Chapter 28: The Truth Emerges

After bidding each other good night at the bedroom door, Song Wanning closed her door and retrieved the phone she had hidden on her person.

No sooner had she turned it on than a WeChat message from Jian An’an popped up.

Jian An’an: [Well? Did you get the photos?]

Jian An’an: [Don’t think you can take the money and do a half-hearted job. Otherwise, you’ll have to refund my deposit.]

Song Wanning glanced at the messages but didn’t respond right away.

Jian An’an’s profile picture was pitch black, and her username was nothing but a period. Song Wanning had no idea how this paparazzo had learned Jian An’an’s identity, or why she’d saved her with a note.

Her WeChat was filled with all sorts of messages—not just from Jian An’an, but from various other gossip-mongers peddling tips, and a handful of fair-weather friends arranging dinner plans.

As Song Wanning hesitated over how best to fob Jian An’an off, another notification flashed on her screen.

She glanced at it, didn’t catch it all, and looked again.

It read: [#Song Wanning#—Despite being the third daughter-in-law of the Wen family, her character is riddled with flaws.]

Her brows arched as she tapped in.

This trending topic was soaring at an alarming rate—tens of thousands of likes piling up in just a minute. The comments numbered in the thousands.

She clicked on her own name to enter the topic—unsurprisingly, it was an avalanche of vitriol.

She then checked the next trending topic—also about her.

[#Clearing Song Wanning’s Name#]

Just five simple words, a trending tag started by a group of her loyal fans.

She noted the time: posted at eight-thirty, half an hour after “Let’s Fall in Love” had begun airing. The comments here were much friendlier.

[Honestly, aside from a bit of a spoiled streak, it’s perfectly normal for Song Wanning to struggle at first. I believe the audience is more than capable of understanding.]

[Exactly! Sure, she was a bit harsh on the first day, but she really did give her all during the tasks. We should judge less by others’ words and more by their actions.]

[I especially loved her interactions with Wen Jingxing during their work together—they were just so sweet!]

[Yes! Didn’t anyone else notice? Young Master Wen looks at Song Wanning differently from everyone else!!]

[Ah!!! I ship them as the Wen-Wan CP!]

[What a lovely name. I like it too!]

Song Wanning skimmed through the comments and returned to the first trending topic.

There was a long video and an even longer post attached, but she watched and read both in full.

The post was an exhaustive list of her supposed faults, claiming that her diligence on the show was all for show.

The video was an endless compilation of her complaining and bullying others.

She noticed that, at the end, there was a scene where Shen Yue dragged a suitcase over just to pick a fight with her.

Most striking of all: Jian An’an appeared in every single scene!

Song Wanning was always cast as the villain, with Jian An’an playing the selfless heroine, never asking for anything in return.

The comments were a chaotic mess.

[I really misjudged Song Wanning. I thought she was just a bit spoiled—not that her character was this terrible!]

[Sigh, Jian An’an is just too naive, always playing the good guy.]

[An’an has such a kind heart. She never expects anything for what she does.]

[It’s a real slap in the face—just a couple of hours and Song Wanning’s true colors are exposed!]

[Maybe that previous trending topic was Song Wanning herself, fed up and shelling out money to clear her name.]

[Exactly! The Song family may not match the Wen family, but they’re still loaded. Buying a trending topic is nothing to them.]

…

Amid the chaos, Song Wanning caught a crucial detail.

[Some of these clips weren’t even in the official broadcast. How did this blogger get them?]

[Yeah, it’s really odd.]

She searched through previous trending topics. She found that a popular account called “Waiting for Young Master Wen to Break Off the Engagement” posted daily updates about her.

Of course, this account posted nothing but slander.

Every day, they’d cherry-pick clips from the live stream and nitpick Song Wanning’s behavior.

At first, their followers would eagerly join the discussion, but once the official episodes aired, the comments would dry up.

Still, it never lasted long—soon a new trending topic would arise, and the same account’s posts would be back at the top.

After going through all the trending topics about herself, Song Wanning realized the same few accounts always appeared.

Something felt off, so she memorized their usernames.

Having read so much criticism, she grew increasingly suspicious.

She wasn’t some major celebrity—how could she trend on social media so often?

She tentatively searched these accounts’ names in her WeChat.

To her astonishment, she found a discussion group called “The Light of Justice.”

She clicked in—the group owner was one of Jian An’an’s alternate accounts, and all those notorious bloggers were in the group.

Song Wanning cursed silently under her breath. So much for the “Light of Justice.”

Now she had pieced together Jian An’an’s entire scheme.

Jian An’an had gone to such lengths—it almost felt like a slap on the wrist was too kind a punishment.

Meanwhile, Wen Jingxing received a message from Chen Shaoyuan.

Chen Shaoyuan: [Young Master Wen, I’ve noticed the same accounts are always pushing these trending topics, so I had someone infiltrate one of their studios. I found out…]

After waiting a long while, no further message came.

Growing impatient, Wen Jingxing sent one himself.

Wen Jingxing: [Spit it out.]

Chen Shaoyuan: [The person who feeds these accounts their material and tells them what to post is actually Jian An’an.]

Wen Jingxing paused, his expression darkening.

Jian An’an? What did she even look like?

For a moment, he couldn’t recall.

He’d noticed Jian An’an trying—deliberately or otherwise—to get closer to him, and always at Song Wanning’s expense.

Thus, he’d kept his distance from this scheming woman.

At first, he’d dismissed it as simple jealousy between women, but now he saw it wasn’t so simple.

He also recalled the events of the night—Jian An’an had seemed to undress in front of him on purpose, and Song Wanning had inexplicably ended up at his place.

Could Jian An’an be behind that as well?

Chen Shaoyuan: [Young Master Wen, how should we handle this?]

Wen Jingxing: [Take down the trending topics for now. I’ll deal with the rest when the time comes.]

Chen Shaoyuan froze when he saw the message. Was Young Master Wen planning to involve himself personally now?

Last time, he’d helped remove a trending topic; this time, he was taking care of Song Wanning’s hidden enemy. What about next time?

Chen Shaoyuan was no fool—being kept at Wen Jingxing’s side meant he was sharp enough to sense the change in the air.

It seemed that before long, there would be a lady of the house.