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

“Since you invited me back, you should know what happened next,” Lu Ziming sighed.

Later, during that period, because of the failed investment, Lu Ziming was almost accused of bribing government officials.

They were barely able to take care of themselves, so how could they possibly have time to look after Lin Qingran, who had been sent away?

To avoid danger, Lu Ziming hurriedly left the country.

Before leaving, he only had time to ask his old friend to give the things that Lin Beicheng had left behind to Lin Qingran's adoptive parents, and also send some money.

Given their circumstances, they were simply unable to rescue Lin Qingran.

All they could do was send some money to Lin Qingran's adoptive parents in the hope that Lin Qingran could have a better life under their care.

As for what happened next, Lu Ziming had no idea.

It wasn't until many years later, when Lu Ziming felt that there was nothing around him that could threaten him anymore, that he started paying attention to Lin Qingran's news again.

At that time, Lin Qingran had already been recognized and returned to the Lin family. Lu Ziming thought that the truth of what happened back then should have come to light, and there was no need for him to get involved in what happened afterward.

But he never expected that the next time he heard news of Lin Qingran, it would be the devastating news that both she and her daughter had died.

Lin Qingran listened quietly to what Lu Ziming had to say, feeling somewhat heavy-hearted.

If she hadn't experienced it herself, even if Lu Ziming had come to her specifically to tell her, Lin Qingran would never have believed it.

But these things are all true.

After a long while, Lin Qingran finally nodded.

"Since Uncle Lu says so, I understand why Zhou Lan is so eager to kill me."

Lu Ziming stared wide-eyed in surprise, "Zhou Lan is your biological mother, why would she want to kill you?"

Although Lu Ziming knew that Lin Qingran must have had a bad time after returning to the Lin family, otherwise she wouldn't have faked her death and returned to the world with another identity.

However, Lu Ziming found it hard to believe that Zhou Lan wanted to kill Lin Qingran.

After all, Lin Qingran is Zhou Lan and Lin Beicheng's only bloodline.

"Then what's impossible?" Lin Qingran shook her head slightly.

"Since Uncle Lu has already said that Zhou Lan was wary of my father back then, what can I do even if I am their only bloodline?"

What Zhou Lan values ​​is not her relationship with Lin Beichen, but the Lin Group.

"Thinking about it now, the Lin family's power was comparable to that of the Fu family. Even if the Lin family had high hopes for the Fu family back then and wanted to seek benefits through the marriage alliance, they shouldn't have been threatened by Old Master Fu with just a few words," Lin Qingran said.

"Since Lin Yuyan and Fu Xiuheng grew up together as childhood sweethearts and were in love with each other, Zhou Lan knew that I would not be liked by Fu Xiuheng and would hurt Lin Yuyan if I married into the family. Why didn't she make things clear to the Fu family earlier? It was only when Old Master Fu mentioned it that she rushed to marry me into the family."

Lu Ziming snorted coldly, "She really is capable of anything for her adopted daughter."

"I don't think so. Being too good to someone isn't necessarily love; it could be a form of flattery that could be detrimental. You never know," Lin Qingran shook her head slightly.

Zhou Lan clearly wanted to gain benefits, but didn't want Fu Xiuheng to get away with it so easily.

Combined with what I learned later about the entanglements between Fu Xiuheng and the Lin family, I became increasingly able to understand why Zhou Lan did what she did.

Perhaps Zhou Lan's original intention was simply to control Fu Xiuheng and have her under her thumb.

As for Lin Yuyan, she was naturally a treasure in the palm of Zhou Lan's hand when she was useful, but her attitude changed immediately when she was no longer useful.

Lin Qingran now understands Zhou Lan's purpose: she simply wants to use external forces to seize power from Shen Pei'an.

However, she was Shen Pei-an's bedmate. If she wanted to bring down Shen Pei-an, she didn't need to go through such a complicated process, even dragging those around her down with her.

Perhaps Zhou Lan couldn't shake Shen Pei'an's position in a short time, so this was the only way she could do it.

Lin Qingran looked at Lu Ziming, "Uncle Lu is actually a friend of my father, so he must know how they took back the Lin Group back then. Does Shen Pei'an have any leverage over Zhou Lan? Why doesn't Zhou Lan directly take action against him?"

“I don’t know the specifics,” Lu Ziming said.

"But before Brother Beicheng passed away, he met me once. He did mention Zhou Lan and Shen Pei'an's relationship in a vague way, but perhaps he couldn't say it outright for some reason."

When Lin Beichen found Lu Ziming back then, he told Lu Ziming that even if he helped Zhou Lan take back the Lin Group, he could not cooperate with the Lin Group frequently just because of this relationship.

The implication was that some of the Lin Group's projects had problems, and the key point was that Zhou Lan had handled all of these projects.

"I think if there's any leverage over us, it's probably the Lin Group."

Lin Qingran nodded thoughtfully. There were many dirty secrets hidden behind the Lin Group, and Zhou Lan was probably really after these things.

Otherwise, how can we explain why she was "deeply in love" with Lin Beicheng on the surface, but remained silent after learning that Lin Beicheng had been killed by Shen Pei'an?

Zhou Lan's so-called hatred towards herself, believing that Lin Qingran's birth led to Lin Beichen's death, is nothing but a cover-up.

"By the way," Lu Ziming said, looking at Lin Qingran with a puzzled expression.

"Zhou Lan has kept quiet about Bei Cheng's death all these years, so how do you know about it?"

Lu Ziming also thought of this, and then he became somewhat puzzled.

Lin Qingran gave a mocking smile, "I'm afraid someone has infiltrated Zhou Lan's circle and deliberately leaked the information to me. However, I haven't yet found out who this person is."

However, it seems even the heavens couldn't stand Zhou Lan's actions. Just as Lin Qingran met with Lu Ziming and learned about Zhou Lan's misdeeds, the next day, new investigation results came from Zhou Lan's side.

“I’ve found out about Li Yingying’s boyfriend. His name is Zhao Ping. But Zhao Ping isn’t her parents’ biological son; he was adopted by a distant relative. He now calls his biological father his paternal uncle, and this paternal uncle is…”

Xiao Zhou paused, speaking somewhat hesitantly.

Lin Qingran looked at her with suspicion, "Just say what you have to say. Are you afraid I can't handle it?"

Xiao Zhou shook his head. "It's not that I'm afraid you can't handle it, it's just that this fact is truly shocking."

Because Zhao Ping's biological father was none other than Zhao Quanying, Zhou Lan's housekeeper.

Lin Qingran couldn't help but gasp.

Zhao Quanying?

This old steward was the person Zhou Lan trusted most.