Chapter 243 - Couldn't You Come Up With A Better Idea?

Lanni breathed out a sigh of relief. An Zichen was as expected, reliable. "Then tomorrow, it is."

After going through everything else he needed to know, it was decided that he would go the following morning as though randomly seeking a job. Lanni thought of making him disguise with makeup, a fake scar or a skin mask.

However, things might go south if he ever forgot those things or something ever happened and exposed the fact that he was under a disguise.

So after having him dye his hair and change his dressing style, he went to Li Xiyan's house.

_

Meanwhile, Lanni went to visit Xia Hanchen again. This time, Li Yuming didn't say a word despite knowing where she was going.

Xiehan had a meeting to attend in the morning so he did not accompany her.

Lanni chatted with him for a little longer than the first two times. His health was getting better and better and in a few weeks he would be discharged.

"You look so happy." He remarked when he saw that Lanni kept smiling at nothing in particular. "Can you share the joy with daddy?"

Lanni leaned over to hug him, her smile deepening further. "It's because you are getting better. Of course I would be happy." While she was happy because of that, the main cause of her joy was something else. She would get information about Li Xiyan soon. She was both excited and anxious, but only let the excitement show.

Xia Hanchen smiled, infected by her happiness. "Why don't you tell me about how you are doing yourself? How is school, Hmm?" He probed.

"Well, uhm.." Lanni had not thought about that part of her life in a long time. "I was in an art class but I left." When she saw him raise an eyebrow to question her decision, she explained, "I felt like that wasn't the place for me—and I was right. Because when I recovered some of my memory I realized that the art class was not where I belonged, but somewhere else instead."

A sigh filled with sadness escaped her lips. "Mom lied to me."

"Typical of Yuming." Xia Hanchen laughed.

"What?" Lanni's ears perked up.

When he realized what he had just said, Xia Hanchen cleared his throat. He didn't mean to discuss his ex-wife with their daughter. But since he and Lanni had never talked about her, it wasn't wrong to say a thing or two. "Your mother is a caring woman. However, her good intentions may sometimes be mistaken."

He seemed to remember something, which he didn't say in the end and continued, "She is the kind of woman who sometimes acts impulsively when she is in panic. She could mean to protect someone but what she actually does could make the person mistake it as being betrayed."

Lanni raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised that he did not speak ill of her mother, considering Li Yuming had been stopping him from meeting his daughter. Then again, he still loved Li Yuming. It was normal that he didn't hold resentment against her.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did the two of you break up? I mean, aside from my grandmother constantly coming in between the two of you, there must be another reason why she hates you and the Xia family so much, right?" She asked after thinking about it. It was not just hatred. Li Yuming even seemed to be afraid of them and she would not say a word no matter how many times she was asked.

"Well…" Xia Hanchen sighed, suddenly looking sadder.

Lanni saw his expression and knew it was something more serious than it sounded. "If you don't want to talk about it…" her voice trailed off.

"It's not that I don't want to talk about it. It's just a little hard…"

The door opened, interrupting him. A nurse walked in and glanced at Lanni apologetically. "I'm sorry, It's time for Mr. Xia's rest."

Lanni nodded and said her goodbyes before leaving. They still had all the time in the world. They could talk about it some other time.

_

Later, An Zichen called and updated her of his progress.

"She did not look into my background. She did not even ask me to introduce myself and merely hired me after testing my strength by asking me to spar with some of the bodyguards."

Lanni massaged her temples when An Zichen delivered the news. "It seems like Li Xiyan won't be bringing you to her lab any time soon. She might look into you later, but that may take long. We cannot wait any longer."

"So what should I do?" He asked.

"We will have to proceed with the second plan."

"I understand." An Zichen responded. "What do I need to do?"

"Sneak out later and meet me." Lanni suggested. She would need to give him the USB flash drive. She had not given it to him earlier because she had hoped that they would go with the first plan, because this was more dangerous. To be fair, they were both dangerous but the first posed less risks.

…

That evening, An Zichen went to Xiehan's mansion.

They sat at the coffee table in the living room to discuss. Lanni and Xiehan sat beside each other while An Zichen sat opposite them.

"The best time to sneak into places is usually at night." Lanni spoke up first, and the men nodded in agreement.

"How is the security?" Xiehan asked.

"I didn't snoop around much to avoid arousing suspicion. But from the little I gathered, there are four guards guarding the study in shifts."

"Mhh." Lanni and Xiehan exchanged looks of relief. It had been right of them to think that the study would have something important.

"Distract the guards and we will distract Li Xiyan." Xiehan said.

"How will you do that?" An Zichen couldn't help being curious. Well, he would need to know what they were going to do so he would estimate how much time he had.

"She would go crazy if my sister was released from prison, or broke out for that matter." Lanni answered him.

"That's right." Xiehan gripped her hand.

"Tomorrow in the afternoon, Xia Luna will break out of prison. In the evening, the news will get to Li Xiyan." Ji Xiehan added.

Lanni turned to look at him. "Yeah, but how will that happen? A few hours is too little."

"Lin Jian." Xiehan said, and Lanni instantly understood. The blabbermouth will help them spread a rumor.

When everything was all set, An Zichen left. Lanni wrapped her arms around Xiehan and breathed into his chest. "I'm so nervous."

"It's okay." Xiehan rubbed her back in small circles. He was nervous too. However, they had to be strong or else they might slip up.

"Are we really going to break Luna out? This is the most difficult task." Lanni tilted her head and asked. Although they had a foolproof plan, it was still dangerous and could land all of them in trouble—including Luna.

"On second thought, no." Xiehan also thought about it. "Aren't you identical? It doesn't make much of a difference who appears on the news. As long as Li Xiyan is fooled."

Lanni blinked as he continued, "Tomorrow in the afternoon, you will take a photo with Jiang Xingyu."

Lanni nodded in understanding. Li Xiyan must already know that Luna was Jiang Xingyu's girlfriend. If Lanni and Jiang Xingyu appeared together, her first impression would be that was Luna."

The following day, Xiehan called Jiang Xingyu over and explained the matter to him.

Jiang Xingyu cringed when he heard the part about taking a photo with Lanni, pretending that it was Luna.

"Don't give me that face. Don't you want your girlfriend out of prison?" Xiehan glared at him when he saw the latter acting wronged.

"Couldn't you come up with a better plan?" Jiang Xingyu grumbled.

"Why don't you come up with one?" Xiehan chided.

Jiang Xingyu could only keep quiet. Fine. Luna was his woman anyway, and he had not been able to think of anything reasonable. He and his mother had been trying to use their connections to get Luna released but it was as though someone else—someone probably more powerful than them—was trying their best to make sure Luna stayed in. He was desperate so he could only agree with Lanni and Xiehan's idea.

After reaching an agreement, Lanni had her hair straightened and changed into the clothes she had prepared. The only noticeable difference between her and Luna was that Luna's skin was slightly more pale because she rarely left the house, and this was easily corrected using a dab of unnoticeable makeup.

To avoid attention from more people, Lin Jian came over to take the photo. He would personally send it to a paparazzo with a catchy caption. It would be unwise to publish it as official news because it would create too much attention so as soon as the news reached any of Li Xiyan's people, Lin Jian would have it deleted.

He looked at the main leads of the rumor and chuckled when he saw how awkward they looked. "Come on, pose for the photos." He urged.

Lanni and Xingyu stood expressionlessly and moved a little close to each other.

He attempted to take a photo and frowned when he saw the result.. "This won't do. How about you hold hands?"