Qin Shuhui took a deep breath. In the blink of an eye, she burst out laughing again and said, “Why are you all more nervous than me?”
The young people froze for a moment.
“This joke is pretty fun. Hubby, why do you have that expression too?”
Lu Chengze’s expression softened a bit. “Playing along with your performance. Husband and wife in harmony.”
“It’s all because of them,” Qin Shuhui said. “Talking about a man and woman alone together in a room, with the bathroom used too—they made it sound so real. I just went along with it and dropped a bombshell. How about it? Did I scare you all?”
As she spoke, she started laughing first.
The other guests reacted and laughed along with her.
“Madam Lu loves to joke too much. We were all fooled.” Brother Ka said.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at Lin Xiu’s lips. “Actress Lin is too kind. Luckily Madam Lu didn’t enter showbiz, or we’d all lose our jobs.”
“You’re too kind, Actress Lin.” Qin Shuhui shot her a cold glare, then instantly switched back to a smiling face. “Young people these days love to speak without filters. They splash dirty water on themselves for attention, throwing out the wildest scandals. They’re not afraid of haters or trolls, just afraid of no discussion.”
As she spoke, she smiled without reaching her eyes. “Right, Big Star Zhong? Big Star Xiao?”
Zhong Jinghuan scratched his head and laughed. “I didn’t expect Madam Lu to be so with the times.” Her hype tactics were just like the young folks’.
The live stream chat audience let out a wave of disappointment.
【What the heck? I thought Madam Lu really had something with her assistant. I was getting into the gossip, and she pulls this.】
【Why would she cheat? Are the luxury bags from Xiang Nainai not fragrant anymore, or is the island yacht no fun? I thought it was a joke from the start, but her acting is top-notch.】
【Her relationship with Boss Lu must be bad. There was that scandal years ago where Boss Lu forced her to kneel in public and slapped her. It was a big deal. After that, even when they appeared together, they never held hands.】
【But she posts on IS and Weibo all the time about how loving she and her hubby are. No way.】
【Her clarification came quick. It was already trending. If she waited two more days, her Weibo followers would’ve shot up by hundreds of thousands, then clarify for another wave of attention.】
【She hasn’t grasped the essence of hype yet.】
【There are already over three hundred thousand new viewers who came for the gossip. That’s a success.】
【Not worthy of being the wife of an entertainment giant’s boss. A few words and constant reversals.】
“So what really happened last night?” Xiao Fen said. “Madam Lu, do you have an alibi?”
Qin Shuhui intimately wrapped her arm around Lu Chengze’s beside her. “Last night, I was with my husband the whole time. I have no idea what happened in the Tea Room. It’s usually unlocked, so anyone could go in.”
“Boss Lu and Madam Lu are such a deeply devoted couple.” Xiao Fen smiled. “There were rumors outside about your relationship falling apart. They only see the surface. In private, you spend the most time with Boss Lu. In the toughest times, you supported each other, kept each other warm. It’s normal for feelings to develop. Such pure love, how can it be questioned? Today, in front of the camera, it’s the perfect chance to clear it up.”
Qin Shuhui stiffened all over.
Compared to Lu Chengze, she spent the most time with Yan Feng.
All that “supporting each other, keeping warm,” all that “developing feelings”—it all openly and subtly pointed out her relationship with Yan Feng.
Her hand involuntarily slipped away from Lu Chengze’s arm.
“Looks like the suspect is still among the three ladies present.” Brother Ka said.
“I’ll just say it straight. Last night, I didn’t go to the Tea Room, but I helped Yan Feng set up a meeting with Xiao Fen, telling him to go to the Tea Room at 1 a.m. I also had Yan Feng stake out there early, wanting him to knife Xiao Fen out of the game.” Qin Shuhui suddenly said. “I just didn’t expect Yan Feng to get knifed by Xiao Fen instead. Yan Feng’s from M Country’s special forces. Among everyone here, the only one who could take him down is Xiao Fen.”
