The Art of Teasing - Chapter 134
Chapter 134
Not long after Wen Zhengyu had fallen asleep, Old Madam Zhang and Old Master Lian arrived with the family doctor.
The doctor took Wen Zhengyu's blood pressure and examined her.
Ye Ling watched from the side and whispered to Old Madam Zhang, "She has no injuries on her body, but her forehead was cut and bruised, her wrists have marks from handcuffs, and her throat is a bit hoarse."
Soon, the doctor came out and told them, "Everything I can check seems normal. She has a slight cough, probably from throat discomfort. There's no phlegm in her lungs from what I hear. A few days' rest and she'll be fine."
Old Madam Zhang asked uneasily, "Are you sure?"
In such matters, the family doctor dared not guarantee anything; he only said his equipment was limited and it would be best to take her to the hospital for a check-up.
Old Madam Zhang saw Wen Zhengyu lying unconscious in sleep, worried and distressed, thinking she must have suffered terribly, and wanted to let her sleep a while longer. She said, "Let her sleep," then called Ye Ling out to the outer room and asked, "What exactly happened? How could she just be arrested like that? And by special police at that."
Ye Ling recounted how, after tracing Wen Shiyi's loan sharking debt back to Zhao Si, she and Lian Xin had beaten Zhao Si up; afterward, Zhao Si retaliated by discovering Wen Zhengyu's connection with Old Master Lu and that a huge sum of money had suddenly appeared under her name. He personally filed a real-name report, claiming Wen Zhengyu's assets were of unknown origin and possibly linked to Old Master Lu. It was true that Wen Zhengyu had brought Old Master Lu and his grandson out of the nursing home and welfare institute; they were now living in her house, and an enormous amount of property had indeed suddenly come into her name. Because she had many bodyguards, all highly trained ex-military personnel, they feared she might resist and sent special police to assist in the arrest.
Ye Ling guessed that Zhao Si intended to target Wen Zhengyu and her assets: with such a vast sum and such a large family business, it was the easiest point to cause trouble. Wen Zhengyu had never suffered any hardship; with threats and intimidation, she would quickly confess. Once she confessed and the trail was followed, the case would be nailed down solid. This money wasn't something she had earned, and who knew how many people would be dragged down with her.
Seeing Wen Zhengyu like this, she knew she must have suffered plenty. Wen Zhengyu was naive; the fact that they had released her so readily meant they had likely gotten what they wanted from the interrogation.
At that moment, Old Madam Zhang truly felt like beating Wen Shiyi to death with her own hands.
Ye Ling said, "As for the assets, Zhengyu naturally has no problem there; it's your side that…"
Old Madam Zhang said, "I have a clear idea about this matter. I'll go myself and explain to their investigators. All these years, I've been keeping Huaijin's assets in trust for her; I was afraid that if I transferred the assets without a clear explanation to the children and grandchildren, it might cause discord, so I've kept every document and receipt in perfect order. I'm not afraid of their investigation. I want to see how they plan to harm my granddaughter. I want to see what crime they can pin on me for false accusation. And I want to see what they did to my granddaughter when they took her in…" The old lady grew angrier the more she spoke, her voice rising until she was trembling all over with rage. She then turned on Ye Ling: "And you lot! If you're going to hit someone, don't spare the face; if you hit the face, you might as well finish them off with a single blow. Why hesitate? Give them a chance to come back and bite you?" She then berated Ye Ling thoroughly, and in her fury, slapped Ye Ling on the back.
Ye Ling bore the slap stoically; it stung fiercely and she almost lost her footing. She felt miserable, and the slap made it worse. But she straightened up again and obediently listened to the old lady's scolding.
Hearing the old lady's loud scolding, Wen Jing quietly pushed open the bedroom door and took a look. She saw that Wen Zhengyu had not even turned over. She called out, "Grandma, Miss Ye, Miss Zhengyu seems a bit off."
Old Madam Zhang's scolding came to an abrupt halt. She hurried over, saw that Wen Zhengyu was still asleep, and asked Wen Jing, "What's wrong?"
