When they heard that even Zheng Yue's unsavoury past was uncovered, Yu Dahai and Yu Li finally gave up any hope of getting lucky. As they were panicking, Officer He's gaze skipped over Zheng Yue to land on them.
"Yu Dahai, Yu Li, you two are the masterminds behind this case. We have all kinds of indisputable witnesses and material evidence." Flipping over the evidence in his hands, Officer He once again glanced in Hao Ritian's direction before speaking.
"Since the time Mr Li Yi called the police, we have conducted a detailed investigation of Yu Dahai and Yu Li's house as quickly as possible and acquired evidence. Yu Hao's parents had left behind a large inheritance upon their unexpected passing. As Yu Hao is already an adult, according to the law, he is the prime inheritor for this legacy. Even if Yu Hao was hospitalised due to mental problems, Yu Dahai and Yu Li have no right to forcibly obtain that inheritance."
Officer He Hong's voice suddenly became colder. "However, according to our police investigation, Yu Hao's family home is being occupied by Yu Dahai's family, which is already considered illegal trespassing in the eyes of the law. In addition to this, Yu Dahai has relocated Yu Hao's family safe without authorisation and claimed all of Yu Hao's parents' deposit books for his own use. It is from this that they paid Zheng Yue's one million dollars. Besides that, Yu Hao's parents bought a property for him to use during university which is now being occupied by Yu Li's family as well. After splitting up the inheritance between themselves, Yu Dahai and Yu Li also laid hands on the properties of Yu Hao's mother."
The only sound in the interrogation room was Officer He's steady voice as he revealed every secret one by one, chilling the hearts of those who listened.
This would, at most, be considered a forceful occupation of one's nephew's properties, if that were all. Even if Yu Hao wanted to safeguard his interests and rights through the law, he'd need to undergo a period of back and forth to achieve it. These kinds of problems between relatives could be seen everywhere on the Internet, and even speculations about large families fighting over family properties would occasionally make it to the headlines. After seeing it so many times, Internet users had become desensitised since it wasn't any of their business anyways.
At that time, Yu Hao would have to deal with his many relatives alone and without help. It'd be difficult for him to win even if he was the reasonable party, and even if he did win, the amount of energy used would've been indescribable. That was reality.
However, the root of the matter was, in order to ensure that Yu Hao never had the chance to make a comeback by any means necessary, Yu Dahai and Yu Li thought of plotting against him and implemented a carefully-laid-out plan.
If the scheme had worked, everyone would've been none the wiser about Yu Hao's grievances. He would've had no choice but to stay in a psychiatric hospital as a patient for life. While Yu Dahai and Yu Li might've paid for his hospitalisation and treatment for appearance's sake at first, as time went on, who'd be willing to spend money on such a 'burden'?
This was the cruelest part. Not only did they scheme against him for his fortune, they'd also ruin his life, committing such vicious acts despite clearly being related by blood; Yu Dahai and Yu Li were completely rotten to the core.
It was meaningless to waste words on people like them. Fixing up the materials at hand, Officer He's expression was cold as he said, "According to the law, you two will be sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. All properties seized should be returned to Yu Hao, while the money you've spent will be reimbursed using your existing assets."
Other than what they'd already paid to Zheng Yue, Yu Dahai had also used Yu Hao's money to pay off his nearly one million dollar gambling debt, though his spendings were relatively small when compared with Yu Li's expenses. Aside from her various spendings, Yu Li's biggest expense was buying her son an apartment to get himself a wife, which cost more than a million dollars. She'd also planned to buy a car but thankfully hadn't yet.
Before obtaining this inheritance, they wouldn't have dared spend hundreds of thousands, let alone a million. Yet compared to the tens of millions of dollars or even the properties worth nearly a hundred million dollars in the inheritance, one million was basically nothing in their eyes. The two of them were like a pair of country money-bags who'd received a massive windfall, spending money however they liked.
Due to this money, their statuses in their families greatly improved in a short while—their children listened to them, their spouses were pleased with them, and even Yu Li's in-laws saw her in a different light. Yu Li loved this change in fortune and the feeling of being in charge.
