However, she still underestimated An Wuyan's bottom line. Even after moving in with Shen Mingjue, An Wuyan continued to pester her.
An Qiuyan had no choice but to pay him off.
As a result, every time he was sent away, he would come back again. An Wuyan's appetite grew, and the money he demanded increased each time. If he didn't get it, he would lie on the ground with a straw mat meant for the dead and mourn.
To borrow Aunt Xue's words to describe it, it was like "the Dragon King's temple being flooded by its own water, a family fighting itself, truly a good show!" kuAiδugg
Furthermore, after Jiang Ling's identity was exposed, Old Master Shen sighed deeply and then shut himself in his study for a day and a night.
After emerging from the study, Old Master Shen made a decision. He transferred half of the family shares he held to Shen Minghuang, and would give the other half to them after Shen Minghuang and Mei Ruohan had a child.
This arrangement meant he was abandoning Shen Mingjue and appointing Shen Minghuang, his grandson whom he had always looked down upon, as his heir.
Regarding this arrangement, Shen Minghuang feigned being overwhelmed with favor and filled with joy, but inwardly he sneered repeatedly.
Shen Mingjue, however, was struck as if by lightning. He never expected that his grandfather, who loved him the most, would abandon him so easily.
Naturally, he could not accept this outcome and decided to burn his bridges.
Although Shen Mingjue was muddled when it came to women, he was, after all, the heir meticulously groomed by Old Master Shen.
If he hadn't possessed some ability, how could he have used An Qiuyan to bring down the Jian family in his previous life and then cast her aside when her beauty faded?
Since feeling threatened by Shen Mingjue, he had made several preparations in secret.
If Old Master Shen continued to support him, he would remain passive. If he chose Shen Mingjue, then he would act ruthlessly.
Shen Mingjue was well-prepared, his abacus beads clicking away with his plans.
Little did he know that Jian Zhou had already seen through his arrangements.
It was precisely because he knew Shen Mingjue had made secret arrangements that he intended to support Shen Minghuang's rise once the situation devolved into a fight to the death.
Only by making the two cousins evenly matched would their fight lead to mutual destruction, giving Mei Ruohan the opportunity to profit as the fisherman.
Old Master Shen's shift towards Shen Minghuang was the last straw that broke the camel's back, completely igniting the powder keg.
A power struggle within the Shen family thus began.
Once the battle commenced, both sides displayed their unique skills, actively wooing company veterans and shareholders of all sizes.
The evenly matched struggle was destined to take a long time to determine a victor.
However, this was precisely what Jian Zhou wanted to see. The longer the internal conflict lasted, the greater the depletion of the group's vitality. It was like cutting flesh with a blunt knife, the most agonizing way to die.
When their vitality was exhausted, the Shen Group would fall apart.
Jiang Ling, however, couldn't be bothered with the Shen family's melodramatic love-hate entanglements. Besides dating Jian Zhou like a normal couple and occasionally flaunting their affection, she focused her other energies on her acting.
After "The Double Sages of the Great Tang" premiered, the plot surged with one climax after another, and explosive moments followed in quick succession, leaving the audience thoroughly entertained.
Unknowingly, the plot had advanced to its later stages.
After Li Zhi's death, Wu Meiniang deposed her bizarre son Li Xian and ascended the throne herself as Empress.
As the first female emperor in history, Wu Meiniang's enthronement went against the great order of the universe. Even though she held power, she was still widely controversial, with many believing that women should not be emperors.
But Wu Meiniang, as a high-level political player meticulously trained by Li Zhi, had, through decades of experience in the deep palace, perfected her methods of manipulating politics and power to the extreme.
She knew well the principle of winning people over by first slapping them and then offering a sweet date.