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"What are you thinking about?"

Zhou Heting's question interrupted Zhou Yueze's recollections. He pursed his lips uneasily. "Dad, will Ye Mingzhao really be driven out of the Ye family?"

Zhou Heting fixed Zhou Yueze with a steady look. "I heard that boy from the Chu family looks somewhat like Ye Mingzhao?"

Zhou Yueze's face reddened, and he hurriedly explained, "It's not because of that—"

Zhou Heting waved a hand, cutting off his son's explanation. "Your father is a very open-minded man. If you have what it takes to win Ye Mingzhao over, I'd be happy to see it happen. Unfortunately, with your level of scheming, he'll only run circles around you."

Zhou Yueze's face turned pale.

At the same time the Zhou father and son were plotting, Ye Mingzhao and Yu Mingze had not been idle either.

They had invited out Liu Rumei, who would be playing the female lead in The Prince's Transformation.

It had to be said that Liu Rumei truly lived up to her name. She was a stunning beauty born with seductive charm. Her skin was fair, and her large, limpid eyes rested upon a palm-sized face. She could absolutely be called bright-eyed and enchanting, her every gesture brimming with allure.

More importantly, she was not only beautiful—her acting was exceptional as well. Liu Rumei had debuted seven years ago, and most of her works had been costume dramas. Thanks to her breathtaking appearance in costume and her solid acting skills, every one of her productions had won over audiences upon release, with ratings consistently remaining in the top three for the year.

A large part of why The Prince's Transformation had generated such an enormous buzz when its production was officially announced was due to Liu Rumei—the production team had promoted it as costume-drama goddess Liu Rumei's first modern drama.

The transformation project of a costume-drama goddess, with a male lead who was a newcomer without any acting experience, and a script suspected of plagiarism—every clue gave entertainment media and gossip-hungry onlookers plenty to talk about. Even Liu Rumei's fans could not understand why she had accepted such a drama.

—Naturally, it was for the staggering 120 million yuan paycheck.

Because Zhou Film and Television Company had been generous enough with its offer, Liu Rumei had no objection to carrying the production and boosting a newcomer.

What Liu Rumei had not expected, however, was that she had merely wanted to earn some money, yet had somehow become embroiled in a struggle between wealthy families.

At the thought of how aggressive Yu Mingze and Ye Mingzhao had been at the celebration party hosted by Zhou Yueze, Liu Rumei shuddered.

But she could not bear to give up that enormous 120 million yuan paycheck just like that.

She could not afford double the penalty for breaching her contract, nor did she dare offend Zhou Yueze.

Yet she could not afford to offend Yu Mingze and the Ye family, either.

"Teacher Yu, Young Master Ye," Liu Rumei said, pursing her lips as she looked pitifully at the two men seated across from her. "I'm only an actress. If someone offers me a high price to make a drama, I take the job. I had no idea there was a dispute between Zhou Film and Television Company and the two of you. I wouldn't dare—"

"Don't overthink it." Yu Mingze waved his hand, interrupting her. "I'm not going to make things difficult for you. We just wanted to invite you for a cup of coffee. That wouldn't put you in a difficult position, would it?"

Liu Rumei paused slightly, her gaze cautiously darting toward Ye Mingzhao, who sat on the other side of the booth. She immediately forced a smile. "Of course not. It's my honor to have coffee with Teacher Yu and Young Master Ye."

Ye Mingzhao was seated by the window, his head lowered as he fiddled with his phone. Seemingly sensing Liu Rumei's gaze, he looked up and gave her a faint smile. "Don't worry. Once you finish this coffee, you can leave."

Liu Rumei froze, utterly confused and even more bewildered. Yet as she looked at Ye Mingzhao's handsome face, smiling as warmly as the spring breeze, she hesitated again and again but ultimately did not dare ask anything.

She could only sit there as though on pins and needles and finish her coffee—she did not even dare leave a drop at the bottom of the cup. Then, at Yu Mingze's signal, she grabbed her handbag and hurried away.

After Liu Rumei left, Yu Mingze asked Ye Mingzhao, equally unable to make sense of it, "Why were you so insistent on inviting her for coffee?"

Ye Mingzhao replied casually, "Naturally, because I greatly admire Miss Liu's character."

The next second, he received a call from Madam Ye.

