou Wenbo responded coldly, "Hmm."

"Doesn't she think it's too late to try to please the Zhou family now?" Zhou Wenjia's words did not contain sarcasm, but seemed genuinely puzzled and curious.

He thought she would seize the opportunity to make a big fuss, put on the air of a "big sister-in-law", give him a lecture, talk about big principles, or even directly scold him... She hated him so much that she wanted to tear him apart.

But no... none of that happened.

When Zhou Wenbo was walking upstairs, the tightly closed door of Zhou Wenjia suddenly opened.

The two men looked at each other, and their eyes were indifferent.

Zhou Wenjia's gaze shifted downward, falling on the thermos.

"Did she send it to you?"

Zhou Wenbo responded coldly, "Hmm."

"Doesn't she think it's too late to try to please the Zhou family now?" Zhou Wenjia's words did not contain sarcasm, but seemed genuinely puzzled and curious.

He thought she would seize the opportunity to make a big fuss, put on the air of a "big sister-in-law", give him a lecture, talk about big principles, or even directly scold him... She hated him so much that she wanted to tear him apart.

But no... none of that happened.

Of course, a more important point is that in this circle, she doesn't like those who are willing to play with the original owner, and those who she wants to ingratiate herself with don't like her. Who doesn't know that her marriage to the Zhou dynasty is just a formality?

And now, Mrs. Xia stood in front of Laura, surprised to say, "You're not wearing makeup today?"

Laura knows how to put on makeup, but she was too busy to skip this step. Mrs. Xia is not important enough to deserve her dressing up.

"Lazy," Laura replied briefly.

Mrs. Xia immediately felt contemptuous.

No wonder she couldn't please Mr. Zhou. Her fashion taste is terrible. In the past, she knew how to put on makeup and dress up, but now she is too lazy to do even that...

Mrs. Xia's eyes twinkled, and she asked, "You're not too sad because you read the news, are you?"

"News? What news?"

Mrs. Xia was stunned, "You haven't seen it?"

Mrs. Xia was no longer disdainful of Laura at the moment, and instead felt a superior sense of pity, "It's all over the place, saying that Jiang Meng is pregnant with Mr. Zhou's child. Is it true or false?"

"False," Laura said bluntly.

How could Mrs. Xia believe it? She thought to herself that Laura has been obsessed with keeping up appearances for a long time.

This must be a lie to cover up the peace.

"Aren't we going to the Gucci counter?" Laura changed the subject.

Mrs. Xia's attention immediately followed, and she nodded, "Let's go."

Somewhere in Africa. This time, they changed to another location.

The light was much brighter. But the phone was still placed casually on the table.

Although the signal was weak, it had no effect on receiving messages. After all, China's infrastructure extends quite far. In such a remote place, a signal tower was built for the convenience of Chinese people traveling around the world.

The phone screen lit up one after another.

"Your card ending in **** made a quick p*****t of 230,000.00 yuan on October 15, 14:11..."

"Your card ending in **** made a quick p*****t of 110,000.00 yuan on October 15, 14:12..."

"...Quick p*****t expenditure of 410,000.00 yuan."

"Is this really not a stolen credit card?" Several people stared at the screen, looking at each other.

The young man sitting on the mound, still upright and elegant, lowered his eyes slightly and took in the information on the phone screen.

"It's Laura," the man said softly, his voice deep and pleasant.

"Madam?" Some people thought to themselves, she really knows how to spend money.

The man didn't find it strange.

This is more like the normal Laura.

The man's expression was indifferent, completely unaffected, and he quickly changed the subject: "How far is Kazha from here?"

At this moment, in the store, Mrs. Xia was stunned. She knew that Laura was using Zhou Chao's secondary card.

Zhou Chao has no feelings for Laura, and Laura is frustrated everywhere. When she gets angry, she wants to go shopping with her. But even when shopping, only a few tens of thousands are spent at a time. After all, she comes from a small family like the Gu family. She is afraid of spending too much and really angering Zhou Chao. So, she only dares to vent her anger in this way.

