Chapter 17: Evidence, Slap in the Face

Qin Xian was accustomed to acting arrogantly; in the Jiang circles, he and Xu Lu of the Xu family were known as the two "unapproachable madmen."

It was no exaggeration to say that he carried half the penal code on his back.

But Qin Xian was completely unafraid, because no one dared to provoke the Qin family. All evidence would be scrubbed clean by them.

If all else failed, he could simply brush the matter away with money.

If he truly encountered a troublemaker, he would simply make them disappear.

"Ye Wanlan, if you have evidence, go ahead and call the police to arrest me," Qin Xian smirked. "I'll just sit right here and wait for you. Why don't you report it?"

Sheng Yunyi grew anxious: "Ah Xian!"

Madam Qin watched coldly from the sidelines, saying nothing.

Ye Wanlan nodded slowly. "As you wish."

"What do you mean by that? I don't have time to play games with you here," Qin Xian's eyes turned cold and fierce.

Right now, he only wanted to see Ye Wanlan kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, weeping bitterly, so she would realize that the price of offending him and the Qin family was unbearable.

"It means—" Ye Wanlan smiled faintly, "I have the evidence, and I will call the police."

"Stop playing tricks!" Madam Qin lost her patience. "Take her away!"

Xu Peiqing grabbed Ye Wanlan's hand, her fingers trembling. "We—"

She had lived in Jiangcheng for over a decade and had never dealt with the elite circles of Jiangcheng; she had never expected the Qin family's methods to be so brutal and cold-blooded.

Ye Wanlan gripped her hand back, standing firm and unshaken.

"Sister Lan, I'm here!"

A crisp voice broke the tense atmosphere.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Cheng Qingli stepped forward and handed over a tablet. "I've adjusted the clarity and applied noise reduction."

"Thank you for your hard work." Ye Wanlan took it and looked toward Madam Qin. "You aren't wearing glasses, so your vision must be good. You should be able to see this from where you are sitting."

Madam Qin's brows furrowed; she felt deeply insulted.

She could no longer tolerate this and wanted to prevent Ye Wanlan from having any more time, but before she could speak, a video began to play publicly.

In the video, two women pinned Ye Wanlan down, forcing her to kneel on the ground.

Then, Qin Xian picked up two buckets of water and poured them over her head. The sound of bones being dislocated was clearly audible.

They then threw her into an artificial lake, laughing as they watched her struggle in the water.

"Look at her, she looks like a dog..."

"What's the rush? It won't result in a death; we're just teaching her a lesson."

Only after the girl had completely lost consciousness did Qin Xian order someone to fish her out.

The video was less than a minute long, yet it clearly recorded the actions of Qin Xian and his companions.

In the dead silence that followed, Qin Xian's expression changed drastically. He nearly jumped out of his wheelchair, performing a medical miracle.

He did indeed have a habit of recording videos and would occasionally watch them for pleasure.

But those videos should have been safely stored in his camera and computer. How could they be in Ye Wanlan's hands?

Who leaked them?!

Qin Xian's mind raced, trying to recall everyone who had been with him that day to take revenge on Ye Wanlan—all of them were well-known young masters and ladies of the Jiang circles.

The more he remembered, the paler his face became, and he soon broke into a cold sweat.

Madam Qin's expression remained unchanged, but her heart was surging with violent waves.

This Ye Wanlan was definitely not the "stupid stand-in" the rumors suggested!

"You think you're the only one with evidence?" Qin Xian tried to force himself to stay calm, his voice harsh to mask his inner fear. "I have witnesses on my side. Secretary Li saw with his own eyes what you did to me!"

Ye Wanlan showed no fear, her tone indifferent. "Then let us each call the police."

Qin Xian laughed out of pure rage. "Fine! Call the police then. Let's see who—"

"Enough!" Madam Qin finally spoke. "It's just a minor skirmish. We will settle this; no police."

"Mom!" Qin Xian roared.

