Chapter 9 The Golden Shackles.

The Sheng family villa was thrown into chaos once again. Butler Cui's legs went weak, and he barely managed to stand by supporting himself on the door frame.

Broken cups and saucers littered the floor, and no one cleaned them up. The maids, pale and panicked, screamed as they tried to pack their bags and escape from this horrible place.

"Another person has died! Another person has died!" The shrill cries echoed through the empty villa.

After the skeleton case broke, all the gossip magazines in Hong Kong were waiting to see the drama unfold in the Sheng family. Butler Cui said that the second young lady had to offer three times the salary to barely keep the servants at ease.

But now it seems that even if they were paid thirty times the wages, those trembling servants would probably pack their bags and leave overnight.

Mo Zhenbang contacted the police station for assistance.

Zhu Qing: "Take him back to his room."

Marissa's hands trembled as she pressed on Shengfang's shoulders and led him back to his room. She could barely speak Mandarin, her tongue almost tied in knots.

Fortunately, this time, the young master was unusually obedient, hanging his little head and walking in front of Marissa.

After the door to the children's room on the third floor was tightly closed and the sound of the lock being put in could be heard, Zhu Qing stepped into the study.

Chen Chaosheng is dead.

He was still wearing a sharp, high-tailored suit, his bow tie loosened, slumped over his desk, the wine in his glass empty, his lips bluish-purple with white foam, a gruesome sight.

Accompanied by sirens, colleagues from the Criminal Intelligence Division and the Forensic Science Division arrived one after another, followed closely by forensic doctors carrying their toolboxes.

"The deceased was a male, around 35 years old, and the preliminary diagnosis is poisoning by □□."

"The specific type of poison and time of death will depend on toxicological analysis and examination of the stomach contents..."

His colleagues put the wine glasses and the half-empty bottle of champagne into an evidence bag.

On the desktop computer, a suicide note was left, recounting the entire incident.

Being a son-in-law of a wealthy family is like being bound by a golden shackle.

Chen Chaosheng understood this from the day he got married.

In the past, when they were dating, he only needed to be the perfect lover who was considerate and attentive to the rich lady. But after marriage, and moving into the extended family, he had to be proper and considerate in everything he did. His father-in-law's yacht needed his personal attention to maintain, his mother-in-law's jewelry needed his insurance, and when there was a mistake in the renovation of the villa on the hillside, he would be scolded by the phone.

He does have some management skills, but what good are they? In the group, not only are the old foxes on the board two-faced, but even the new employees look at him with subtle contempt.

Luxury cars, mansions, funds, stocks... When one's status accumulates to a certain level, what one desires is dignity.

It was during that time that he met Ho Ka-yee.

Ten years ago, Ho Ka-yee was a top student at Hong Kong University. Due to her father's gambling debts, she was forced to work as a nightclub selling alcohol. Ho Ka-yee was completely different from Sheng Pui-shan, who was oblivious to the hardships of life. She was outstanding, intelligent, stubborn, and unwilling to accept her fate. At first, Chan Chiu-sing only wanted to help her, but gradually, he fell in love with her.

He gave her many gifts, such as couple rings and designer handbags, and would pick her up from get off work whenever he had time.

He Jiaer helped Chen Chaosheng regain his dignity as a man, and they spent a happy time together. However, what she wanted was not just that.

He Jia'er pressured him to divorce.

That's absurd. How could he possibly get a divorce? If he chooses to divorce, everything he owns will vanish.

This female college student was no longer content to be just the woman behind him. Times have changed. Is it still possible to live like in the old society, keeping a first wife at home while having a second wife on the side?

He Jia'er gave him an ultimatum: if he didn't confront his family, she would go to Mrs. Chen.

Chen Chaosheng loved her, but he loved everything he had even more. During those days, his father-in-law entrusted him with the construction of the mansion, and he coaxed He Jia'er, taking her to the hillside.

That was the last time Chen Chaosheng gave her a choice. If she was willing to be patient, he could buy her a house in the hillside one day when he took over the Sheng family business.

Ho Ka-yee mocked him, saying that a son-in-law who had married into the family was actually thinking about inheriting the power of a wealthy family.

Her words were sharp and harsh, crushing his self-esteem.

Chen Chaosheng walked silently to the car and took the hammer out of the trunk.

Then, only deathly silence remained in front of the fireplace.

...

The servants and housekeeper gradually calmed down and were finally able to cooperate with the police in giving statements.

"The second son-in-law and the second young lady have a very good relationship. Last night, he stayed with the second young lady in front of Bobo's toy house in the backyard for a long time."

"The second young lady is a good person. She might have a little temper sometimes, but the second young master will quickly coax her back to her senses. The second young master treats her exceptionally well; how could he possibly leave her alone..."

“Yesterday afternoon, when my second son-in-law drove back, he was on the phone. I was washing the car in the garage when I heard him sounding very anxious… He seemed to be saying that he needed to find the foreman of the construction team from back then as soon as possible.”

As for Sheng Peishan, she rushed back to the villa within an hour.

The officers awaited her reaction, imagining countless possibilities: would this pampered young lady break down in tears or faint on the spot?

However, reality is far more silent than imagined.

After hearing the police recount the truth from Chen Chaosheng's suicide note, she simply closed her eyes slowly.

"You said he left a ring in front of his computer—" Sheng Peishan asked softly, "Can I see it?"

It was a plain platinum ring.

The ring has the initials of He Jiaer's name engraved on the inside, and it's a pair with the one found in the fireplace.

The ring was placed in a three-layered evidence bag. Sheng Peishan unconsciously raised her hand, but was stopped by the police mid-air.

