C14 Father and Son!

Chiang Chen raised an eyebrow, ruefully thinking what a shame it was.

The protagonist's aura was undeniably strong.

After finally seizing the chance to lay a trap, the police had commendably acted swiftly to arrest Su Li. Yet, it looked like the serious issue was likely to be downplayed.

Particularly in private settlements...

The Su family had deep pockets, and it wouldn't be long before they settled the matter and hushed up the news, leaving no trace behind.

"Host, I'm so thrilled right now, hahaha!" Xiaobai, perched on his shoulder, cackled with unrestrained glee, his tiny claws clasped together as he swung them in the air, "Justice is vast and inescapable! That scoundrel Su Li has finally met his downfall, hahaha..."

Mid-laugh, Xiaobai came to an abrupt halt, as if frozen by a pause button.

Seconds later, with a puzzled expression, Xiaobai turned to Chiang Chen, "Hold on, this isn't how the story goes! The plot was just updated this morning; how could it have changed by evening?"

He whipped out the script and skimmed through it quickly, drawing in a sharp breath, "Another update? Host, could our script be glitching?"

"You're the system, aren't you? Why are you asking me?" Chiang Chen murmured skeptically.

Xiaobai's face turned beet red as he fidgeted with his little jio, retorting, "I'm merely an auxiliary system... just for assistance, I can't influence the plot's direction..."

Then came a stream of baffling phrases like "lacking martial virtue" and "caught off guard," which coaxed a chuckle from Chiang Chen, lightening the mood between man and system.

"Regardless, getting caught for wrongdoing is getting what you deserve!" Xiaobai declared, licking his claws with finality.

Chiang Chen, however, felt a twinge of dissatisfaction. He sighed softly, "It's a pity, this issue will most likely be settled privately. I bet Su Li won't even be detained for three hours before he's released without a scratch.

After all, we're talking about the Su family, the wealthiest clan.

If Su Minghe couldn't handle even this minor issue, he wouldn't have reached his current status."

"Unscathed?" Xiaobai clearly focused on the wrong detail, "Wait... Host, are you suggesting he should come out missing something?"

Chiang Chen's eyebrows shot up. "You think you can handle that?"

"No, no, no, you've got it all wrong! I'm nothing but a support system living on borrowed time. My repertoire is limited to being adorable and explaining missions, and that's about it," Xiaobai insisted, waving his paws dismissively. He pulled a tablet from his belly and hopped into the car. "I'm off to play games. You do your thing; I won't be a bother!"

Tsk...

Chiang Chen gave it a skeptical look. That little feline was up to something, surely hiding a skill or two.

As expected, Su Minghe was nowhere to be seen, and in under an hour, Su Li emerged with Su Ziqing and attorney Qin Man in tow.

The kid looked utterly deflated, diving into the car sent by Su Minghe and disappearing without a word.

Su Ziqing's face was a storm cloud of fury. "Just like his mother, a disgrace. He gets into trouble, and I'm the one who has to bail him out. Revolting! It's a shame he didn't get a few years behind bars. My father, always quick to rescue his son, no matter the cost..."

"Come on, let it go," Chiang Chen soothed, patting her shoulder. "Karma will catch up with the wicked. Su Li's downfall is just a matter of time."

But words alone weren't enough to calm her, so he took the still-fuming Su Ziqing out for a lavish meal.

They dined by candlelight, savoring a feast paired with fine red wine. It was only in the wee hours, slightly tipsy, that Chiang Chen made his way back home.

Though he hadn't managed to get Su Li locked up for years, he had at least altered Zhang Mingming's fate. Instead of being silenced by Su Li as the original script had dictated, Zhang Mingming took a payoff from the Su family and settled down as a small business owner back in his hometown.

Despite the torture, Zhang Mingming stood by his story, unwavering. Su Li, therefore, failed to mend fences with Du Xinyu and couldn't secure a confession to leverage against Su Ziqing.

In a sumptuous villa of the Su family...

"You've illegally detained and beaten people for that tramp, Du Xinyu?" Su Minghe raged, having extracted the story from his son. In a fit of anger, he hurled his coffee cup at him. "I should've left you to rot in jail to come to your senses!"

"I suspect someone tampered with the surveillance footage!" Su Li fought to keep his anger in check, enunciating each word: "Su Ziqing is trying to undermine me! She's in cahoots with Chu Jiangchen, Zhang Mingming, and the surveillance team. They've shown us fake footage!"

Su Minghe couldn't help but laugh in frustration, tossing an original surveillance video to him. "Watch this. When you're done, explain to me where I could possibly find two doppelgängers to act out this scene, then seamlessly edit and upload it to the original database without leaving a single trace! Do you think I'm an idiot? I had the surveillance checked immediately after the incident. Absolutely no one has tampered with it!" He hit play on the video again.

Su Li's gaze grew increasingly bewildered as he watched the big screen. The video that had been shown in the banquet hall was clearly altered, its clarity compromised. But this disc held the unedited high-definition surveillance footage! Captured under the sharpness of the night-time HD recording, the figures were so distinct that their authenticity was unquestionable. Though the footage lasted only a few seconds, it crisply documented every movement. Both subjects were exposed to such a degree that even the mole on Du Xinyu's chest was visible in stark detail!

"Do you think the issue was the video's clarity?" Su Minghe's hand shook as he pointed to the frozen image. "Do you think the butler could ever show his face again if he didn't adjust the clarity for you? Don't you know what you've done?"

His final shout left Su Li utterly dumbfounded. After minutes of silence, he murmured, "I really can't remember..."

As it turned out, Su Li wasn't much of a drinker. Su Minghe had discreetly gotten him into a prestigious university, but to prevent him from getting swept up in a hedonistic lifestyle, he'd thoughtfully refrained from providing too much financial support. As a result, Su Li had never indulged in high-end alcohol growing up, let alone the renowned wines and spirits featured only in films and on TV. At the banquet, the selection of drinks was exclusively top-shelf. Su Li, unable to resist, had severely underestimated the potency of those drinks.

At the time of the drowning incident, he was actually intoxicated.

The account Du Xinyu gave him starkly contrasted with the video he had seen in the hall, leaving Su Li, already befuddled, struggling to discern truth from fiction.

After extending an apology to Chu Jiangchen at the banquet in an effort to smooth things over, he retired for the night. Awakening the next day, he was met with the unsettling realization that his memory was fragmented.

Yet, Du Xinyu persisted in recounting what really happened; meanwhile, the vivid images from the video continued to haunt his thoughts.

Caught in the glow of the female protagonist's aura, Su Li vacillated between reality and illusion, ultimately choosing to tentatively accept Du Xinyu's version of events. Given his rivalry with Su Ziqing, who had both a strong foundation and the support of many within the manor, it seemed entirely plausible that a doctored video could have been crafted to embarrass him.

Lacking evidence, he racked his brain for a solution and decided that Zhang Mingming might be the key to a breakthrough.

Determined to extract the truth by any means necessary, she prepared to record the confession and present it to her father. With the evidence in hand, she could surely convince him to ally with her against Su Ziqing and reclaim control of Su's Group.