Chapter 97

The reporters erupted in an uproar!

This case is getting more and more interesting—there are actually two groups of witnesses whose testimonies completely contradict each other!

Although the police have already classified it as intentional homicide, it hasn't diminished anyone's curiosity in the slightest.

The reporters all thought that if they reported this, it would surely become a hot news story!

And all the factory personnel present who didn't know the truth—from executives down to ordinary workers—were shocked by the second group's testimony, their faces paling; Zheng Houcheng almost fainted, his vision going black.

In the sea of people, Ning Hai's mouth was about to split up to his ears.

Shangguan Ying still had her arms crossed, calm as ever.

As for Ning Jinli, watching these people fabricate stories so convincingly, she almost wanted to circulate her Internal Strength to break free of the handcuffs and lunge over to slap each of them hard.

But the situation is now very unfavorable for her; even though she now fully possesses this ability, unless absolutely necessary, she absolutely cannot act impulsively.

For now, it's not yet the time when she must resort to force.

"Calm… calm…" Ning Jinli forced down her anger, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to sort out the whole affair from beginning to end in her mind.

She had been trapped in another world for the past ten-odd days, completely unaware of what had happened at the factory during that time; moreover, she had an accident the moment she returned, catching her off guard, which left her completely unable to gather any other information.

Yet an accident could actually be turned upside down into intentional homicide.

This situation clearly indicates a problem.

She doesn't know any of the police officers handling the case or the people fabricating testimony, so there's no reason for them to frame her; the most likely explanation is that someone is secretly manipulating things, even orchestrating all of this—if she hadn't shown up tonight, the factory would still have had another victim and killer.

That means saboteurs inside the factory are stirring trouble under the direction of the mastermind behind the scenes.

It's obvious that the dozen-odd employees giving false testimony are saboteurs.

There might be other saboteurs, but we can't tell for now.

Moreover, the behind-the-scenes instigator can get the police to cooperate; judging from the officers' expressions, each showing some unspoken difficulty, they are likely compelled to do so.

Nowadays, the police's crime-scene investigation skills are quite high; the officers could certainly, by analyzing various traces inside the workshop, determine that the fact is an accident.

But their leader, in front of the reporters, also inverted their investigation results, turning black into white.

This shows that the leader who spoke glibly to the media up front and coordinated with the factory saboteurs giving false testimony is also a person of the mastermind behind the scenes.

To be able to plant so many saboteurs in the factory without anyone noticing, and to get the local police leadership to help, this behind-the-scenes instigator must absolutely have wealth and influence.

Ning Jinli's line of thought became increasingly clear.

She could think of only a few people who fit this condition and are connected to her.

Then she only needed to screen them according to motive and purpose.

The other party's purpose was probably not initially aimed at dealing with her personally.

The reason is simple—she herself hadn't even imagined that she would open the Spacetime Portal and return to the factory tonight.

And the other party isn't an Immortal; how could they calculate so precisely?

Therefore, the other party's goal is to destroy this factory.

Ning Jinli thought of market competition, but quickly dismissed that guess.

Her factory only produces, does not sell externally, so it wouldn't generate much competition in the market.

"Destroying my factory—what exactly could the other party gain from that?" Ning Jinli muttered to herself.

Although she had a rough suspect in mind, lacking more key information, she couldn't yet be certain.

"Excuse me!" a reporter asked at this point, "The scene of the homicide is in the workshop behind you, right?"

Leader Zhang nodded, "Yes, right here."

The reporter asked, "There should be surveillance cameras in the workshop, right? Could we also see the footage?"

Leader Zhang answered calmly, "We've already checked; the surveillance cameras were damaged, and they were already broken before the homicide occurred, so we didn't capture the incident—do you know what that signifies?"

The reporter wondered, "What?"

Leader Zhang declared firmly, "This also serves as circumstantial evidence that the guard's murder was premeditated by the killer! Nevertheless, she will surely not escape legal sanctions; we have, through on-site examination of physical evidence combined with the valid testimonies of the staff present, already obtained irrefutable proof!"

"And what about her criminal motive?" another reporter asked, "Why would the factory boss kill a guard?"

Leader Zhang lifted his chin, "Of course there is; we just asked, and a witness said the killer felt the victim didn't obey discipline, had repeatedly clashed with him, and had even threatened to make the guard suffer. Therefore we reasonably infer that the killer took advantage of the chaos during this internal staff conflict and deliberately murdered that guard!"

