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Chapter 47: Water Army
Chapter 47: Water Army
Chapter 47
The Jing Family was holding a family meeting to discuss the recent trending topic.
Jing Yi enlarged the photo from the trending topic and examined it carefully, still unable to see herself in it. "Why am I not in the photo?"
Jing Zeqian replied irritably, "If you were in the photo, it wouldn't be 'Meeting Two Men in One Night,' it would be a family gathering."
This was a common tactic in the entertainment industry, and Jing Zeqian didn't find it unusual.
Jing Yi suddenly realized that she had been deliberately cropped out.
Jing Zeyou calmly said, "I think we should have Hengjing issue a statement and send a lawyer's letter. There's no point in keeping this under wraps anymore."
Jing Beicheng agreed with his eldest son's suggestion. Actually, Hengjing should have sent out a notice when they found Jing Zejun, but it had been delayed until now due to her career.
Jing Yi also agreed that this was the simplest and most direct solution.
Lin Ruiqing looked at the still somewhat troubled Jing Zejun and asked, "Jun Jun, what do you think?" She agreed as well, but Jing Zejun's attitude should be the main consideration.
Seeing that everyone in the family had expressed their opinions, Jing Zejun had no reason to refuse. After hesitating for a moment, she agreed.
"Then I'll have the company's publicity department issue the statement."
After the decision was made, the group quickly took action.
While issuing the statement, Entertainment World, which had reported on Jing Zejun dining late at night with a man, also published an apology.
The apology stated that an internal entertainment reporter had made a false report by taking things out of context, causing serious harm to Jing Zejun's reputation. They attached the complete photo and the results of the disciplinary actions taken against the reporter and relevant editors.
By the time more netizens realized what was happening, the trending topic had changed to [Hengjing Group's Young Miss Jing Zejun], causing the backend to crash at one point.
A series of popular headlines below were almost all related to Jing Zejun.
The top trending topic displayed Hengjing's official statement, which essentially explained that a few months ago, the CEO of Hengjing Group had found his long-lost sister Jing Zejun, and clarified that Jing Zejun was having dinner with her family last night. Regarding Entertainment World's malicious slander, Hengjing would pursue the matter to the end.
They also released the official photo from yesterday and a lawyer's letter.
[I knew those two people looked incredibly handsome just from their backs!]
[My God! Cinderella turned into a rich heiress! This is too much like a fantasy novel!]
[Not just a rich heiress, Hengjing is a top global conglomerate!]
[Apologize, apologize! Do you know who you slandered last night!]
[Help, I called the two young masters of the Jing family gigolos yesterday!]
[Good luck to the person above...]
[Who understands! I work for Hengjing, and when I saw everyone criticizing yesterday, I didn't dare make a sound!]
[The person above, you knew the truth and didn't say anything? I hope you never have seasoning packets when you eat instant noodles!]
[How could I dare to speak up? The CEO hadn't said anything, how could a lowly employee like me dare to expose his information?]
[Has no one noticed the other young lady in the photo? She's quite pretty.]
[Is that a friend?]
[Didn't they just find the young miss? Where did this one come from?]
Gradually, people in the comments started to speculate about the relationship between the two girls.
[According to insider information, the Jing family originally only had one biological daughter who was kidnapped at the age of three. Then, for some reason, the Jing family's matriarch brought back a girl of similar age, the girl in the photo. But Jing Zejun's mother strongly disagreed, so she's been staying abroad and only recently returned.]
[Coming back at this particular time? Isn't that strange?]
[Ah? This doesn't really count as a fake heiress, it seems more like an adopted daughter.]
[As long as she doesn't threaten Zejun's position, it's fine!]
[How could she not be a threat? Coming back at this time, isn't she here to steal the Jing family heiress position?]
[Rich families are so messy!]
[That old matriarch must have something wrong with her head, how could she think of using an imposter to replace the real heiress?!]
[She might not even qualify as a replacement.]
As the direction of the trending topic changed, an assistant approached a woman resting on a lounge chair with a phone in hand.
"Sister Miaomiao, we've arranged for the internet army to go out. The public discussion has shifted to focus on that Jing Yi."
Indeed, the woman on the lounge chair was Jiang Miaomiao, whom Jing Yi had confronted earlier.
She kept her eyes closed and gave a faint "Mm" in response. "Tell those internet troops not to hold back, and keep their mouths shut about other matters."
"Understood, Sister Miaomiao."
Meanwhile, Jing Zeqian, who was closely monitoring the direction of public opinion, immediately felt that something was off.
After the identities of Jing Zejun and Jing Yi were revealed, many netizens began commenting on Jing Yi, with their words full of malice.
If he couldn't see that someone was deliberately manipulating public opinion at this point, he might as well consider his years in the entertainment industry wasted.
Jing Zeqian made a phone call, "Little Wang, help me investigate whose internet army is behind these trending topics, and have the company's PR department resolve this as soon as possible."
After hanging up the phone, Jing Zeqian's face showed no relief as he continued to closely monitor public opinion.
Also at the Jing residence, Jing Zejun learned about this from her manager.
She hadn't expected things to develop so quickly. In just a few hours, the public's focus had shifted from her to Jing Yi.
"It must be someone who deployed an internet army."
Internet army?
Jing Zejun paced back and forth in her room. She really couldn't understand. Jing Yi wasn't even in the entertainment industry and had only been back in the country for a few months. Why would someone deliberately deploy an internet army to attack her?
"Sister Qing, can you find out who's behind this?"
There was hesitation on the other end of the phone. "There's no information, but Startrack has made some moves. Your second brother might know something."
"Alright, then please help me keep an eye on the public opinion situation here, Sister Qing."
Jing Zejun went to Jing Zeqian's room. He was in the study. "Second brother, have you seen the news?"
Jing Zeqian knew what she was referring to. "Yes, I've already had Startrack's PR team get involved."
Despite saying this, his brows were still furrowed.
"I couldn't trace the internet army. I checked the IP addresses, they're from several internet cafes in North River."
This was Jing Zeqian's biggest confusion. Jing Yi had been staying at home quietly for the past few months and hadn't been in contact with other people. How could someone be so bold as to deploy an internet army?
Jing Zejun's brows furrowed even more. "Second brother, could it be because of me that they're directing public opinion towards Yi Yi?"
Jing Zejun had considered that the only connection Jing Yi had to the entertainment industry was through her and her second brother. Was it possible that her rivals were deliberately trying to muddy the waters by targeting Jing Yi?
"Probably not."
He had never seen any celebrity hire an internet army to specifically target a family member of their rival, especially to attack someone as unknown as Jing Yi.
Concern showed in Jing Zeqian's eyes. "Has she seen the comments?"
Jing Zejun shook her head. "Probably not." When she went downstairs, Jing Yi was eating dessert in the dining room, so she probably hadn't seen them yet.