My Queen, My Rules - 62

Perhaps because she'd just woken up, Ji Mingshu felt a bit muddled. Her eyes were still puffy and sore from crying last night, but having gotten the comfort she wanted from Cen Sen, she didn't feel any particularly violent emotional swings when faced with the even more frenzied vitriol on Weibo now.

Last night, she'd thought she'd be too angry to sleep. Who would have guessed that after talking to Cen Sen, she'd fallen asleep almost immediately.

It was just that after waking up, the matter that should have been suppressed had now blown up and become the talk of the town. She was left rather confused about it all.

Coincidentally, Gu Kaiyang called to check on her. Yawning, Ji Mingshu said she was fine, then listened while brushing her teeth as Gu Kaiyang dramatically recounted the ‘Ji Mingshu Incident’ that had unfolded last night.

Editor Gu was truly Editor Gu. Even an offhand headline like that could sound so sensational. Ji Mingshu was jolted wide awake by it.

But listening carefully, the main content seemed to be about the chain reaction of online activity triggered after her family had stepped in.

Gu Kaiyang said her family had been exceptionally heavy-handed. Realizing that simply blocking the keywords ‘Ji Mingshu’ didn't reduce the heat, they had progressively blocked a series of derivative keywords like ‘the designer’ and ‘JMS’ on major forums.

Thanks to this move, Ji Mingshu had gained her own exclusive forum title overnight—the Silencer :)

The gossip connoisseurs had even spun off derivative buzzwords and innuendo-laden phrases for her, like "Quiet as Ji," "When night falls, please shut up," and "The weather's turning cold, let me treat you to some 'Ji-Ji Red'."

What should have been a depressing affair actually made Ji Mingshu laugh, spraying toothpaste foam all over the mirror.

After brushing her teeth, she quickly called her second uncle. With a mix of wheedling and solemn promises, she swore she could handle this matter herself, and only then did her second uncle rescind the series of actions taken earlier.

Finally, and unsurprisingly, Ji Mingshu got an earful. It was the usual litany: she shouldn't be making a public spectacle of herself and should be focusing on building her relationship with Cen Sen.

She patiently made agreeable noises, waiting for her second uncle to finish with "think it over carefully" and hang up.

But unexpectedly, after dressing her down all morning, her second uncle somehow came up with a new line of argument: "Xiao Shu, you two aren't young anymore. You should start preparing in the next couple of years to have a child. After giving birth, you can rest and recover for a year or two, and you could still have a second child before you're thirty. It wouldn't hold you back."

"……?"

Ji Mingshu was stunned. She never in a million years expected her second uncle to be in the mood to think about children at a time like this, much less jump straight to a second child. Truly worthy of being Director Ji, the family member with the highest political awareness, always keeping pace with national policies. She was left speechless for a long moment.

Come to think of it, she and Cen Sen had been married for over three years now. They really hadn't given any thought to children. It seemed like neither of them was even conscious of it, maintaining an unspoken, perfectly aligned understanding about contraception since their marriage.

As for his family, they probably figured there was no use pushing while Cen Sen was in Australia for the first two years, so they simply didn't.

After hanging up, she lay on the bed, propping her chin on her hands, lost in thought. Following her second uncle's train of thought, she started thinking about boys, girls, first child, second child... She mused for nearly half an hour before remembering she had actual business to attend to.

Last night, after Cen Sen's comfort, she had drafted out a long Weibo post on her phone, but she'd fallen asleep before posting it.

Now that the situation had evolved, reviewing yesterday's draft in a clear-headed state, she felt many parts were quite inappropriate. So she hunched over her phone again, deleting and revising, even dragging in Gu Kaiyang, the big-shot editor who worked with words, to proofread it for her.

At 11 a.m., Ji Mingshu posted:

"I admit, I have a bad temper. But I am not someone who throws tantrums indiscriminately. The program recording spanned fifty-three days. Ms. Yan Yuexing knows very well what her work ethic was like during that time."

