The internet was now a fiery inferno, akin to magma erupting from a fractured earth.
Compared to the recent news of a top celebrity allegedly dating a rising starlet, or a male actor caught in a hotel tryst with a married woman.
The revelation, complete with photographic evidence, of Jiang Ling being kept by a luxury goods magnate, sent shockwaves through the public.
After all, Jiang Ling was the most popular top female celebrity currently, bar none.
Previously, even a minor menstrual cycle could trend on hot searches, let alone such a monumental news of being kept by a sugar daddy.
As soon as this exposé was released, despite a contingent of fans and personnel from Liuyun Media rushing to manage the crisis, it couldn't halt the spread.
Within a mere hour, the exposé was reposted by hundreds of marketing accounts, garnering tens of millions of clicks, making the onlookers' blood boil.
Unlike the brainless fan wars that erupted when other traffic stars' reputations crumbled.
Jiang Ling's fans were undoubtedly more united and possessed superior damage control capabilities.
It was no surprise, considering how often Jiang Ling had been targeted by rumors.
Framed once, whitewashed once, then a reversal, always like this.
Over time, they had become so proficient it was almost heartbreaking.
It was like the boy who cried wolf; all the previous scandals were solid evidence, yet each time a reversal occurred.
After so many instances, fans naturally grew more convinced of Jiang Ling's innocence. In their words: "There are always petty people jealous of my goddess for being beautiful and more popular than them, wanting to harm her!"
Despite the fans' formidable fighting spirit, there were still too many netizens who hadn't grasped the truth.
These people were largely unconscionable, unable to bear seeing others succeed due to their own dissatisfactions in life. When something happened, they relished in kicking someone while they were down.
Whenever such earth-shattering gossip surfaced, they remained neutral observers. Giving out "good person" cards was boring; gossip was only thrilling when it involved stories of sleeping their way to the top or scandalous affairs.
Seeing these people jumping and slandering her, Jiang Ling sneered, "Since you crave excitement, let's see it through to the end!"
As the exposé posts continued to spread wildly, waves of onlookers emerged.
Initially, the fans and Liuyun Media's public relations team could manage, but they gradually began to falter.
Comments attacking and insulting Jiang Ling surged from the threads below, escalating and growing more brazen. The comments were assertive, as if it were a foregone conclusion that Jiang Ling was being kept by a magnate from a luxury group.
However, their arrogance didn't last long. Jiang Ling posted a Weibo message.
"The person in the photos is indeed me, and the man is also Wu Yue, the President of LVMH Group Greater China. However, he and I have no romantic relationship whatsoever. I am a major shareholder of LVMH Group, and my meeting with him at the hotel was for business!"
Upon the release of this clarifying Weibo, as Jiang Ling had anticipated, no one believed it.
"Heh, a major shareholder of LVMH Group? They really don't bother to draft their lies. Do you know how high the stock price of Lv's parent company is?"
"To become a major shareholder, you'd need at least seventy to eighty billion in capital. Do you have that kind of money?"
"Hahaha, this is hilarious!"
"Seeing is believing. In all my years of following gossip, this is the first time I've seen such a clumsy attempt at whitewashing."
"Exactly. Instead of claiming to be a major shareholder, you might as well claim to be Wu Yue's illegitimate daughter; that would be more credible."
"To whitewash, they have no shame, no integrity, no bottom line. Daring to impersonate an Lv major shareholder, aren't you afraid the group will ban you online?"