A whirlwind marriage: The real heiress marries a warlord.

This Spring Festival, people in the south of the city were laughing at the Du siblings, not Qin Yan.

Because Madam Lan, Du Jia, steered the conversation in the opposite direction. She spoke in defense of Qin Yan and provoked her sister-in-law several times.

What's interesting and generates discussion is always scandal.

In dealing with Qin Yan, Madam Lan was tactful, biased, and even obsequious. Although she was despised by others, she was able to avoid any arguments.

On the other side of this topic, Qin Yan and the warlord's wife Xiang Ying would never attend a boring banquet; the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law would not show their faces.

The woman who went out to attend the banquet was Cheng's second concubine.

Because her son was "unemployed" at home, the second wife dared not cause trouble, kept her mouth shut, and did not say a word, so as not to create any gossip.

One side showered the other with compliments, while the other quietly disappeared. This incident had no gossip or sensationalism, and eventually, no one talked about it anymore.

But Mrs. Lan and Mrs. Du started to "fight".

"Back then, Du Rongfei wanted to take a courtesan as a concubine, but the Du family disagreed. However, she became pregnant. Who knew she would be so restless? She demanded gold and silver as soon as she entered the house and wanted to live alone in a large mansion."

"Mrs. Du had given birth to two daughters at the time, and Du Rongfei implied that he disliked her for not having a son, placing high hopes on the child in the courtesan's womb. Who knew that not long after the courtesan entered the household, Mrs. Du also became pregnant."

"The courtesan boasted that she was a lucky star and was extremely arrogant. When she was about to give birth, Mrs. Du was also six months pregnant. In a fit of anger, she attacked Mrs. Du and the old lady and pushed them down the stairs."

The old lady dislocated her arm.

Du Jia rushed back to her parents' home and slapped her older brother, Du Rongfei, twice.

Mrs. Du was so anxious to protect her husband that she struggled to get up and argue with Du Jia, even though she was already bleeding.

That evening, Mrs. Du gave birth to a fully developed baby boy.

The courtesan also gave birth to a daughter. She suffered postpartum hemorrhage and died a few days later.

This incident created a huge rift between the Du family and their adopted son.

The old man and woman were furious that Du Rongfei had been bewitched by a shrew like a courtesan. They had never agreed to it in the first place, but had no choice but to compromise.

It even caused the old lady to fall and injure her arm.

Mrs. Du knew that the courtesan had harmed her child, but the courtesan was dead and of little importance, so she blamed Du Jia for causing trouble and hitting Du Rongfei. She got up to break up the fight and that's how she lost her pregnancy.

Both sides have their reasons.

Even if Mrs. Du is unreasonable, she will still make a scene. If she blames the courtesan, wouldn't she also blame Du Rongfei? So she only blames Du Jia.

Du Jia, on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to her and only talked to Du Rongfei when she had something to say.

After the old man passed away, the old lady was so heartbroken that she also passed away six months later. From then on, Du Jia became estranged from her family.

The Du family has always been a prominent family in Nancheng. Their family's interesting stories span several decades, each with its own perspective, but the interests involved are too deep to distinguish right from wrong.

Some say Mrs. Du is virtuous and always protects Du Rongfei; others say she is incompetent and only knows how to rely on her husband and be his accomplice.

Du Zhuojun's attempt failed.

This also dragged the Du family into the "gossip" again, damaging Du Rongfei's prestige.

He was so angry that he yelled at his daughter and then at his wife.

"Neither of them are capable!"

Mrs. Du had always been incompetent, and Du Rongfei had no hope for her. But Du Zhuojun was so foolish, and her plans were so poor, that Du Rongfei was utterly disappointed.

He scolded his daughter: "You still want to marry Cheng Tianxun? The Cheng family doesn't want a fool like you."

Du Zhuojun lowered his head, his face stubborn.

She really wanted to say that back then, public opinion was so favorable that she almost married Cheng Tianxun. Cheng Tianxun also liked her very much and danced with her all night.

