The housekeeper used his connections to get the test done quickly, and the results came back fast: the tea contained a stimulant that matched Xu Maotong's symptoms.
Liang Yujie was utterly shocked. She couldn't believe that the idiot she'd watched grow up could be so capable of drugging her tea right under her nose! How did he manage that? When did Xu Zifan learn such skills?
Xu Zifeng glanced at her, thinking to himself, "This mother of mine always thinks she's so smart, but isn't she just indecisive?" If he had called the police earlier as she suggested, Xu Zifan might already be in the police station. Who knows if they could find any evidence after such a delay? Xu Zifeng was somewhat excited and hurriedly called the police.
Liang Yujie said, "Xiaofeng, my eyelids keep twitching, and I feel like something's not right. If it's so obvious that an investigation would easily find out it was him, why would he do this? His behavior recently has proven that he's not as stupid as we thought. I suspect this is a trap."
Xu Zifeng said impatiently, "Mom, stop nagging! Think about how badly he's ruined me! I should be working at the company, a successful chairman's assistant, working on big projects, envied by everyone in the industry, and eventually taking over the Xu Group and becoming the head of power. But now? My reputation is ruined. I can't go to the company or school, and I can only cower at home and swallow my anger. We finally managed to catch Xu Zifan, what are you hesitating about? Are you even my mother?"
Liang Yujie was already panicked because of Xu Maotong's affair. She had hoped to find support from her son, but instead received not a single word of concern, only accusations and questions. Her son was only concerned with his own interests and didn't care about his mother at all! Looking at Xu Zifeng like this, Liang Yujie suddenly wondered if she had made a mistake by being strict with him all these years. Even if she successfully became Mrs. Xu, what good would it be if her heir son wasn't close to her? How had this family become like this?
Police arrived at the Xu family home quickly after receiving the report and showed their identification to the bodyguards, requesting Xu Zifan's cooperation in the investigation. The bodyguards refused outright, stating that Xu Maotong's drugging was absolutely unrelated to Xu Zifan, and that he could check the surveillance footage if he didn't believe them. They refused to accept such baseless accusations without evidence, and insisted that Liang Yujie and Xu Zifeng were framing Xu Zifan.
The police didn't have an arrest warrant or search warrant, which put them in a difficult position. The main problem was that Xu Zifan was now a large and well-known businessman with extensive connections; without evidence, a hardline stance wouldn't work. Finally, the bodyguard said, "If the surveillance footage shows Xu Zifan is a suspect, we will immediately cooperate with the police to wake him up."
The police were going to review the surveillance footage anyway, something Xu Zifeng had specifically emphasized. Since it was just a matter of order, the police didn't press the issue and decided to review the footage first, then take Xu Zifeng's statement later. Little did they know that reviewing the footage would reveal a problem.
Surveillance footage shows that Xu Zifan arrived at the Xu family home around 10 PM, exchanged a few words with the three members of the Xu family in the lobby, then bypassed them and went upstairs. He didn't leave the house again after that, except for one bodyguard who left. However, this bodyguard didn't touch anything from the moment he entered until he left, and he didn't go near the kitchen, master bedroom, or any other areas, so he was completely innocent.
According to the surveillance footage, after the group dispersed in the lobby, Liang Yujie went to the kitchen to make tea. The camera only captured Liang Yujie's back, not whether she had drugged the tea. Afterward, Liang Yujie took the tea into the bedroom, and a while later, she rushed out to call the housekeeper. The housekeeper then took Xu Maotong to the hospital with others. During this entire time, Xu Zifan remained unseen and had no opportunity to commit the crime.
The police officers looked at each other, wondering if Liang Yujie had drugged them.
The housekeeper returned with the police. He called out all the servants and asked if they had seen Xu Zifan leave his room. Two servants said they heard a noise but didn't know who it was, and they didn't hear any conversation. It was so late, and the masters had a fight and everyone had gone back to their rooms, so the servants naturally rushed back to their rooms to avoid offending anyone and getting scolded. As a result, there were no eyewitnesses, only Liang Yujie's statement as evidence.
