The netizens scrolling through the drama were still unaware that the Su family had been entangled in a murder case.
They had been sharing the news that Su Mingjie was a fake young master with their friends and family, gleefully cursing out this shameless impostor together.
Many fans had also started turning against him. While hurling insults, they listed the merchandise and course materials they had bought on Xianyu, trying to sell them secondhand at low prices. But no one wanted to buy them.
Su Mingjie had built his fanbase largely on the persona of the pampered young master of a wealthy family. His fans often took great pride in this, acting as if they too would rise in status alongside him, frequently using his background to put down other celebrities.
Now that Su Mingjie had been exposed as a fake, those very words had boomeranged back, leaving his fans utterly humiliated. One by one, they cleared their Weibo accounts, desperate to erase this digital stain on their records.
Meanwhile, many netizens had previously assumed the Su family’s “adopted son” was an illegitimate child. They had sympathized with Su Mingjie and attacked the “adopted son.” Now that the tables had turned, all that resentment came flooding back, along with a fresh wave of curses…
Conveniently falling on a weekend, ordinary netizens and young fans alike had plenty of time and energy. They raged all night long without stopping!
The head of the PR department was at his wit’s end. “We’re trying to delete comments, but it’s barely making a dent.”
“My suggestion is that the young master issues an apology—take a softer stance—and then we spin it as ‘he’s a victim too.’ After all, he was just a baby back then; he couldn’t have harmed anyone.”
Su Mingjie’s eyes were red and raw, too dry to squeeze out another tear. “I understand. I’ll apologize.”
He didn’t want to write something so disgusting! But he still wanted to make a comeback, and for that, he needed to leave the public with an impression of a good attitude and genuine remorse.
No matter how reluctant he was, he had to do it.
The PR department head turned his gaze to Su Jingye. “Netizens are also venting their anger at the rest of the Su family. Boss, you’d better make a statement and invite Su Zhisheng back into the family.”
Hearing this, Su Jingye’s face darkened!
“That rebellious brat has defied me repeatedly and turned the whole world upside down. He deserves to return to a wealthy family?”
Then fight it head-on—why come to me to clean up your mess? The PR head wanted to roll his eyes.
Su Minghao sat to the side, silent.
At the end of the day, this whole mess started because Su Mingjie refused to coexist with Su Zhisheng and stirred up trouble. No matter how harshly he was being criticized now, he had brought it upon himself.
Still, that Wei family member was still protecting Su Mingjie, so Su Minghao felt he had to stand by Su Mingjie as well, at least to some extent.
Though Su Jingye didn’t want to back down, he ultimately prioritized the bigger picture and compromised.
And so, the three at the center of the Su family storm each posted apologies on Weibo, begging the “adopted son” to return.
“I shouldn’t have whined and competed with Second Brother for Mom and Dad’s affection, driving him away in anger…”
These words were a mix of truth and lies.
Su Zhisheng had left because of the allergy framing incident, but Su Mingjie’s post deliberately described it as merely whining for affection, obscuring the real truth behind the matter.
Su Mingjie felt secretly smug, though his public tone remained saccharine and insincere.
“I remember Second Brother took the money. He won’t air the family’s dirty laundry. Dad, do you think he’ll hold up his end?”
Based on his understanding of Su Zhisheng, the other party would probably still do what he was paid for. But Su Zhisheng would likely find other ways to get back at him.
“If he doesn’t, I’ll post the payment screenshot and notes online and let everyone see what kind of person he really is. Netizens love building people up, but they love tearing them down even more. Even the perfect victim gets nitpicked, and Su Zhisheng is far from perfect.” Su Jingye let out a cold laugh.
Did they really think his money came so easily?
Su Mingjie breathed a small sigh of relief.
From last night until now, this was finally some good news.
In his apology statement, Su Mingjie also tried hard to whitewash his own image.
“I thought I could make it up by asking my fiancé to help find Second Brother a match in a good family, but I overlooked that Second Brother craves our parents’ love just as much as I do…”
The entire statement emphasized that he hadn’t harmed anyone—only caused minor family friction by vying for affection—but that he was still trying to make amends with the thing ordinary people needed most: money.
