The Rise of the White Lotus

Ethan Lu's reasoning was like a heavily dropped bomb that nearly deafened the accused Lyrick Jiang. None of the three recovered fast enough as they could only turn to him in dismay. 

Lyrick Jiang: "!!!"

Nico Zhuang: "???"

Lexi: "..." 

After some time within the dreaded silence that had dawned onto the whole Lu Villa, Lexi finally was able to recover from her boyfriend's shamelessness for dragging even an innocent assistant in this.

"An accomplice? Accessory? Ethan Lu, Nico Zhuang keep kneeling!" Her order was louder than a rumbling thunder to Ethan Lu and Nico Zhuang. On the other hand, Lyrick Jiang's eyes lit up upon hearing that his name wasn't on the list of the queen's death list. However, despite the jubilation hailing inside his mind and worshipping Lexi as if she was a real-life deity, Lyrick Jiang remained composed on the surface. 

'Bless this goddess, my dear Lord. Let me resign as Master Lu's assistant and apply to be the Madam's right-hand man instead!' He sincerely prayed inwardly while his subconscious self kowtowed thanking the heavens for sending him a savior in the flesh. 

"Lyrick, stand up." Lexi glanced at Lyrick Jiang who executed her order faster than the blink of an eye. Lyrick Jiang immediately stayed to the side, almost giggling for this triumphant night as his master failed to bully him under his goddess' watch. 

'I should curry more favor from the empress for protection— right, that's right hehe.' He snickered inwardly as he planned all of the brownie points he could come up with to do in the future; that future means starting that very second. 

While Lyrick Jiang was giggling about his grand plan to curry favor to his life savior from his master's clutches, the other two were glaring daggers at him. If only glares could kill, Lyrick Jiang was probably already dead multiple times in a gruesome way. 

Lexi glanced at Ethan Lu and Nico Zhuang's faces for a second before she took unhurried steps on the couch. Plopping down, Lexi noticed the paper bag that had a restaurant's mark on it— their take out food!

For some reason, the moment she laid her eyes on the food, her stomach began to growl— reminding her that she skipped two meals today. Hence, she was hungry. She then slowly sprawled her arms to reach for the small paper bag containing food. 

Lexi deliberately took her time as she checked the food that Ethan Lu's men brought for them. There were chicken wings, some soup, and some snacks. 

Delighted, Lexi bit her lower lip and grabbed the tupperware of chicken wings before leaning her back against the sofa— positioning herself in the most comfortable manner while watching the two kneeling on the washboard. 

"My love, will you repeat what you just said just now? I don't seem to understand." Sweet yet vicious, Lexi requested as she took a big bite out of the chicken wing she picked up. 

Ethan Lu watched her leisurely eat while he was being punished. For god's sake! He hasn't eaten dinner and only ate a little portion earlier at lunch as he wanted to enjoy a meal with her. However, who would have thought that the dinner he prepared would be ruined and he was unable to eat before these two arrived?

On another note, Ethan Lu realized that he was also the one who proposed that he should just ask these two to bring them take out food. 'Damn it!'

"Lyrick, he's my—"

"No, not that one. The one before that." Even before he could finish his sentence, Lexi abruptly interrupted while shaking her head sideways. After she spouted her clarified demand, she then took another nip from the juicy chicken wings. 

"Nico, is one of my men disguised to protect you." With his lack of energy, Ethan Lu responded as he glanced to his side where Nico Zhuang was kneeling and then to the deity watching them suffer. 

"Why?" Letting out a heavy sigh, Lexi confirmed that she didn't hear wrong. Her ears and eyes weren't really deceiving her as Nico Zhuang, in the flesh was indeed present. 

"Love, can we stand up so I can explain properly?" Desperate, Ethan Lu used his ultimate skill— the puppy eyes. He showed no regards to his reputation in front of one of his trusted men as his life was more important. Moreover, they had already seen his 180-degree change in personality whenever he was with Lexi. Hence, he could not be careless anymore! He is after all, hungry as well!

Lexi only stared at him with narrowed eyes as if she was saying: 'how dare you peasant to ask such a thing!'. Nico Zhuang could only cringe at the sight of his master while Lyrick Jiang was already swimming in the fantasy of being pet by his new master named Lexi Yang. 

"Baby, My love, my sun and moon, the brightest star in the night sky, and my world... no, my entire universe, I know I'm wrong for not telling you— that's why I want to make up my wrong choices right now." One heavy sigh after another heavy sigh, Ethan Lu placed his palms together and slowly rubbed them as he apologized. 

However, although his words effectively wavered the angered empress, the mother of the nation, Ethan Lu's every word sent goosebumps to his confidants. 

They cringed with every word in that one mere bootlicking sentence. It was so cringe-worthy that even Lyrick Jiang, who was in the middle of envisioning being praised to the heavens by Lexi, was interrupted. Both shot Ethan Lu a disrespectful disdainful glance and thought in unison: 'She won't buy it'. 

Alas, just as they thought his words wouldn't be so magical to reduce their sentence. "Alright, sit over there and explain. This time, Ethan Lu, I am telling you, whatever you say might and can be used against you— I advise you to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth." After a heavy sigh, Lexi surely had a soft spot for Ethan Lu as she could not bear to watch him suffer longer than she expected. Hence, after a nod of agreement, she permitted the two to fill her in on the details without being pained by the washboard. 

Still, her words were clad by threats as she warned them with what the police normally say when they capture a criminal.