But the warlord's wife couldn't stand her.

It's perfectly normal for a mother-in-law to dislike her daughter-in-law, but her father makes a mountain out of a molehill.

When the warlord's wife proposed exchanging study abroad opportunities, her father was very excited.

Her father said, "This school only gives out two government-sponsored study abroad spots a year. This is such a great opportunity, and it's fallen to you."

Du Zhuojun asked what to do about her and Cheng Tianxun's relationship. Shouldn't they strike while the iron is hot and get the Cheng family to get engaged to her?

Her father, however, said, "With your prestigious university degree, what powerful or wealthy son can't you marry? And with such a distinguished family, you can choose any future marshal or young marshal."

Du Zhuojun's heart also warmed.

She just hadn't expected studying to be so difficult. Unable to graduate, she spent money to bribe her way into getting a diploma.

That was incredibly difficult; she suffered terribly during that period.

She clearly didn't have to suffer those hardships.

Now that he's back, the situation has completely changed; Cheng Tianxun has married an illegitimate daughter.

This illegitimate daughter is very good at creating hype, fabricating mysterious identities, sometimes claiming to be from the Qin family in Guangzhou, sometimes from the Luo family in Hong Kong, seemingly unfathomable.

Strip away the veil of shame, and she's nothing but a lowly illegitimate daughter.

Du Zhuojun never expected that he would lose to an illegitimate daughter!

She is the daughter of the Du family.

Her father was incredibly wealthy, and the Du family had a noble lineage, producing countless famous figures over the centuries.

Du Zhuojun wanted to complain that it was her father's wrong decision that wasted her good opportunity.

But she didn't dare.

After being scolded a few times, Du Rongfei threatened her: "If you don't achieve anything, I won't invest any more money in your newspaper."

Du Zhuojun had no choice but to quickly think of a solution.

Du Jia had good relations with the press, and she wrote an article slandering Qin Yan, asking her colleagues to help publish it; however, most of them refused.

Regardless of Qin Yan's previous status, she is now the wife of a young marshal, and she has power behind her. In the past two years, she has maintained good relationships with her colleagues, and they are on friendly terms with each other. There is no need to break ties with her.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, the press was abuzz with news because a bond company had run into trouble.

Two very large bond companies absconded with the money.

The New Year wasn't even over yet, and ordinary people's money had gone down the drain, so they started making a fuss.

Every newspaper is writing news about this.

Qin Yan sent the negatives to two newspapers he knew well. They were evidence that Du Zhuojun's cousin, Du Liangzhong, had absconded with money and was escorted away by Du Rongfei's entourage and car.

This photo was taken by Cheng Tianxun's informant at Du Zhuojun's newspaper office.

"Why did she give us the negatives?" one of the writers asked.

The club president said, "Recently, Du Zhuojun tried to smear her, but she knew we refused. She's the most perceptive person. This is just returning the favor."

"But she runs her own newspaper, why would she give it to us?"

"It's also because she believes her own editor is worse than yours; she writes the same news stories much better than yours," the editor-in-chief said. "Instead of being suspicious, you should think about how to beat the editors of the Vernacular Times."

The press is currently on the rise, so while there is competition, there's not much underhanded dealing. Everyone relies on their own abilities.

Du Rongfei got into a lot of lawsuits because of his cousin's affairs, and public opinion turned against him, with some even demanding that he pay compensation.

He was furious to the extreme.

He was completely unaware that Du Liangzhong had escaped. It was only because they had a good relationship that Du Liangzhong was able to harm those around him.

Some sources have even claimed that Du Liangzhong is actually Du Rongfei's younger brother. Du Rongfei was adopted out, but he maintained close ties with his biological parents and brothers.

Therefore, Du Liangzhong may just be a shadow of Du Rongfei, and it was Du Rongfei who embezzled the money.

The devastated public, now having found an outlet for their emotions, all crowded around to confront Du Rongfei.

The Du family was struggling to make ends meet.

Du Zhuojun no longer had the energy to compete with Qin Yan.