Su Jingye and Su Minghao’s accounts both liked Su Mingjie’s post.
They apologized to Su Zhisheng, hoping he would forgive them. If he came home, they would hold a new recognition banquet and increase his allowance and other benefits.
As for Su Mingjie? He was just a baby back then and hadn’t done anything wrong. The guilty party was the nanny. The Su family was offering a 100,000 yuan reward for leads…
Netizens, who had been furiously cursing moments earlier, couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sour grapes when they saw the allowance go from 30,000 to 50,000.
Some sharp-eyed netizens suspected the Su family was just drawing up pie-in-the-sky promises, waiting for the “adopted son” to return before turning on him.
But under the guidance of paid trolls, more and more netizens began shifting their focus.
[That’s so much allowance money. I want some!]
[He may be an adopted son, but looking at these benefits, it’s not like he was suffering before, right? The Su family even wanted to find him a marriage alliance so he could coast through life in comfort.]
[I only make 3,000 a month. Who am I to sympathize with someone like that?]
[Looks like there’s no deep conflict within the Su family. The “adopted son” probably just couldn’t stand the parents favoring someone else and ran away. As for Su Jingye publicly kicking him out—I bet that was just to make the kid taste a bit of hardship, realize how good he had it at home, and come back.]
Netizens unaware of the full story gradually lost their initial outrage.
How could they know that Su Zhisheng had been framed for triggering an allergic reaction that landed someone in the ICU? If that accusation had stuck, being kicked out of the wealthy family would have been the least of his worries.
If enough time passed and the evidence disappeared entirely, the fake young master could dig up the old case, claim he almost died, and report it to the police. Su Zhisheng might very well end up in prison.
Scrolling through his phone, Su Mingjie saw that many netizens had stopped speaking up for Su Zhisheng, and he was secretly overjoyed.
“The only people who know about the framing incident are our family and the servants. They won’t give up their high-paying jobs, so they won’t leak anything about me.”
And even if any of those servants came forward to snitch, it wouldn’t matter—they had no evidence.
True, Xiao Tao had tried to dissuade him, but that conversation happened inside the house and left no trace online.
The only weak link was the gardener who had bought the mangoes.
But he was Su Mingjie’s most loyal dog. He wouldn’t talk.
Su Mingjie took a sip of his beauty tea. “All I have to do now is wait for this storm to pass.”
The baby-swapping incident back then had changed Su Zhisheng’s entire life, but Su Mingjie himself hadn’t broken any laws. That meant he couldn’t be labeled a problematic celebrity.
Even if public opinion made it hard for him to appear in front of audiences right now, once the storm of controversy blew over, the ads and TV shows he had filmed could still be aired…
“Oh no! The police are here!”
“Cough, cough…” Su Mingjie choked, his brown tea staining his clothes.
He hurried out, barely able to keep his expression in check. “Who messed up this time? Who’s getting arrested?”
The servant who had brought the news scratched their head. “I don’t know. I was cleaning on the balcony and saw the police at the door. But the Su family didn’t file a report, so someone must be in trouble.”
Su Mingjie took a deep breath and slowly walked out.
He hoped they weren’t here for his father or his older brother…
Though he often cursed Hu Xiuchun for dragging the Su family down with her misdeeds, and though he never involved himself in company affairs, he wasn’t stupid!
A family that had spent years in the entertainment industry—how could their hands possibly be completely clean?
The Su family members quickly got word and gathered at the front gate.
The senior officer approached Su Jingye and held up a search warrant. “After Wu Xiaotao was killed, her body was dismembered and dumped. We need to search her room and determine whether the crime scene is inside the Su residence.”
“Additionally, please provide us with a list of everyone in the Su household, including the servants. We will take statements one by one…”
Su Jingye’s face darkened!
A murderer had been hiding right inside his home!
Though Su Mingjie felt a twinge of regret over the death of his loyal maid, he couldn’t help but secretly gloat.