Wen Jing said, "She's sleeping too deeply."
Old Madam Zhang knew how loud her voice was. She immediately became frantic and shouted, "Take her to the hospital, quick!" She was so frightened she started trembling. She went closer and called, "Yu'er, Yu'er…" calling several times without any response from Wen Zhengyu. Fortunately, Wen Zhengyu appeared to be breathing normally.
Ye Ling dashed into the room and shouted, "Clothes. Call an ambulance." She quickly found her own warm clothing and put it on Wen Zhengyu. Worried that Wen Zhengyu might have a head injury, she dared not move her carelessly. She called the family doctor in from outside, and under his guidance, they took Wen Zhengyu to the hospital for examination.
After a series of tests, the doctor tentatively diagnosed a concussion, speculating that she had suffered a violent blow to the head.
Old Madam Zhang trembled with rage, asking repeatedly, "Who hit her? Who hit her? Who hit her?" Tears streamed down her aged face.
Lian Xin and Qi Wei, upon receiving the news, also rushed over.
Qi Wei hadn't expected that when Grandma and the others came to celebrate her grandfather's birthday, something like this would happen.
Just after she and Lian Xin arrived, the investigators also showed up. They were polite, showed their credentials, and said that Wen Zhengyu was under investigation for assets of unknown origin, and that Wen Zhengyu had confessed that these assets were given to her by Old Madam Zhang. They needed to ask Old Madam Zhang to come with them to assist in the investigation.
Old Madam Zhang wiped away her tears and said, "You were the ones who hit my granddaughter, weren't you? Fine, I'll go with you. If this matter isn't properly explained to me, I won't let it go."
Qi Wei called out, "Grandma," and stepped forward to support her. She was about to speak when Old Madam Zhang stopped her.
Old Madam Zhang said to Qi Wei, "Don't say anything. Let's see if they'll beat me to death too." With that, she stood up and left directly with them.
Qi Wei couldn't stop Old Madam Zhang from going with them, so she immediately called to report the situation.
Wen Shishu and Ye Zhan had also received calls from Ye Ling.
Ye Ling went to make calls herself.
Lian Xin called his father and uncles to inform them, then called several of his brothers, telling them where the old lady's account books from these years were stored, and to pack everything up and bring it over personally.
The Qi household was thrown into an uproar.
It was Old Master Qi's birthday, and Old Master Bian was seriously ill, so many old friends who hadn't been out in years had come. The household was busy preparing for the birthday banquet when they suddenly heard that Old Madam Zhang's precious granddaughter had been taken away by special police right after getting off the plane. Old Master Qi thought there must be some misunderstanding and quickly sent Qi Wei to find out. Upon learning it involved an exceptionally grave duty dereliction and corruption case, his first reaction was that it was absurd; he called again to ask if there was a mistake, then sent Qi Wei again. When Qi Wei arrived, she said Ye Ling had already gone through the procedures to bail her out. Old Master Qi thought the matter was settled, but then another call came, saying Wen Zhengyu had been beaten unconscious and taken to the hospital, and that Old Madam Zhang had been taken away from the hospital because of the unexplained huge assets under Wen Zhengyu's name.
Not long after, Lian Xin hurried back and spilled everything about Zhao Si's interest in Wen Zhengyu and all his interference in the matter.
With Wen Zhengyu beaten to this state and Old Madam Zhang at such an advanced age, how could she bear it?
Old Master Qi and the other elderly friends who had ties with Old Madam Zhang could not sit still any longer. Without waiting for phone calls or messages, they went straight over and sat in their office, waiting for news.
Lian Xin filed a complaint with the regulatory authorities regarding Wen Zhengyu's case.
Zhao Si was lying on a recliner at home, holding the transcript of Wen Zhengyu's interrogation, reading it over and over, muttering, "So rich. I really underestimated her."
Beside him, a man about thirty sat below, saying, "Fourth Young Master, I've been suspended from duty pending investigation."