Some reporters sucked their breath in silence, others glanced at Ning Jinli, and they chattered among themselves.

"I never expected that such a pretty, young boss would actually do something like this."

"She looks harmless and docile, yet she dares to kill a person… truly proves the saying, appearances can be deceiving."

"……"

Leader Zhang waved his hand, "Alright! Everyone disperse, we're wrapping up!"

In the crowd, Shangguan Ying quietly pulled out her phone and sent a message to the military personnel who had been arranged in advance, telling them they could come now.

Just as the officers were about to take Ning Jinli away.

Zheng Houcheng shoved his way over, shouting, "Miss Ning couldn't have killed anyone! You must have made a mistake! Please investigate properly—don't wrong an innocent person!"

"Who are you?" Leader Zhang frowned and stepped forward.

"Heh, he's the boss of this factory," Ning Hai said, stepping out from the onlookers, giving Zheng Houcheng a sideways glance and speaking in a teasing tone, "Old Zheng, long time no see."

Seeing that the situation was already settled, Ning Hai couldn't help but show himself.

"What are you doing here!" Zheng Houcheng's face instantly darkened.

Ning Hai smiled, "We're practically old acquaintances—can't you be a bit courteous to me?"

Zheng Houcheng snapped, "Get lost! If it weren't for your meddling back then, this factory would have been on the brink of bankruptcy—you nearly ruined my chance to turn things around! And if it weren't for the factory falling into Miss Ning's hands, the factory would truly have been finished!"

Ning Hai drawled, "Don't be so angry—think about it: if I hadn't let her inherit the factory, you wouldn't be able to come back and continue as plant manager; you ought to thank me, shouldn't you? Too bad your boss is useless, can't run a factory well, and on top of that has gotten tangled in a homicide—you can't blame me for that, can you? Hahaha!"

"You…" Zheng Houcheng fumed, his face twisting.

Behind the three of them, Ning Jinli, being escorted by the officers, suddenly spoke, "How do you know I lack the ability to run the factory well?"

Ning Hai turned back, triumphant, "You don't know what 'old ginger is spicier' means? I know your factory's situation inside out. Xiao Li, haven't you realized that the stuff produced in the plant simply can't be sold, so you've been hiding away and crying these days?"

He grew increasingly smug as he spoke, reached out to pat Ning Jinli's shoulder, and added, "This factory is essentially ruined by you, but since it was once an asset of our Ning Family, I'm still attached to the old ties, so I can't bear to watch it collapse. Rest assured, I'll take over this rotten mess."

Ning Hai was itching with impatience now, eager to flaunt his methods right in front of Ning Jinli.

Such a successful divine maneuver could serve as a textbook example, yet it must not be flaunted too obviously in public.

It truly felt like a night walk in splendid robes.

"So it was you who caused this!" a chill rose in Ning Jinli's eyes.

She had already guessed that the prime suspect behind the scenes was her own paternal uncle.

Seeing Ning Hai now swaggering out, even without any evidence, is enough to illustrate the issue.

"I caused the good deed? How could I not understand what you mean?" Ning Hai asked knowingly.

Ning Jinli said coldly, "Since you couldn't buy the factory from me before, you resorted to despicable tactics to wreck it, then easily take it over."

Ning Hai, seeing that Ning Jinli finally understood, felt indescribably delighted; his smile grew ever brighter and more smug as he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You're still too green; even now that you know, what can you do? Deliberately killing is a nailed board—you're doomed."

By this point, Ning Hai was more or less completely satisfied.

After finishing the whisper, he stepped back two steps and said to Leader Zhang, "Sorry, she's my niece and I'm her uncle, we chatted a bit longer, wasting your time—please take her away."

"No… you can't leave!" Zheng Houcheng forcibly blocked the way.

"Old Zheng, it's fine, don't worry about me," Ning Jinli calmly advised.

She had already figured it out: given the present circumstances, she could only escape on the way to the precinct later, then find a way to overturn the case.

"Get out of the way, stop being a nuisance!" Ning Hai shoved Zheng Houcheng hard.

Zheng Houcheng fell onto his butt, seized Leader Zhang's trouser leg, and pleaded, "Leader… please, investigate thoroughly, you… you really got it wrong!"

"I told you not to be a hindrance, can't you understand?" Leader Zhang's face showed displeasure as he lifted his foot to kick.

