"Remember, don’t leave any evidence with Sister Kitty. No amount of compensation is too much as long as she takes full responsibility, but this must not affect you. You’ve just risen to fame, and your reputation is everything," Jiang Xing emphasized once more.
Jiang Zhao frowned. "I understand."
After hanging up, Jiang Zhao immediately opened Weibo to search for related trending topics.
Although his older brother had already spent money to remove many of the posts, some still lingered, though the discussions had died down.
[Is Jiang Zhao an idiot? Instead of compensating his own sister, he framed her for the sake of some adopted girl, ruining her reputation at his own welcome banquet!]
[Seriously! You’d have to be brain-dead to pull something like this!]
[How can anyone trust a public figure who would scheme against his own sister? Fans of his must be just as rotten!]
[All he’s got is a decent face. His music is mediocre at best—some internet singers are even better!]
[Agreed! His fans keep hyping him as the most talented young singer of our generation. Disgusting! He can’t even compare to the legendary Mandarin pop stars from twenty years ago. The audacity to even try!]
[Have you seen his sister’s live piano performance? Absolutely insane! Rumor has it she improvised the composition. Doesn’t that blow Jiang Zhao’s so-called ‘talent’ out of the water?]
Reading these comments, Jiang Zhao’s face darkened like a storm cloud.
Jiang Yonghe glanced at him, concern in her voice. "Second Brother, what’s wrong?"
Jiang Zhao pocketed his phone, his expression grim. "The news about me asking Sister Kitty to tamper with Jiang Youli’s evening gown has leaked online."
Jiang Yonghe gasped, feigning distress. "Is it serious? Could this hurt your reputation and popularity? You’ve only just started gaining fame."
Jiang Zhao shook his head. "It’s fine. I’ll handle it."
His eyes hardened. "This is definitely Jiang Youli’s doing. Hah, she thinks spending a little money to expose me online will ruin my reputation? She has no idea how high my popularity is right now. Does she really think something this small can take me down? How naïve. I’ll show her—no matter how hard she tries, she’ll never destroy me!"
How foolish of him to have even considered acknowledging Jiang Youli as his sister last night, even for a moment.
After this morning’s incident and now this exposure, his disgust for her had solidified once more.
"Besides, if she can expose my dirty laundry, so can I. Money is no issue—digging up her past scandals will be child’s play!"
"But Second Brother, are you sure it was Jiang Youli?" Jiang Yonghe hesitated. "There were so many guests at the banquet last night."
Jiang Zhao wouldn’t hear it. He was convinced the leak could only be Jiang Youli’s doing. "Who else would want to sabotage my career? None of the other guests would dare cross our family—unless they’re prepared to face the consequences!"
Jiang Yonghe pretended to think it over before reluctantly agreeing. "...I suppose you’re right."
"If she dares come after me, she’d better be ready to be ruined herself!" Jiang Zhao clenched his phone, his gaze venomous.
A flicker of triumph flashed in Jiang Yonghe’s eyes. In truth, she had also secretly paid for trolls to amplify the scandal.
Her goal? To escalate the conflict—to push Jiang Youli and Jiang Zhao into irreconcilable opposition.
So what if Jiang Youli had outshined her at the banquet? Now that she’d alienated their entire adoptive family, Jiang Youli’s life in the Jiang household would only get worse.
A little musical talent didn’t make her invincible. Where did Jiang Youli get the confidence to think she could take down their adoptive father, Jiang Yangxu, and his family?
---
Jiang Youli finished organizing the dried medicinal herbs and decided to visit a Beijing auction house to sell them.
Just as she got into the car, Ye Ying called.
"Boss, we’ve leaked Jiang Zhao’s scandals as you instructed, but Jiang Xing acted fast—he spent a fortune suppressing them."
Ye Ying reported the latest developments.
Jiang Youli had expected this. She smirked. "Let him waste his money. Keep pouring funds into keeping the exposure alive."
Did he really think he could outspend her in a troll war?
Once these herbs were auctioned off—aside from funding further research for the village elders—she’d have more than enough to crush Jiang Zhao and Jiang Xing.
Hah. Her goal was simple: to make them seethe in helpless rage.
Ye Ying understood her boss’s strategy. This was psychological warfare—slowly breaking the brothers down until they realized their powerlessness.
But the Jiang Yangxu family had brought this upon themselves.
Who asked them to look down on the boss in the first place?
"Understood, Boss... Oh, one more thing. Someone else is also funding trolls to smear Jiang Zhao. I traced the IP—it’s Jiang Yonghe."
"Of course. She knows Jiang Zhao will blame me, so she’s fanning the flames to deepen his hatred."
As if she cared whether Jiang Zhao accepted her or not. His hatred meant nothing.
"Should we expose Jiang Yonghe’s role to Jiang Zhao and Jiang Xing?"
"Not yet. I’ve changed my mind—let her keep stabbing them in the back. When they’ve lost everything, realizing the sister they cherished has been manipulating them all along... that’ll be far more satisfying."
"I see." Ye Ying marveled at her boss’s ruthlessness. She still had much to learn.
After hanging up, Jiang Youli smirked and dialed Jiang Xing’s number.
---
Star Light Entertainment.
Jiang Xing slumped in his office chair, exhaustion weighing on him as he massaged his temples.
When his phone rang again, he reluctantly opened his eyes. Seeing the caller ID, his expression darkened before he answered.
"Jiang Xing, was it you who paid to suppress the trending topics about Jiang Zhao sabotaging my evening gown?"
Jiang Youli’s accusatory tone grated on him. Suppressing his irritation, Jiang Xing replied, "Yes, it was me. Jiang Zhao is an artist under Star Light Entertainment and my brother. Isn’t it natural for me to protect his reputation?"
On the other end, Jiang Youli let out a light chuckle before saying, "But what can you do? I just want to ruin Jiang Zhao's reputation so he can't keep being an idol singer. Are you sure you want to meddle in this? Don’t forget, you’re still poisoned—and only I have the antidote."