“You’re thinking too highly of me. There are several with skills on my level.” Xiao Fen glanced at Matthew, who had been watching the show, and continued, “Don’t tell me Assistant Yan has kidney deficiency and anyone could take him down.”
“Wait a minute, Madam Lu. Why would Xiao Fen come out in the middle of the night if you invited him?” Matthew asked in his strange accent. The look in his eyes toward Qin Shuhui carried a chilling, deathly aura. “What’s your relationship with him?”
“Hey, don’t splash dirty water on me. I like men.” As he spoke, he blew a flirtatious wink at Fang Si Ting from afar.
Fang Si Ting expressionlessly turned his head away, but the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up.
The dissatisfaction and anxiety from the rejection earlier vanished instantly.
“If Madam Lu invited me out at night, I’d be terrified.” Xiao Fen said. “Assistant Yan and I have zero connection. We don’t even have each other’s contact info. How would she set me up?”
So Madam Lu still wasn’t telling the truth.
What exactly was she hiding?
They didn’t dare say it, didn’t dare ask. Lu Chengze was still sitting right there.
Hu Juan wanted to say something, but when he met Xiao Fen’s gaze, he quickly lowered his head.
The gossip was almost over, so why did Xiao Fen bring it up? Everyone’s faces turned awkward.
The problem was, Qin Shuhui had lost her head for a moment and brought up directing Yan Feng to knife someone, which tied right into the case. To investigate, they had to keep asking.
“It wasn’t me. I secretly used my son’s phone to lure Xiao Fen out.” Qin Shuhui realized Xiao Fen had thrown off her train of thought, dragging up what she’d suppressed. Seeing it getting more and more confusing, she finally told the truth.
Unfortunately, no one believed her.
“Why would I definitely come out if Young Master Lu invited me?” Xiao Fen countered.
“You’re the cheap one!” Qin Shuhui blurted out in anger. She really didn’t want her precious son tainted by this.
But as soon as she said it, the atmosphere fell silent again.
The netizens had been watching for fun, but now they weren’t having it.
【What kind of good bird are you? How dare you talk about my Brother Fen like that!】
【Your son is the cheap one. Can’t you see Brother Fen never gave him a good face, yet he keeps shamelessly coming back? Now you’ve cursed him so harshly. Not a single normal person in the Lu Family!】
【This episode’s guests suck. Can’t they smooth things over? Keeps going cold.】
Qin Shuhui’s impulsive words got blown up, offending over a hundred million netizens.
“Shut up!” Lu Chengze was practically furious with her.
Just then, Tang Shen and Peng Xiaoxiao came down with a few items, excitedly saying, “We found something.”
Xu An lazily looked up from the computer, glanced over, then looked away. He exchanged a look with Xiao Fen nearby, placed the mouse on the Eagle Icon on the desk, and lightly tapped the enter key.
Hee hee.
A gleeful, schadenfreude smile flashed in Xu An’s eyes.
Over there, the guests thought they’d found some major clue and, just in time to escape the suffocating awkwardness, rushed over.
Peng Xiaoxiao held a pair of women’s silk stockings and a silk scarf.
“This brand must cost thousands per pair, right? Just an assistant, and such an expensive gift?” Li Fei recognized the stockings’ brand.
“What gift? Looks like they’ve been used.” As Xue Chengge spoke, he realized something and looked at Tang Shen. “Why are you rummaging through someone’s woman’s clothes? What clue could that be?”
“Found under the bed in Yan Feng’s room. Could be a clue deliberately left by the killer. The silk scarf has a lot of dust on it.” As Tang Shen spoke, Peng Xiaoxiao secretly tugged his sleeve. He snapped to attention and quickly added, “Can’t confirm who it belongs to yet…”
Qin Shuhui’s words of defense were about to spill out but stuck in her throat.
What could she say?
He stole it? Stolen stuff wouldn’t be casually tossed under the bed.
She gave it? That would drag her in deeper.
A servant grabbed the wrong one? Impossible.
Killer planted it? The silk scarf was covered in dust—clearly not placed last night.
She’d guarded against everything, even destroyed work and personal phones. Who knew such a huge flaw would turn up in Yan Feng’s bedroom.