But everything was over now. It was all over.
Yu Li suddenly began screaming and made the same decision as Yu Dahai had before, running straight towards Hao Ritian. Because of the unexpectedness of her action, she actually succeeded. Just as her hands were about to touch Hao Ritian's shoulders, she cried with utmost regret, "Haohao, Auntie was wrong. Forgive Auntie this once for the sake of Auntie's previous kindness towards you, won't you? Auntie truly knows she's at fault."
Yu Li couldn't stand the mere thought of sitting in jail for ten years. Aside from losing the huge sum of money which she hadn't even had time to mourn over, going to jail would garner a ton of criticism behind her back. She'd have nothing after she was released—she couldn't accept this!!
Without Hao Ritian needing to move, Li Yi, who was sitting next to him, blocked Yu Li, and the police officers swiftly returned Yu Li to her seat. Still, she stared at Hao Ritian with remorse. "Auntie had a black conscience and was heartless. Do you just want to see Auntie go to prison? I'm your own aunt! I've been so kind to you before, don't you cherish our old relationship at all?"
Even the police officers couldn't help but feel sick listening to her. How were you kind to your nephew? For the sake of money, you planned to force your nephew to live his life as a psychiatric patient! Your version of kindness really isn't something normal people can bear!
They felt terribly sorry for Hao Ritian when they glanced at him again. It was shitty luck having relatives like them. If the scheme hadn't been revealed, those siblings might have unwittingly succeeded. Just the thought of that was chilling.
Hao Ritian curled his lips in anguish, however his eyes were filled with ridicule when he ducked his head. Yu Li used to treat Yu Hao extremely well, but there was no other choice—who made Yu Hao's parents so competent? Yu Li was a profiteer who loved to follow others around, so on the surface, she treated Yu Hao better than her own son.
But Yu Hao's parents were smart. If they weren't, it would've been impossible for them to amass such a large fortune from nothing. Though their hundred million dollar family fortune might not be much when compared to actual big families, Yu Hao's parents were common folks, and amassing so much wealth made them successful in the eyes of ordinary people.
With the two of them being so smart, how could they not have seen through Yu Li's pretence? So, despite not hating his aunt and uncle, Yu Hao hadn't been especially close to them either, just so-so.
Yet, right then, Yu Li actually had the gall to rely on this lukewarm relationship to make Hao Ritian forgive her. He had to say, her daydreams were quite beautiful!
Seeing Hao Ritian's lack of a reaction, Yu Li began to panic and fall apart once more. All of a sudden, she pointed at Yu Dahai and said, "You have to believe in me, Haohao! The only reason Auntie had this idea is because your uncle egged me on. He wanted your parents' legacy because he owed gambling debts. He convinced Auntie to do this. Say something!"
Soon after she finished shouting, she heard a 'smack'.
Still confused, she didn't realise that she'd been slapped until the burning pain on her face registered. Stupidly, she turned her head around and caught sight of her older brother, Yu Dahai, in the midst of being pushed back by the police officers. He was red in the face and was glaring at her with a vicious glint in his eyes, as if he wanted to throw himself at her and tear her to pieces.
"What did you say, bitch? You didn't get any benefit from this?"
Yu Li subconsciously shrank her neck as she listened to Yu Dahai curse in rage. Don't be fooled by how brazen she'd seemed, for she was wholeheartedly afraid of her older brother. Seeing the savage expression on her brother's face at that moment, her first response wasn't to get angry over being slapped, but to cower.
She was almost glad to have the officers restrain her brother, otherwise she would, without a doubt, be beaten up. After all, she'd once witnessed her brother abuse his wife. Though she'd taken joy at her misfortune at the time, now that she was the target, she was too afraid to even pass gas.
"Enough. This is the police station, not somewhere you can run wild. Keep your mouth clean." Officer He sternly looked around before ordering, "Have Yu Dahai, Yu Li, and Zheng Yue detained first, then send them to prison once the case is closed."
