After Reborn, I Became the Bigshots' Beloved-Chapter 399: Drugging?

When Shi Muchuan said those words, everyone present was dumbfounded.

Chenchen? He sneaked into Lu Sheng’s room in the middle of the night by himself, carrying a knife, and even tried to stab her?

How is that even possible!

Shi Chengyun was the first to cry out, glaring at his eldest son disapprovingly: "Muchuan, what nonsense are you spouting? How could Chenchen ever do such a thing?!"

Everyone knew that Shi Luochen had an intellectual disability and was just a child. If anyone in the Shi Family held any grudge against Lu Sheng and wanted to harm her, it was absolutely impossible for it to be Chenchen.

However, Shi Muchuan maintained a cold, resolute expression, his tone almost certain: "Precisely because Chenchen couldn’t do this on his own, someone must have made him do it."

"Otherwise, where did the knife in Chenchen’s hand come from? He’s too short to reach the knife rack on the kitchen counter. And how would he manage to walk out in the middle of the night, find Lu Sheng’s room, all by himself?" freewebnøvel.com

Shi Muchuan’s words made everyone tense apart from Shi Yuwei, who, standing in the back, wore an amused expression like a spectator at a play.

What Shi Muchuan implied was clear: Someone had handed Chenchen the knife. Someone had guided him to Lu Sheng’s room. Someone had instructed him on what to do.

And what did that mean? It meant that someone in the Shi Family wanted Lu Sheng dead but used Chenchen to carry out the act.

Shi Erya was so shocked she couldn’t close her mouth. "...But if someone really wanted to harm Shengsheng, why would they use Chenchen?"

"Chenchen is just a child with an intellectual disability who can’t even speak. Who would choose him to commit murder on their behalf?"

Just then, Lu Sheng suddenly spoke up.

"It’s because he has an intellectual disability that even if he were to commit murder, it could be explained away as a mental issue. He’s a child, so he wouldn’t bear any criminal responsibility."

"Not being able to speak means that even if the plan failed, Chenchen couldn’t reveal who taught him. He wouldn’t even understand what we’re talking about, let alone know what he’d done."

"It’s not that Chenchen shouldn’t be chosen; it’s that using Chenchen for this makes him the perfect pawn for a murder-by-proxy." Lu Sheng lifted her gaze. "Whether the attempt succeeds or fails, the orchestrator’s hands remain clean."

Hearing these words from Lu Sheng, realization dawned on Shi Erya—it was indeed true.

Shi Mingxiu never imagined that the granddaughter he had fought so hard to bring back to the family would almost be killed in her sleep on the very first night she stayed in the house.

Lu Sheng had saved his life earlier today, yet she had nearly lost her own in return.

Seeing the bloodstain on Lu Sheng’s neck, Shi Mingxiu flew into a rage, pounding his cane against the ground with force.

"Who was it?! Who in the world would dare harm my granddaughter and even use my little grandson to do it?! If anyone has a grudge, they should come at me directly!"

"If I find out who it was, I won’t forgive them!"

Seeing the old man becoming breathless with fury, Shi Erya hurried to his side, patting his back to calm him down. "Dad, don’t get worked up. There are only eight or nine of us who could have come into contact with Chenchen. We’ll definitely figure out who it was."

With that, Shi Erya walked over and crouched in front of Shi Luochen, gently holding his small hand to comfort him.

"Chenchen, don’t be scared; you didn’t do anything wrong. Just tell Auntie—why did you go to your sister’s room? Who brought you there? And where did you get the knife?"

But as soon as she began to ask, Lin Fangling rushed over and shoved her aside, shielding Shi Luochen in her arms like a mother hen protecting her chick. She glared fiercely at Shi Erya. "Shi Erya, Chenchen doesn’t even understand what you’re saying. What’s the point of questioning him?"

Shi Erya felt wronged. Chenchen was the primary witness—if they didn’t ask him, how could they uncover the truth?

But Lin Fangling held her ground, determined not to let anyone near her son.

Then, as if realizing something, she turned to Lu Sheng and deliberately asked, "Setting Chenchen aside for a moment, I have only one question. Lu Sheng, was your sleep so deep that you didn’t even notice someone entering your room?"

Hearing this, Shi Muchuan’s expression grew even darker. He took a deep breath and said, "...That’s precisely what I wanted to bring up next."

"It wasn’t just that Chenchen entered Lu Sheng’s room with a knife. When I came in, Lu Sheng was in a completely unconscious state."

"It wasn’t normal sleep; I couldn’t wake her up at all. I had to pinch her hand hard to bring her around."

"I suspect that whoever orchestrated this drugged Lu Sheng with something to make her sleep so deeply that she couldn’t hear anyone entering the room."

...Drugged?

At these words, the color drained from everyone’s faces.

If Chenchen coming with a knife could still be chalked up to coincidence, then Lu Sheng being drugged was undeniable evidence of premeditated murder.

"Drugged?! Could something like this really have happened?"

Lin Fangling looked terrified. "But didn’t Lu Sheng have dinner with Dad and the others? She didn’t eat anything else after that. How could she be drugged?"

Lin Fangling seemed to search the room for evidence before her gaze landed sharply on the antique brass incense burner on the nightstand.

She immediately exclaimed, "Hey, what’s that incense burner? I don’t remember there being anything like that in this room before!"

"Did Lu Sheng light that burner before going to bed? Could it be that something in the incense made her unconscious?"

Everyone turned to look at the incense burner as Lin Fangling pointed it out.

In the next moment, Lin Fangling questioned the servants standing at the back, her tone accusatory: "Tell me, who placed this incense burner here?"

Having just experienced a near murder in the middle of the night, the Shi Family’s servants were already trembling in fear.

As Lin Fangling walked over and picked up the incense burner, Aunt Chen timidly stepped forward and whispered, "...Madam, I put it there. The burner was placed by me."

"You placed it?" Lin Fangling’s eyes turned icy. Before she could say more, Shi Erya quickly stepped up. "That burner? I was the one who asked Aunt Chen to put it there."

"Shengsheng had just moved into the house, and I was worried she wouldn’t sleep well. I asked Aunt Chen to light some sleep-aiding incense for her before bed."

Shi Erya added, "But I use this same incense every day myself. While it does help with sleep, it’s absolutely not strong enough to make someone sleep so deeply that they can’t be awakened."

Lin Fangling clearly didn’t believe her.

"Aside from that incense, Lu Sheng didn’t eat or touch anything else. So how is it that she’s the only one completely unconscious?" Lin Fangling said. "I think we should check if there’s anything unusual about that incense."

As she spoke, she lifted the lid of the incense burner. A moment later, she gasped and exclaimed, "Wait! There’s something in this incense!"

"Dad, dear, look quickly! What’s this white powder mixed into the black incense?!"