There were many servants in the house. Back when he was plotting the framing incident, he had carefully calculated the timing and found it very tricky. As the master, he could order the servants around and clear them out of certain areas.
But no one else had that kind of control. And he had been home the whole time recently without noticing anything unusual.
He didn’t know who had killed Xiao Tao, but the crime scene was probably not inside the Su residence.
So Su Mingjie stepped forward and voluntarily pointed the finger at Su Zhisheng as the prime suspect.
“Xiao Tao once took my side and had a falling out with Second Brother. If the crime scene isn’t at the Su house, maybe you should ask Second Brother about it. Not that I want to believe he did it…”
…
At the police station, Xing Tianwei was leading the team in organizing the case information.
Wu Xiaotao was born in a rural area of G Province, the second of three children. As the middle child, she received the least attention and thus developed a habit of reading people’s expressions from a young age.
Later, Wu Xiaotao came to Yuntian City. Despite her plain appearance, her sweet talk caught the eye of a training agency that placed maids in wealthy households. After mastering the necessary skills, she quickly passed the assessment of Su family matriarch Hu Xiuchun and was hired.
Among Su Mingjie’s personal maids, Wu Xiaotao arrived last. But based on the chat and transfer records on Su Mingjie’s phone, Xiao Tao received considerable bonuses every month and was clearly highly valued.
Zhang Zhengyang gritted his teeth. “Su Mingjie gave Xiao Tao so much money because she was his most effective attack dog. Zhisheng was constantly sidelined and tormented in the Su family—Su Mingjie used his money to command his underlings to do his dirty work!”
Unlike the unfavored Su Zhisheng, Su Mingjie—though officially receiving the same allowance—got extra subsidies from Su Jingye, who wanted to show the Wei family how much he valued the connection. His fiancé also gave him clothes, jewelry, and even voluntarily covered his household expenses each month.
On top of that, Su Mingjie was a second-tier celebrity with a high income. Even though he employed a large staff for his entertainment career, his savings were substantial, allowing him to generously reward his underlings.
“As much as I hate that bastard Su Mingjie, according to the victim’s chats with friends where she boasted about her job, she was very satisfied with this employer. Su Mingjie probably isn’t the killer, though we can’t completely rule out the possibility that he hired someone.”
After venting on Su Zhisheng’s behalf, the officers turned their focus back to solving the case.
“Based on the cut marks on the body, the killer didn’t use any power tools—just a kitchen knife. Moreover, the fracture surfaces show violent chopping rather than clean cutting, and the number of cut marks isn’t high…”
“All evidence suggests the killer is stronger than the average man and likely engaged in heavy manual labor for a long time.”
Zhang Zhengyang finally cracked a slight smile. “Su Zhisheng, Su Mingjie, and most of the Su family’s maids don’t have enough strength. If any of them had committed the crime, the cuts would look different…”
Hearing this, Xing Tianwei gave a small nod.
“We’ve also traced part of the victim’s movements. Now we’ll take Zhisheng’s statement as a routine procedure and clear his name.”
Taking Su Zhisheng’s statement was a procedural requirement—it was the police’s duty.
Even though Su Zhisheng was the prime suspect, everyone at the station believed he was innocent. So they would let him go through the proper, above-board process to clear his name and then properly participate in the investigation.
Outside the window, the afternoon sun was bright.
It was Xing Tianwei’s decision to schedule Su Zhisheng’s statement for the afternoon, first letting the Su family cooperate with the investigation.
Just then, Zhang Zhengyang took a phone call. “Okay, okay. Zhisheng just arrived at the station and is about to give his statement. As you know, he’s working and studying—he needs rest…”
After hanging up, Zhang Zhengyang looked somewhat helpless.
But beneath that helplessness was a quiet pride.
“The colleague in charge of searching for the victim’s remains just called, practically wailing, begging us to get Consultant Su over there as soon as possible. That river is so long—without Zhisheng’s help, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Who knows how long it would take?”
Everyone was waiting for the arrival of their savior, ready to witness the “miracle” known as “Aquatic Mobilization”!