Billionaire's Long Journey of Chasing His Love-Chapter 671 - 569: I Will Avenge Her! (Second Update)
Yi Luowa scratched her head, "Mom~ I..."
Tong Yao snapped angrily, "Your aunt and your aunt-in-law spend their days spouting nonsense, and you believe what they say?!"
Yi Luowa quickly shook her head, "I didn’t believe..."
"What nonsense did I say?" Yan Zi laughed as she walked out of the private room.
Tong Airui chuckled and said, "Talking about my mom’s drinking capacity."
Yi Luowa nodded obediently, "We were saying my mom can drink so well!"
Yan Zi burst into laughter, "Your mom not only has a strong tolerance, but also excellent behavior when drinking. That woman can handle a bottle of 60-degree baijiu without a single slip-up! Your third uncle knows this best. When you go back, ask him and you’ll see."
"Yan Zi, you just wait! Wait until we get home, you’ll see how I deal with you!" Tong Yao said fiercely, glaring at her son and daughter-in-law, "Your third uncle knows nothing, don’t go asking him anything!"
Yi Luowa laughed and said, "Mom, don’t worry, even if we wanted to ask, we wouldn’t be able to find him. Who knows where he’s gone fishing this time!"
"Sis-in-law, didn’t you say you wanted to go to the bathroom? Why haven’t you gone yet? I’ll go with you." Yan Zi pulled Tong Yao’s hand and walked away.
Seeing her mother-in-law leave, Yi Luowa pouted at Tong Airui, "You definitely saw mom come out earlier, why didn’t you warn me?"
"I didn’t have time to remind you; you were already speaking before I could say anything."
Yi Luowa pursed her lips, "When we get home, mom will surely include me in her scolding."
"I’ll be there, what are you afraid of?" Tong Airui laughed and pulled her into the private room his mother had just left.
The private room was filled with two large tables of people. Besides their family, Leng Ziye, Muta, Bernard, Carlos, the King of Beidi, and several others were also present.
The Great Emperor Haotian saw his daughter and son-in-law enter and said with a smile, "Don’t go wandering around with your mom. Sit down and eat something. There are so many people here, even if I introduced each one, you wouldn’t remember all of them."
Yi Luowa smiled and nodded, "Alright, I won’t wander off anymore."
"Mama——" Sangyu stretched out her small hands, beckoning to her mother. Yi Luowa quickly walked over.
"Hold~"
"Let mom eat a little first. How about dad holds you instead?" Tong Airui reached out to pick up his daughter.
Sangyu pouted and lowered her head.
Everyone burst into laughter as they watched her.
Yi Luowa smiled and picked up her daughter, sitting down beside the Great Emperor Haotian.
The Great Emperor Haotian glanced at the dishes on the table, "Which one do you like? Dad will feed you a few bites first."
Seeing the table full of people watching her and her father, Yi Luowa quickly said, "Dad, just eat with the uncles. I’m not hungry."
"Hungry!" Sangyu said firmly, even nodding her little head vigorously.
"You know mom is hungry, yet you still want mom to hold you!" Tong Airui sat down beside his wife, picked up his bowl and chopsticks, and fed Yi Luowa a few bites of rice.
Sitting next to his grandfather, Ziyan tilted his little head to look at his mother, scrunching his tiny nose as he chuckled, "Eat!"
Yi Luowa smiled lovingly, "Alright, mom will eat. When mom has more energy, she’ll hold both you and your sister."
Ziyan clapped his little hands happily.
Seeing his daughter struggling to eat properly, the Great Emperor Haotian reached out for his granddaughter, "Grandpa will hold you. Let mom fill her belly first, then she can hold you better, alright?"
"Hmm~" Sangyu murmured softly and buried her head in her mother’s arms.
"Dad, don’t worry about her..."
"Rui’er, come over for a moment." Tong Yao’s voice interrupted Yi Luowa.
Tong Airui put down his bowl and chopsticks and quickly walked out.
Tong Yao pulled her son straight to the bathroom. Yan Zi, looking visibly unsettled, stood guarding at the door. When she saw Tong Airui, she trembled and pointed to the bathroom, saying, "Someone’s dead!"
Tong Yao quickly made a silencing gesture at Yan Zi, "Stay out here and keep watch for us. Rui’er and I will go in to take a look."
Yan Zi leaned heavily against the wall, mechanically nodding her head.
The mother and son entered the bathroom. Tong Yao opened one of the stall doors, pointing at the corpse slumped against the toilet, "Look at this. It’s probably poisoning."
Tong Airui frowned slightly. After carefully inspecting the corpse, he called Yuan Hang, instructing him to immediately check the surveillance footage.
Tong Yao glanced at her son, "This woman was likely here for the banquet. Should we inform your in-laws to see if they recognize her?"
Tong Airui hesitated for a moment but ultimately called his mother-in-law.