Her hand fell back down, rubbing her bare knuckles.

It took Sheng Peishan a long time to find her voice again.

"We've never worn wedding rings in all these years of marriage."

"The ring from ten years ago...did he keep it for that girl until now?"

Zeng Yongshan stood to the side, feeling a tightness in her chest. She had been talking about how the kind-hearted Chen Chaosheng had committed suicide out of guilt the whole way, but no matter how much she felt, she couldn't shake off the shock in her heart.

She clearly saw Mr. Chen being incredibly gentle with Miss Sheng, but then she heard that he had a romantic entanglement with the deceased He Jia'er. It turned out that they had all misjudged him.

"Are you alright?" Zeng Yongshan asked with cautious concern. "Do you need someone to stay with you?"

Sheng Peishan's lips twitched slightly, but she couldn't even manage a complete bitter smile: "I don't need anyone's pity."

She said that if her husband were to die unexpectedly, she might be at a loss. However, the truth is, he had the blood of an innocent person on his hands, and at the time when she trusted and relied on him most, he was having an affair with someone else…

At this moment, Sheng Peishan felt only numbness, as if she would only appear more ridiculous if she shed tears and felt heartbroken.

Within just three months, Sheng Peishan experienced the deaths of her parents and husband, as well as the passing of her dog...

But she said she wasn't that fragile.

In the past, the second young lady of the Sheng family was a beloved and privileged girl.

A serious car accident left her without a leg, forcing her to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

"If I were going to be so pessimistic, I would have been when I had that car accident more than ten years ago," Sheng Peishan said self-deprecatingly.

The wheelchair stopped in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the Sheng family villa, and Sheng Peishan looked out the window.

Despite the scorching sun, she wrapped herself tightly in a woolen shawl, just like always.

...

The police investigation is ongoing.

Even the computer keyboard was taken away in order to collect fingerprints.

Everyone felt that it was too cruel to ask Sheng Peishan to give a statement at this moment, but she was willing to cooperate with the police.

“I’m fine,” Sheng Peishan said. “This farce should end now.”

Zhu Qing took out her notebook and began to take notes.

"Miss Sheng, have you noticed Chen Chaosheng's unusual behavior these past two days?"

"The tide has always been like this; it keeps its worries to itself and refuses to let me share them."

“Since Daddy passed away, the company's affairs have been very busy, and he often works until the early hours of the morning. But on the day the skeletons were discovered, he stayed home with me…”

“I thought it was out of worry, but now that I think about it, he was already restless from that time on.”

What about yesterday?

“Bobo is gone… He stayed with me the whole time, insisting on arranging a tombstone for Bobo overnight. He called his assistant to follow up on this matter. This isn’t like him, Madam. He’s always been calm and collected, but last night…” Sheng Peishan’s voice suddenly trembled, “She was so innocent… Tell me, would a man feel any guilt for killing the girl he loved with his own hands?”

Zhu Qing gazed into Sheng Peishan's reddened eyes: "True love will not end in hurt."

Silence spread between the two.

Sheng Peishan paused, her gaze thoughtfully sweeping across Zhu Qing's face, before suddenly asking an unrelated question—

“Madam, I’m not sure if this is the right question… You look so young, did you join the police force right after graduation?”

...

The police spent an afternoon collecting statements from Sheng Peishan and several maids.

Zhu Qing neatly sealed the evidence bag.

She never believed that a murderer who could calmly hide a body would suddenly have a change of heart. What guilt could he have hidden in his heart, or be unable to bear the condemnation of his conscience? All these years, he had clearly been living a good life.

Mo Zhenbang said that Chen Chaosheng made this choice because he knew that the police would eventually find He Yongjian, who had been in charge of the construction team, and find out his records of demanding that work stop at night and Li Fa completing five days' work in two days. He was worried that his perfect image would collapse.

After all, construction records, which serve as evidence, are more convincing than conscience.

“When the second son-in-law returned to his room last night, the young master gave him a fierce order not to seal his ‘secret passage’.”

A three-and-a-half-year-old child always thinks that as long as he bares his teeth and acts like a tiger, he will have enough intimidation to scare people away.

"Actually, my second son-in-law had already asked me to seal off that passage yesterday afternoon," Butler Cui recalled. "He's always been the one who handles the household chores..."

Children's testimonies are not valid and can only be used as a reference.

But as is customary, Zhu Qing still had to ask Sheng Fang.

"Will he obediently tell you?" Mo Zhenbang said.

When Zhu Qing knocked on the little ancestor's door, Mo Zhenbang and Uncle Li stood with their arms crossed, leaning against the spiral staircase watching the commotion.

Can the new junior female lead handle the rebellious kid?

With a click, the lock on the children's room opened, and Marissa stepped aside, cold sweat still clinging to her forehead.

The commotion downstairs has subsided. She managed to brush it off by saying it was a "police drill," but she doesn't know if she got away with it.

At this moment, the young master of the Sheng family sat cross-legged on the carpet, playing with a limited edition Transformers toy in his hand.

Hearing the noise, he raised his eyelids slightly.

"Blooming," Zhu Qing said. "Have you ever watched a police drama?"

The TV in the children's room is on from morning till night.

The young master puffed out his chest: "TVB, huh?"

"Want to play a game?" Zhu Qing deliberately lowered her voice. "It doesn't have to be you talking right now—"

Shengfang interrupted, her youthful voice ringing out: "But anything you say can be used against you in a court of law!"

The atmosphere gradually became more pleasant.

Zhu Qing paused, then pressed her advantage: "Yesterday..."

The young master turned his back and shook his short finger: "The police are investigating a case, so it's not convenient to disclose anything."