“Me?”

Gu Xicao clasped her hands behind her back. Upon hearing this, she raised her eyebrows with an expression of mild amusement.

Wang Xueli said, “Yes, you! Aren’t you a fortune-telling master? Figuring out the murderer should be a piece of cake for you, right?”

Grandpa Lin and the others turned their gazes to Gu Xicao.

Grandpa Lin withdrew his gaze and glanced at Wang Xueli, his face tinged with displeasure. “Xueli, don’t mess around. A human life is at stake; this is no trivial matter. I think we should wait for the police to arrive.”

“Grandpa Lin,” Wang Xueli clung to his arm and pouted, “I’m not joking. I just want to solve the matter properly. Ren Xiran died so suddenly. For all we know, the murderer could be one of us. Wouldn’t it be faster for Master Gu to catch the culprit now?”

Li Yali chimed in, “Exactly, Grandpa Lin. You might not know, but Master Gu is an incredible fortune teller!”

As she spoke, she cast a glance at Gu Xicao, her gaze filled with hostility.

Gu Xicao said, “If you want my opinion, rather than waiting for the police, it’s more important to call an ambulance right now.”

She pulled a tissue from the table and suddenly took a few steps forward, walking up to Ren Xiran. Before anyone could react, she covered Ren Xiran’s nose with the tissue.

“Hey!” Wang Xueli and the others didn’t have time to stop her.

The tissue moved. Though the motion was slight, anyone with eyes could see that the tissue was shifting.

“Isn’t— isn’t there still breathing?” Grandpa Lin froze for a moment.

Lin Qianshi, quick to act, immediately stepped forward and tested Ren Xiran’s breath. It was faint. He then checked the pulse and found it beating.

His face instantly darkened with anger. He stood and glared at everyone. “What’s going on? The person is clearly alive!”

Wang Xueli and Li Yali, having witnessed his temper before, were frightened into silence. They exchanged nervous glances with each other.

“What on earth is going on? If you don’t explain yourselves, don’t blame me for calling Uncle Ren and the others!” Lin Qianshi suppressed his anger, his sharp brows furrowing as his dark eyes burned with fury.

Wang Xueli opened her mouth, adopting a pitiful expression. “Qianshi, don’t be mad. It was all Ren Xiran and his sister’s idea. I didn’t want to play such a prank, but they insisted it would be fun. That’s why I… I went along with it.”

Ren Xirou stared at Wang Xueli in disbelief, her small face filled with shock and grievance. “It wasn’t me. Clearly, it was—”

“If not you two siblings, then who else?”

Li Yali, anxious that Ren Xirou would expose the truth, interrupted and hit Ren Xirou on the shoulder. “It’s all your fault. Why couldn’t you find something better to do? Now look, Master Gu has seen through everything.”

Ren Xirou cried out in pain. Seeing Li Yali’s warning glare, she felt a chill run down her spine. The Wang and Li families were not people the Ren family could afford to offend.

If this trivial matter offended them, her parents might just punish her and her brother when they got home.

Despite her grievance, Ren Xirou gritted her teeth and admitted, “It was us. We wanted to play a prank on everyone and test Master Gu’s skills. That’s why we did it. Brother, brother, we’ve been exposed. You can get up now.”

Gu Xicao, who had already instructed a maid to call for an ambulance, saw Ren Xirou crouch down to push her brother and kindly reminded her, “No need to call him.”

Ren Xirou looked up in confusion at Gu Xicao.

Gu Xicao didn’t address her and instead turned to Lin Qianshi. “How’s his pulse?”

“It’s weak. He probably won’t last much longer,” Lin Qianshi said, frowning as he checked Ren Xiran’s pupils. “This is bad. His condition is critical. The ambulance might not arrive in time.”

Ren Xirou froze, her hands trembling. “W-What’s wrong with my brother?”

“He’s been poisoned. Someone poisoned him,” Gu Xicao said, rolling up her sleeves. She glanced at the table nearby and picked up a spoon, handing it to Lin Qianshi. “This will work as a temporary tongue depressor. You need to get him to vomit everything he ate!”

Poisoned?!

The crowd was stunned.

Wang Xueli and her group were especially nervous, their anxiety written all over their faces.

Li Yali clutched her bag tightly. Her face pale, she whispered to Wang Xueli, “Xueli, what’s going on? Didn’t we agree that Ren Xiran was just pretending to be poisoned to scare everyone? How could he actually be poisoned?”

Wang Xueli, already agitated, was furious when she heard this. She shot Li Yali a glare and silently cursed her for being an idiot.

No wonder this fool had been duped by a fraud before!

They had just managed to shift the blame onto the Ren siblings, and now this idiot had let the truth slip.

“How should I know? I’m not a mind reader!” Wang Xueli snapped, gritting her teeth. “Don’t talk to me!”

Li Yali, looked embarrassed and shut her mouth.

Lin Qianshi quickly took off his jacket and had Lin Hexu lift Ren Xiran while he used the spoon to press down his tongue several times.

Everyone was tense with worry.

“Gag!” Ren Xiran twitched and began vomiting.

“Good, keep going!” Gu Xicao said. “He must expel everything before the ambulance arrives!”

