She abandoned her husband first, then her children, and was ecstatic after the divorce.

Lin Qingran curled her lips into a meaningful smile and said.

"After all, their entertainment business is doing quite well. Artists are most afraid of being tainted by scandals. If public relations are not done well, the Fu Group might not exist today."

Bo Ye looked at Lin Qingran and said, "Aren't you afraid that the Fu Group will retaliate against you? Their public relations department can make black seem white and even make the dead seem alive."

Lin Qingran slowly stood up, walked to the window, and looked down at the bustling traffic below the building.

"Therefore, we need to investigate what secrets Fu Xiuheng has."

The art exhibition concluded successfully, and Lin Qingran and her group returned to Yuncheng.

Before returning, Lin Qingran made a point of keeping track of the activities of the Lin and Fu families, and heard that the wedding was in full swing.

However, paparazzi captured photos showing that Fu Xiuheng was not by Lin Yuyan's side when she tried on her wedding dress, and Lin Yuyan burst into tears while looking in the mirror.

When the paparazzi caught them doing this, they naturally made a big fuss about it online.

However, the Lin Group quickly issued a denial, stating that Fu Xiuheng was not absent that day, but rather that a meeting had run late. Lin Yuyan's tears were not due to any discord in their relationship, as rumored, but rather because the two had overcome numerous difficulties to finally be together, and she was overwhelmed with emotion.

The Fu Group has not commented on this, but their official account quietly liked the post from the Lin Group refuting the rumors.

It seems that both sides are tacitly agreeing to shift the blame onto Lin Qingran.

Lin Qingran had a premonition that soon, a large number of negative articles would appear online, detailing the relationship between the two and how she had interfered in their relationship.

As for the news from the Lin family's side, there's another relatively explosive one.

Zhou Lan and Shen Pei'an personally presided over the relocation ceremony of Lin Qingran's grave.

There were many reporters present at the time, and Zhou Lan said in front of the camera that Lin Qingran was, after all, her biological daughter, and she couldn't bear to let Lin Qingran lie alone in the cemetery, so she specially chose a feng shui treasure site and moved Lin Qingran's grave there.

Her eyes sparkled in front of the camera, and her words were full of profound meaning.

It was as if she was saying that, as a mother, she had done everything she could for Lin Qingran.

As for why Lin Qingran was standing alone elsewhere and didn't even have a proper funeral, Zhou Lan did not respond.

But her tears in front of the public were enough to give all the viewers something to speculate about for hundreds of rounds.

After that, there was no further news from them.

Lin Qingran guessed that Zhou Lan should be arriving soon.

Sure enough, the assistant called the next morning, saying that Zhou Lan wanted to meet Lin Qingran.

The two arranged to meet at a club frequented by Lin Qingran, choosing a private tea room.

Zhou Lan sat in front of Lin Qingran, her posture elegant, still maintaining the air of a noblewoman.

However, her gaze kept sweeping over Lin Qingran, as if she had everything under control, or as if she had already seen through Lin Qingran's magic trick in front of her.

After a long time, Zhou Lan finally spoke up.

“I know that what happened online before was your doing. As your mother, I have covered it all up for you, and that would be more than enough. Now, tell me, how much money do you want to keep quiet?”

When the two met alone, Zhou Lan finally dropped the pretense and bluntly revealed Lin Qingran's true identity.

But she remained aloof, using morality to coerce Lin Qingran.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I already know?" Lin Qingran smiled without any fear.

Zhou Lan's expression darkened, and the smile on her face began to falter slightly.

She thought that Lin Qingran took the initiative to write to her and wanted to see her because Lin Qingran wanted to use the private information she knew to blackmail her.

In Zhou Lan's view, even though she is now Jiang Yuanbai's closed-door disciple and even Jiang Yuanbai has publicly acknowledged her as his daughter, they, the literati and scholars, are nothing more than self-proclaimed dignified. Without power or wealth, they will ultimately have to bow down to these wealthy and powerful families.

So all she could think of was that Lin Qingran wanted money.

But Lin Qingran turned around and asked herself the same question.

This left Zhou Lan somewhat bewildered, and her expression turned rather unpleasant.

“Now that things have come to this, stop pretending to be high and mighty. Everyone needs money in this world. I know you’re famous now, but what I can give you is far more than you could earn in a lifetime,” Zhou Lan said.

Then, with a righteous expression, she said, "After all, your child is my own grandson. Consider this my way of giving her living expenses as his grandmother."

Lin Qingran couldn't help but laugh out loud. Zhou Lan looked at her strangely, not understanding what Lin Qingran was laughing about.

His expression immediately became tense, and he said seriously.

"I'm talking to you nicely now, so you'd better behave yourself, or don't blame me for turning my back on you and disowning you as my daughter."

Lin Qingran seemed to have heard a huge joke, let out a light snort, and directly asked Zhou Lan a question.

"Have you ever treated me as your daughter?"

Zhou Lan's hand, gripping the cup, slowly tightened, her knuckles turning white, and a fierce glint appeared in her eyes as she looked at Lin Qingran.

Seeing that she was no longer pretending, Lin Qingran saw no need to play games with her anymore and spoke directly and crisply.

"Ms. Zhou, I don't want your money."

Zhou Lan was taken aback. If you don't want money, then what do you want?

"What do you mean?"

"Your money, power, and status are no different to me than a car driving by on the road or dirty water dripping from the eaves. I don't take your money; it means nothing to me, do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lan immediately flew into a rage, slammed her hand on the table, and stood up abruptly.

"Lin Qingran, don't be ungrateful! You're just a lousy painter, do you really think you're something special?"

Lin Qingran crossed her arms, leaned back, and looked at Zhou Lan with a playful expression.

"Ms. Zhou, didn't you want to negotiate with me? Verbal exchanges are inevitable in negotiations. Ms. Zhou, are you unable to handle this?"

Zhou Lan knew she was being too excited, so in order to maintain her dignity as a noblewoman, she slowly sat down, composed herself, and said.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to keep your good daughter in check and not let her come here to court disaster. And while you're at it, keep an eye on your son-in-law, because I'm not one to tolerate any dissent. If you piss me off, I can't guarantee what terrible things I might do. Also, I want you to promise never to bother me or my bell again."

It's that simple?

Zhou Lan was somewhat surprised, and her expression towards Lin Qingran became even more complicated.

She went to great lengths to see him, and in the end, this was all she wanted?

This doesn't seem like Lin Qingran's usual style lately.