After Reborn, I Became the Bigshots' Beloved-Chapter 400 Don’t Pretend to Be Unaware

Lin Fangling pointed at the incense burner and exclaimed in shock. In an instant, everyone gathered around to take a look.

They saw that the black powder inside the incense burner indeed contained some unknown white powder mixed in.

Shi Erya was stunned and bewildered: "How could this happen... My calming incense only has black powder."

Although no one knew what the white powder was, it was clear that it wasn’t originally part of the incense.

Seeing everyone’s expression change, Lin Fangling quietly exhaled in relief—

Thankfully!

At the time, she had worried that if the mentally impaired boy Shi Luochen failed to kill Lu Sheng, she would need a backup plan.

She hadn’t expected this backup plan to come in handy now—what brilliant foresight she had.

Lin Fangling lifted her gaze and looked at the timid, cowering servant Aunt Chen.

While the others were momentarily distracted, she shot Aunt Chen a meaningful look. Aunt Chen immediately understood and subtly nodded, signaling Lin Fangling not to worry.

Lin Fangling then put on a face of disbelief.

She raised her voice and said, "If the black powder is the calming incense, then what is this white stuff? Someone must have tampered with the incense burner!"

Pretending to be furious, Lin Fangling suddenly walked behind the other servants and dragged Aunt Chen forward: "Aunt Chen! You were the one who lit the incense for Lu Sheng, weren’t you? Tell us, what’s going on?"

"I... I..."

Lin Fangling’s imposing presence seemed to terrify Aunt Chen, who stammered and hesitated in her speech.

"I—I don’t know what this white powder is. When I lit the incense, it wasn’t there."

Shi Muchuan, standing tall and commanding, narrowed his eyes sharply: "Is that so? Then tonight, has anyone else touched the incense burner after you?"

Aunt Chen bit her lip and said, "I don’t know. I placed the incense burner in Miss Lu Sheng’s room and left. What if someone entered her room before Lu Sheng returned..."

Lin Fangling immediately turned to the other servants and asked, "Did anyone see someone else enter Lu Sheng’s room after Aunt Chen?"

In the Shi Family, the cleaning staff would sweep through every floor of the mansion overnight and in the early morning before the owners woke up.

If anyone did sneak into Lu Sheng’s room after Aunt Chen, it would surely have been noticed.

But the servants exchanged glances and shook their heads, saying no one else apart from Aunt Chen had been seen.

Lin Fangling sneered: "Did you hear that? So, what’s left for you to argue about?"

"You lit the incense and placed it in Lu Sheng’s room directly. Now the burner has foreign substances, and you’re telling us you don’t know what they are?"

"Madam, I swear I’m being wronged. I truly don’t know what’s going on!"

Aunt Chen protested and wept while trying to plead her innocence.

But Lin Fangling seemed entirely unmoved.

"Stop pretending!" she snapped coldly. "There are no other abnormalities in the room, and Lu Sheng hasn’t eaten or drunk anything. She’s clearly in a deep sleep because of this incense."

"If there’s sedative medication in the incense powder, then whoever tampered with it had to be the one trying to use Chenchen to murder Lu Sheng."

"You won’t admit it? Fine! This is too serious—we should report it to the police immediately!"

Lin Fangling’s tone was resolute and commanding.

At the mention of the word "police," Aunt Chen’s shoulders trembled, and she collapsed to her knees.

"No, no, don’t call the police!"

"Madam, I have a child in university who wants to apply for government jobs. I can’t have a criminal record ruining his future!"

"Then start talking honestly," Lin Fangling pressed, "Is the white powder in the incense sedatives? Did you use Chenchen in a plot to kill Lu Sheng? What’s your motive?"

Faced with Lin Fangling’s incessant threats, Aunt Chen finally crumbled under the pressure and began to confess: "Yes... the white powder in the incense is indeed sedatives."

Aunt Chen then raised her tear-streaked face and started to wail, "But I’m not the one who intended to use Master Luochen to kill Miss Lu Sheng!"

Aunt Chen’s admission that sedatives were added to the incense shocked everyone.

Hearing this, Old Mr. Shi was furious and slammed his cane heavily onto the ground.

"...Chen Guifen! Are you telling me you put sedatives into my granddaughter’s incense burner?! What is the meaning of this?"

"Old Master..." Aunt Chen sobbed, mucus and tears flowing together. "Yes, I did add the sedatives. But I have no feud with Miss Lu Sheng. Why would I, a mere servant, go out of my way to harm her and use Chenchen to kill her? There’s absolutely no benefit in this for me!" freёwebnoѵel.com

Shi Erya, recovering from shock, couldn’t hold herself back and asked, "Aunt Chen, what do you mean by this? Are you saying... someone ordered you to do this? Who instructed you?"

The moment Shi Erya asked, Aunt Chen suddenly turned to look at her with an aggrieved expression, sobbing as she said, "Third Miss, now that everything is out, why are you pretending to be innocent?"

"Would you really just stand by and watch the police take me away despite all my loyalty to you?! Back then, you assured me that no matter the outcome, I’d be safe."

...

Aunt Chen’s words brought a brief but complete silence to the room.

Lin Fangling gasped, horrified: "...Aunt Chen, what do you mean? Are you saying Shi Erya was the one who told you to drug Lu Sheng?"

Shi Erya’s eyes widened in utter disbelief: "...Aunt Chen, what nonsense are you saying? When did I ever do such a thing?"

Chen Guifen ignored Shi Erya’s reaction and crawled over toward Shi Mingxiu, tears streaming down her face: "Old Master, as you well know, Third Miss was raised under my watch. She’s always been close to me and shares her secrets."

"This time, Third Miss followed your request and brought Miss Lu Sheng back. To everyone else, it looked like she cared deeply for Lu Sheng. But in private, she told me that with Lu Sheng back in the picture, her inheritance might be greatly reduced."

"As long as Lu Sheng is alive, whether or not she lives in the Shi Family, you, out of guilt for Second Miss, would surely leave a significant share of the inheritance to Lu Sheng. And so, Third Miss had that sinister thought... She wanted Lu Sheng dead."

"Third Miss told me her plan. She said that using Chenchen would be the best way to hurt Lu Sheng."

"Because Chenchen doesn’t understand and cannot speak, she only needed to lure him into Lu Sheng’s room at night and have him stab a knife into Lu Sheng’s chest."

"Being a mere servant, I dared not say anything when Third Miss explained this to me."

"But later, Third Miss said even this wasn’t foolproof. What if Lu Sheng wasn’t deeply asleep and woke up?"

"Then she brought me a packet of sedatives and instructed me to lace Lu Sheng’s incense with them, telling me to claim the incense was for calming and promoting sleep. Lu Sheng wouldn’t suspect a thing."

"That way, once Lu Sheng fell unconscious, even if Chenchen entered her room and stabbed her in the middle of the night, she wouldn’t resist. And afterward, no one could extract anything from Chenchen."

Aunt Chen revealed the entire plot in one continuous, desperate confession.