"As for the program's editing team, with skills so masterful, I wonder if your annual salary has reached a million yet? If not, perhaps consider a job change. I'll hire you."

"Some of Ms. Yan's fans have been posting lengthy, fabricated accusations in my comments, wildly speculating that my family evades taxes. To that, I can respond directly: My family's annual tax contributions to the state are transparent and above board. Any form of investigation is welcome. The one throwing their weight around here isn't me, but the self-important Ms. Yan Yuexing and the production team I once trusted."

"This is an era of rapidly developing social media, where those with more followers and more channels for expression command more power of speech. I understand that without my family, not many people would pay attention to my affairs, and this post might not even see the light of day. But since it has, I must use this opportunity to restore the truth."

"I originally believed Designer's Abode was a home design program with ideas, one that didn't follow the crowds, whose original purpose was to bring design into everyday life. I didn't expect its goal was to bring clout and money into its pockets."

"I deeply regret how things have escalated to this point. I also firmly believe that artists and production teams who are willing to stoop to any low for hype should not have such a broad platform to thrive. Their existence is the loudest slap in the face to all the other hardworking professionals on the front lines of the entertainment industry, striving tirelessly to create quality work."

"Finally, thank you for your patience in reading this. I am Ji Mingshu, an interior designer. Not the 'Silencer'."

Within a minute of Ji Mingshu's Weibo post, there were over a hundred comments, all from Yan Yuexing's fans who had been camped out on her page hurling abuse. They probably hadn't read the content, just pounced and started spewing hate.

But as the keyword blocks on her name were lifted and her post was shared across various forums, the tone of the comments below began to shift:

[She actually makes a lot of sense. Firm but rational. I believe you, sis! (Mainly because you're so pretty! doge face)]

[Wasn't she exposed as the daughter of Huadian's big boss? Do YYX's fans have water in their brains, tagging official accounts to investigate taxes? I'm dying of laughter, literally the funniest joke I've heard all year.]

[Reading the last part, I get the feeling the truth is: a wealthy young lady hid her identity to join a small show she was interested in, got screwed over by the production team and a D-list wanna-be, was pissed beyond belief, and now wants to overhaul the entire entertainment industry! Hahahaha!]

In fact, since last night, both the production team and Yan Yuexing's side had been trying to contact Ji Mingshu to apologize and settle. Yan Yuexing's side, especially, was filled with regret!

Originally, Yan Yuexing was in talks for the female lead role in a major production. This project came with its own buzz and prestige. Once officially announced, she wouldn't need to rely on a home renovation show like Designer's Abode for exposure.

But somehow, just when they were on the verge of signing the contract, the production side unilaterally canceled the cooperation, saying they had found a more suitable candidate, not even letting her leech any buzz from a trial makeup photo!

The company had long since hinted about this major role to the fan group leaders, who then teased the prospect to the regular fans. So while everyone's public stance was ‘no official announcement, no engagement’, the fan community had already joyfully begun raising funds for a celebration. Who would have thought this "no official announcement" thing would truly become un-engageable?

Not only were the fans disappointed, but Yan Yuexing had also cleared her schedule well in advance for this big project. With this sudden change, all the previous preparations were wasted.

The team had to pivot to the Designer's Abode winter variety show to make up for the loss of exposure during the empty slot.

As for choosing the strategy of maliciously editing Ji Mingshu, first, the production team was willing to cooperate; second, Yan Yuexing personally couldn't stand Ji Mingshu; and third, the cost of bullying a ‘non-celebrity’ was very low. So without giving it much thought, they finalized the cooperation with the production team. Attracting new fans was a secondary consideration; at the very least, it could rally existing fans and generate some buzz.

—If the ‘non-celebrity’ they had targeted wasn't named Ji Mingshu, their cooperation with the production team might have been considered a complete success.

Yan Yuexing's team had worked frantically all night, but with minimal results. Communication with the production team was strained, and contacting the fan groups was useless.