"Shut up! Take your young master home!" Madam Qin barked. She turned back to Ye Wanlan and said coldly, "You are very clever."

If this went to court, the evidence in Ye Wanlan's hands would be enough to send the mastermind, Qin Xian, to prison.

Of course, Ye Wanlan would receive the same punishment.

The result would be mutual destruction.

But even a hundred Ye Wanlans combined would not be worth a single strand of her son's hair.

She would not trade Qin Xian for Ye Wanlan; it simply wasn't worth it.

With a look of disgust, Madam Qin pulled out a bank card. "Five hundred thousand. Don't let me see you again."

"Not enough." Ye Wanlan didn't even look at it.

Her expression was calm, as if nothing could shake her in the slightest.

Madam Qin was clearly infuriated. "Do you even know what it means to know when to stop?"

Several large, imposing bodyguards stepped forward.

"The moment you attempt to lay a hand on me, this recording will be immediately released on all major social media platforms." Ye Wanlan's gaze swept over them. "You are welcome to try. We'll see if your Qin family can delete it faster than I can send Qin Xian to prison. I am willing to bet everything, including my life, while you—"

She let out a light chuckle. "You won't dare, you can't, and you certainly don't have the right to gamble with me."

"..."

Silence.

A layer of cold sweat had broken out on Cheng Qingli's back; she felt as if she were standing on the edge of a blade.

As her inner thoughts were laid bare, Madam Qin's pupils constricted sharply.

A few seconds later, she said through gritted teeth, "Fifty million, and this matter is settled."

Ye Wanlan finally smiled. "Madam Qin, you are very sensible. I admire you."

At that time, the one being tortured by Qin Xian was the transmigrated soul; she had not felt any pain.

But this was her body, after all. Whoever touched it must pay the price.

Her goal had never been to send Qin Xian to prison so that he could be protected there.

She wanted to play with him slowly.

In both her past and present lives, no one had ever been able to negotiate terms with her.

Whatever she said, went.

Madam Qin's face turned ashen.

She was fifty-two years old this year; was she being called "sensible" by an eighteen-year-old girl?

No, she had fallen into a trap!

As if realizing something, Madam Qin suddenly looked up. "You did this on purpose!"

She intentionally provoked them, intentionally waited for them, and intentionally used the recording to extort funds from the Qin family!

Ye Wanlan smiled faintly. "Yes, I did it on purpose."

Madam Qin took a deep breath, her hands trembling from excessive rage.

In the end, she had suffered a total defeat, while the opponent had retreated in total victory.

Seeing Madam Qin emerge, Qin Xian said in disbelief, "Mom! Are we just leaving like this? The doctor said my injuries need at least two months of recovery!"

Madam Qin said coldly, "She came prepared. What 'good method' could you possibly have thought of? Sending you both to prison?"

She would not lower herself to actively investigate the mistress kept by Zhou Hechen; she had only occasionally heard rumors that Sheng Yunyi's stand-in was a mere "vase."

But today's confrontation with Ye Wanlan made her realize that the rumors were completely wrong!

Something that had been overlooked had appeared...

And it was lethal!

"Hello, it's me." Madam Qin dialed a number. "I want to hire you to investigate someone. Yes, Ye Wanlan. I need her entire history from childhood to the present, especially important turning points and her social circle."

She did not believe that such a person would willingly act as a mere stand-in.

Sheng Yunyi was also on the phone.

"Hechen, Miss Ye was truly too impulsive today." She sighed. "I couldn't stop her, nor could I persuade Ah Xian. Things are getting worse and worse."

Zhou Hechen had been busy, but upon hearing this, his expression changed. "What happened?"

Sheng Yunyi said hesitantly, "She extorted fifty million from the Qin family."

After all, Sister Lan had been raised as an heir; her teachers were the entire civil and military bureaucracy of the Great Ning Dynasty, and combined with her influence in the martial world, she was extremely powerful.