Chapter 17: Isn’t This Emotional Blackmail?

“She wants to take Qiqi’s life!” Xia Ying said angrily. “Last time, Qiqi didn’t jump into the river herself—she was pushed in by Ye Huihui!”

Just thinking about how Ye Muqi almost died made Xia Ying tremble with fury.

And they were talking about forgiveness?

She was already being kind for not pushing Ye Huihui into the river herself!

“W-What?” Ye Weiming and Lin Yanhong were both stunned, their expressions full of shock. They hadn’t expected that Ye Muqi’s previous fall into the river was also connected to Ye Huihui.

But soon, Lin Yanhong snapped out of it, and with a thud, dropped to her knees in tears.

“Yingzi, I really… I’m begging you.” Lin Yanhong pleaded tearfully, kneeling. “Huihui’s life is just beginning. If she really goes to jail, her whole future will be ruined… She’s your niece too, how can you just stand by and watch her life be destroyed?”

“I’ll kowtow to you. Please let Huihui off this time. She was just momentarily confused. We’ll definitely discipline her properly from now on.” Crying, Lin Yanhong even bowed her head in a kowtow to Xia Ying.

As she spoke, she reached out to tug Ye Weiming beside her, trying to get him to bow too.

“Enough. Aren’t you ashamed?” Ye Zhengfeng frowned, stopping the two of them from kneeling and kowtowing at their door.

Xia Ying was clearly irritated. Though Ye Huihui was their niece, this niece had nearly killed her daughter—and it wasn’t even the first time she’d tried to hurt Ye Muqi!

Xia Ying didn’t want to forgive her at all. But with Ye Weiming and Lin Yanhong kneeling and kowtowing at their doorstep, it made it seem like if they didn’t forgive her, they were the heartless ones.

Ye Zhengfeng was just as conflicted. Standing before him was his younger brother who he had grown up with, but also his own daughter. He truly didn’t know what to do.

Whether from emotion or reason, either choice was understandable.

“Qiqi,” Ye Zhengfeng turned to look at Ye Muqi who was watching from inside the living room.

“Your daughter was the one who was hurt. I can’t make this decision for Qiqi,” he said, then turned and walked away, leaving the decision to Ye Muqi.

No matter what he chose, it would be wrong. So Ye Zhengfeng simply stepped aside. Even as her father, he shouldn’t be making this decision for her.

After all, Ye Muqi was the one who had been harmed.

Ye Muqi stood in the living room, momentarily stunned by her father’s words. She hadn’t expected a parent in this era to hold such progressive views.

“Qiqi! Please forgive Huihui!” Ye Weiming clasped his hands together, looking utterly sincere.

“Huihui is your cousin—your blood relative. She just made a mistake. After you fell into the river, she was so worried she couldn’t eat or sleep. For the sake of your family bond, please forgive her,” Lin Yanhong cried and pleaded as well.

The two of them took turns begging, making it seem like they would go on forever unless Ye Muqi agreed.

“And besides… you—you’re fine, aren’t you? Just let Huihui go,” Ye Weiming added when Ye Muqi still didn’t respond.

You only lost your legs, but she lost her love!

That absurd line suddenly popped into Ye Muqi’s head, but honestly, it wasn’t far off from what Ye Weiming was saying.

She might have survived, but the original owner of this body had truly died because of this. A life had been lost. Ye Huihui had to be held responsible.

“The crime Ye Huihui committed will be handled by the police according to the law. Begging me won’t change anything.”

“No! If you forgive her and just say a few words to the police, everything will be fine.”

“Yeah, yeah, Qiqi, you’re a good girl. You wouldn’t really let your cousin go to jail, would you?”

Ye Muqi gave them a small smile.

Lin Yanhong’s heart lifted with hope. Just as she was about to say something, Ye Muqi smiled and said three words:

“I’m not.”

Bang—

With that, Ye Muqi slammed the door, shutting them out completely.

Those two—wasn’t this pure emotional blackmail?

She wasn’t buying it.

Ye Zhengfeng and Xia Ying didn’t say anything. In fact, Xia Ying even got up and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

The noise outside lasted for a while before it finally died down. After breakfast, Xia Ying accompanied Ye Muqi to the police station to give her statement.

“So, you’re saying that the first time you fell into the river was also because Ye Huihui pushed you, but she doesn’t admit it,” the officer taking her statement said. “We want to ask if you can provide any evidence to support that claim.”

Ye Muqi wasn’t surprised.

Of course Ye Huihui wouldn’t confess—admitting it would mean definite jail time. She wasn’t that stupid.

“What did she say?” Ye Muqi asked.

“She claims she wasn’t even near the river that day,” the officer said.

Since their accounts didn’t match, the police needed to get to the bottom of it.

“If there are eyewitnesses, would that count?”

“Of course it would.”

She had expected there’d be no evidence, which was why she had taken the risk to provoke Ye Huihui into acting again.

But what she hadn’t expected was how capable her mother-in-law was. After hearing about the first incident last night, she had said she would look into it—and just before coming to the station, she called to say she had found an eyewitness.

…

That afternoon, a couple in their fifties were brought in. They told the police what they had seen that day and were then brought to confront Ye Huihui.

“Is this the person you saw?” the officer asked, pointing at Ye Huihui.

“Yes, that’s her. That day she was carrying a small cloth bag,” the old man said after looking at her carefully and nodding in confirmation.

When Ye Huihui saw Ye Muqi and the elderly couple, and heard what they said, she immediately understood what was going on.

“You’re framing me! I didn’t push you! They’re so old—how can they see clearly?” she shouted hysterically.

“I didn’t push you! You can’t just find two people to slander me like this!”

Seeing her so agitated, the officers quickly stepped in and escorted her away, worried she might become violent.

Even in such a losing situation, she still wouldn’t admit it.

How thick-skinned could someone be?

“Don’t worry. Now that we have eyewitnesses, the truth will come out,” Xia Ying patted Ye Muqi’s shoulder. “We have to trust the police.”

“Mm.” Ye Muqi nodded, and the two of them left the station.

Thinking it over, it seemed Ye Huihui’s plan was to deny involvement in the first incident completely. As for the recent one, there were too many witnesses, so she couldn’t deny it—but since the attempt failed, the charge would be far less serious.

Attempted murder and accidental manslaughter were very different crimes.

Even the elderly couple could only testify that she went to the riverside—they didn’t see the actual push.

Still, regardless, Ye Huihui was definitely going to jail.

“Don’t worry about anything. Just go with Jingchen to the military base. Your dad and I will take care of things here,” Xia Ying reassured her.