Rekindled Hearts: The Tycoon’s Reluctant Love

Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Crisis Moment, Fourth Master Gu Arrives

Old Lady Zhou glared at Aunt Liu with dissatisfaction, “Expose what? Mocha’s body is in Ming Yao’s hands; if she didn’t kill her, who did?”

Madam Zhou echoed from the side, “Aunt Liu, you are a servant of the Zhou Mansion; speak the truth, and we will stand up for you!”

Aunt Liu dared not meet Zhou Zhiyan’s eyes, and with her head hanging low, she said, “Mocha… was killed by Miss Zhiyan!”

As soon as Aunt Liu’s words came out, there was a deathly silence all around!

Apart from Ming Yao and Jing Hang, everyone seemed as if they were frozen in place.

Madam Zhou was the first to react; she angrily pointed at Aunt Liu, “Have you gone mad? How dare you blame Mocha’s death on Zhiyan! Tell me, have you been bought by that cheap woman Ming Yao?”

Tears streamed down Zhou Zhiyan’s eyes, and she sobbed, “Aunt Liu, you were formerly a servant of the main house, and Miss Ming is also a relative of my great-aunt; I can understand you siding with them, but why would you frame me?”

“I’m a doctor who saves lives; Mocha may be just a cat, but it’s also a life; how could I harm it?”

Zhou Zhiyan held onto Old Lady Zhou’s hand, her voice choked with sobs, “Grandma, you mustn’t believe Aunt Liu’s words!”

Of course, Old Lady Zhou wouldn’t believe it.

Whoever killed her Mocha, it would never be Zhiyan!

Zhiyan is such a kind and loving girl!

Old Lady Zhou’s face turned iron blue as she glared at Aunt Liu, “The Zhou Mansion really has nourished an ingrate, daring to defame and frame your master in front of outsiders!”

Facing Old Lady Zhou’s accusation, Aunt Liu hung her head even lower, and with a trembling voice, she said, “Old Madam, I’m not lying. Miss Zhiyan began planning to harm Mocha two months ago… No, to be exact, Miss Zhiyan wanted to use Mocha to kill Fourth Master Gu’s cat, Little Snowball.”

“Miss Zhiyan gave me a chemical agent, instructing me to drop one drop into Mocha’s food each day. I didn’t know what it was at first, not until both Mocha and Little Snowball had died unexpectedly that I realized the danger of that chemical agent!”

Zhou Zhiyan’s face turned pale, and her whole body trembled as if in extreme anger, “Aunt Liu, don’t talk nonsense, what chemical agent? How come I have never known about it? In order to help my great-aunt and the others, are you going to frame me like this? Tell me, what advantage did Ming Yao offer you?”

Zhou Zhiyan, tears streaming down her face, pulled on Old Lady Zhou’s hand, “Grandma, I’ve never done such a thing, and if you don’t believe me, you can have someone draw Mocha’s blood for testing to see if I had Aunt Liu poison it!”

Old Lady Zhou squeezed Zhou Zhiyan’s hand back; she kicked at Aunt Liu, unable to contain her anger, “I’m quite aware of what kind of person Zhiyan is; do you really think you can get away with spreading such rumors? Do you believe that after this I can make sure you never find work in Li City again?”

Leaning on the couch with a slightly lazy expression, Ming Yao yawned, supporting herself with her cane as she slowly stood up.

“Old Lady, I have some surveillance footage here; would you like to take a look first?”

Ming Yao took out her mobile phone and played a clip of Aunt Liu holding Mocha near the Imperial Garden, letting her out to find Little Snowball.

Aunt Liu’s sneaky demeanor was obviously up to no good.

“I assume the Old Lady knows that Little Snowball is Fourth Master Gu’s beloved cat?”

Seeing the surveillance footage, Old Lady Zhou frowned slightly, “So what if I do? This footage only proves Aunt Liu’s actions; what does it have to do with Zhiyan?”

