Let me make an analogy: If two guys are trying to convince a women to date them, and one of them is her childhood friend while the other met her an hour ago, if she picks the one who was her childhood friend it doesn't mean the other guy is unattractive. Similarly, the final chapter doesn't mean Fang Lin is a better schemer, just that he had more time to plan things out. The author apparently doesn't know how scheming works.