So this was Xiao Fen’s fatal blow.
“Oh dear, didn’t expect Yan Feng to be that kind of person.”
“Right, too vile. Fire him quick.” The guests joked.
“This real culprit has a wicked sense of humor, loves pranking people. Strong condemnation.”
“Yeah, catch them quick. How could they frame Assistant Yan with their own silk stockings? He’s not some cross-dressing big shot.”
A stand-up comedian said, “What if he pulls it over his head as a masked robber?”
The remark drew laughter from those around.
The guests chatted casually as if oblivious, but amid their back-and-forth, Qin Shuhui’s face stiffened.
She could already feel the low pressure radiating from Lu Chengze. She didn’t dare look at him.
Whether the real culprit was joking about it, or Yan Feng really stole it, or even what the guests truly thought—it didn’t matter. What mattered was Lu Chengze. He believed it.
In front of billions of viewers, his face was utterly humiliated.
At that moment, the off-camera discussions were just starting.
As soon as Tang Shen came downstairs with women’s clothes, the production team wanted to shut down the live stream, but it was too late. They’d only closed one continent’s feed when the headquarters’ servers got hacked. The stream restarted forcibly and couldn’t be stopped no matter what.
An eagle catching chicks animated icon appeared in the upper right corner of every screen in the main control room, forcing the live stream to continue.
For an internet entertainment empire like the Lu Family, cybersecurity was crucial. Cracking their servers meant at least a world-class hacker team.
They couldn’t regain control anytime soon.
Everyone from top to bottom panicked. Luckily Old Master Lu wasn’t on the show; he was recuperating outside. The Lu Family VP hurriedly called contacts, but the always-on, work-first old master was unreachable this time.
Only physically pulling the cables was left.
But for Madam Lu’s possibly fake scandal, was it worth wasting billions in traffic?
Afterward, their marriage could be clarified, played off, like years ago. Worst case, divorce.
But the hundreds of billions in losses? They’d bear the blame.
The consequences made the VP’s scalp tingle. He made his call on priorities.
“Keep broadcasting. Guide and control it.”
The live stream chat was already flooded with discussions.
【Why is Madam Lu so agitated about this silk scarf? Didn’t Brother Fen plant it?】
【No, Brother Fen only planted the silk stockings. He paused when he saw the silk scarf, then put the stockings nearby, leaving a corner exposed. I was wondering about it at the time.】
【Isn’t she the only female head of the house here? Never mind the stockings—where’d the silk scarf under Assistant Yan’s bed come from?】
【Maybe Assistant Yan brought another woman to the mansion. We’re all adults.】
【Relentless, huh? Here’s proof: SF custom model, only a thousand worldwide. Just one in H Country’s City A, and each has the owner’s name initials embroidered on the edge. Look at the one in the stream.】
【It’s really Madam Lu’s!】
【So it’s what I’m thinking. Madam Lu was so agitated earlier because she was sneaking around with her assistant in the Tea Room.】
【Don’t slander. She’s Lu Family’s madam. Careful or you’ll get sued.】
Who would they fear? The law doesn’t punish crowds. People saying this were everywhere in the chats, thousands upon thousands. Couldn’t prosecute them all.
Admins were deleting comments nonstop, but there were too many. Finally, they set keyword blocks, but that didn’t stop gossip netizens. They used puns and euphemisms, blasting the water army into some corner.
They even spread it across platforms.
Weibo, Little Blue Book, and Douyin were Lu Family holdings—trends went up then down, never reaching the top. Less than half an hour, and searches vanished. Netizens switched to C Station, Aihu, overseas platforms, teaming up with foreign netizens as Sherlock Holmes of gossip, analyzing thoroughly.
Your Lu Family platforms can’t post videos or screenshots? Others can.