Mrs. Xia was horrified.

If you spend like this...in just over ten minutes, you'll spend millions, and in a few hours, won't it start at 10 million?

Mrs. Xia prides herself on being extravagant, but the amount of money she can circulate is limited. She just goes shopping often, not spending so much every day.

Is Laura driven crazy by Jiang Meng?

"Does Mrs. Xia have any other recommendations?" Laura turned her head and asked.

Mrs. Xia choked.

There are rules for picking up goods from counters.

If you are not their VVVIP and have no experience in picking up goods, they will not give you new goods when they arrive. Even if you pull out a card and say I have money, I can buy everything. The sales sister is too lazy to care about you.

Mrs. Xia belonged precisely to the VVVIP customer category.

Whenever luxury brands released new items, they would reserve them for her. However, even Mrs. Xia had her financial limits and couldn't afford everything.

Today, Laura, relying on her status as Mrs. Xia's longtime customer, had the sales assistant bring out all the new arrivals.

Laura shopped quickly, barely glancing at the items, not even bothering to try them on to see if they fit or looked good on her.

In the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed.

Another few million was spent.

Mrs. Xia's mouth twitched.

She suddenly realized that if Zhou Chao really died, Laura would inherit a vast amount of wealth.

Her sense of superiority in front of Laura vanished instantly.

At this moment, Laura stretched lazily.

There was a natural air of languid beauty about her.

She seemed even more beautiful than before.

Mrs. Xia gritted her teeth in jealousy.

"I've finished shopping. Mrs. Xia hasn't bought much today?"

"You bought most of the items reserved for me. What else can I buy?" Mrs. Xia forced a smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Xia, for your generosity. I'll be heading back now. My husband is coming home for dinner today," Laura said, rising and having her bodyguards carry the purchases.

Many items that couldn't be carried or weren't in stock would be delivered later.

Laura left without any hesitation, unlike in the past when she would linger.

In the past, it was always Mrs. Xia who would leave first when her card-playing partners called, leaving the original Laura alone and resentful, unable to fit into Mrs. Xia's social circle.

Mrs. Xia stood in place, unable to articulate the mixed emotions she was feeling.

Laura returned home.

The maid spoke softly, "Mr. Zhou said he's going out with friends tonight and won't be coming home."

Laura reached out, "Give me the phone."

The maid quickly fetched the phone for her.

At school.

Zhou Wenbai stared at the thermos.

If Laura was just pretending, could she really pretend every day?

Just then, someone sat down beside him and patted his shoulder, saying, "Your family is really nice, they send you food every day. The food might not be expensive, but having someone think of you and care about you every day... that feeling is more valuable than anything."

The person's expression turned melancholy as they continued, "Unlike my parents, they don't even know what year I'm in at university. One is always busy with work, and the other is traveling around the country..."

"...anyway, do we have class next period? They called and asked us to get there early," another voice interrupted.

Zhou Wenbai slowly narrowed his eyes. The thermos and the specially prepared food inside might not be valuable, but the feeling of being remembered... he had never experienced that before. It was probably rarer than a crude oil field...

Zhou Wenbai responded, "I'm not going. Let's go..."

Before he could finish, his phone rang.

Zhou Wenbai answered, "I already said I'm not coming back."

"Where are you going tonight?" Laura's clear and pleasant voice came through the phone.

Zhou Wenbai instinctively tensed up, forgetting to reply.

"Is it fun? Why don't you take me along?"

He was only going to tag along. A group of rich second-generation friends had invited high-end models to play games... what fun could that be?

Just imagining Laura at the scene made Zhou Wenbai's mind buzz. He blurted out, "It's not fun. Don't come. I'll come back after class."

After he hung up the phone, the people around him were stunned.

"Mr. Zhou, you're not going?"

"Hell no," Zhou Wenbai replied.

The cast and crew.

Jiang Meng nervously scrolled through the news again. Good, it's already on the third spot of the trending topics... You can do it, you can definitely get through this crisis.

