It was noon.

Zhu Linyun finally couldn’t take it anymore. She kept checking online, her face darkening as she saw the ongoing storm of negative opinions that were clearly against her. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she wished she could crush the situation underfoot.

Fortunately, Zhong Ce hadn’t exposed the fact that she had drugged him. His concern for his own reputation gave her an opportunity—a small gap through which she could launch a counterattack.

With this thought, Zhu Linyun secretly exhaled in relief. Wasting no time, she roped in a long-time admirer who had been her backup plan for years. With mutual consent, she used him as a shield to deflect the rumors caused by the “Love Post” on Weibo.

She denied any connection between the “Love Post” and the rumors tying her to the second son of the Zhong family, claiming it was all a coincidence. Zhu Linyun explained that the post was meant as a confession to her boyfriend. She tagged the young man in question, officially announcing their relationship. The boy, in turn, quickly shared her post, adding an over-the-top “Love you” for good measure.

Fans clamored beneath the post, voicing their indignation on behalf of their idol.

Meanwhile, public opinion was divided. Half of the onlookers wavered, finding her explanation plausible. The other half, swayed by paid commentators, insisted that the world didn’t have so many coincidences. If Zhu Linyun truly wanted to clarify things, she should have spoken up when gossip sites first began speculating about her relationship with Zhong Ce.

Other than that, nothing significant happened. However, this maneuver catapulted Zhu Linyun’s popularity to the top once again.

In the executive office of Orange Entertainment, Zhong Ce lounged lazily on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting. As he listened to Cheng Susu’s report on the latest developments, he smirked and let out a mocking laugh.

“Exactly as I expected. Tsk, that little bird dared to make such a public statement because she’s betting I won’t expose what she did.”

“Huh?” Cheng Susu frowned, momentarily confused.

“The drugging incident,” Zhong Ce opened his eyes. “I care about my reputation.”

He wasn’t about to admit that he had almost fallen into the little bird’s trap due to a momentary lapse in judgment.

“But she’s naïve if she thinks I’ll just let her off the hook because I didn’t reveal this.” Zhong Ce rolled his eyes disdainfully. “What a joke.”

Cheng Susu: “…”

She couldn’t figure out what Zhong Ce was plotting.

After a brief silence, Zhong Ce sat up from the sofa and looked at Cheng Susu. His lips curled into a sly, playful smile. “Darling, go tell Xiao Gao to leak the news that Zhu Linyun wants to switch to Orange Entertainment.”

The scandal tying him to Zhu Linyun was water under the bridge. He was willing to let that slide for now. But the rest? He hoped the little bird could handle what was coming.

Since she wanted to divert attention, he’d gladly oblige.

“Clown,” he muttered.

Cheng Susu was still a bit dazed.

From her perspective, any artist cut off from all collaborations by Orange Entertainment would inevitably be abandoned by their current company. In that case, leaking this information didn’t seem particularly impactful.

Apparently reading her thoughts, Zhong Ce’s lips curled into a bright yet wicked grin. “There’s a difference between being ignored and being deliberately sabotaged.”

Cheng Susu: “…”

I bow to you, you ruthless man.

Orange Entertainment moved quickly.

Within half an hour of Cheng Susu passing Zhong Ce’s instructions to Xiao Gao, marketing accounts were buzzing with reports about Zhu Linyun wanting to switch to Orange Entertainment.

The articles, citing “internal sources,” seemed credible and detailed.

It was clear to anyone paying attention: Zhu Linyun had caused such a big mess for Orange Entertainment that they now wanted nothing to do with her. The leaked news made this sentiment abundantly clear.

What followed was bound to be entertaining.

Zhong Ce didn’t even need to lift a finger anymore.

The infighting among the involved parties would allow him to reap the rewards effortlessly.

Zhu Linyun’s agency, Xingyue Media, was a well-known player in the industry. They had been heavily promoting Zhu Linyun under instructions from the Cheng family. With her own hard work, her career had been on a meteoric rise, and she was gradually making a name for herself in the entertainment world.

But to their dismay, the artist they had poured so much effort and resources into cultivating turned out to be an ungrateful ingrate.

The moment she tasted success, she couldn’t wait to kick her original benefactors to the curb.

The boss of Xingyue Media was so furious he smashed a cup in rage. Enraged beyond reason, he no longer cared about the Cheng family’s influence. All he wanted was to destroy Zhu Linyun. With his mind made up, he let out a sinister chuckle. “If I remember correctly, Zhu just joined a new production recently?”

“Yes,” her agent, Sister Li, nodded.

Having dealt with this arrogant and ungrateful artist for so long, Sister Li had internally cursed Zhu Linyun thousands of times. Initially, she had tried to help Zhu by looking for smaller projects to keep her afloat after Orange Entertainment withdrew its support. But as soon as Zhu achieved some fame, she abandoned those who had worked tirelessly to promote her. Fine, Sister Li admitted she had misjudged her.

Still, if Xingyue could elevate her to the stars, they could just as easily drag her back down to the dirt.

Sister Li squinted at her boss, already anticipating his next move.

Sure enough—

“Pull Zhu Linyun from the lead role and replace her with another actress.”

It just so happened that the production Zhu Linyun was filming was a Xingyue Media in-house project.

If they could give her the lead role, they could just as easily strip it away.

But despite their swift decision, resolving the matter would take a few more days.