Remembering Liang Yujie's statement that Xu Zifan went to get oranges, the housekeeper immediately had the maid produce the shopping list to confirm how many oranges were supposed to be there, and then led the police to check the refrigerator. The result was predictable: Xu Zifan hadn't eaten any, and of course, all the oranges were there. The police became increasingly suspicious. After carefully packing all the oranges into an evidence bag, someone suggested taking the tea leaves back for further examination.
The butler readily agreed, having no doubt about Liang Yujie, and immediately opened the cabinet for them to collect the evidence. After the police put the tea canister into the evidence bag, a medicine tube hidden behind it suddenly rolled out! The police officers' expressions tightened, and they immediately put the medicine tube away, their expressions towards the butler unusually serious.
There's not much to say here. The medicine tube was behind the tea canister, and surveillance footage shows Liang Yujie was constantly handling these items, making her the prime suspect. As for whether these items will provide further evidence, they'll need to be taken back to the forensic department for analysis.
The police took the evidence back with them, while the police at the hospital received the news and immediately asked Liang Yujie to assist in the investigation.
Liang Yujie asked in surprise, "Why do you suspect me? What does it have to do with me?"
"Ms. Liang, the Xu family's surveillance footage shows that you were the only one who touched that cup of tea from beginning to end. The incident you mentioned where Xu Zifan went into the kitchen to get an orange never happened. Now, please come with us to assist with the investigation. We need to investigate the specific circumstances further. If you are innocent, the police will not wrong you."
Liang Yujie's heart pounded. She gripped Xu Zifeng tightly, her face filled with anxiety. "Xiaofeng! Xu Zifan really went into the kitchen! How could the security cameras not have captured it?"
Xu Zifeng stared at the police and asked, "What about Xu Zifan? This happened as soon as he got home, isn't he a suspect too? Have you arrested him?"
"I'm sorry, but based on the evidence presented, Mr. Xu Zifan is not a suspect."
The police cannot coerce people without grounds. If further evidence is discovered, we will ask him to assist in the investigation.
"How can you say there's no suspect? Didn't you hear what my mom said? He went into the kitchen, he definitely touched that cup of tea! Did your people carefully review the surveillance footage? Is that particular segment missing? Was it interfered with? You must have made a mistake!"
The police officer said sternly, "My colleague reviewed the surveillance footage without missing a single second. From the moment Mr. Xu Zifan entered the house until Mr. Xu Maotong was taken to the hospital, Mr. Xu Zifan never went to the kitchen. He stayed in the bedroom the whole time, and his bodyguard was always guarding the door. The surveillance footage shows that Ms. Liang is lying. I believe you also want to find out the truth, so please cooperate with our work."
Xu Zifeng suddenly remembered that Liang Yujie had always told him not to call the police, and his gaze towards Liang Yujie immediately became suspicious. But he didn't ask anything; the police were still there, and even if he had suspicions, he wouldn't say anything.
Liang Yujie's heart sank even further. She was taken away by the police, and instead of helping her, her son even suspected her! She was 52 years old; how could she not save face being taken to the police station as a suspect? If this got out, where would she stand in the industry? Why didn't her son help her?
Liang Yujie herself couldn't think of a solution, and was led away with her head down and a sullen face. As she walked out of the hospital, a large group of reporters suddenly rushed up to her and started taking pictures! The questions were all about whether she had drugged him, whether she had murdered her husband, and whether she had failed to frame Xu Zifan again, etc. Liang Yujie was speechless and could only dryly reply, "I am innocent."
She was now absolutely certain that Xu Zifan was behind it all. He had not only ruined Xu Maotong, but also set up a series of traps, leading them step by step to report to the police, end up in the police station, and have their scandals reported by the media. A sudden chill ran down her spine. Hadn't she been underestimating him before? Had she been completely manipulated by that boy? While she was basking in the glory of her good reputation, Xu Zifan might have been utterly indifferent. Look, now he had destroyed her with just one move! She could forget about ever returning to high society!
