Qiuyun said in a low voice, "The other side started setting this up last year, and it's clearly been operated through back channels, without letting anyone on our side catch even a hint of it. That's enough to prove that what Qin Man sent out was the only material in existence. Since that's the case, let's play big too and show our stance first—at least take control of the current public opinion and stop it from continuing to tilt so one-sidedly."
"What do you mean?" Secretary Zhu asked.
"We add one clause at the end of our clarification statement. As long as anyone can produce an intimate photo of the boss and that woman—parenthesis, a clear-eyed intimate photo that is not AI-generated or Photoshopped, end parenthesis—President Jiang himself will put up a reward of one hundred million yuan. However, given the magnitude of the amount, if anyone forges such a photo to scam the reward, the Jiang Group will file charges of fraud and pursue the matter to the fullest extent of the law!"
Just then, Old Master Jiang's phone call came in. Jiang Yihua didn't answer it. He made the decision on the spot: "Send it just like that. Draft it and release it right now, immediately!"
Secretary Zhu: "Understood."
The company had crisis PR templates on hand. Secretary Zhu adapted one, revised portions of the content, and added the clause Qiuyun had proposed.
Ten minutes later, the clarification statement from the Jiang Group's legal department, stamped with the official red seal, was released. In an instant, the hashtag #OneHundredMillionReward# shot to number one on the trending list, setting the social networks ablaze.
—Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! In my lifetime I get to see a big shot personally come down to debunk a rumor. This is a once-in-a-lifetime sight!
—Hiss, how come President Jiang sounds so confident? One hundred million, people!
—[Hands clasped in prayer] My stocks are saved, my stocks are saved, my stocks are saved.
—Isn't this just a smoke screen? What if he actually puts up the money and then just insists the photos are fake?
—Ha, you think there aren't a few hidden experts among us gossip fans? That famous nine-panel photo grid has already been dug into by well-known hackers, and it's been confirmed they're not photoshopped or AI-generated. But by pulling the metadata from all nine photos, it's been revealed that the time span of the shots doesn't exceed two minutes.
—Wait, so there's a twist?
—No, the photos are real, that's a fact. What's the big deal that they were taken within two minutes? Aren't people allowed to be good at taking photos?
—But don't you guys think the content in the parentheses is very clearly pointing at something? Why does it have to be open-eyed? Could they have been candid shots?
—Ha, have you ever seen a male celebrity being secretly photographed in bed with his eyes open? If his eyes were open, would he still be letting someone take that photo?
...
Old Master Jiang's phone kept ringing. Jiang Yihua muted it and placed it face down on the table, letting out a light breath. "What do we do next?"
Qiuyun sighed. "This is a bit tricky."
"First, there's this Qin Man. She resigned two months ago, and whoever's behind her only pushed this onto the trending list today. Moreover, this constitutes a serious violation of image rights and fabrication of facts—it's illegal. I suspect she's already taken her payment and gone abroad. Finding her won't be possible."
"Behind her?"
Jiang Yihua paused for a moment before it clicked. "Right. If someone wanted to extort me, they would've come to me the same day they took the photos. They wouldn't have waited over three months and then leaked them for free just to send me to the entertainment news."
Secretary Zhu: "Then who could it be? Director Wang? General Manager Zhang, or..."
"It's someone in the family," Qiuyun said with certainty.
Jiang Yihua's expression darkened in an instant.
Yes. It really was someone in the family.
Only family members would know that every building in the manor had surveillance cameras with a coverage period of three months.
Only family members would have ears and eyes to know that he and his wife were gradually reconciling and had even gone down to the lower ground floor together today.
Only family members would wait until the surveillance footage had been completely overwritten and the moment before the eldest branch united as one, to detonate this scandal.
So the list of suspects narrowed down to the second branch, the third branch, and the mother and son of Ge Furen (Mrs. Ge).
Jiang Yihua directly voiced his speculation, but Qiuyun couldn't determine the exact culprit either. "If this matter is not handled properly, sir will inevitably be forced to step down from his position as president of the Jiang Group and bear the responsibility. Every one of them stands to benefit, so it's indeed very hard to pinpoint who it is."
Online, they had only temporarily stabilized public opinion and prevented it from becoming completely one-sided. But if Jiang Yihua failed to produce solid evidence thereafter, this scandal would keep trailing his career like a shadow.
Qiuyun sighed. "This one-hundred-million reward is only a delaying tactic at best. If we can't come up with concrete evidence to rebut within three days, the public backlash online will only come back even harder."
Jiang Yihua felt deflated. He rubbed his hair and face in frustration. "Damn it! Why did I have to run into something like this? When I find out who did it, they're dead!"
"Never mind who it is—how dare you use the group's reputation to salvage your own name?!"
Outside the door, Butler Lin wheeled Old Master Jiang in.
Jiang Yihua's expression stiffened, and he rose from his seat. "Father."
Given the urgency of the situation, Old Master Jiang's legs weren't strong enough for him to walk in slowly, so he had to be wheeled in by Butler Lin.
The study fell silent, so still you could hear a pin drop—only the rustling sound of the wheelchair's wheels against the solid wood floor.
After a long moment, the wheels came to a stop.
Old Master Jiang looked at the assembled people with a stern face. "Who came up with this idea for you?"
They were father and son after all, and Old Master Jiang had trained him with his own hands. Such a bold and radical idea could never have come from his son's own head.
Qiuyun didn't let her boss take the heat. She stepped forward half a step and said respectfully, "It was me."
Old Master Jiang narrowed his eyes. "I remember you. Little Seven's assistant. You brew a fine pot of tea, and lately you've been stirring things up in the eldest branch, pushing through some kind of new rules reform."
Qiuyun: "Yes. The madam has not managed household affairs for many years, and the internal management of the eldest branch has become chaotic. The master and madam specially appointed me to overhaul things from top to bottom, and initial results are already showing."
Old Master Jiang's tone was imposing without needing to raise his voice. "Did I ask you?"
Qiuyun lowered her eyes. "I wouldn't dare."
Everyone's breath caught. The room was so heavy and stifling it felt hard to breathe.
In the end, he had invested years of effort into his eldest son. After a long silence, Old Master Jiang calmed his anger and looked at Jiang Yihua. "Three days. Don't say I didn't give you a chance. If you can't resolve this within three days, you'll resign at the press conference yourself."
Jiang Yihua's face was grim. He lowered his head. "Understood."
Old Master Jiang leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the room one by one. Butler Lin pushed the wheelchair and slowly left the study.
With the man in charge gone, the suffocating atmosphere in the study dissipated. The four secretaries and assistants who had been waiting outside on the estate, too afraid to cross paths with Old Master Jiang, now crowded in all at once.
"How did it go?"
"What did the chairman say?"
Sun Assistant Manager spoke in a hushed tone. "It's all Assistant Qiu's fault. If we'd played it slow and steady, we could've bought ourselves more time. Now that the one-hundred-million reward announcement has been released, Old Master Jiang has only given us three days to fix this."
Qiuyun said calmly, "If we'd gone with a slow and steady approach, yes, the group could have let time fade everything away—but along with it, the previous president would fade away too. If we hadn't made that one-hundred-million reward statement, the clarification would've just sat on the announcement page with zero buzz and never spread."
Jiang Yihua naturally understood what mattered more, and said testily, "Xiao Sun, you go on down first."
Sun Bo choked on his words, clearly wanting to stay.
But Secretary Zhu had already stepped forward. "We've already gotten most of the information we need regarding Qin Man. If there's anything else we don't know, we'll check with you again, Sun Assistant Manager."
