Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

Seeing things spiraling out of control, Lin Haozhe glanced in Liu Jie's direction.

Seeing this, Sister Liu's already tense expression became even more unpleasant.

Her gaze lingered on the floor several times before she finally took a step forward and knelt down with a thud.

"I'm sorry, young master. I shouldn't have framed you. Please forgive me."

The servants were astonished.

"It was her!"

"I never expected that Sister Liu, who usually seems so kind and gentle, would do something like this!"

"You can know a person's face but not their heart!"

Lin Hongbo frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly: "Sister Liu? How dare you! My Lin family has always treated you well, yet you dare to frame Xiao Ran."

"I'm sorry, sir, I really know I was wrong." Sister Liu's shoulders trembled slightly, her eyes reddened, and her voice was trembling with sobs.

"I was just angry that the young master slapped me before, so I thought..."

"What a convenient excuse for being so indignant!" Song Yishu said, suppressing her anger. "You've worked for my Lin family for over ten years, and I never realized you were such an ungrateful person!"

"I...I..." Sister Liu didn't know how to respond for a moment.

"Why don't I say it for you?" Lin Ran suddenly spoke, his tone calm.

"You think of yourself as nothing more than a salaried servant in the Lin family. For over a decade, you've served tea and water, done laundry and cooked meals every day. What kindness could you possibly owe? Right?"

Sister Liu's expression grew increasingly flustered, and she hurriedly shook her head: "No, that's not what I meant. Young Master, you can't slander me!"

"You can frame me, so why can't I slander you?" Lin Ran raised an eyebrow. "Besides, are you sure what I said isn't true?"

Sister Liu turned to Song Yishu and Lin Hongbo, her voice choked with emotion: "Madam, Master, I absolutely did not mean that. I was just momentarily blinded by greed and couldn't contain my anger."

"Never mind." Lin Hongbo waved his hand, his tone returning to its usual composure. "Considering you've worked for the Lin family for over a decade, I won't make things difficult for you. Pack your things and leave."

"Master, Madam, I..."

Still somewhat unwilling, Sister Liu continued to plead, "Please forgive me this once, considering how hard I've worked for you for over ten years. I promise I'll never do it again!"

"Works diligently without complaint? That's because the Lin family pays you a salary!" Song Yishu's tone turned cold. "As for forgiving you, hmph!"

She glanced at Lin Ran and continued, "You dared to frame my son, how could I forgive you! If I forgive you this time, are you waiting for me to kill someone with a knife next time?"

Sister Liu turned around and looked at the three Lin sisters as if she were looking for a last straw.

Seeing this, Lin Zhiwan took the necklace and walked towards the door: "You took my necklace, do you know how much trouble this will cause? I'd be furious even if I fired you ten times."

She paused for a moment in the entryway, then turned to look at Lin Ran, her tone softening slightly for once: "I never doubted you. My bad attitude just now was really just because I had something urgent to attend to."

Lin Ran shrugged: "The matter has been resolved. You should hurry up and attend the banquet. Be careful on the road, it's late at night."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiwan paused slightly, then nodded and replied, "Okay!"

Having said that, he quickly left.

Sister Liu then turned to Lin Zhixia, looking pitiful: "Second Miss..."

However, Lin Zhixia didn't even glance at her, picked up her bracelet, and walked away.

This act of framing and slander has crossed the line of her professional ethics.

As an investigator for the Secret Service, she was already showing consideration for their decade-long friendship by not handcuffing him.

Where would you find a pleasant expression?

On the contrary, Lin Zhiyao, who usually liked to put on a bad face, felt a little sorry for her.

She glanced at Sister Liu's tear-streaked face, then at Lin Ran, and hesitated before saying, "You haven't lost anything yet, so why don't you forgive her this time?"

Lin Ran didn't buy it, and simply asked, "If your jade pendant were really lost, would you just let it go like that?"

"I..." Lin Zhiyao opened her mouth, but found that she really couldn't just let it go.

That protective jade pendant was a keepsake left to her by her grandmother. Regardless of its monetary value, its significance is extraordinary.

If it were truly lost, she could turn the entire Lin family villa upside down.

"Some things can't be erased just because they've been salvaged." Lin Ran turned to look at Lin Haozhe. "What do you think?"

Lin Haozhe's face paled slightly, and he nodded with difficulty: "Brother Ran is right, we really can't pretend it didn't happen."

Upon hearing Lin Haozhe's words, Sister Liu felt as if the last bit of strength had been drained from her.

She lowered her head, her disheveled hair obscuring half her face.

When she looked up again, a hint of resentment flashed in her reddened eyes as she stared straight at Lin Ran.

Seeing this, Lin Ran raised an eyebrow: "What, you're still not satisfied?"

Sister Liu quickly lowered her head, then adopted a wronged expression: "No, no, I know I was wrong. I'll pack my things and leave right now."

After this whole incident, Lin Ran was basically certain that there must be some special relationship between Sister Liu and Lin Haozhe.

Sister Liu's original name was Liu Xiulan, and she worked for the Lin family for eighteen years.

When you calculate it, it happens to match the time I lost.

She arrived at the Lin family's house at just the right time, before Lin Ran went missing.

Shortly after that, the Lin family adopted Lin Haozhe.

Following this line of thought, a bold guess emerged.

Liu Xiulan may be Lin Haozhe's biological mother!

She infiltrated the Lin family as a maid, stole Lin Ran and abandoned him, and then devised a plan to make Lin Haozhe the Lin family's adopted son.

Once Lin Haozhe was designated as the heir of the Lin family, she took the opportunity to achieve a leap in social class.

From a servant who waits on others to the mother of an heir, that's a clever plan.

However, there is still a loophole here.

She came to the Lin family as a maid right after giving birth to Lin Haozhe, successfully stole the real young master, and then got the Lin family to adopt her son.

The difficulty of this operation is beyond what an ordinary nanny can accomplish on her own.

Not only is a precise timeframe required, but a thorough understanding of the Lin family's internal affairs is also essential.

It's hard to say whether there's someone else behind her.

Since the other party has already shown their true colors, we might as well play the long game and catch a big fish, and play them slowly.

After everyone left, even without Liu Xiulan, they still had to eat.

Song Yishu personally cooked several home-style dishes, and served four dishes and a soup on the table, steaming hot.

Lin Zhixia was on the night shift, and Lin Zhiwan was still on her way to the dinner party. Only Lin Hongbo and his wife, Lin Ran, Lin Zhiyao, and Lin Haozhe remained at the table.

Lin Ran took a bite of rice, then suddenly thought of something and looked up at Lin Hongbo: "Lin Zhiwan went to a banquet, why didn't you go?"

"All company social engagements have been handed over to Zhiwan; I'm only responsible for making general decisions," Lin Hongbo said calmly, picking up his water glass.

"Oh, I see." Lin Ran nodded. "It means being a hands-off manager."

"Cough cough cough..." Lin Hongbo choked on the water, put down the cup, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and said seriously, "This is all to cultivate your eldest sister's work ability."

"Just thinking about it is exhausting." Lin Ran shook his head. "She's actually wary of me. Does she really think I'd envy her life?"

That being said, before obtaining the cultivation technique, Lin Ran might have genuinely envied Lin Zhiwan's life as a wealthy CEO.

Living a life of luxury and holding power, they are the center of attention wherever they go.

Now that he has embarked on the path of immortality, he sees all of this as nothing more than fleeting clouds.