For Liang Yujie, becoming a superior person and no longer being manipulated or bullied had become an obsession. She had persisted for over twenty years to finally achieve this, only to have it all destroyed by Xu Zifan in just a few months, utterly shattering her dream. This was more painful than anything else! Moreover, she had always prided herself on her intelligence, never making a mistake in all these years. Now, to find out that Xu Zifan could deal with her like it was nothing was unacceptable to her!
Upon arriving at the police station, Liang Yujie immediately described the scene in detail, leaving no detail overlooked, and asked the police to investigate thoroughly.
However, after the forensic department worked overtime to examine all the evidence, they concluded that only Liang Yujie's fingerprints were found on the orange, the teacup, the tea canister, and the medicine tube. The surveillance footage and the fingerprints on the medicine tube were sufficient to prove that Liang Yujie was the one who drugged the child; there was nothing more to investigate.
Upon hearing this result, Liang Yujie's eyes widened, and she jumped to her feet, shouting, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The surveillance footage has been tampered with! Investigate! Investigate!"
A policewoman grabbed her shoulder and shoved her into a chair, coldly reprimanding, "Quiet! Answer all questions, and don't make a sound."
Liang Yujie had never been treated like this before, but the pain from being hit by the chair calmed her down. She took a deep breath and said calmly, "I'm innocent. I had no motive to harm Maotong. When Maotong wakes up, you can ask him. He will definitely believe I'm innocent. It was all Xu Zifan's doing. He clearly took the oranges, but you couldn't find anything. He must have tampered with them."
Liang Yujie thought for a moment and then said, "He knows a hacker. You know about the online nude photos incident, right? Back then, the related posts couldn't be deleted no matter what we did, because Xu Zifan hired a high-level hacker. It must be the same this time. Go and investigate again. I am a law-abiding citizen who has always supported the police and is willing to cooperate. Please be sure to clear my name."
Liang Yujie did look quite innocent, but unfortunately, the IT department checked the surveillance footage three times and found no problems. This meant that the surveillance was working properly and that Liang Yujie was lying!
Liang Yujie was detained and locked up with three heavily made-up women. Only then did she truly panic, experiencing for the first time a deep-seated fear of Xu Zifan. When the other party was powerful enough to frame her flawlessly, what could she possibly fight back? Most importantly, could Xu Maotong and Xu Zifeng possibly defeat him? What awaited them?
Xu Maotong underwent emergency treatment and gastric lavage before being transferred to a VIP ward. However, due to his advanced age and severe damage to his gastrointestinal tract, he remains in a coma and requires hospitalization for observation.
Xu Zifeng waited until the next day, but Xu Maotong still hadn't woken up. He was then notified by the police that Liang Yujie had been confirmed as the one who had drugged him, and he hurriedly took his lawyer to the police station.
Liang Yujie hadn't slept all night; her hair was disheveled, her clothes were dirty, and she looked extremely haggard. As soon as she saw Xu Zifeng, she anxiously asked, "Xiaofeng, is your father awake? Did he send you?"
Xu Zifeng irritably ran his fingers through his hair. "Dad hasn't woken up yet. The doctor said his stomach and intestines were severely irritated, and the aftereffects are serious. He'll need to take good care of himself from now on, and he can't overwork himself. There are also many dietary restrictions. I can see that Dad looks very pale. He's really suffered a lot this time."
He looked at Liang Yujie and hinted, "Mom, I brought Xu's best lawyer. You can tell him anything, but you must tell him the truth so he can help you."
Liang Yujie glared at him angrily, "I'm telling the truth! What about the news? What did the news say?"
Xu Zifeng's face instantly turned ugly; those ridiculous news reports were practically going against the Xu family!