Ning Jinli's face darkened instantly; she could temporarily endure her own grievance, but she couldn't stand seeing Zheng Houcheng being bullied.

Just as she was about to channel Internal Strength to break the handcuffs and protect Zheng Houcheng.

In an instant, a figure flashed past.

The figure sprang a kick, the back of the foot striking Leader Zhang's shin bone, not only shielding Zheng Houcheng but also making Zhang double over in pain, clutching his leg.

Ning Jinli was stunned on the spot, staring in shock at the figure that had appeared before her.

"Isn't that Shangguan Ying?"

"How did she get here?!"

Ning Jinli was dazed for two seconds, about to speak, when Ning Hai exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing?"

Shangguan Ying wore a faint smile, "What I'm doing, didn't you see?"

"You…" Ning Hai was at a loss for words, quickly helped Leader Zhang to his feet, "Leader… are you alright?"

Leader Zhang's expression was grim, "Ning, what does this 'friend' business mean?"

If it weren't for Ning Hai saying the woman was his friend, Leader Zhang would have turned hostile immediately.

Ning Jinli heard this, her wide eyes filled with surprise and bewilderment.

"Friend?"

"Since when has Shangguan Ying been friends with Ning Hai?"

"This…"

"Leader," Shangguan Ying said calmly, "There are so many people around, the reporters are all here; if you publicly kick the factory manager, it would tarnish the police's image, wouldn't it?"

Leader Zhang's cheek twitched, holding back his temper as he said, "Then I should thank you?"

Shangguan Ying smiled, "You're welcome."

Then, Shangguan Ying helped Zheng Houcheng to his feet, gently admonished, "You, stop hindering official business here; you can't help."

"You also stop hindering official business," Ning Hai whispered, attempting to pull Shangguan Ying aside.

Shangguan Ying lifted her arm, naturally evading Ning Hai's hand, then faced Leader Zhang, saying word for word, "None of you may take Miss Ning away."

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned.

The reporters had originally intended to rush back to their company to compile data and file a story, but upon seeing this, they all gathered back.

Shangguan Ying winked at Ning Jinli, "Don't worry, I'm here."

Ning Jinli nodded blankly, still unclear about the situation, but Shangguan Ying's words truly put her at ease.

"Huh? It's not…" Ning Hai frowned, "Even if you lost a bet with me and refused to keep it by having a meal with me, it shouldn't have gotten this far, right?"

Leader Zhang's expression hardened, "Ning Hai, if your friend keeps causing trouble, don't blame me for taking away your face."

His tone already clearly carried anger.

Originally, this matter today was undertaken because of his long‑standing friendship with Ning Hai and the many favors Ning Hai had given him, risking his professional standing to help.

Just as it was about to be wrapped up, Ning Hai's friend leapt out to cause trouble.

"What is this?"

"Do you still want him to finish the job?"

Shangguan Ying coldly said, "Don't misunderstand, I'm not friends with this person."

Ning Hai's face showed a hint of embarrassment, but now wasn't the time; he lowered his voice and warned, "Leave with me quickly, or I'll have the police take you both in."

Shangguan Ying directly pushed Ning Hai away, then pulled a credential from the inner pocket of her clothing and thrust it before Leader Zhang.

When Leader Zhang saw it was a military rank certificate, his face went stiff.

Upon closer inspection.

The rank was—Major General!

The woman appeared to be just over forty; being in the military was one thing, but she was also a general‑level big shot!

Since Ning Jinli was positioned diagonally behind Leader Zhang, and her eyes were keen, she also saw the contents of the credential and was secretly shocked.

Previously she hadn't known Shangguan Ying's background.

But based on the two contacts, one could guess that Sister Shangguan Ying's identity is not simple.

Who would have thought the background is that big!

"I now demand that you release Miss Ning," Shangguan Ying said in a commanding tone, "this case has too many doubts, your closure was too hasty, it needs to be reinvestigated."

Leader Zhang's pupils trembled slightly, his gaze flicked toward Ning Hai beside him.

Ning Hai was puzzled—what kind of document did that woman pull out to scare people like this?

So he also stepped forward.

Shangguan Ying was generous, likewise showing him his military rank certificate.

Ning Hai was first slightly stunned, then furrowed his brows, skeptically examined Shangguan Ying, thought for two seconds, and with a cold smile said, "From head to toe you don't look like a military person at all! Ha, still daring to impersonate a Major General? You've got some nerve! Really think a fake certificate can fool people?!"