The fan groups were acting possessed, stubbornly convinced Yan Yuexing was being bullied. The more the team tried to stop them, the more enraged they became. Some even went so far as to attack the Weibo accounts of her manager and company, calling them spineless cowards who didn't do their jobs! Our Xingxing shouldn't have to swallow this! If you won't stand up for Xingxing, we will!

Even when Yan Yuexing personally took to Weibo to call it a misunderstanding, her fans insisted she was being coerced by the company. They even speculated, based on the different Weibo client used, that Yan Yuexing's account had been seized by the vile company and that the post didn't reflect her true intentions!

By the time Ji Mingshu personally spoke up, Yan Yuexing's heart had turned to ashes, she simply lay there waiting for her end.

No wonder the project she had valued so much had suddenly fallen through. The primary producer of that drama was Junhe Pictures, a wholly-owned film and television investment company under Huazhang Holdings, which, in turn, was part of the Junyi Group.

The notice terminating their cooperation had arrived on the morning after the Designer's Abode wrap-up party.

Remembering that night, the unpredictable man's cold glance in her direction before he wordlessly stood up and left the venue—everything she hadn't understood before finally made sense

---

On the other side, at Mingshui Manor.

After posting her Weibo, Ji Mingshu didn't look at it again, not wanting to affect her own mood.

She just flopped on the bed, scrolling through WeChat. But looking through the long list of unread messages, not a single one was from Cen Sen.

Seriously… she might be understanding, but did that Dog Man Cen Sen genuinely think a few words of comfort were enough to solve everything? Unbelievable.

She stared at her chat interface with Cen Sen, wanting to say something, but afraid of disturbing his work. As she hesitated and agonized… she accidentally missed Junyi Group's official Weibo suddenly stirring to life three minutes earlier to deliver the coup de grâce.

Yes, that's right. Even a conglomerate that radiated the aura of ancient tomb hermits had a Weibo account. They not only had Weibo but also a WeChat public account, with content like "Hearts Red for the Sun" and "Hotel Development Soaring to New Heights."

Compared to the WeChat public account, Junyi's Weibo was less active, its last post being a repost of hotel industry reform news from last March.

This sudden resurrection, however, saw the group's official account post three times in a row.

One was a repost of Ji Mingshu's long Weibo post, appended with just one word: “Support.”

Another was a legal notice addressed to the Designer's Abode program team, stating Junyi would pursue accountability against the production team for violating sponsorship terms.

The last post had a rather unique tone. It was actually a notice of accountability issued on behalf of Ji Mingshu.

Junyi Group: [1. We request that the Designer's Abode program team immediately remove the relevant program videos from all major websites, cease harming Ms. Ji Mingshu, and promptly provide the original footage from the recording to restore the truth of the events. 2. The internet is not a lawless haven for malice. We request that fans of Ms. Yan who have maliciously attacked Ms. Ji Mingshu immediately apologize. The list of names attached in the legal notice below is a preliminary compilation; we will subsequently expand the scope of our investigation. This issuance of notice is not an empty warning. If public apologies are not made within the specified time, we will spare no cost in pursuing accountability indefinitely.]

The online spectators had only just grasped that Ji Mingshu came from a powerful family. Rumors were varied, and no one knew what was true and what was false.

So everyone was puzzled by this last Weibo post. Shouldn't a sponsor support the production team? Not supporting them was one thing, but issuing a notice of accountability on behalf of the designer? What was that about?

Many people, hearing the news, came to ask questions in the comments. The group's official account even activated an online reply mode.

Netizen B: [“Spare no cost in pursuing accountability indefinitely”, can this put people to jail? That's taking it too seriously.]

Junyi Group replied: [It cannot put people to jail, but it can make them apologize.]

Netizen A: [Why are you posting this? This is such a strong stand for justice, I'm shocked…]

Junyi Group replied: [No. It's because Ms. Ji is the CEO’s wife.]

---

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