Villain Boss Chapter 189
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 189: A Scheme Within A Scheme
If something happened to Jiang Ran, the Shen family would likely face an even more terrible calamity than the Yu family did back then.
Since the ultimate goal was to deal with Si Xu, it would be the most unwise decision to involve Jiang Ran before they were confident in dealing with Si Xu.
In the end, his grandfather not only did that, but he also stood smugly in front of Si Xu, practically shouting, "I'm provoking you, come and hit me!"
How brainless.
Without receiving a signal from Xie Chengzhi, Shen Lang lost his confidence and was no longer as self-assured as he had been at the beginning.
Hearing Shen Yang speak so bluntly, he simply maintained a cold expression, his tone a mix of mockery and sarcasm. "So, you've come up with a solution?"
"No," Shen Yang said calmly. "Now we can only pray that the distinguished guest that you’ve placed in our house doesn’t get found by Si Xu."
A hint of smugness appeared in Shen Lang's eyes at the mention of that person. "If Si Xu can really find him, it’d actually be a good thing."
Shen Yang looked directly at his grandfather, a half-smile on his face. "It seems that you have a backup plan."
Shen Lang sneered. "Having lived to my age, I naturally think things through before acting. Do you think I'm like you, a reckless and impulsive fool?"
Without asking what backup plan the old man had prepared, Shen Yang smiled lazily again. "Then I wish you a resounding victory."
As they were talking, the group of people who had been crowding at the conference room door suddenly dispersed and returned to their own little corners.
Just as if they had never made a fuss at the door.
The sound of footsteps grew louder as they approached.
Shen Yang said thoughtfully, "He’s here."
He wondered what kind of evidence Si Xu found to clear Jiang Ran's name.
The young man pushed open the door and entered, while the middle-aged man, cowering behind him, peeked out and surveyed the room.
Upon seeing Shen Lang, before Si Xu could even speak, he scrambled out from behind Si Xu, rolled to Shen Lang's feet, grabbed Shen Lang's leg, and wailed, "Marshal Shen, please save me! You must save me!"
The appearance of this person meant that his plan was proceeding in an orderly manner.
A confident smile appeared in Shen Lang's eyes as he looked at Si Xu, whose expression had slightly changed, and said coldly, "Professor Si, what do you mean by this?"
"He wanted to kill me!" the man blurted out, pointing at Si Xu. "It was him! He sent people to abduct me and threatened me, forcing me to testify for Miss Jiang. He even tried to frame you, Marshal Shen! You must save me!"
The man was still howling and wailing, but Si Xu's face lost all expression, returning to its usual indifference.
Shen Lang played along with the man. "He’s trying to frame me?"
"Yes!" the man continued to yell, "He said Jiang Ranran opened the north gate under hypnosis, and that you told me to hypnotize Jiang Ranran to frame her. I can attest that I've never even met Miss Jiang. How could I hypnotize her?"
He hugged Shen Lang's legs tightly, choking back tears. "Marshal Shen, please save me! If you don't save me, Professor Si will kill me!"
"I got it." Patting the man's shoulder reassuringly, Shen Lang looked at Si Xu. "Professor Si, this is my friend. He's not skilled in hypnosis, and certainly couldn't hypnotize Ranran. Please don't involve innocent people."
He spoke with restraint, and the group of people, whose eardrums were throbbing from the man's howling, finally realized what was happening.
To clear Jiang Ran's name, Professor Si went to Marshal Shen's villa, captured Marshal Shen's guest, and threatened him to come forward and testify against Marshal Shen, or else he would kill him. This was indeed something Professor Si would do.
Everyone cautiously watched Si Xu, wondering how he would respond.
"How boring." Si Xu merely gave a two-word evaluation to the tearful accusation in front of him.
After thinking for a moment, he added, "His acting was terrible."
The lukewarm comment made the wailing man choke, and he nearly suffocated. "Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough."
Everyone, "..."
Without bothering to explain anything, Si Xu pulled out a USB drive from his coat pocket and tossed it to Gu Yunqing, who was watching the scene unfold. "Play it for them."
"What’s this?" someone wondered.
"It’s something good that holds a lot of secrets." Si Xu smiled slightly, not in a hurry to refute the accusations the man had leveled against him.
Gu Yunqing quickly found a computer, connected it to the projector, and asked Si Xu considerately, "Seventh Brother, shall I turn off the lights?"
Only by turning off the lights could one see the disgusting faces of some people more clearly.
Si Xu remained noncommittal. "Whatever."
Gu Yunqing then took it upon himself to turn off the lights.
The screen showed footage, and the setting appeared to be a private residence.
A voice drifted off-camera. "Get some water and wake him up."
After that, the camera panned to the unconscious man on the ground.
Upon seeing that familiar face, the man leaped to his feet with a panicked expression. "When did you..."
He was halfway through his sentence when Shen Yang glared at him fiercely, which made him swallow the rest of his words.
"Who did this? I'm going to die!"
"Prof-Professor Si-Si..."
"Framing Miss Jiang wasn't my intention. That old bastard Shen Lang forced me to."
"It was for the virus-related documents left behind by Professor Jiang."
"When I went in, she smashed her head against the wall of the room and died."
"Professor Si, I’m truly at his mercy. I didn't mean to hurt Miss Jiang. Please spare my life."
As the video played to its end, the man was trembling all over, his face deathly pale.
Si Xu sat in his chair, leisurely crossing his legs. "You think I brought you here to clear Jiang Ran's name?"
He smiled, his face undeniably handsome, yet it startled the man so much that he took several steps back.
"I brought you here only to ask Shen Lang some questions." Si Xu touched the buttons on his trench coat cuff, glanced at Shen Lang thoughtfully, and said, "Shen Lang, where did you hide the documents that Jiang Yize left behind back then?"
Not expecting this idiot to reveal things from over a decade ago, Shen Lang gritted his teeth in anger. " I don't know what you’re talking about."
"You saw the footage as well. Fourteen years ago, you could even drive Shen Muxin to her death and hypnotize Jiang Ranran for the sake of the documents. Don't tell me that after paying such a high price, your Shen family still couldn't find the documents. Shen Lang, don't make me look down on you."
"This man is talking nonsense. Why do you believe him?"
"His testimony against me is believable, but his digging into your past is not?"
"..."
Before Shen Lang could reply, Si Xu continued, "Marshal Shen, you wouldn't be suggesting that those stories about what happened over a decade ago were fabricated by me to frame you, right?" Si Xu smiled slightly. "I don’t suppose you’d be that stupid."
Shen Lang, "..."
"Shen Lang, I'll ask you one last time. Where are those documents?"
His patience ran out, and his words became increasingly aggressive and menacing.
Everyone present tensed up, and they all recalled the massacre that the Yu family suffered in the early days of the apocalypse.
Only at this moment did those who harbored thoughts of replacing Si Xu suddenly realize that perhaps they shouldn’t forget his original nature just because of his recent laidback demeanor.
Startled, Shen Lang took a step back, barely managing to compose himself before gritting his teeth and saying, "Si Xu, I don't know anything about the documents you're talking about."
Darn it.
He was hoping to use the hypnotist to deal them with a final blow, but that idiot let it slip about the documents.
Once the documents related to the virus were brought into the picture, everything else became trivial matters.
Si Xu asked relentlessly about the documents, refusing to budge. Naturally, everyone else's attention would also be drawn to the documents. If this continued, he and the entire Shen family would soon become the target of public criticism.
By then, who would care that Jiang Ranran opened the north gate?
