Chapter 76 Ah Si Ba

As Lao Wu skimmed through the stolen data from Jin Tianliang's phone, he quickly came across a text message sent to an unknown number: "I know it hurt, but it was necessary. If we didn't make it look real, the police would catch on, and we'd be finished."

Lao Wu scrolled up to see the first message from the unknown number: "He didn't touch me."

Jin Tianliang replied, "No problem, just stick to the original plan."

Ten minutes later, the other person replied: "I'm getting ready… Weren't we going to accuse him of assault and sexual harassment? But without his DNA, that won't be credible."

Jin Tianliang responded, "Don't worry, just do it. We'll adjust the story later—say he beat you because you refused him."

A few minutes later, the other person texted, "Can I back out? Mr. Chu is a good person. I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life."

Jin Tianliang replied, "There's no turning back now. You don't want those photos of you to surface online, do you? Be good, do as you're told, and I'll reward you handsomely and destroy the photos."

At 3 a.m., the person messaged: "I'm out, where are you?"

As Lao Wu read these messages, one name immediately came to mind—Qinglu!

"Haha… I found the evidence!"

Lao Wu clapped his hands in excitement and quickly traced the phone number. However, when he saw the result on the screen, his smile froze—the number was registered to an elderly man in his seventies, from another province.

Half of Lao Wu's hope faded. He quickly traced Jin Tianliang's number, only to find the same result—also from another province. This meant the evidence was useless, as it couldn't be proven that Qinglu and Jin Tianliang were the ones exchanging these messages.

"D*mn it!"

Unconvinced, Lao Wu checked other messages and call logs. The messages were worthless, and all the numbers were burner phones from other provinces.

"F*ck!"

The foreigner rarely cursed, but now he did in frustration. As he was pondering his next move, the head of Qingya Media's legal department called him: "We haven't been able to find Xia Zhu's agent. She's currently unreachable."

Lao Wu furrowed his brow and muttered, "How could I forget about this person... Hey, I need the information on Qinglu. Send it to me right away, along with the agent's details and their emergency contacts. Hurry!"

At the police station, Chu Muhan was called into the director's office. To avoid any conflict of interest, she was temporarily removed from Chu Yuxuan's case.

Everyone in the police department knew that this beautiful police officer was impartial, but the media didn't care about that. If her relationship with Chu Yuxuan was exposed, especially since she was in charge of his case, it would be detrimental to the police department's reputation.

Although Chu Muhan was reluctant, she understood the director's reasoning and agreed without hesitation.

After leaving the office, she first visited the tech department and then headed to the interrogation room.

"Chu Yuxuan, I can't see you for now."

"I understand, to avoid suspicion," Chu Yuxuan replied with a faint smile.

Chu Muhan lifted her eyelids slightly and said, "The accusations from those influencers are baseless; they're just damaging your reputation and affecting your business. But Xia Zhu's death—right now, all the evidence is against you. There's a contract from your company, Gao Ning's testimony, and these two videos."

As she spoke, Chu Muhan took out her phone and played a surveillance video. The video showed the scene where Chu Yuxuan had thrown a teacup at Gao Ning during the meal and clearly stated, "I'm giving you two days—thirty million, not a penny less. Otherwise, Xia Zhu can forget about terminating her contract for the rest of her life!"

The second video showed the entire process of Chu Yuxuan smashing a bottle over Gao Ning's head.

Watching the video, this spoiled second-generation heir couldn't help but press his tongue against his molars.

Thinking back, after being released from detention that day, he hadn't slept well for three days and wasn't in the best state of mind, which led to poor judgment. That's how Jin managed to get such leverage over him.

Chu Muhan said, "These two videos were just released ten minutes ago. Forget the netizens; even I'm starting to believe that Xia Zhu was really driven to her death by you!"

Chu Yuxuan mused, "The problem is, even if that's the case, it's not enough to convict me. They've gone to such lengths—what exactly are they trying to achieve? Just to ruin my reputation? Sacrificing a life for that? It doesn't make sense..."

"You need to tell me, who's behind all this plotting?" Chu Muhan leaned on the table, staring intently into Chu Yuxuan's eyes. Chu Yuxuan glanced at Jin, who was sitting in the corner of the video, shrugged, and said, "How would I know? If someone's out to get me, they're not going to send me an invitation, are they?"

At this point, Chu Yuxuan was certain that Jin was the one behind it all, especially since these two videos had surfaced. There couldn't have been surveillance in the restaurant's private room, so it was clear someone had installed it in advance. Such underhanded tactics didn't seem like something Gao Ning would do.

He hadn't mentioned Jin to Lao Wu earlier, not because he didn't suspect him, but because Jin was just too peculiar. Chu Yuxuan had no past grievances with him, so why would Jin go out of his way to cause trouble?

Did Jin have another motive? Or was there someone else behind him?

In any case, it was best to stay calm, avoid alerting the enemy, and focus on getting himself out of this situation first. After that, he could slowly deal with Jin—maybe he could even catch a bigger fish.

Chu Muhan took a deep breath and muttered, "Why isn't your dad helping you this time? Given how serious this is, involving the Chu family's reputation, their lawyers should've been here by now."

Chu Zhiqing was under investigation, personally overseen by the inspection team, with multiple departments involved. No information had leaked, and he was currently being interrogated at the Ministry of Public Security. Neither Chu Yuxuan nor his sister had any idea.

"Maybe he had another wild night and hasn't woken up yet," Chu Yuxuan joked. Then he asked, "What did you find when you searched Xia Zhu's home? Any suspicious traces? Or any valuable evidence? Like her phone—who was she in contact with before the incident? Have you looked into that?"

Chu Muhan glared at him and snapped, "Do you think you're more professional than we are? Hmph... There were no suspicious traces at the scene. Her phone was smashed to pieces, and all the data is unrecoverable. The tech department checked her number—no call records before the incident... Chu Yuxuan, I believe you're innocent, but others don't, so you should cooperate fully. From now on, Captain Zheng will be handling your case."

With that, the beautiful officer turned and left.

Chu Yuxuan was deep in thought.

Half an hour later, Qinglu, who had been dazed on the couch, received a text message: "Come downstairs, I need to talk to you." Although the number wasn't saved, she recognized it immediately—it was Jin Tianliang.

Qinglu took a deep breath, and memories of Jin Tianliang's "forceful attack" from the early morning flashed through her mind, making her tremble.

After calming herself a bit, she put on a coat, made up an excuse to her mother, and left the house in a daze.

However, when she got downstairs, she didn't see Jin Tianliang, only a handsome man with a cold expression.

The man stared at her with icy eyes, clenched his fists, and muttered, "Ah si ba...