CHAPTER 264: CHAPTER 243: FIGHTING TO TURN THE TIDE WITH WORDS ALONE (PART 1)

"Officer Bai, you need to be responsible for your words!"

Rong Si warned.

"Be responsible for my words? But I’ve seen that you and your family have been quite irresponsible with what you’ve said so far!"

Bai Sidong’s eyes were cold. He dared not imagine the heartache his sister and brother-in-law would feel if they knew what happened to Meng!

Even he, as a maternal uncle, was deeply pained by his niece’s suffering, let alone them.

Bai Fengmao listened to his son’s words and did not continue questioning Bai Shunyuan, instead turning his gaze back to Rong Si, "See that? My grandson has already brought out the evidence! Compared to that surveillance footage of yours that proves nothing, isn’t ours much more convincing?!"

Rong Si’s brows twitched slightly, and he gave a faint glance at Rong Qiao...

Rong Qiao quickly said, "I believe in Yixuan! Dad, Brother, you both should know Yixuan’s character, he couldn’t have done such a thing!"

Rong Si was also uncertain at this moment, but...

"It’s a fact that Su Xiaomeng and Ren Yixuan had a relationship. My daughter saw it with her own eyes—"

"Mr. Rong, allow me to interrupt you one more time."

Bai Sidong suddenly wore a slight smile, his previously stern face now softened...

His wife, standing beside him, understood that this was his occupational habit coming through.

"Officer Bai, do you have anything else to say?"

"I am a criminal police officer."

"Everyone knows that."

"As Su Xiaomeng’s uncle, no matter what, I must seek justice for her after what happened, but I am also a criminal police officer."

"As a criminal police officer, I know that conviction requires evidence, and it must be evidence of high value."

Rong Si’s eyes narrowed slightly...

"The surveillance you brought only shows Ren Yixuan and Su Xiaomeng entering the hotel, but it doesn’t show them leaving."

Rong Qiao’s fist suddenly clenched, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, the surveillance footage you brought lacks persuasiveness."

Bai Sidong looked at Su Xiaomeng, "Xiao Meng, do you know what kind of drug Ren Yixuan used on you?"

Su Xiaomeng pressed her lips together and then shook her head, "I don’t know, I just know I felt dizzy and unwell, nauseous and wanted to vomit... then I lost consciousness."

This was what Yin Shixiu instructed her to say, as it involved drugs; she was told to keep it to herself for now.

Now was not the right time.

Bai Sidong shrugged and looked back at the Rong Family, "You all heard it, Xiao Meng doesn’t know what drug Ren Yixuan used on her. So to be honest, no one knows what Ren Yixuan’s intentions were towards Su Xiaomeng."

Not just Rong Si, everyone present understood Bai Sidong’s intentions at this moment.

He not only wanted to overturn the accusation that Su Xiaomeng seduced Ren Yixuan, but even to overturn the claim that Su Xiaomeng and Ren Yixuan had a relationship!

"She’s just a whore! No matter what, she’s just a slut! She’ll never shake off the stigma of being a slut!"

Rong Qiao was no fool; she understood the implications of Bai Sidong’s words.

When she realized that the balance was slowly tipping away from them towards Su Xiaomeng...

When she realized that the outcome she desired was slipping further away, and some truths she wished to hide might be inadvertently revealed by this "police officer"...

She was utterly panicked!

She wanted Su Xiaomeng to be disgraced, wanted Brother Shixiu to despise her, wanted the Yin Family to cast her out, wanted her to be forever criticized by the world!

But now...

The mouths before her, desperately, from all angles, were seeking any gaps or loopholes to defend her, to argue for her, to vouch for her.

Why wasn’t the situation developing as she had imagined, but instead deviating from the track step by step?

Wasn’t everyone supposed to hate her? Weren’t they supposed to be disgusted by her?

"She herself admitted she had a relationship with Yixuan! She admitted it! Brother Shixiu, you’re doomed to wear this green hat for life!"

Rong Qiao wanted Yin Shixiu’s ego wounded.

Don’t all men have strong egos?

Don’t all men have a strong sense of possession?

How could they tolerate their wives having relationships with other men?!

"Stop, stop, stop, young lady..."

Bai Sidong quickly gestured for Rong Qiao to close her mouth, looking at the girl before him, her face flushed with anger...

He calmly said, "Let’s not rush. When it comes to a woman’s reputation, especially a married woman with two children, it’s not a trivial matter. We should be careful with our words!"

"Uncle! Even if you want to excuse your niece, you have to have some limits, right?!"

Bai Sidong chuckled lightly, "Don’t worry, I’ve been a police officer for nearly twenty years; I’m always very measured when it comes to excusing someone."

"No innocent person is wronged, and no criminal is let go."

Bai Sidong raised his eyebrows slightly, "Young lady, did you notice my niece’s wording?"

"What?"

"She said Ren Yixuan drugged her, then she felt dizzy and nauseous, wanted to vomit, and then lost consciousness. The next morning, she was awakened by you entering the room."