Police officers took the three of them away at once, and the officer responsible for Yu Li nimbly covered her mouth to prevent her from creating noise pollution.
"Off…Officer, we can only be considered accomplices, and we've given ourselves up and haven't caused Yu Hao any harm. We don't have to be imprisoned, right?" After Yu Dahai and the others were taken away, He Wei shakily spoke up.
He Hong closed his eyes. Although it was true that these three hadn't caused genuine harm to Yu Hao, it didn't mean they were innocent. Their failure was due to their lack of ability and Yu Hao's good luck, otherwise their original intentions and actions wouldn't escape legal sanctions.
Despite his thoughts, Officer He was at a loss. Because He Wei was right; according to the law, with the current severity of their actions, He Wei and the others would only be detained several days at most.
Out of sight, out of mind. He waved. "Detain those three for ten days."
He couldn't knowingly break the law.
He Wei and the others were evidently delighted to hear that. They would only be detained for ten days, then they could go home and not have to return to the psychiatric hospital. In their opinion, this was an excellent result. The three were nearly overjoyed as they left with the police officers.
Once the offenders were taken away, ultimately only the victim and Li Yi, who was accompanying him, remained in the interrogation room. The previously strained atmosphere disappeared and became much warmer.
Even Officer He tried to soften his sharp eyes. Sadly, despite attempting for a while, it didn't produce any obvious results, so he didn't make things hard for himself, afraid that he would frighten Hao Ritian by accident. He faced Li Yi. "We owe it to Mr Li for reporting this case to the police in time. If you hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to break this case as soon as we did."
Li Yi's expression was cool as he spoke, "It was the right thing to do. Besides, the victim is my patient and the offender is a doctor at my hospital; as the director, I should take on some of the responsibility."
The two of them neither worked in the same field nor had much to talk about, so after their simple exchange of words, He Hong finally talked to Hao Ritian himself, doing his utmost to soften his voice.
"Yu Hao, you are a complete victim in this matter and have the right to safeguard your interests. The police will contact the related departments to assist you with the follow-up, including the recovery of your assets. If you have any difficulties, you may come to us and we'll help you to the best of our abilities."
After saying that, he carefully studied Hao Ritian's expression before asking tentatively, "Do you have any questions?"
Hao Ritian's voice was low and caused those who heard him to feel sad, "No. Thank you, Officer. I want to see my parents first."
Because Yu Hao was greatly upset after the death of his parents and was admitted into the hospital, the funeral affairs were handled by Yu Dahai and Yu Li. Since designs on his assets had only just begun sprouting at that time, they naturally had to organise the funeral well on the surface and thus found a good cemetery to bury Yu Hao's parents in immediately after cremating them. As they didn't have much family in the first place, the funeral arrangements weren't very big.
Since he'd transmigrated into Yu Hao, Hao Ritian couldn't deviate from his general direction. If he were the real Yu Hao, Hao Ritian was certain he'd want to see his parents. Besides, he'd found that the more he transmigrated, the richer his emotions became compared to before. He held respect for the parents who, in his memories, were smart and badass yet doted on their son.
Naturally, no one could naysay him when he said that, and they had no choice but to agree. Of course, before he allowed Hao Ritian to leave, Officer He said, "When you're ready to take back what your parents left for you, come to the police station to find us. We'll assign someone to accompany you."
Hao Ritian eventually lifted his head and looked straight at He Hong with gratitude in his eyes. "Thank you, Officer He. I will."
The police personally sent Hao Ritian and Li Yi off from the police station. Li Yi started the car, which was parked beside the station, and nodded to the police officers after Hao Ritian got in. He then turned the wheel and the car slid out with a 'whoosh'.
A police officer who remained in the same spot sighed. "Someone's own aunt and uncle could commit such heinous deeds, yet a hospital director got so hands-on simply because the victim is his patient—what a disparity!"
"There's still lots of good people in the world. Won't those bastards be receiving legal sanctions?" His colleague chimed in.
—You guys must be naive to say that. After all, you're completely unaware of what designs Director Li, whom you view as a good person, has. Haha!
