Yu Xiang frowned, clearly unable to believe it.
Qiuyun said, “All we have to do is ask whether this student ran into Professor Dai before coming to the Academic Affairs Office to drop something off. Then we’ll know.”
The investigation had reached a dead end, but now there was a possible lead. Yu Xiang was unwilling to let it slip by. She asked in the teachers’ group which department the student belonged to, found the corresponding counselor, and asked her to check whether the student had encountered anyone when she came to the Academic Affairs Office to drop off documents on March 27.
While they waited for a reply, it was time to eat.
Madam had no appetite for the meal sent over by the head chef, so she had Qiuyun, Sister Zhou, Xiuxiu, and the others eat it instead.
During the meal, Qiuyun took out her phone to follow up on Sun Assistant Manager and Assistant Qian’s investigation. She had not expected Madam’s husband to call at that moment.
“Hello, sir.”
“Assistant Qiu, where are you? Are you at the estate?”
Qiuyun swallowed her food. “Yes. I’m on the auxiliary first basement level.”
Jiang Yihua immediately realized what was going on. “You’re on the auxiliary first basement level? You know about my wife’s situation?”
Qiuyun did not know how he had found out and could only answer honestly, “Yes. We already have a lead, and we’ll be able to catch the person secretly writing the anonymous reports very soon.”
There was reproach in Jiang Yihua’s voice. “Why didn’t you tell me about something this serious?”
Facing his accusation, Qiuyun replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, “I’m an employee of the estate. Madam is the lady of the house.”
Madam’s footsteps sounded behind her. She came over and took the phone from Qiuyun.
“It was me who told Xiaoqiu not to say anything. This is just a minor matter. Don’t use the way you handle things to interfere in my affairs.”
Back when she had first become a teacher, one of her students had confessed his feelings to her in class. After Jiang Yihua found out, he had immediately used his connections to transfer the student to another university of the same level!
The incident had made her uncomfortable at school for years, and she had felt terribly sorry for the student who had been transferred. It was only after that class graduated that she finally began to feel better.
From then on, Yu Xiang no longer allowed Jiang Yihua, who was prone to making mountains out of molehills, to meddle in anything related to her work at the university.
Remembering the past, Jiang Yihua swallowed his anger. “Fine. Give the phone back to Assistant Qiu. I have something to ask her.”
Qiuyun took the phone again. “Hello?”
Jiang Yihua said, “Find somewhere Madam can’t see you, and open the trending searches.”
The trending searches?
Qiuyun’s expression turned serious. She immediately got up and went to the small garden outside the dining room, then opened the relevant app.
Sure enough, she saw the maliciously worded hashtag “Rich Madam Pays for Her Way into Top Journals” near the top of the trending list!
Qiuyun had not even clicked on it before she knew that someone was behind the trend—and that the person who had exposed the matter was not from the university.
Only people competing over the family’s assets would be so eager to focus public attention on the words “rich madam,” then drag the Jiang family into it and attempt to make Madam the culprit responsible for damaging the group’s reputation.
When she clicked on it, she found that Madam’s identity had already been exposed across the entire internet: the wife of the president of Jiang Corporation and the eldest daughter-in-law of the former chairman.
What had begun as an ordinary investigation into an anonymous report at the university had now escalated into a question of whether Jiang Corporation had used money and connections to pave the way for Yu Xiang’s academic career. Netizens speculated wildly, wondering whether all of her previous papers had also been bought with money.
Behavior that relied on wealth and power to take shortcuts and place someone above ordinary people was practically guaranteed to hit a nerve with the public.
The internet was filled with angry condemnation.
Qiuyun ignored the emotionally charged comments and returned to the call. “I’ve seen it. This looks like Mr. Jiang’s doing.”
There was a brief silence on the other end before Jiang Yihua said through gritted teeth, “I knew it was him! What do we do now? Should we issue a statement?”
“No,” Qiuyun replied. “You’re the group’s president, so it would be perfectly reasonable for you to issue a statement in the group’s name. But Madam doesn’t hold a position in the group, and her university hasn’t spoken up either. If we jump in now, it will only make the claim that Madam used the group to pave her way even more convincing.”
Jiang Yihua frowned. “Then what do we do? Should I contact the university and ask them to issue a statement?”
“That would work. The university is Madam’s employer, so its statement will carry more weight than ours. As for the parts that need to be clarified by Madam herself, let’s wait until we see whether we can catch the person who filed the report. Then we can deal with that.”
“Fine. Don’t tell her about this yet. She’s never really been through anything like this before, and I’m worried she won’t be able to handle it.”
That was clearly impossible.
Still, Qiuyun answered, “Understood.”
She hung up.
Qiuyun rubbed her temples. Jiang Yifeng had moved far too quickly.
Did he really keep an eye on everything that happened at Madam’s university?
Or was there someone in the auxiliary first basement level who played the same role as Hu Yin?
Qiuyun thought carefully. After all, this was hardly a flattering matter, and Madam had told no one except her, Sister Zhou, and Xiuxiu.
Everyone else only knew that they were busy, not what they were busy with.
She had no way of confirming whether there was a spy at the university, but she could first rule out the people at home.
“Sister Zhou, are you finished eating?” Qiuyun asked as she walked back in.
Sister Zhou nodded. “Yes.”
“Let’s use this time to check on the other students who might be involved and see whether anyone suspicious visited afterward. In case it wasn’t Professor Dai, we can immediately shift our focus.”
“Okay.”
Sister Zhou followed Qiuyun into the living room.
Between Sister Zhou and Xiuxiu, Qiuyun actually trusted Sister Zhou more.
After all, she was Madam’s confidante. Their interests were practically inseparable, with one flourishing when the other flourished and suffering when the other suffered. How could she possibly have nothing better to do than betray Madam?
So once they reached the living room, Qiuyun told Sister Zhou everything directly while quietly observing her reaction, completely ruling out the possibility that she was the culprit.
That left Xiuxiu…
Sister Zhou shook her head in denial. “Xiuxiu is the person Madam trusts most besides me. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked her to check the surveillance footage. Besides, Madam has twice given her mother money for medical treatment—two hundred thousand yuan each time! With such a huge debt of gratitude, Xiuxiu couldn’t possibly do something so heartless.”
That was true.
However, when it came to matters like this, Qiuyun preferred to make her own judgments rather than rely on someone else’s description.
She knew Sister Zhou well enough to eliminate her by observing her expression. But she was not familiar with Xiuxiu, so she lowered her voice and called her.
“Hello. Have you found out who wrote the anonymous letter?”
Then Sister Zhou heard Xiuxiu reply in a low voice, “No, no. I already told you—it won’t be that quick!”
“Okay.”
Qiuyun hung up crisply. The facts were already perfectly clear.
Sister Zhou stared at her, stunned, as fury instantly erupted in her eyes!
Only a moment ago, she had been swearing that Xiuxiu was innocent. The very next moment, she had been slapped in the face by reality!
Madam had treated Xiuxiu so well! She had not even held it against her when Xiuxiu broke the tea set. When Xiuxiu’s mother had been seriously ill, Madam had given her leave and money. Yet somehow, all that kindness had raised such an ungrateful wretch!
Qiuyun hurriedly stopped her. “Don’t ruin things. I was baiting her and pretending to fish for information. I did it so she wouldn’t realize that we already know the truth. That way, we can turn this situation around and use it to clear Madam’s name.”