Ye Mingzhao's lips curved, and he swiftly answered it.

On the other end, Madam Ye's gentle, loving voice traveled through the radio waves into Ye Mingzhao's ear. "Zhaozhao, I've heard all about what happened with that boy from the Zhou family. Mingyi was in the wrong in this matter—"

Ye Mingzhao hurriedly interrupted Madam Ye. "How can you blame Brother Mingyi? It was clearly Zhou Yueze who had ill intentions. I know he said those things because he wanted to drive a wedge between Brother Mingyi and me. I won't fall for it."

After a pause, Ye Mingzhao added, "Besides, Brother Mingyi did nothing wrong. He merely repeated to Zhou Yueze what I had done. In the end, I was the one who made the wrong move. No one else is to blame."

Hearing Ye Mingzhao so sensibly make excuses for Chu Hengyi, Madam Ye let out a deep sigh. When she had first heard about the incident from others, she had scarcely believed her ears. The Ye family had always protected its own. Their children had never been bullied when out in the world.

Yet today, the child she had raised for eighteen full years had been bullied so badly outside, and the one handing over the knife had actually been her biological son.

If this had happened to Ye Mingchen or Ye Mingxi, Madam Ye would have invoked the family rules.

But Chu Hengyi was different. Madam Ye knew full well how much she owed this child, and that made it impossible for her to righteously lecture Chu Hengyi about unity. After all, Chu Hengyi had never experienced the Ye family's unity. For eighteen years, he had not eaten a single grain of rice from the Ye family. Naturally, she could not use the Ye family's rules to discipline him.

"Zhaozhao, I know you've been wronged over this..." Madam Ye trailed off.

Ye Mingzhao obediently picked up the thread. "I don't feel wronged at all. Since I dared force Zhou Yueze to withdraw his investment from Beggar Prince, I was prepared to face his retaliation. I can handle this matter. Please don't worry about me."

He paused, casually soothing his innocent mother, who nonetheless harbored profound guilt in her heart. "You don't actually think someone like Zhou Yueze can bully me, do you?"

For Ye Mingzhao, who knew the plot well, many people's schemes and calculations had long been in the palm of his hand. Yet he never revealed anything. He merely waited patiently for the right moment, then stepped into the traps they had carefully prepared—but never as prey.

Conspiracies would only become his armor, because he had no weaknesses.

When Madam Ye returned to the bedroom with reddened eyes, Chairman Ye was leaning against the headboard reading the evening paper.

Seeing Madam Ye's swollen eyes, Chairman Ye handed her the eye patches he had prepared in advance. "Finished talking to Mingzhao?"

Madam Ye accepted the eye patches and went to wash her face first. By the time she emerged from the bathroom, she already had a facial mask on. "Zhaozhao is so sensible. He was clearly treated so unfairly, yet he was still comforting me over the phone..."

Madam Ye trailed off. Looking at Chairman Ye, who was leisurely leaning against the headboard and reading the newspaper, she hesitated repeatedly before finally asking, "Zhou Heting wanted Zhou Yueze to pull out of The Prince's Transformation. Why did you refuse?"

"It was clearly that boy from the Zhou family who was in the wrong. Let alone the immoral thing he did—pulling his investment from the Beggar Prince production team, then immediately gathering people to plagiarize his fiancé's new drama. He knew perfectly well that the Chu family was the enemy of our Ye family, yet he still dared to promote that kidnapper's nephew as the male lead. He clearly has no regard for our Ye family!"

Chairman Ye placed that day's evening paper on the bedside table and smiled faintly. "You think Zhou Yueze has no regard for the Ye family?"

Madam Ye became somewhat exasperated. "Doesn't he?"

Chairman Ye countered, "Then what about Zhou Heting?"

Madam Ye was taken aback. "What?"

Chairman Ye said slowly, "If Zhou Yueze has no regard for the Ye family, how much respect for the Ye family could Zhou Heting possibly have?"

Seeing Madam Ye's thoughtful expression, Chairman Ye said with a smile, "Zhou Heting said over the phone that his son was young and hot-blooded, prone to acting on impulse. That was why, in a moment of indignation, he plagiarized his fiancé's new drama. I see that the Yu Family has not reacted to this matter. Since that is the case, why should I overstep my bounds and force him to withdraw his investment?"