Hao Ritian sat in the passenger's seat as Li Yi drove him to the cemetery. He'd learned where the cemetery Yu Hao's parents were buried in was from the police. As the police couldn't allow any leads to go unchecked during their investigation, it was only natural that they'd discovered Yu Dahai and Yu Li were responsible for handing Yu Hao's parents' funeral arrangements.
He was quiet, his head bowed as he ran through the entire affair in his mind all over again. Once he was done, he realised that this case had been uncovered faster than he'd expected. That there was video evidence of Zheng Yue tampering with his medication was especially suspicious; as an attending doctor who'd been working at that hospital for several years, how could Zheng Yue not confirm whether there was a surveillance camera or not before messing around?
And yet, just when Zheng Yue had finally found an opportunity to make his move, he'd left behind video evidence like he was handing over information to be used against him on a silver platter. It was too coincidental.
He glanced at Li Yi from the corner of his eyes and a thought suddenly occurred to him—is he behind this?
The idea wasn't impossible.
After all, ever since that day he'd met that woman during activity time and thrown a tantrum, Li Yi's attitude towards him had noticeably changed. Wouldn't helping him out be normal?!
Facts proved that Hao Ritian was astonishingly sharp, Li Yi really did contribute.
After giving up on suppressing himself and planning to cure Hao Ritian so he could fuck him, Director 'chaste' Li decided to learn about him in detail. His investigation ended up uncovering a lot of problems, and having put Hao Ritian under his protection, Li Yi was extremely protective.
After digging up so much disgusting inside information, Li Yi began to – both intentionally and not – put a lot of pressure on Zheng Yue. Li Yi deliberately gave Hao Ritian his infusion at a fixed time every day and wouldn't allow anyone else to handle this routine. Until earlier this morning, he'd deliberately given Zheng Yue chances to make a move. Otherwise, with the hospital's strict security, there was absolutely no way Zheng Yue could've acted. And if he didn't act, then even when the matter came to light, he wouldn't receive a heavy punishment. How could he allow that?!
As for Yu Dahai and Yu Li—it was, honestly, incredibly easy to deal with them once he'd learned of their plan. The only reason Yu Hao hadn't been able to fight back was because the shock of his parents' deaths led to problems in his psyche, which in turn gave Yu Dahai and Yu Li time to plan, as well as the opportunity to take advantage of him. Most importantly, he had no one to help him.
But now, Hao Ritian was here and Li Yi was slightly intervening. They'd made arrangements prior to the police investigation and evidence collection so that the police would discover everything when they underwent normal procedures. Who made it so that the possibility of failure never crossed Yu Dahai and Yu Li's minds, thus they'd never hidden their tracks?
In summary, the case was concluded in a flash.
"We're here." Once the car stopped outside the cemetery, Li Yi turned to Hao Ritian.
Hao Ritian snapped out of his deep thoughts and sat quietly for a moment without looking at Li Yi, before asking, "Can… Can you come with me to see my parents?"
He heard the sound of the door opening. Li Yi rounded the car to the passenger's side and opened his door for him while raising his brows. "Are you going?"
Obviously, he agreed.
A smile finally appeared on Hao Ritian's face and he didn't look so down anymore. He got out of the car to enter the cemetery with Li Yi and found the gravestone of Yu Hao's parents. They were buried together, and on their gravestone laid a picture of them.
While Yu Hao's father appeared very kind, Yu Hao's mother, though gorgeous, didn't seem like someone to be trifled with. Her mien was sharp and she had the spirit of a strong woman. There were smiles in their eyes, making it seem like they'd been in a good mood when they'd taken this photo.
Hao Ritian couldn't help thinking that part of Yu Hao's looks likely followed his mother's side!
"Talk to your parents, I'll wait for you over there." Li Yi patted Hao Ritian's shoulder, then walked a little farther away. This time, Hao Ritian didn't stop him.
Once Li Yi was gone, Hao Ritian stared at the married couple on top of the gravestone and smiled. "I've helped take revenge for your son. Helped him so that, even having lost your protection, he can live well. You two can rest in peace."
