Xu Ziyan was troubled by the lack of an opportunity to speak with Fu Yazhen alone to warn her about the scumbag brother-in-law. The very next day, Fu Dongfeng had the company assign an urgent task, sending Zheng Wenbo on a business trip.
Zheng Wenbo was already annoyed by Fu Yazhen’s pregnancy. Now that Fu Yazhen was being cared for at her parents’ home, he had a perfect excuse for the trip, so he simply took off to cool down for a few days.
Xu Ziyan acted quickly. As soon as the scumbag brother-in-law left, she suggested during a meal, “How about we hire a few private detectives to investigate all the important people around us?”
The Fu family hadn’t expected her to bring it up so suddenly and so bluntly. They hadn’t even had a chance to give her a conversational opening.
Seeing them stunned, Xu Ziyan thought they felt she was making a mountain out of a molehill. She quickly appealed to their emotions and reasoned with them. “Look, Li Dong and Fu Qiming were good classmates and close brothers for ten years, yet he was deceiving him from the very beginning, just trying to latch onto him as a shortcut to avoid fifty years of hard work.
The Fu family’s wealth and influence are immense. Who’s to say no one else is harboring ulterior motives? Even I was almost seduced by Ding Jie.”
Fu Qiming choked on his water, his face turning bright red. Xu Ziyan shot him a glare. The original host was love-struck, wasn’t she seduced by Ding Jie? As for the original host being inherently malicious, what did that have to do with her? Blaming it on Ding Jie wasn’t wrong.
She continued, “The Fu family has wealth, power, and connections. Generations of prosperity are incredibly enviable; you’re like a delicious, fragrant cake that everyone wants a bite of.
We shouldn’t harbor ill intentions toward others, but we must also guard against them. Investigating a bit won’t hurt. If we find no problems, we can trust them even more, right?
In my opinion, we should investigate everyone close to us, including classmates, friends, colleagues… and partners.”
Xu Ziyan glanced at Fu Yazhen. Fu Yazhen nodded, taking a sip of juice. “I have no objections. I’ll arrange for someone to investigate your brother-in-law later. It’ll be good to see if they can find his parents. Even though he doesn’t want to acknowledge them, I’d like to know what kind of people my child’s grandparents are.”
Xu Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “We must find truly capable people to do the investigating, otherwise it’ll just be a waste of time.” Remembering something, she looked at Fu Dongfeng. “Oh right, we should also investigate things like first loves, white moonlight figures, and intimate female friends.”
Fu Dongfeng gave an “Mhm,” seeming thoughtful. “It wouldn’t hurt to find out how old acquaintances are doing,” he said, hurriedly explaining to Li Yun Hui. “We haven’t been in contact for over twenty years. I probably wouldn’t even recognize her if we passed on the street. It’s just a precautionary check.”
Xu Ziyan thought to herself: 『You might not recognize her, but she recognizes you. Back then, thinking the old master had been toppled and you were finished, she found an excuse to break up. Who knew the old master could make a comeback, and you would single-handedly establish the Fu Group? She must have regretted it immensely over the years, probably slapping herself awake in the middle of the night.
She knows your temperament, knows she can’t gain anything by coming to you, which is why she preserved that last shred of dignity by never appearing. Who would have thought that in her forties, with her children grown, Ding Jie would suddenly find her and promise her a smooth path to the top? As long as she methodically got close to you, she could climb into your bed and replace the original wife to become Mrs. Fu.
For her own and her children’s wealth and status, she took the risk and boldly went for it. She didn’t realize Ding Jie was just using her to drive a wedge between you and your wife, to cause a rift leading to divorce, dealing another heavy blow to the Fu family.
Uh, the one who helped create the opportunity for her to climb into bed was supposed to be the future me. Even though I won’t follow that plot, I still hope you uncover her ambition. Otherwise, she might still find another way to get into your bed.
001, these past couple of days, I’ve felt that if the Fu family didn’t have so many troubles, it would truly be a picture of domestic bliss—the kind of family I longed for most in my past life, the kind I didn’t even dare dream about. If possible, I hope… they all stay safe and sound before the world collapses.』
001:『Host, don’t worry. With your reminders, they will all be fine.』
The Fu family members were first furious at Ding Jie’s pervasive and disgusting schemes, then filled with pity upon hearing Xu Ziyan’s final thoughts. Initially, they had been somewhat afraid of Xu Ziyan. Keeping her was partly to use her inner thoughts to avoid crises around them. But as they spent time with her, they discovered she was a good person, kind-hearted and with sound principles.
It seemed Xu Ziyan’s background wasn’t good, even somewhat tragic, yet she never blamed anyone. She hadn’t even held a grudge after dying and being snatched away to play the villainess, simply wanting to live each present day to the fullest. How many people possessed such temperament? No wonder the system chose her.
She hoped they would all be well, and they, in turn, hoped she could live this life to the fullest in this world. From now on, she was the real Xu Ziyan, a member of their Fu family!
Seeing that they all accepted her suggestion and were willing to investigate, Xu Ziyan’s mood lifted considerably. It was probably the incident with the original host and Li Dong scamming Fu Qiming that served as a wake-up call, making them so receptive. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. Once a private detective looked into some things, nothing could stay hidden.
With a weight off her shoulders and having just bought a pile of stuff, Xu Ziyan temporarily lost interest in shopping. She also had no desire to go out with strangers, so she simply holed up in the home theater, binge-watching dramas and snacking.
She was watching the drama “Harem Schemes” starring Yang Anni. To be fair, it was quite good—number one on the platform’s popular charts. Moreover, Yang Anni’s acting was excellent. She played the scheming consort, a second female lead, and was very eye-catching, equally matched with the female lead. It wasn’t an exaggeration to call it a dual-female-lead drama.