Ming Yao then took out another document, “Here is a record of transactions Aunt Liu received over the past month. Although the transactions are anonymous, with deeper investigation, the IP address of the transfers can be traced.”

“Unit 608, Yinza Tower A belongs to Zhou Zhiyan, doesn’t it?”

Zhou Zhiyan’s face paled as Ming Yao traced the IP of the anonymous transfer.

Just as Zhou Zhiyan was about to say something, Ming Yao didn’t give her the chance to speak and took out another mobile phone.

The phone was the one Aunt Liu usually used.

“Of course, if these pieces of evidence are still not convincing enough, then the conversation of Zhou Zhiyan instructing Aunt Liu to feed Mocha the drug and to bury Mocha’s body is more than enough to prove who is the real culprit behind Mocha’s death, isn’t it?”

Seeing the mobile phone Ming Yao casually played with, Zhou Zhiyan’s face went pale in an instant.

She never imagined that Aunt Liu, normally so honest and docile, would secretly record their conversations!

With the recording, no matter how much she tried to wriggle out of it, she couldn’t clear her name!

Zhou Zhiyan’s expression began to turn frantic and tense.

Her gaze towards Aunt Liu was filled with murderous intent.

Ming Yao glanced at Zhou Zhiyan, noting how her psychological defenses were slowly crumbling.

She raised her phone slightly, “Old Lady Zhou, Madam Zhou, do you want to listen?”

Ming Yao made a gesture as if she was about to press the record button on her phone.

At that moment, Zhou Zhiyan, whose mind was a complete mess, rushed towards Ming Yao recklessly.

No matter what, she couldn’t let Ming Yao play that recording.

Ming Yao didn’t press the record button.

Because Aunt Liu hadn’t actually recorded anything.

But the moment Zhou Zhiyan leaped at her revealed her guilt.

There was no need for a recording, everything was as clear as day!

Ming Yao pushed Zhou Zhiyan away with a backhand swing, hitting her hard on the back with her cane.

Zhou Zhiyan screamed in pain.

Before the pain on her back could subside, Ming Yao grabbed her long hair, threw the cane aside, and fiercely slapped Zhou Zhiyan’s face several times with her free hand.

Slap slap slap—

The crisp sound of slaps echoed in the silent living room.

Everyone was shocked, dazed, and frozen in place!

Jing Hang watched the fierce scene of his senior apprentice sister, his scalp tingling involuntarily.

Zhou Zhiyan’s fair cheeks swelled at a visible rate, turning red.

The corner of her mouth was split open, and blood began to ooze out.

She wanted to resist, but she was no match for Ming Yao and was completely overpowered by her.

Zhou Yanzhi screamed in agony.

Madam Zhou came to her senses, stepping forward to push Ming Yao away, but before she could touch her, Jing Hang shoved her aside.

Madam Zhou was furious, “Come here, butler, have you lost your mind? Call people over here now!”

Her Zhiyan, she wouldn’t be disfigured by Ming Yao, would she?

Ming Yao, that bitch!

Even if her family’s Zhiyan killed Mocha, it was just an animal, right?

Where does Ming Yao get the audacity to hurt her Zhiyan?

Old Lady Zhou, Su Lan, and Zhou Yanyan were all still in shock and disbelief.

Mocha… was actually killed by Zhou Zhiyan?

Following Madam Zhou’s orders, the butler called over a dozen bodyguards.

Seeing the bodyguards arrive, Madam Zhou suddenly felt empowered, “Grab that mad woman for me!”

How dare she hit her Zhiyan, she would make her pay back double!

Just as the bodyguards were about to attack Ming Yao, suddenly a deep, chilling, and domineering voice came through, “Try touching a hair on her head and see what happens?”

The living room fell silent instantly.

A few seconds later, a series of firm footsteps were heard.

From the shadows, a noble and aloof tall figure gradually emerged.

…