The Empress Haotian arrived within three minutes of receiving the call. When she saw the deceased, her face instantly changed color, "It’s my classmate Katyusha. Just moments ago, we were joking about how she might fall into the toilet..."
The Empress Haotian, stricken with grief, looked at Katyusha as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face, "Her husband had an affair. She’s been in a terrible mood lately, but I’ve been so busy, I never had a chance to console her. I didn’t even say a word to her today, and now she’s gone, wuwu..."
The Empress Haotian’s sorrow grew, and she began to sob aloud.
Tong Yao immediately embraced her, "Zhi Lan, don’t cry. Whatever you do, don’t alert the guests."
The Empress Haotian stifled her sobs, "I’ll call someone right now to secure the scene. Once the guests leave, I’ll investigate her death myself."
Tong Yao spoke solemnly, "There are no signs of a struggle at the scene. Her footprints are layered over others here, which suggests she walked in of her own accord. Whether she ingested the poison before or after coming in will depend on the autopsy report."
The Empress Haotian rubbed her temples, "I got so flustered I forgot you’re the famous sharp-eyed detective."
Tong Yao shook her head, "Forget the nickname. I just happen to know a bit about this stuff."
The Empress Haotian called her subordinates. Soon, two sturdy young men entered the bathroom.
"Should we send the body directly to the police station?" The Empress Haotian looked at Tong Yao questioningly.
"That’s fine. Let them determine when she was poisoned and analyze the toxin’s composition. No need to over-explain; the police know their procedures."
"Alright!" The Empress Haotian turned to her two subordinates, "Carry her out quietly. Don’t alert the guests."
They nodded, and one of them hoisted the body onto his shoulder. The two then quickly left the bathroom.
Just as they were leaving, Tong Airui’s phone rang.
After taking the call, Tong Airui spoke in a deep voice, "The footage is out. I’m going to take a look."
"Let’s go together. Maybe we’ll notice something." Tong Yao supported the Empress Haotian, and the three left the bathroom.
Yan Zi, seeing her sister-in-law come out, let out a long sigh of relief, "You’re finally out!"
Tong Yao patted Yan Zi’s shoulder, "Yan Zi, head back first. Try not to let anyone see you’re upset. We’re going to check the surveillance footage now and will return shortly."
Yan Zi clung to Tong Yao’s arm, "I need to calm down. I’ll go with you; otherwise, people will surely notice something’s wrong when I go back."
Tong Airui accepted the USB drive from Yuan Hang, then headed into the small meeting room with his mother-in-law.
"She walked in alone. She’s crying, clearly upset about something." Tong Yao pointed to the screen, "She’s answering a phone call. Check her latest call record."
Tong Airui looked at the Empress Haotian, "Mom, do you have her phone number?"
"I do. I’ll call to find out."
This was Haotian after all; it’d be easier for his mother-in-law to handle it. Tong Airui didn’t compete for this task.
While everyone waited anxiously, the Empress Haotian’s phone rang.
"Zhi Lan, did Katyusha send you a message?" It was Xiang Zuo on the line.
The Empress Haotian gripped her phone tightly, "No, did she message you?"
"Earlier, when you were around, none of us noticed, but Katyusha messaged all of us. She said she was leaving. She barely ate anything, yet she’s gone?"
The Empress Haotian fought back tears, "She really is gone——"
"Did she tell you goodbye?"
"Yes. I’m busy right now. I’ll explain later. For now, just eat your meal." The Empress Haotian didn’t want the others to detect anything amiss, so she ended the call quickly.
"Beep-beep..." Her phone rang again.
The Empress Haotian quickly answered. After listening, she frowned slightly before ending the call. She looked to her son-in-law, "The last call was to Joel."
"Call him over to ask," Tong Airui said, his face darkening slightly upon hearing Joel’s name. This was the man who had once lied to protect Xia Rou.
Before the Empress Haotian could make the call, Joel’s call came through first, "Zhi Lan, did something happen to Katyusha?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
The Empress Haotian frowned slightly, "I’m in Meeting Room 302. Come over for a moment."
Joel arrived quickly. He nodded slightly to everyone before turning to the Empress Haotian, "Zhi Lan, Katyusha called me before you and Luowa came in. She was crying the whole time. Just now, when Xiang Zuo and the others realized Katyusha had messaged us all, I checked the timing. It was right after she finished calling me. Where is she?"
The Empress Haotian gripped the edge of the table for a long while before she finally spoke, "She’s dead..."
"What?" Joel’s body visibly swayed.
The Empress Haotian’s tears flowed endlessly, "We still don’t know if it was suicide or murder. What did she say to you?"
"She said... she said when she arrived, she saw her husband and that woman outside the hotel. She said that bastard wasn’t even trying to save face for her anymore, and then she just kept crying... I’m going to find that bastard. I’ll avenge Katyusha!"
The Empress Haotian grabbed Joel’s arm, "Wait. If that bastard really drove Katyusha to her death, I’ll avenge her myself!"
