Alice felt guilty as she saw the expectant gazes of the two fall upon her. She closed her eyes and offered a flimsy excuse, "I was eager to win this competition, so I adopted some bold ideas, hoping my work would stand out among the designs!"
Hearing this, Lidoviana cautiously glanced at the man beside her. When she saw a flicker of disappointment in his eyes, she held her forehead with a slight headache and said in a low voice, "Alright, your design is excellent, and I'm very reassured after seeing it. Since there's nothing else, I'll hang up now!"
As soon as the call ended, Alice's strength seemed to drain away, and she slumped powerlessly to the floor. A servant nearby quickly helped her up.
"Miss Alice!"
"What if I'm found guilty of plagiarism? The Empress said she attaches great importance to this competition. With such a scandal, I'm afraid I won't have a place in country M anymore!" Alice's expression was filled with fear as she said this.
When Zhang Wan'er brought the design draft over, her intention was for Alice to make minor changes and improve it to be better than Chen Lishu's. However, after repeated research, she found Chen Lishu's work to be almost perfect! There was no other way; she had to use the original draft!
At first, she was proud of her actions, completely unaware of the seriousness of the situation. After the events of today, she suddenly realized that if identical works were presented at the competition and she couldn't explain them, wouldn't it be a confirmed case of plagiarism?
As Alice was in a state of panic over this matter, a servant quickly embraced her, patting her back and gently comforting her, "Miss, don't worry. Don't forget that this competition is an internal competition within our country M, and all the judges are our own people!
Rest assured, even if it's plagiarism, those judges will find ways to twist the truth for the sake of national prestige. Besides, why should it be considered our plagiarism? We can accuse Chen Lishu of plagiarizing instead!
Look at this design style; only people from our country M can carry off such a bold and passionate style. People from Huaxia are still wrapping their heads in foot-binding cloths! As long as you don't expose your emotions, Chen Lishu won't be able to do anything to you!"
Hearing the servant's comfort, Alice found it very reasonable. She nodded and thanked the servant with a grateful smile, "What you said makes a lot of sense, thank you for your comfort!"
Meanwhile, within the royal family of country M.
After hanging up the phone, Lidoviana cautiously approached the man and asked him in his ear, "Qin Shen, do you really like the Chief Designer's work? If I say I want her to win this competition, will you be angry with me?"
The man heard Lidoviana's words and replied with a cold expression, "Do as you please! Anyway, this girl's design ability is indeed quite high. The current designers in the country cannot achieve such results. It's normal for her to win!"
Lidoviana's eyes lit up, "I know it's normal, but I still want to discuss it with you. After all, Huaxia is your home. I'm afraid you'll be unhappy if I favor Alice in the competition."
"No, if I have nothing else, I'll go back to my room to rest." Qin Shen said these words with a cold expression and left without looking back.
Upon returning to his room, Qin Shen shed all pretense, his eyes blankly staring ahead, muttering, "This is wrong. This avant-garde design style shouldn't appear in this era. Where did it go wrong? Could all of this be a dream?"
----
Time quickly flew by to the day of the competition.
Early in the morning, as soon as He Zinian opened his room door, he saw Qin Yue lurking suspiciously at his doorstep. She was cautiously looking around, extending her hand as if about to knock on his door.
He Zinian spoke in a low voice, "What are you doing?"
The sudden noise startled Qin Yue. Just as she was about to scream, she seemed to realize something and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
She said cautiously, "Second Brother He, I have something important to tell you. Can we find a safer place to talk properly?"
He Zinian raised an eyebrow and said, "Come into my room and say it. It's only five o'clock, and they probably don't have the habit of getting up early. There's no need to be so nervous!"
"Mmm." Qin Yue cautiously glanced around. Once she confirmed it was safe, she followed He Zinian into the room.
As soon as she entered, she impatiently revealed her purpose, "Yesterday, Meng Lei suddenly went crazy and told me to increase the dosage of the medicine for Madam He, saying... saying to finish her off once and for all!"
Hearing this news, He Zinian narrowed his eyes dangerously. What a wolf in sheep's clothing! He subtly took out his phone, turned on the recording function, and asked Qin Yue again, "I'm not sure if I'm still groggy from waking up early, but I feel like the news I heard is a bit unreal. Can you repeat it?"
Qin Yue didn't suspect anything and said directly, "I'm saying that Meng Lei told me to increase the dosage of the neurotoxin for Madam He. He plans to wrap things up after the matter is successful!"
As soon as she finished speaking, He Zinian quickly pretended to have a sudden realization and nodded. Then, he said gratefully, "Thank you for passing this information to me. Now that everyone's attention is focused on Chen Lishu's competition, no one knows that Meng Lei's intentions are so vicious. If you hadn't told me this news in time, the consequences would have been irreversible."
Seeing He Zinian's grateful expression, Qin Yue's eyes darted, and she then pretended to be embarrassed as she slowly said, "If you don't blame me, I should be thanking you!
Since the Qin family suffered setbacks and went through all these things, I have no other ideas. I just want to live a peaceful life. It was a helpless choice before. Not only do you not blame me, but you also gave me a villa. I have always remembered your kindness!
It is precisely because of your kind actions that I know making mistakes is not terrifying; what's terrifying is repeating them. Now that heaven has given me a chance to correct myself, I must cherish it. Oh, and Second Brother He, what are you planning to do next? Is there anything I can help with!"