Peerless Martial Expert in the City
Chapter 694 - 690: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes

Chapter 694: Chapter 690: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes

"What did you say?"

Zeng Xiaomei exclaimed, immediately grabbing the police officer’s hand and rushing back toward the office they had just left. "Quick, take me to see where it was cut? Did you find anything unusual?"

"I..."

The word barely left the police officer’s mouth before Zeng Xiaomei, looking rushed, pulled him into the office...

...........................

Li Zhengyi, this rising star who dominated the professional basketball court, became the most dazzling new player. In the process of returning home for a holiday, he hosted a lavish party at his mansion in the homeland. Following the party, he drunkenly acted immorally, attempting to molest a female celebrity.

This news spread across the world in an instant. No, it went global.

Because Li Zhengyi was not like those ordinary small-time celebrities. He was a globally watched basketball star. The whole world watched him, each and every move he made.

It was a time of rapid dissemination of information, much like the messy gossip flying around nowadays. Once the news broke, where it initially erupted from was already beyond tracing.

Initially, some people questioned the news, feeling that such behavior from Li Zhengyi seemed unlikely. Given his status, he never lacked women’s attention and didn’t need to act so lowly. Further, some pointed out that the female celebrity, albeit pretty, was not a top beauty. Compared to women Li Zhengyi had dated, she was several notches below, making the affront seem unlikely—a likely fabrication aimed at career boost by the female celebrity, severely criticizing this manipulative behavior for fame within the entertainment industry, and even slamming the media for its unethical and unbounded nature, merely seizing a random photo to spread wild stories...

But the voices of doubt vanished quickly, not because they were suppressed, but simply because as they emerged, a video was released.

A photo might be photoshopped, and stories might be fabricated by the media, but here is the video. Could it possibly be staged?

If the video was also staged, then what if the actual people involved that day stepped forward as eyewitnesses? Would that suffice to confirm the story?

If that still isn’t enough... what about the neighbors from the same villa community? If they all come forward to testify, would that be satisfactory?

As the incident escalated, major traditional and international media outlets finally began acknowledging this reality, spreading the news everywhere. Li Zhengyi’s reputation plummeted in moments.

Everywhere, there was condemnation of Li Zhengyi. Massive disclosures of dark secrets within the entertainment industry began emerging across major media platforms, even initiating a trend of unveiling private lives of celebrities...

Li Zhengyi sat on the pristine hospital bed, looking through newspapers and magazines plastered with scandalous revelations about himself, almost shooting fire from his eyes.

This was utterly despicable...

This matter was truly vile!

He wasn’t bothered by these scandalous reports; he knew well that they couldn’t touch his core. Aside from temporarily bringing him infamy, they wouldn’t cause any real impact.

Because he wasn’t just any ordinary celebrity. He didn’t rely on his looks or exposure to superficial, poor performances. He had his own industries, and his management company was under the Zheng Family banner, untouchable by anyone.

The only loss might be some advertisements, but that little money was never his concern.

Yet, he couldn’t swallow this insult!

He was absolutely sure he had been smeared. Who exactly was behind it, he didn’t yet know, but he was aware that the person who had smeared him would meet a very grim fate, very grim!

Li Zhengyi was by no means a pushover. Someone had given him such a severe blow from behind, and if he didn’t pay it back, he felt unable to breathe easy.

The first step to taking revenge, of course, was to identify the person. This process seemed difficult, as the event seemed flawless and the source of the news was untraceable. Anyone who attended the party could be the mastermind, but for Li Zhengyi, that wasn’t too hard.

Li Zhengyi wasn’t foolish; on the contrary, he was very smart with a high IQ. If he hadn’t let lust cloud his judgment and lost his temper, this event wouldn’t have happened. He knew some of the guests he invited couldn’t have staged this.

Take Zhao Gao, for example, a client of Li Zhengyi’s and his advertiser. Sabotaging him would cause great losses to them, and currently, Zhao Gao was devastated. Another example was the female celebrity who was allegedly harassed by him and later spent the night with him. She might have the motive, but neither the intelligence nor the capability!

The explosiveness and climax of this news, which couldn’t be suppressed even after he took action, clearly indicated that there was a significant power behind it, aiming to ruin and disgust him.

The ordinary guests didn’t have the capability.

After some investigation, he finally narrowed his suspicions to a few guests with some background. His interactions with them weren’t extensive or intimate, and their invitations this time were somewhat coincidental.

Of course, which one it was specifically still required further investigation. Regardless, he believed none could escape his scrutiny, and the truth would eventually emerge. Uncle Hua had already begun looking into it personally.

"If I find out, I, Li Zhengyi, will make you wish you were dead!"

Li Zhengyi coldly clutched a newspaper tightly in his hand, crumpling it first into a ball, then even more tightly into a compact orb.

"Ding ding..."

Just then, his cell phone suddenly began to vibrate intensely, accompanied by a unique ringtone.

Hearing the ringtone, Li Zhengyi almost reflexively pulled out his phone, but he didn’t press the answer button immediately. Instead, his face showed a tense expression, and his eyes became complex as he sat there, hesitating for quite a while before he seemed to summon the courage, or perhaps made up his mind, to finally press the answer button.

"Yi, you have disappointed me."

The voice on the phone was somewhat deep, magnetic and penetrating, carrying a kind of authority that even through the electromagnetic waves, was palpable.

"I..."

A painful expression crossed Li Zhengyi’s face as he tried to argue something, but he only managed to utter one word before he found he couldn’t continue. He suddenly realized that whatever he wanted to say felt so powerless; the facts were already clear before him. He had been thoroughly messed up this time, and he didn’t even know by whom—what could he argue?

"I hope such things won’t happen again in the future."

Receiving no argument from Li Zhengyi and after a moment of silence, the voice finished slowly and then the call was disconnected.

"Thud!"

Hearing the dial tone, Li Zhengyi’s face, which had been gradually regaining some color, twisted into something frightening. His fist harshly pounded on the pure white hospital bedsheet, and the hand holding the phone almost crushed it.

"Knock knock!"

At the door of the hospital room, a gentle knocking sound came, "Young Master, it’s me."

"Come in."

Hearing the noise at the door of the hospital room, Li Zhengyi took a deep breath, quickly calming the expression on his face to make it as composed as possible, and slowly said.

"Young Master."

Uncle Hua’s figure walked in from the doorway, his somewhat muscular face stiff, showing no emotion, but there was a hint of anxiety in his eyes.

"How did it go, did you find everything out?"

Li Zhengyi, watching Uncle Hua enter, a flicker of grim killing intent passed through his eyes.

"Young Master, this matter... I’m afraid it’s not going to be easy..."

Uncle Hua, feeling the killing intent emanating from Li Zhengyi, showed a hint of bitterness on his face. He knew very well what Li Zhengyi was thinking at the moment. Indeed, he had the same thoughts before, but he also knew that this time, it was unlikely that either he or Li Zhengyi would get their wish.

"What do you mean?"

Li Zhengyi’s expression turned cold.

"The mastermind behind this incident, if there’s no surprise, should be... Miss Zhao whom you have been pursuing recently!"

Uncle Hua’s face was a bit stiff as he spoke with some difficulty, revealing the result of his investigation.

"Uncle Hua, you... what are you saying?"

Li Zhengyi was stunned for a moment, it took him a while to suddenly lift his head, staring intently at Uncle Hua. He hoped that Uncle Hua would tell him he had heard wrong, or perhaps, he was just making a joke.

But when his gaze met Uncle Hua’s face, he knew he was wrong. Uncle Hua did not mean to tell him it was an illusion nor was he joking, his expression.

——————————————————————————(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to support it on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)