"...What?" Xue Bo froze, his expression going blank.

After a beat, he sneered, "What nonsense! If you're going to deny it, at least come up with a better excuse, Dr. Xu. You're supposed to be intelligent."

Xu Xiliu merely shrugged, unperturbed.

He could see clearly—the bottle in Qin Li's hand bore no label strip that he'd personally written. Most likely, it was leftover medication from before his transmigration, prescribed by the original host and barely touched by Qin Li.

Back then, Xu Xiliu had worried the opened medication might have lost potency or expired. Considering the complicated household dynamics, he’d prudently replaced all opened bottles with fresh ones, explicitly instructing Qin Li to discard the old ones. Unless the man was deaf, he should remember this perfectly well.

Frankly, even if Xu Xiliu had wanted to harm Qin Li, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to tamper with medication that was no longer in use.

Shooting a glance at the composed Qin Li, Xu Xiliu mentally clicked his tongue.

Breaking the tense silence under the steward’s disbelieving stare, he generously explained, “When I said Mr. Qin wasn’t taking this bottle, I meant this medication had been opened too long while going unused. Concerned about its efficacy, I brought new labeled medication today. From now on, Mr. Qin will be taking only the newly labeled bottles.”

"Surely you knew about this, Steward Xue?"

The previously silent Uncle Zhong spoke up, his gaze chilling as it landed on Xue Bo. “Dr. Xu is correct.”

It suddenly dawned on Xu Xiliu why the butler had looked at him so strangely earlier—he’d already considered this possibility.

Xu Xiliu smiled faintly.

"What? Impossible!"

The words “new medication, old medication” buzzed in Xue Bo’s ears like angry hornets.

Though he struggled to remain calm, the horrifying realization struck him like lightning—if Xu Xiliu was telling the truth, then everything he’d done was equivalent to walking straight into a trap with his eyes wide open!

No... no!

He couldn’t admit anything.

Without surveillance footage or concrete evidence, without being caught red-handed, he still had room to maneuver.

Quickly reassessing the situation, Xue Bo forced a pale smile despite the panic ringing in his skull. "So that's how it is. My apologies for misunderstanding, Dr. Xu. Please don’t take offense—I was simply overly concerned for the master’s safety..."

Xu Xiliu maintained his smile without responding.

Having silently enjoyed the spectacle long enough, Qin Li finally spoke up, his lips curved in a smile that didn’t reach his chilling eyes. "The medicine is irrelevant. Actually, I have something more interesting to show."

Xu Xiliu played along. “Oh? What would that be?”

Qin Li chuckled darkly, the sound raising goosebumps.

With a nod to Uncle Zhong, the butler wordlessly produced a laptop.

The screen displayed unmistakable surveillance footage—clearly showing Xue Bo tampering with the medication from an ingeniously positioned camera angle.

Xue Bo’s eyes bulged. “No! That’s impossible! Where did that camera come from?” He’d disabled all the surveillance!

Xu Xiliu nearly rolled his eyes.

You had this evidence all along and waited until now to reveal it? What a damn sadist.

Qin Li’s smile widened, his gaze growing more sinister. He paused the video perfectly on a frame showcasing Xue Bo’s guilty expression mid-act. "Why impossible? Just a casually placed miniature camera. How fortunate it captured such... interesting footage, don’t you think?"

His tone was leisurely, almost playful, yet dripping with venom.

The contradiction created a disturbingly unhinged quality, especially when combined with the way his shadowed eyes seemed to slither over his prey like venomous vines.

Xue Bo’s face completely drained of color, his lips trembling soundlessly. Under Qin Li’s gaze, his entire body began to shake.

Qin Li’s eyes glittered with cruel amusement.

He’d known something was wrong ever since arriving at the mountain villa—his constant mental fog couldn’t just be his condition worsening. Considering his uncle’s murderous intentions, sabotage was the only explanation.

Once slightly more lucid, he’d secretly installed surveillance throughout the villa, with the control system in his hands alone.

And now, the trap had sprung beautifully.

Qin Li’s low, rasping laughter echoed like a death knell, shattering Xue Bo’s paralyzed state. The steward suddenly came alive, wailing, "Master, this is a misunderstanding! I’m completely loyal! The video just shows me tidying your study—the angle makes it look suspicious!"

His shrill cries pierced the villa’s silence, creating sharp echoes that made even Xu Xiliu wince.

A vein throbbed at Qin Li’s temple as the noise drilled into his skull, worsening his headache and stirring nausea in his gut.

His mood deteriorated rapidly.

All pretense of amusement vanished, leaving only icy menace on his handsome features. He shook the pill bottle, its contents rattling ominously. “You demanded evidence? Here it is. A simple composition analysis will confirm everything.”

“Dr. Xu,” he turned, “you’ll handle the testing.”

Caught off-guard mid-spectating, Xu Xiliu blinked but nodded regardless.

Qin Li then cheerfully patted Xue Bo’s cheek.

“You’ll have to endure some... accommodations until the results come out.”

“Take him away.”

As if summoned, a brawny man in gardener’s clothes appeared, effortlessly hauling the shrieking steward away like a misbehaving kitten—considerately muffling his protests until both disappeared down the hall.

Xu Xiliu stared, dumbfounded.

The remaining staff stood frozen in terror.

Soon another unfamiliar face approached, bowed respectfully to Qin Li, accepted the medicine bottle, and departed efficiently—the entire exchange taking under two minutes.

Xu Xiliu’s gaze shifted to the composed man, realization dawning.

So much for entrusting me with testing the medicine—I didn’t even get to touch the bottle.

What a hypocrite.

Emerging from the dramatic spectacle, something suddenly felt off.

Wait... if Qin Li had conclusive video evidence all along, why drag out this charade? Letting the steward repeatedly accuse me, only to cruelly reveal the truth at the end? Beyond enjoying others’ suffering, what was his real aim?

Moreover, Qin Li clearly wasn’t as powerless as assumed—summoning brawny assistants at will, commanding unseen subordinates.

Rather than a pitiful kitten, the man was more like an injured tiger biding its time—waiting to rip out his enemies’ throats at the perfect moment.

Xu Xiliu couldn’t help connecting the dots: Qin Li using him to dismiss the chef, making him Xue Bo’s target, and now this fake delegation of testing while keeping actual control...

Why?

The only explanation was being used as a human shield again.

Hah!

So this whole production was just me playing the perfect scapegoat? Tanking all the damage while others dealt the final blow?

Even for a plot device, this was too much!