Pampered by Short-Lived Bigshot

Chapter 1327 - 760: Tearing Apart My Own Uncle, A Masterclass in Manipulation (Part 3)

"Yes, yes—" He was still limp on the ground, pointing at You Hongxian. "He’s the one who told me, said you went back to Tang Wan’s studio that day, that’s what he said!"

"So I went to ’accidentally’ run into you and tried to get close to you!"

"Otherwise, how would I know your whereabouts? Even if I had the guts, I wouldn’t dare stake out near the Si Family’s place. Plus I’ve only been into the Si house once, I’m not familiar with the area at all. If it wasn’t some insider, who’d dare squat nearby to tail you."

"It was him, Miss Si, he’s been sending people to follow you all along, just to know your movements and keep an eye on you every second!"

"Lou Hao, you’re fucking talking shit!" You Hongxian roared furiously. "Trash like you can even drug people, who’d believe a word you say?"

"Qingxiao? You don’t believe your uncle? And you believe him instead?"

Si Qingxiao had zero intention of getting dragged into the quarrel between these two; her eyes were fixed on You Hongxian alone.

"Uncle, then tell me, why did you send people to follow me?"

"I, I..." You Hongxian had no idea that the fact he’d had her followed was something Si Qingxiao had fully grasped.

"Sneaking around like a rat—what good could you possibly be up to! My parents will naturally protect their daughter, do they still need you to send people to tail me?"

Just then, a clear cool voice cut in. Everyone followed the sound and looked over—not an outsider, but the young master of the Duan Family—

Duan Linbai!

This lord lived to eat melon and watch drama!

And he was the really restless kind; when he watched drama, he often brought real emotion into it and loved to stick a foot in. Probably couldn’t stand it anymore, so he just directly fired a shot.

"Maybe he thinks there’s no one in the Si Family and they can’t protect Miss Si." Zeyan also spoke up.

"Then we really have Mr. You to thank for his concern. Trailing her ever since the Lantern Festival—he really does care deeply about this niece."

"Isn’t tailing someone and invading their privacy against the law?"

...

The two of them had started pecking at each other like baby chicks the moment they stepped in, and now, separated by a crowd, they were actually standing on the same side.

That really was something.

Zeyan wasn’t trying to form a united front with Duan Linbai; it’s just that stalking someone is inherently disgusting, and this guy was even trying to use "concern" as a pretext to gloss it over. How was that not utter bullshit?

Besides, You Hongxian had schemed against him and Ruan Mengxi before; that tab was still open in his heart. Stepping on him now was just that—stepping on him. The bastard had it coming!

You Hongxian was secretly annoyed. Why were these two jumping out to meddle, sticking their damn noses into his business.

He turned instead to Si Qingxiao with a smile. "Qingxiao, I... I really do care about you!"

"Care about me..." Si Qingxiao smiled gently. "We already said back then that Lou Hao tried to assault me. If you care about me that much, why didn’t you even say a single word of concern?"

"I’ve been here this long, and you haven’t even asked me once if I was scared back then."

"When Mr. Lou was just now begging my dad for leniency, were you not trying to help them?"

"I just want to ask: I’ve already been set up this badly, yet as my uncle, why would your first instinct be to plead for him? Do you have the holy saintly heart of some white lotus Madonna?"

"When Mr. Lou points a finger at you, you immediately jump up in a panic. Or is it that as long as the knife isn’t in your own flesh, you think it’s no big deal? You think since I didn’t suffer any ’real’ damage, Lou Hao can just be easily forgiven?"

...

The points Si Qingxiao latched onto were all too sharp; You Hongxian had never gone head‑to‑head with her like this before.

When sparring with Lou Xingyu just now, he’d still been able to glibly argue, but that was because the other side had no evidence. The examples Si Qingxiao was bringing up were things everyone present had seen with their own eyes.

And what she said made perfect sense!

Put anyone else in her place and they’d want Lou Hao dead. Yet he, as her own uncle, had actually pleaded for an outsider.

"Qingxiao, I, back then I just..." You Hongxian was both anxious and furious, but couldn’t come up with a decent excuse on the spot.

"Actually, the reason you did that is very simple: you’re afraid Lou Hao would drag you down with him, so you wanted to protect him."

Having his thoughts exposed, You Hongxian instinctively denied it. "No, that’s not, that’s not it."

"Then why did you step out at all!"

"..."

"You say you followed me because you ’care’ and want to protect me, so as long as I’m safe and sound, that should be enough. Then let me ask you: why is it that what you had people report back to you was..." Si Qingxiao let out a faint, mocking laugh.

"Whether I was going on dates with men."

"Where I went every single day."

"You tell me, is that kind of surveillance called concern? Or were you just worried that before your little plan succeeded, I might already find myself a boyfriend and completely wreck your arrangements!"

Si Qingxiao doubled back, hitting point after point, and practically reconstructed the entire story.

You Hongxian had colluded with the Lou Family to stuff a man into her life; that’s why they tracked her, to see if there were any men around her and eliminate potential threats early. The whole logic chain now ran perfectly smooth.

"Uncle, if you won’t admit it, I’ve got photos here, plus the recordings of the people you hired—exactly how they reported to you, and what you were directing them to do. I know it all, clear as day."

As soon as Si Qingxiao finished speaking, someone immediately handed her a manila envelope.

A tall, broad‑shouldered man.

Jiang Chengsi had still been simmering in anger over You Hongxian having her followed. When he saw this man, his heart suddenly skipped a beat...

This guy looked really familiar!

He’d seen him before, but definitely not at the Si house.

You Hongxian’s gaze burned, locked onto the manila envelope in her hand. His heartbeat sped up, his breathing turned rushed, as if someone had clamped a hand around his throat.

The people below started whispering:

"This Miss Si is really something. She’s had this kind of evidence in her hand the whole time? Killing without drawing a blade."

"You Hongxian thought he was so smart. Miss Si just silently played him like a monkey. With skills like this, she’s totally in a league‑of‑her‑own ruler tier. She’s been prepared from the start, just waiting for him to jump into the pit. He’s downright stupid."

"No wonder she’s a daughter raised by the Si Family. But with a woman like that, who’d dare marry her home? You’d be crushed under her heel for life."

...

They muttered in low voices, but suddenly felt a scorching gaze on them from the side. They turned their heads somewhat awkwardly—it was Jiang Chengsi. They just smiled and nodded at him as a greeting.

Jiang Chengsi, however, folded his arms and turned away:

Who she marries is none of your damn business. It’s not like she’d marry you lot. Busybody idiots.

Si Qingxiao had just taken the manila envelope when, the next second, You Yunzhi walked over. "Give it to me."

"Mom?"

"So much has happened to you and I actually knew nothing about it. That’s my failure as your mother. From here on out, your father and I will handle it."

If You Yunzhi still didn’t step up at this point, that really would be dereliction of duty.

Si Qingxiao handed her the envelope.

You Yunzhi opened it in front of everyone and glanced inside. A recorder, and a stack of photos—all of Si Qingxiao, all taken in secret. She drew in a deep breath and gestured for Si Qingxiao to go stand off to the side.

Si Yushan walked over as well, sweeping his gaze over the contents of the envelope from the corner of his eye, his face dark and icy with humiliation and anger.

"Even if we’re going to clean house, it shouldn’t be you doing it."

The murmurs in the hall vanished in an instant. Everyone held their breath. Madam Si...

Was going to personally take the field?