Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Evidence, Face-Slapping

Qin Xian had always been arrogant. In their circle, he and Xu Lu from the Xu Family were infamous as the two lunatics no one dared to provoke.

No exaggeration—he’d broken half the law.

And he wasn’t afraid, because no one could afford to offend the Qin Family. Any evidence would be cleaned up until nothing remained. If that didn’t work, money could shut people up. If someone was truly stubborn…

Then they could simply disappear.

“Ye Wan Lan,” Qin Xian said with a smile, “if you have evidence, go ahead and call the police to arrest me. I’ll sit right here and wait. Go on—report it.”

Sheng Yun Yi’s face tightened. “A Xian!”

Madam Qin watched coldly, saying nothing.

Ye Wan Lan nodded slowly. “As you wish.”

“What do you mean? I don’t have time to play games with you.” Qin Xian’s eyes were icy.

Right now, all he wanted was for Ye Wan Lan to kneel, beg, and sob—so she’d understand what it meant to offend him and the Qin Family.

“It means—” Ye Wan Lan’s lips curved. “I have evidence. And I will call the police.”

“Stop pretending.” Madam Qin lost patience. “Take her!”

Xu Pei Qing grabbed Ye Wan Lan’s hand, trembling. “We—”

She’d lived in River City for more than a decade, never crossing paths with the elite circle. She’d never imagined the Qin Family could be this blunt, this brutal, this cold-blooded.

Ye Wan Lan squeezed her hand back, steady as stone.

“Sister Lan, we’re here!” A clear voice cut through the standoff.

Under everyone’s gaze, Cheng Qing Li stepped forward and held out a tablet. “I enhanced the image and cleaned up the noise.”

“Good work.” Ye Wan Lan took it, then looked at Madam Qin. “No glasses, good eyesight. From where you’re standing, you should be able to see.”

Madam Qin’s brows snapped together. The disrespect hit her like a slap.

She opened her mouth to speak—but the video began playing.

Onscreen, two women pinned Ye Wan Lan down and forced her to kneel.

Then Qin Xian lifted two buckets of water and dumped them over her head. The sound of bones shifting was sickeningly clear.

After that, they threw her into an artificial lake and laughed as she struggled.

“She looks like a dog…”

“What’s the rush? Nobody’s going to die. We’re just teaching her a lesson.”

Only after the girl went completely limp did Qin Xian order someone to haul her back out.

Less than a minute of footage.

More than enough.

In the dead silence, Qin Xian’s face drained. He nearly sprang from his wheelchair, as if about to perform a medical miracle.

He did like recording videos. Sometimes he even replayed them for his own amusement.

But that video should’ve been locked away in his camera and computer. How had it ended up in Ye Wan Lan’s hands?

Who leaked it?!

His mind raced through everyone who’d been there that day—young masters and young ladies with names and status in their circle.

The more he remembered, the paler he became, sweat pouring down his back.

Madam Qin’s face remained calm, but inside, storm waves crashed.

This Ye Wan Lan was not the stupid stand-in the rumors described.

“You think you’re the only one with evidence?” Qin Xian forced himself to act tough, his bravado brittle. “I have witnesses. What you did to me—Secretary Li saw it with his own eyes!”

Ye Wan Lan didn’t flinch. “Then let’s each call the police.”

Qin Xian laughed, furious. “Fine. Call them! Let’s see who—”

“Enough.” Madam Qin finally spoke. “This is just a scuffle between youngsters. We’ll settle it. No police.”

“Mom!” Qin Xian roared.

“Shut up.” Madam Qin’s voice cracked like a whip. “Take your young master and go.”

Then she looked back at Ye Wan Lan, eyes cold. “You’re very smart.”

If this went to court, that evidence was enough to send Qin Xian—the main culprit—to prison.

And Ye Wan Lan wouldn’t walk away clean, either.

Both sides would bleed.

But even a hundred Ye Wan Lans couldn’t compare to a single strand of her son’s hair.

Madam Qin would never trade Qin Xian for Ye Wan Lan.

It wasn’t worth it.

Her expression disgusted, she produced a bank card and flicked it forward. “Five hundred thousand. Don’t let me see you again.”

“Not enough,” Ye Wan Lan said, not even glancing at it.

Madam Qin’s anger sharpened. “Do you understand what it means to stop while you’re ahead?”

Several bodyguards stepped forward.

“If you try to touch me,” Ye Wan Lan said evenly, “this footage goes up on every major platform immediately.”

Her gaze swept across them. “Try it. Let’s see whether the Qin Family deletes faster, or whether I send Qin Xian in faster. I’ll gamble anything—including my life—and you…”

She gave a soft, almost amused laugh. “You don’t dare. You won’t. And you don’t have the right to gamble with me.”

Silence swallowed the yard.

Cheng Qing Li’s spine was drenched in cold sweat. It felt like standing on the edge of a blade.

Madam Qin’s pupils contracted.

Seconds later, she ground out, “Fifty million. We wipe it clean.”

Only then did Ye Wan Lan smile. “Madam Qin, you’re very well-behaved. I like that.”

Back then, the one Qin Xian tortured was the Transmigrator. Ye Wan Lan hadn’t felt pain.

But this was still her body.

Whoever touched it had to pay.

She’d never wanted to send Qin Xian in, letting him be protected behind bars.

She wanted to play with him slowly.

In both lives, no one had ever been able to bargain with her.

What she said went.

Madam Qin’s face went green.

She was fifty-two years old, being called “well-behaved” by an eighteen-year-old young lady?

No.

She’d been played.

Madam Qin jerked her head up, realization flashing. “You did it on purpose!”

She’d baited them, waited for them, then used the footage to squeeze money from the Qin Family.

Ye Wan Lan’s smile didn’t change. “Yes. I did it on purpose.”

Madam Qin drew a hard breath. Rage shook her hands.

In the end, she lost completely while the other side walked away clean.

Seeing Madam Qin return, Qin Xian stared in disbelief. “Mom! We’re really leaving like this? The doctor said I need at least two months to recover!”

Madam Qin’s voice was icy. “She came prepared. What brilliant method do you have? Send both of you in?”

She had never bothered to learn anything about Zhou He Chen’s kept lover. At most, she’d heard rumors—Sheng Yun Yi’s stand-in was supposedly just a pretty vase.

Today’s clash made her realize those rumors were completely wrong.

Something fatal had been overlooked.

“Hello. It’s me.” Madam Qin made a call, voice tight. “I need you to investigate someone. Yes—Ye Wan Lan. I want everything from her childhood to now. Especially major turning points and her social circle.”

She refused to believe someone like that would willingly be a stand-in.

Sheng Yun Yi was also on the phone.

“He Chen,” she sighed softly, “Miss Ye was really too impulsive today. I couldn’t stop her, and I couldn’t calm A Xian down. It’s getting worse.”

Zhou He Chen had been busy. Hearing that, his expression sharpened. “What happened?”

Sheng Yun Yi hesitated. “She extorted fifty million from the Qin Family.”