【Madam Lu’s been guilty from the start, spouting nonsense, talking out of her ass. But from her dodgy excuses, it proves she really cheated with her assistant.】
【Evidence One: The household servants confirmed that the tea room was normally off-limits to everyone except the cleaners—no one dared disobey. Yet Yan Feng chose the tea room as his meeting spot with the killer and didn’t see any issue with it. Clearly, he’s a regular there.】
【Evidence Two: Madam said she practiced yoga, but the yoga mat was covered in dust. She said she showered after yoga, which was why she renovated the bathroom and kept spare clothes there. But her workouts seem a bit different from everyone else’s, don’t they?】
【In summary, this forbidden romance between Madam and the assistant has been going on for more than a day or two. What to do? I really want to see President Lu’s face right now. Why didn’t they give him a camera? Let him debut wrapped in green light.】
【Actually, the killer messed up the bathroom. So why was Madam so guilty? Inference One: It’s highly likely she and Assistant Yan had just finished a romp right before yesterday’s live stream started. She probably didn’t even know if the maid had cleaned up properly afterward.】
Next, they pulled up footage from yesterday afternoon when all the guests and Lu Family members made their appearances. Qin Shuhui’s hair was still wet at the time.
This only confirmed the rumors further.
【Madam went to great lengths to hide it. Why did she only admit at the end that she used Lu Jin’s phone to text Brother Fen—and was so sure he’d show up? And sure enough, he did. Inference Two: Madam really hates tying Lu Jin and Xiao Fen together. But why?】
【And did you hear? Yan Feng was someone she arranged to join this episode. Why do that? From a God’s-eye view, we know Yan Feng originally planned to target Brother Fen but ended up getting stabbed back instead. We can see that Madam Lu deliberately brought Yan Feng on as a guest so she could openly get Brother Fen eliminated first!】
【What grudge could she have to strike in front of billions of viewers?】
【Her control over her son is intense. She once boasted on another talk show that only a royal princess would be worthy of marrying him.】
【Such a big tone?! Honestly, I came for the Lu Family Crown Prince as the domineering CEO type, but I fell for Inspector Fang. He’s steady and reserved, with strong self-control and control over others—reassuringly powerful. Even the flaws his teammates tease him about are cute, haha. The more I think about it, the better he gets. By comparison, Lu Jin feels immature, like a big kid who hasn’t grown up mentally. Who’d fall for that?】
【The key is Inspector Fang keeps himself clean. The guest Young Master Lu brought this time is Jiang Xu, the physics research expert he was recently rumored with. They have zero professional overlap, yet they’re so close they came to the show together.】
【In the first episode, Young Master Lu’s hideout during the chase was this guy’s home. With so many friends and brothers, why his place? Young Master Lu bragged on camera back then that the Pursuit Team would only check his phone contacts—they’d never find Jiang Xu’s house no matter what. Think about that. Savor it.】
【Had they only just met then? Not yet known to his other sleazy friends? He had just returned to the country, right?】
【There were even rumors he was chasing Ou Yu.】
【And he had the nerve to dance in front of Ou Yu, send his location, and invite him to crash? Disgusting. What was that Lu guy thinking?】
【But without sending that location, he wouldn’t have been caught by Brother Fen. The Pursuit Team couldn’t find him, but Brother Fen pinpointed him easily.】
Netizens turned into eager gossipers, devouring the elite family drama with glee.
The gossip only dug deeper.
“Madam fainted!”
Chaos erupted at the door of the living room.
This dramatic turn made everyone on site secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Amid the frantic concern and panic, they had the servants carry her back to her room.
After expressing their worries, the crowd left the room with concerned faces and headed downstairs one by one.
Xiao Fen was the last to leave. As he closed the door, he spotted Lu Chengze at the end of the corridor, interrogating Butler Zhuo and the maid responsible for cleaning the tea room.
They were too far away, and the voices too soft—the live stream chat and Xiao Fen had no idea what they said. But all three looked grim.
Whether the guests or audience believed it didn’t matter. The key was that Lu Chengze had noticed something was off.
“Little Fire Seeds, how many of you are in the live stream chat right now?” Xiao Fen murmured softly.
“I hope by the end of this episode, there are 30 billion people in the live stream chat,” he wished.
He was going to hold the world’s grandest funeral.