While looking at the cast list, Xu Ziyan suddenly saw the name “Song Jie.” Wasn’t this Ding Jie’s celebrity mother? Puzzled, she searched online. It wasn’t a case of shared names; it really was Ding Jie’s biological mother, playing the outwardly kind but inwardly black-hearted empress in the drama.
During her search, Xu Ziyan also saw netizen reviews of the drama. They said that while the scheming consort was arrogant, domineering, ruthless, and did many bad deeds—making her supposedly despicable—Yang Anni was too beautiful and acted too well. It made people feel she was born to be favored. Moreover, since the harem was inherently a battleground, they felt she wasn’t wrong; she just lost the fight. Her tragic end made her somewhat pitiable, and her popularity was unexpectedly high.
As for the empress character, she had an innocent, tragic past—betrayed by close aides, sold out by family, schemed against by a best friend—and was forced by life step-by-step to become outwardly kind but inwardly black-hearted. Logically, she should have garnered a wave of audience sympathy, making them feel her actions were understandable and thus like her character.
However, Song Jie was notoriously a pretty face with no substance. Her acting had always been criticized. This time, acting alongside the female lead and Yang Anni, she seemed somewhat overshadowed. Some of her smiles seemed forced and insincere, failing to convey the surface “kindness.” Even the inwardly black-hearted parts came off as simply villainous.
Not to mention the most important aspects of a harem drama—posture and demeanor. Song Jie was too focused on her looks and the camera, failing in many subtle details. With the female lead and Yang Anni as comparisons, it actually made viewers feel the emperor’s disregard for the empress had a reason; if they were the emperor, they wouldn’t like this empress either. They even looked down on her for being two-faced.
It was a foregone conclusion that the female lead would become explosively popular from this drama. Now, newcomer Yang Anni was also exploding in popularity. Song Jie, however, was being criticized for her poor acting in this drama. Many honest reviews seemed to praise one by putting down the other. Of course, Song Jie’s numerous fans wouldn’t stand for it, and recently they had been organizing to bombard Yang Anni with insults.
It was just that Yang Anni didn’t have much black material, or her career would have been cut short in minutes.
Xu Ziyan could easily imagine Song Jie’s livid expression. In the original plot, the original host, to please Ding Jie, tried to curry favor with Song Jie, only to be played for a fool—made to polish shoes and carry bags, while Song Jie turned around and was amiable and close to Bai Qingqing, taking her on trips and shopping.
Ding Jie and his mother had a massive double standard in treating the original host versus Bai Qingqing. No wonder the original host hated Bai Qingqing so much. Now, seeing Song Jie suffer a setback, Xu Ziyan was naturally delighted.
Using a secondary account, she commented: Song Jie’s acting really isn’t up to par, such a waste of a good role. Only her face is worth looking at.
After commenting and refreshing, she saw someone else’s comment saying there was insider information that Song Jie was suppressing Yang Anni, and a new drama Yang Anni had secured had already been given to someone else.
Remembering how Yang Anni had helped her that day—a beautiful and clever girl—Xu Ziyan thought it would be utterly frustrating if she really got bullied by the male lead’s mother. She immediately gave Yang Anni a call.
“Busy? What drama are you filming lately?”
Yang Anni was happy to receive her call, but her spirits dampened upon hearing this question. “Not filming. I’m on vacation.”
Xu Ziyan got straight to the point. “I’ll invest in filming a drama. Will you come? I’ll let you play the female lead.”
Yang Anni was both thrilled and shocked. “I’ll come! I’m in! What drama is it, Sister Yan?”
“Don’t know. I only have money. You can figure out the rest. Assemble a team and start filming.” Xu Ziyan’s reply was very matter-of-fact.
Yang Anni was dumbfounded. “Huh?”
Xu Ziyan laughed. “I watched your drama. Your acting is great; I have confidence in you. If we find a reliable script, director, and competent supporting actors, funding isn’t a problem. I can also find help with broadcasting. How can it not make money? You won’t make me lose money, will you?”
“No way! Sister Yan, don’t worry. I’ll definitely assemble a great team. Just wait for my good news!” Yang Anni jumped for joy, her professional ambition burning fiercely. There was no better opportunity than this.
She said excitedly, “There’s a script I’ve been thinking about for a long time, written by my classmate. It’s really good. Do you have time, Sister Yan? Let me treat you to a meal to discuss the script?”
“Sure. Let’s meet later.” Xu Ziyan, with money and time on her hands and struggling to find good entertainment, immediately decided to go on this outing with Yang Anni.
When Li Yun Hui found out, she seized another excuse to give Xu Ziyan a card—this time with thirty million. “Investing requires a lot of money. Take this to use. Don’t worry about profit or loss; just treat it as playing. The most important thing is to be happy.”
Fu Yazhen also gave her ten million. “This is my support. Since you’re doing something proper, do it well. But the result is secondary; the process is what matters. Enjoy the process.”
『Ahhh so much money! The Fu family is too good to me!』 Xu Ziyan was overjoyed. She gave Li Yun Hui a strong hug. “Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Sis. You’re the best!” After saying this, her face flushed red, and she ran out.
Li Yun Hui was stunned for a moment, then a gentle smile spread across her face. This child was finally willing to call her ‘Mom.’ She was accepting this family, accepting them as her family.
Fu Yazhen also revealed a faint smile. Xu Ziyan thought they were good to her, but what was this money compared to the crises she had informed them about? They should be the ones grateful to her.
Fu Yazhen said to Li Yun Hui, “Mom, let’s go too. I want to get a comprehensive medical check-up. If everything Ziyan said is true, I might need surgery soon.”
Li Yun Hui’s smile faded. She held her daughter’s hand and sighed. “Don’t be afraid. Everything will be alright.”