The ambulance and police car arrived at the same time.

An incident at the peak of Taiping Mountain was no trivial matter. Neither the hospital nor the police dared to take it lightly. After all, a single move by these wealthy families could shake Hong Kong to its core.

“The patient’s pulse is stable. We’ll immediately take him to the hospital for stomach pumping!”

The hospital director had personally accompanied the medical team. After Ren Xiran was placed in the ambulance and taken away, the director approached Grandpa Lin.

Grandpa Lin asked with concern, “Director, will Xiao Ren be okay? Is his life out of danger?”

“Rest assured, Mr. Lin. Thanks to your timely discovery and inducing vomiting, he shouldn’t have absorbed much poison.” The director reassured him before glancing at the police outside. Considerately, he said, “We’ll take our leave now. We’ll inform you as soon as there’s an update.”

“Alright, alright.”

Grandpa Lin nodded and gestured for Lin Qianshi to see them off.

Inspector Liu, leading a Police team, waited until Lin Qianshi returned before saying, “Mr. Lin, we’ve narrowed down the suspects in this poisoning case. Miss Wang and several others are on our list. We’d like to invite them to the station for further investigation.”

Hearing that they’d be taken to the station, Wang Xueli and the others turned pale.

Li Yali was the first to object. “No way! If this matter escalates, what will happen to my family’s reputation? Besides, we’re all from distinguished families. None of us would stoop so low as to commit poisoning. If you ask me, it must be—”

At this point, Gu Xicao interrupted with a sly smile. “Are you implying that Lin family’s servants poisoned Ren Xiran?”

Caught off guard, Li Yali stammered, her face turning bright red. She glared at Gu Xicao in frustration. “I never said that!”

“Then you’re suggesting it was one of the other guests?” Gu Xicao rested her chin on her hand, her fingers tapping her cheek playfully.

“Miss Gu, do you know something?” Lin Hexu suddenly had a flash of insight. If they let the police investigate, the matter would likely escalate. No matter who the culprit was, the Lin family would lose face. It might be better to rely on Gu Xicao.

Father Lin and Zhao Ruyu instinctively turned their eyes toward Gu Xicao.

Father Lin’s expression turned serious. “Miss Gu, if you can determine who poisoned him, the Lin family will not treat you unfairly.”

He instructed a servant to fetch a checkbook, decisively wrote a check for 100,000 yuan, and handed it to Gu Xicao.

Gu Xicao took the check and passed it to Lin Qianshi. “Mr. Lin, please donate this to the orphanage for me.”

“Alright.” Lin Qianshi was stunned for a moment but smiled as he accepted it.

Father Lin watched the check end up in his son’s hands, hesitated slightly, and seemed lost in thought.

“Mr. Lin, please don’t joke about this. Finding the culprit is the police’s job. How could a fortune teller help with that?” Inspector Liu Dutong said, half laughing, half exasperated. “Even if she could somehow figure it out, where would we find the evidence?”

Ma Qi, clearly dissatisfied, said, “Inspector Liu, you just don’t know how capable Master Gu is. She’s already helped the police solve several cases before, and she’ll definitely solve this one too!”

“You’re making bold claims,” Wang Xueli said, folding her arms, her gaze tinged with resentment as she stared at Gu Xicao. “If you’re wrong or can’t find evidence, you’ll embarrass yourself in front of everyone here.”

“Thank you, Miss Wang, for your concern.”

Gu Xicao stepped forward and stared at Wang Xueli with a gaze that held immense authority.

For some reason, Wang Xueli felt a twinge of fear in her heart. She instinctively stepped back, only realizing her actions moments later, which made her face darken.

“Why are you staring at me? Don’t tell me you suspect me? I have no grudge against Ren Xiran!”

“Miss Wang, please open your bag and take out the small transparent bag inside,” Gu Xicao said, calm and composed.

Wang Xueli froze, reflexively clutching her bag. “Why should I?!”

“Could it be you?!” Ren Xirou, teary-eyed, stared at Wang Xueli. Her hands clutched a handkerchief tightly, her fists trembling. “My brother has always been kind to you. Why would you harm him?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! I didn’t harm anyone!” Wang Xueli’s face turned red with anger. She furiously dumped out her bag, spilling its contents onto the ground: lipstick, perfume, a powder compact, a pillbox, and a small transparent bag.

A young officer suddenly let out a surprised noise. “Something seems off with that bag.”

Inspector Liu gestured for the officer to bring it over. The officer picked it up, opened it, and inspected the contents. His expression turned serious. “That’s right. This is a sample of aconite root. It’s the same powder we found in Mr. Ren’s wine glass! Mr. Ren was poisoned by this substance!”

“Xueli, how could it be you?!” Zhao Ruyu gasped, covering her mouth, her face filled with shock. “Why—why would you do such a thing?”

“Auntie, this isn’t mine! I didn’t do it! Someone framed me!”

Wang Xueli was stunned when she saw the transparent bag. Now that she was being accused of being the culprit, her shock turned into a mix of anger and fear.

“It wasn’t you,” Gu Xicao interjected, helping Wang Xueli clarify. “This item was planted in her bag by the real culprit.”

What?!

Everyone was stunned.