Chapter Ninety-Nine: Everyone Had Been Outmaneuvered

Ye Lilan stopped the old patriarch Ye, who was packing his things. “Dad, how could you go yourself? Let that brat deal with the mess he made. If it comes to it, I’ll go apologize. How can we let you go?”

Mrs. Ye also tried to persuade him from the side. “Exactly, Dad. Let Lilan and me go. We’ll apologize in person to the girl’s family. No matter what they want, we’ll accept it.”

“All right, enough. If you’re going, then I’m going too. For now, the two of you get back to packing.”

“Dad—”

“Sir, your body isn’t fit for such a tiring trip!” the butler also rushed over after hearing the news.

“I don’t want to hear any of that. I am going, and I’m going to break that good-for-nothing’s legs myself. Otherwise, all of you stay here and let this old man go alone.”

“Dad, we’ll go. We’ll all go together.”

The Ye couple quickly gathered a few things, skipped lunch altogether, and went straight to the airport.

Huangpu Shenqing looked at the young girl with her tear-reddened eyes, his heart aching for her.

“How could this be blamed on Ranran?”

“But if I had known sooner, I would have told Wanqing, and none of what happened after would have happened at all.”

She was sprawled on the carpet at Huangpu Shenqing’s feet, her little face still wet with tears. The more she thought about it, the more foolish she felt. “How did I not realize that Ye Zuo liked me? Mr. Huangpu, could you have known?”

What she had really meant was that something like this could never have been guessed.

But when she saw Huangpu Shenqing’s silence, her voice trembled. “So Mr. Huangpu knew too? I was the only one who didn’t, wasn’t I?”

“Be good. This isn’t your fault.”

“But Wanqing was hurt because of me, because of me.”

“Ranran, the one who hurt her was Ye Ziyan. What you need to do is figure out who drugged her, and who sent her to Ye Ziyan’s bed. Hmm? Let’s find the person behind this, all right?”

“Yes, I’m going to find the one behind the scenes who hurt Wanqing.”

Shangguan Renran immediately sat up straight, suddenly burning with determination, but before a second passed she slumped down again. “But where should I even start?”

“Be good. I’ll have Mo Yi bring up the information he’s already checked.”

“Okay.” The young girl answered obediently, her eyes red like a little rabbit’s.

Mo Yi quickly restored the surveillance footage from the hotel’s destruction, then merged it with the cameras around the television station. Finally, he organized the background information on those people.

When Shangguan Renran watched the hotel surveillance footage, she was furious. The person turned out to be a contestant from the same season as Xia Wanqing. She never expected that for first place, someone would do anything at all.

And she could already guess the other video, too.

“How does Ranran want to handle this?”

She said coldly, “I want them to spend the rest of their lives behind bars, never seeing daylight again.”

Shangguan Renran found an influencer account with a large following and laid out the whole story from beginning to end.

The post’s view count soared at once, and only then did the internet learn that both of the people involved had been set up. The real goal had been to seize the championship by destroying the reputation of the person most likely to win it.

Music Partner quickly issued an official statement as well, saying the contestant had no right to stand on their stage. All footage involving him was deleted, and the episode would air on Saturday night as scheduled.

They also released a short clip of Xia Wanqing dancing.

The online praise came flooding in at once.

“She’s gorgeous. No wonder someone was jealous.”

“Don’t be sad, big sister. Take care of your health.”

“That dance is incredible!”

“Am I the only one who thinks the girl and the movie star actually suit each other really well? Just my opinion, please don’t attack.”

“People above, you’re not alone.”

“So we misunderstood the movie star. Did he bear all of this on his own?”

“The entertainment world is really a mess.”

“I still think it’s the movie star’s fault. They clearly could have handled it some other way.”

“Men are all ruled by their lower halves. Not a single one is any good.”

“Don’t generalize from one example!”

The matter online continued to ferment. With video proof, the man had no way to deny it, and his agency quickly terminated the contract unilaterally.

The police soon intervened and also retrieved the original hotel footage.

It turned out there had been hidden cameras in the hotel after all; the ones they destroyed were only the visible ones.

So, with multiple charges added together, including destruction of public property, kidnapping, endangering another person’s safety, and disturbing public order, and as a public figure who had set a vile example, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without any possibility of visitation.

By the time the Ye family reached City A, Ye Liting was the one who came to pick them up, and he still had no idea what had happened.

“Uncle, what brings you here?”

Old Master Ye and Ye Liting’s father were brothers. They had always lived in Country Y, but out of the blue they called him and said they were coming to Country Z. He had rushed over from the company to meet them, and still had not figured out what was going on.

“Liting, has the family been well all these years?”

“Very well. Thank you for your concern, Uncle. If you don’t mind, please stay at our home. I wonder if there is some important matter behind this trip?”

“Why would I mind? I’m delighted already. I came because of that good-for-nothing. Where has he been staying these past few days?”

“You mean Yanzhi, Uncle? He has been staying at a hotel. Has something happened to him?”

“Lilan, tell Liting what that good son of mine has done. Just thinking about it embarrasses me.”

Old Master Ye leaned on his cane and got into the car, choosing not to look at them at all.

Ye Lilan briefly explained everything to Ye Liting.

“Lilan, I don’t think Yanzhi is that kind of person. Could there be some misunderstanding?”

“But this has already become a fact. No matter what, he was in the wrong.”

“Yes, yes. This is indeed very troublesome.”

Ye Liting sent Old Master Ye to his own residence and had his wife entertain him, then took out his phone and told Ye Yanzhi to come over at once.

He saw that someone had already broken the news online, so he opened the article and handed it to Old Master Ye.

“Uncle, this really was a misunderstanding. Look.”

The Ye couple also took out their phones and opened social media. Fortunately, their son had been drugged. Otherwise, the old man would have broken his legs himself.

Mrs. Ye immediately felt indignant on her son’s behalf. “Dad, look at how hateful those people are. They actually drugged our Yanzhi.”

“That’s because your son was determined to enter that world. Who is there left to blame now? Hm? In any case, what he did was wrong. Must the young girl simply be ruined for nothing?”

Ye Lilan said, “Yes, Dad. Yanzhi was indeed wrong in this matter. Even if he was set up, he still took advantage of her.”

“Yes, exactly. That poor girl even tried to kill herself. Just look at the kind of thing he did.”

Old Master Ye struck the floor with his cane, his face full of remorse.

“Uncle, don’t be like this. You still have us. We’ll handle it together.”

His wife also spoke up. “Yes, Uncle. Whatever it is, we can help.”