Zhao Si said, "It's fine. Did you give her enough of a lesson?"
"With me doing it, rest assured, I gave her enough of a lesson, and you can't see any injuries. With what she confessed, plus Brother Lun's maneuvering, that old lady won't be able to wash her hands clean…" Just then, he saw a woman in her early forties walk in with a cold expression. He quickly stood up and greeted her respectfully.
The woman sat down across from Zhao Si and said, "I told you, this grievance — you have to swallow it whether you can or not."
Zhao Si smiled and pushed the papers in his hand toward his eldest sister, saying, "Take a look at this."
The woman took it and read carefully.
Zhao Si said, "Her phone contact list even has confidential numbers. We're checking whose they are. Her case is huge."
The woman nodded, "It is huge. She's lying unconscious in the hospital. The outside is already in an uproar. Dad told me to tell you: what you caused, you go turn yourself in and confess; don't expect the family to clean up your mess." She then got up with a cold face and left.
Zhao Si leaped up from the recliner, shouting, "What's going on?" Realizing things were wrong, he quickly yelled, "Let me tell you, Zhao Yiyi, if I don't fare well, neither will you. If something happens to me, you won't be able to give the old man an explanation."
The woman didn't even look back and left directly.
The man beside Zhao Si was also stunned and asked, "Fourth Young Master, what's happening?"
Zhao Si said, "How would I know? Go find out, fast." After sending the man away, he hurried out to find his grandfather. As soon as his car drove out, he noticed a police car parked at the gate. He glanced back and continued driving, with the police car closely following behind.
Zhao Si's head spun with anxiety; he gritted his teeth and cursed.
As the matter escalated, the surveillance footage of Wen Zhengyu's interrogation was also retrieved.
Lian Xin, Qi Wei, and Ye Ling went together to view the footage.
Ye Ling stared fixedly at the screen, biting her lip until it bled.
Lian Xin's eyes reddened: To be pinned down and beaten like that, then held under in a water basin without even struggling...
After watching, Qi Wei said nothing and went with Ye Ling to the hospital.
Wen Zhengyu had already woken up, but with post-concussion symptoms, her consciousness was still fuzzy, drifting in and out.
Old Madam Zhang, Old Master Lian, Wen Shishu, and Wen Zhengyu's eldest maternal uncle, Lian Huairen, and her youngest maternal uncle, Lian Huaixin, were all there.
Old Madam Zhang saw them and quickly asked, "Did you see the footage? Who hit her? How many hit her?"
Qi Wei said, "We saw it. The one who hit her was a man surnamed Shen. He did it while his colleagues had gone out to eat. When the others came back from dinner and found out, they pulled him out, and then... he was suspended pending investigation, and someone else took over."
"They say Zhao Si promised him benefits."
Qi Wei then roughly explained the other matters involved.
Put plainly, Zhao Si was unwilling to let it go. He forcibly gathered so-called evidence and filed a real-name report, which meant someone had to investigate. Leveraging his connections, he found a few people eager to cozy up to him, had Wen Zhengyu taken in and taught a lesson, and then started investigating her assets. If Wen Zhengyu really had any illegal income or unclear sources of wealth, it would be very hard for her to get out of it.
She had a fairly good relationship with the Zhao family's eldest daughter, Zhao Yiyi, who was also a decent person. But then the parents divorced, and there appeared this half-brother whom she wished she could strangle with her own hands — a brother who pranced around all day throwing around names like "my father is so-and-so, my brother is so-and-so, my sister is so-and-so." Zhao Yiyi was thoroughly disgusted by Zhao Si but couldn't actually strangle him. If you asked Qi Wei, she'd say, anyone who believes him is a damn fool.
Qi Wei sat down by the bedside, looked at Wen Zhengyu, and sighed inwardly, What miserable luck.
She had originally thought that scaring Wen Zhengyu a bit would make her bring enough bodyguards and be careful when going out, and everything would be fine. Who could have predicted such an unprovoked disaster?
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