Five minutes later.

Jiang Meng refreshed the news again.

And this time, she had been pushed down to the fourth spot.

Jiang Meng took a closer look and saw that the third trending topic was "Zhou Tai Makes a Stunning Appearance, Harvests a Lot at Xinguang Shopping."

She looked at the second trending topic - "Will Zhou Chao Return Safely?"

And then the top trending topic - "Zhou Family's Invitation List for the 17th Shocked My Entire Family."

She clicked on it, and the comment section was full of:

"Damn, front row seats to watch the rich and famous drama!"

"I'm here, I'm here, let me see what the life of the rich is like..."

"Is this the Zhou Tai who was cheated on by Jiang Meng? Wow! She's a beauty!"

Jiang Meng felt her vision darken.

It seemed that all the traffic she had attracted by hiring an online army and spending a lot of money to buy positions, had ultimately paved the way for Laura!

The lives of the rich and famous are far removed from ordinary people, especially some top-tier wealthy families that media and magazines dare not report on casually.

But who doesn't watch some TV shows?

After Jiang Meng rose to fame three years ago, her popularity skyrocketed, but it fell back to the second tier last year when she didn't produce any good dramas. However, since the news broke this year about her collaboration with Director Li on a new movie, her popularity has risen again. Her fans have also become excited, building up her image as a talented and beautiful career woman.

At this critical moment, news broke that Jiang Meng was pregnant, pushing her to the forefront of public attention.

It was only then that the Zhou family really entered the public eye.

Celebrities, wealthy families, infidelity, lovers... all the gossip keywords that the public loves to hear about were gathered together. Whether it was a scandal or not, Jiang Meng indeed stole the show.

Fans defending Jiang Meng could be seen everywhere in the comment section.

"Zhou's wife is called Laura, right? She appeared in the news a few years ago. If she's so arrogant, I can't stand her too. Just a passerby, no need to identify me."

"Found a photo of Laura [Image]. Uh, the Zhou family seems pretty impressive, why would they marry her? She's really not good-looking, and her makeup looks like she's going to eat someone."

"You media people know that Jiang Meng is pregnant? You media people know that Zhou Gu and Laura are not divorced? Stop leading the public. Waiting for a statement from the studio and the Zhou family..."

Beneath the clumsy heavy makeup was a face with picturesque eyes and eyebrows.

Jiang Meng felt a little guilty, but also a strange sense of secret pleasure.

...And then it all came to a sudden halt.

The comment section was flooded with more netizens eating melon (gossip).

"No makeup? Her dress is so simple too. But she's really a classical beauty! Her temperament is really amazing!"

"Where are the people who said that their cousin works in the Zhou family and Zhou Zong has already divorced Laura? If they're divorced, why is she still using the title of Zhou Tai to invite various wealthy families to the party? Having a brain is a good thing."

"Please let Miss Jiang Meng, who is more beautiful than ten Lauras, come out and take a few steps——"

"U1S1, Gu is more beautiful than 100 jms. Hee hee. Please stop hyping Jiang Meng's red carpet beauty that surpasses countless female stars!"

Jiang Meng felt a myocardial infarction every time she read one.

Her agent saw her covering her stomach and struggling to catch her breath, so he quickly covered her phone.

"Do you want to have a miscarriage on the spot? Don't forget your purpose!" the agent said in frustration.

Originally, she thought Jiang Meng would be the most promising person in her hands. She was beautiful enough, and with the support of her mixed-race persona, both male and female fans loved her face. Later, when she got together with Mr. Cao, good resources came rolling in... but she just got pregnant...

Getting pregnant is fine, Jiang Meng has her ways.

But how come she couldn't stabilize after just one round with Laura?

"It's no use trying to find Laura... she won't even see me. The second and fourth sons of the Zhou family don't care either... no one wants to acknowledge the child in my belly." Jiang Meng gasped for breath twice and barely recovered.

"What you mean is..."

"Call Zhou Wenshu..."