After learning that the worlds he did missions in were merely projection worlds, Hao Ritian no longer felt a shred of guilt within him. At the beginning, he'd still felt slightly guilty when he thought about how he'd used the original owners' bodies to 'fool around' after transmigrating into them. After all, wouldn't he have left behind an awful mess when he'd departed?
But in reality, the original owners would simply continue picking up where Hao Ritian had left off in the real world after he'd changed their fates. Hao Ritian's actions while he was there would be similar to a memory to the original owner, though they wouldn't be conscious of any discomfort. The people in charge of the System Plane had thoroughly considered the matter from every aspect. Hao Ritian was very satisfied with this.
This couple weren't his parents after all. To say that would be a bit satirical. Hao Ritian didn't even care about his actual father. If it weren't because of their blood ties, the two of them would be complete strangers. He'd only visited this couple to stay in line with Yu Hao's style of behaviour, and due to his respect for the two of them.
After standing on the spot and staring at the picture of the couple on top of their tombstone for a moment, Hao Ritian smiled and waved goodbye. "I'm going now. Wait for your real son to come visit you later."
Li Yi had been waiting for him nearby. His large frame, handsome looks, and ascetic temperament were all rather eye-catching, and when Hao Ritian came closer to him, he was unexpectedly hit with a surge of childishness. He jumped straight onto Li Yi's back and wrapped his arms tightly around his neck, leaning close to his ear to murmur, "Empress, carry Zhen."
Li Yi immediately smiled, but Hao Ritian only caught a trace of it from his point of view. When he tried to catch another glimpse of it, the man's expression was once again chaste and restrained. He poked the side of his face. "Did you just smile?"
"No."
"You clearly did! Are you still going to deny it?"
"I didn't smile."
"…"
Two people who weren't usually childish were suddenly acting so immature.
After leaving the cemetery, Hao Ritian didn't immediately head to the police station for help as Li Yi told him he still needed to rest for another two days before handling the discharge procedures. Besides, he also needed to use the interim to fan the flames.
In just two days' time, the case of Yu Hao's biological aunt and uncle maliciously plotting against him blew up on the Internet, even making it to the headlines. There were increasingly more netizens clicking on the news, and the staff from 'Si Ren Hospital' who'd previously created a forum post about the incident continued to supplement information as the comments below cursed Yu Dahai and Yu Li's families as dogs. As conspirators, Zheng Yue, He Wei, and the others weren't let off the hook. All sorts of vicious words were ruthlessly labeled on them.
Apart from that, journalists who'd caught whiff of the news began to personally investigate Yu Dahai and Yu Li's families. The two families were so utterly ashamed that they were afraid to even leave their houses and had no choice but to stay holed up at home cursing their situation. The reporters created a special column about the case, which caused a huge shock in society.
As was mentioned in the beginning, if this was merely a case of conspiring for the family fortune, the matter would only cause a stir on the Internet for a moment before fading away. After all, it was none of their business. However, seizing the family fortune while cruelly hurting one's own nephew until he lost his mind? Now that was vicious.
As the people involved, they were either detained or arrested. For the time being, it was their families who received the brunt of their consequences. The families of He Wei and the other two had no idea they'd been doing such things and only learned the whole story after being pointed at by other people. That day, He Wei's mother stubbornly came home from the hospital and said that she'd rather wait to die at home than for her son to have committed such immoral acts for her.
Cheng Dali's wife and Hu Cheng's younger sister experienced similar situations of having people familiar with them discuss and point fingers at them. But despite their embarrassment and shame, because they were the reason behind their families' actions, they felt extremely terrible about this ordeal.
He Wei and the others, who were still in custody, never imagined that the situation outside would develop this way. They were still waiting for their detainment to be over so they could go home, wholeheartedly believing that this matter would be completely put to rest once their detainment ended.
Once the situation had fermented to this point, Hao Ritian finally felt like the time had come for him to wrap up and return everything that should've belonged to Yu Hao.