"So?"

"She lost consciousness, which means she doesn’t know whether she had a relationship with Ren Yixuan, she just assumed she did."

At this moment, Rong Qiao’s pale face had already flushed red.

Bai Sidong was arguing, and this very argument left the Rong Family helpless...

"When I entered the room, she wasn’t even wearing clothes!"

"I was wearing them!"

Su Xiaomeng quickly said.

At that time, she indeed lost consciousness, but her body wouldn’t lie to her; she knew she had been with Ren Yixuan.

But... her uncle was now almost grasping at straws, trying to restore her reputation.

She knew how important this was, precisely because she couldn’t think of a good way, and felt the other side had solid evidence, she had previously given up defending herself.

It was because she wasn’t good at lying, and because she didn’t want to deceive her family...

Because she knew that no matter what she did, it would only bring shame to those who loved and protected her, she gave up struggling.

But now, those who love her already know the truth, and they did not despise her; instead, they simply, sincerely felt sorry for her.

So... the truth no longer mattered.

The only thing she was thinking about now was how to prevent her husband from being criticized, how to ensure that the Yin Family wouldn’t be scrutinized because of her...

Her uncle was helping her with this.

She couldn’t match her uncle’s brain; what she could do was follow his lead.

Moreover, that day she was indeed wearing clothes, with a camisole and underwear on.

It’s just that the skin exposed showed bluish-purple and some dark red marks... very eye-catching.

"Su Xiaomeng! You really have no shame!"

"Little sister, if Xiaomeng had something with your fiancé, you think she’s shameless. I think... even if nothing happened, you would still think she’s shameless, right?"

Bai Sidong said with a laugh.

Rong Qiao stared at Su Xiaomeng with reddened eyes, "Whether anything happened or not, you know best!"

"Xiaomeng may not know clearly, but at least there is one person who knows for sure."

Bai Sidong looked at Rong Qiao, "I think your fiancé would be very happy to come back from abroad and sort this matter out."

"Since it started with him, this is the first time I’m seeing everyone else taking this up like a ’chicken feather as a command arrow’ without the main person present to seek justice."

"Sidong is right. Ren Yixuan is one of the parties involved. If he doesn’t show up, how can things be clarified?"

Bai Fengmao snorted, "It seems the Rong Family now really is in decline, with juniors messing around without understanding, and the elders are also clueless."

"Since Uncle Bai has said so, we can only wait for him to return from abroad and confront Xiaomeng face to face, to ask what he added to Su Xiaomeng’s drink in the bar."

"Did Su Xiaomeng really seduce him, and did anything actually happen between them that night?"

Rong Jing, thinking himself clever, believed that by saying this, the matter would be postponed until Ren Yixuan returned.

The situation had developed to this point, unfavorable to the Rong Family.

And the current disadvantageous position was caused by Rong Qiao’s doing.

Rong Jing never intended to blow this matter up, so when Rong Qiao cried for her parents to stand up for her, he never really considered using this to ruin Su Xiaomeng’s reputation.

It takes two to tango; the feelings Ren Yixuan had for Su Xiaomeng were clear to him.

But he took this matter as an opportunity, capturing only one chance through Su Xiaomeng.

He wanted Su Xiaomeng to work for him and arrogantly believed she would agree.

It was no longer an era where chastity was more important than life; few women could easily give up the status of a wealthy young madam.

So when Su Xiaomeng firmly refused him, with a determination to bring everything down, he was shocked.

Shocked, his thoughts changed.

There was no need to make things tense with the Yin Family, at least not at this point...

But Rong Qiao...

Rong Jing closed his eyes briefly, feeling weary.

Forget it; she is his sister after all; having reached this point...

He could only help her.

As long as today’s issue isn’t resolved, once rumors spread tomorrow, at least Xiao Qiao would have vented some anger.

But Bai Sidong nearly saw through Rong Jing’s thoughts at first glance, and just as he was about to speak—

Yin Shixiu, whose mind had been racing along with Bai Sidong’s, spoke first, "I don’t think there’s a need to wait for Ren Yixuan, is there?"

"Do you mean to call him?"

Rong Jing could only think of this, yet this was the last thing he wanted to do.

Yin Shixiu glanced at the Rong Family in front of him, saying slowly, "Calling is the fastest way."

Rong Jing squinted his eyes at Yin Shixiu.

To Yin Shixiu, whether he would be ridiculed for Xiaomeng being with someone else wasn’t that important.

He didn’t live for the views of others.

But seeing Ren Yixuan suffer was something he would gladly welcome.

Rong Jing understood in his heart that, with Rong Qiao’s disruption, they were already losing their footing, feeling a kind of helplessness and embarrassment now, being caught between a rock and a hard place.

With their eyes meeting...

Each was harboring their own ulterior motives.

Slowly, the slightly smarter people began to realize...

Bai Sidong had said so much, merely to set this trap.