The Favored Heiress
Chapter 424: Li Qiao Innocent?

Chapter 424: Chapter 424: Li Qiao Innocent?

Li Qiao climbed the steps with a stride, nodding nonchalantly, "Then that is indeed my honor."

He Chen laughed frivolously, sizing her up, "Are you really okay?"

"What could be wrong?" Li Qiao countered.

He Chen’s gaze became more audacious as it fell on her face, "Did you break out of jail?"

Everyone naturally knew about Li Qiao’s visit to the police station that day.

When He Chen heard the news, he immediately informed Shaoyan.

He had intended to have Zong Zhan pressure the Chong City Police Station from the Imperial Capital to release her, but her man only said, "No need for now, she won’t come out before tomorrow morning, I’ll go there." And then he hung up the phone.

He Chen found it rather curious, were these two really in love or just pretending?

Shaoyan had taken a special trip to Chong City to pamper her, and now that his woman had been arrested, he was... not worried at all.

Although Luoyu had explained part of it, He Chen still thought it was not that simple.

If Li Qiao did not break out of jail, then how exactly did she get out?

Li Qiao looked back at He Chen’s undisguised amused gaze with a cold indifference, making it clear she did not want to engage.

He Chen: "..."

Li Qiao walked from the backyard into the hotel lobby, with Luoyu immediately following behind her, saying, "Miss Li, Lian Zhen and Academician Jiang have been taken over, they are all in the upstairs suite."

...

The next day, early in the morning.

The colleagues from Renhe Laboratory, led by Academician Jiang, came to the convention center again.

The symposium would end in two days, but the incident at Renhe yesterday was no longer a secret among the various laboratories.

To this moment, many people were still secretly guessing whether Renhe had conducted illegal human experiments.

So, when Academician Jiang led his team back into the seminar room, the entire room was shocked.

Of course, the researcher with the surname Li who had reported the day before was not there.

Academician Jiang looked very haggard, and although people greeted him, most were there to spectate.

At fifteen minutes past eight, the Council’s judges arrived at the scene one after another.

Shang Qiongying walked into the venue with an unchanged expression, merely glancing at Academician Jiang with her peripheral vision.

After they took their seats, she whispered a few words to the judge next to her, and soon a hostess went to find Academician Jiang, her purpose very simple, to ask them to leave.

Academician Jiang sat still, his facial muscles twitching with anger. Just as he was about to speak, Lian Zhen’s calm voice had already spoken, "It seems that the Council’s judges have already branded us with crimes of human experimentation before the police station’s investigation results are released?"

The people on the scene exchanged glances, and indeed, no one could offer a rebuttal.

At this moment, Shang Qiongying, with a teacup in her hand, glanced down and drank. The elderly man sitting beside her could only speak to mollify, "This researcher has misunderstood, the Council has always been just and rigorous, and will not label you with crimes lightly.

However... human experimentation is no small matter, and if it has indeed been conducted, it would be a disgrace to the medical community.

Therefore, before the police station’s investigation is concluded, the Council voted yesterday to temporarily revoke Renhe Laboratory’s eligibility to participate in the symposium.

Of course, if the final investigation results prove that you have been wronged, the Council will certainly restore your reputation at the earliest convenience."

Whether there have been human experiments is, after all, a matter of perspective.

After all, the researcher named Li did not appear at the venue, and she was the initiator of the gene study, most likely already detained.

At that moment, Lian Zhen looked at the elderly judge, his gentle eyes nevertheless conveyed a tenacious insistence, "Does our entire presence here not prove the investigation results of the police station?"

Finally, Shang Qiongying set down her water glass and said with a disdainful tone, "The entire staff? Is this researcher sure that only six members from Renhe attended this conference?"

Of course, she knew that Li Qiao hadn’t come because she would never step out of the police station again in her life.

Human experimentation is a forbidden act by the state, and using Guan Mingyu’s body for research had been irrefutably established.

Even if Shang Shaoyan could manipulate things in South Sea, that didn’t mean his influence could penetrate into Chong City.

And once Li Qiao was convicted... well, it wasn’t unusual for someone to die in a prison fight.

With this in mind, Shang Qiongying’s fingers caressed her teacup as she looked back from the judges’ seats towards Lian Zhen and Academician Jiang’s direction, almost helplessly advising, "Academician Jiang, you are a respected senior, and you should know that this exchange meeting co-hosted by the Council and the research institute is no trifling matter.

Putting right and wrong aside for the moment, we can’t delay everyone’s time just because you do not wish to leave the auditorium.

Unless... unless all seven researchers from Renhe can attend, you should probably take your people and leave first."

Before Academician Jiang could even speak, a judge from the research institute began to diffuse the situation: "Old Jiang, maybe you guys should first..."

Suddenly, a crisp yet calm voice accompanied the sound of the door opening, "Sorry, I’m late."

The judge from the research institute who was in the midst of speaking promptly shut his mouth.

All eyes in the room instinctively turned towards the source of the sound—

The open door let in a bright swath of morning sunlight, and Li Qiao walked in against the light, wearing a participant’s badge on her chest.

The room erupted into a buzz.

The appearance of Li Qiao was unbelievable.

The police station wouldn’t release a suspect involved in an ongoing investigation early.

Unless, of course, she was innocent.

The human experimentation either lacked sufficient evidence or was completely fabricated.

At this moment, no one had a more rigid face than Shang Qiongying.

Her fingers suddenly clenched the teacup, staring intently at Li Qiao’s face, wishing she could discern something.

Li Qiao stepped forward, walking leisurely to the side of Academician Jiang and Lian Zhen.

Throughout, she kept a sideways glance with Shang Qiongying, her expression nonchalant, betraying nothing out of the ordinary.

Once she had come to a stop, she raised an eyebrow, "May I ask the vice-chairwoman, can Renhe Laboratory continue to participate now?"

Of course, they could!

Because Shang Qiongying had said it herself: unless all seven researchers were present.

Shang Qiongying pressed her lips together tightly, her usually worldly and composed face showing a slight change.

The hum of conversation filled the room, yet she could not take any of it in.

All the careful calculations and self-assured strategies she had employed over the years seemed somewhat ludicrous in light of Li Qiao’s appearance.

She had arranged everything perfectly, even the initial decision to hold the exchange meeting in Chong City was her doing behind the scenes.

Why had there been a variable with Li Qiao?

Shang Qiongying remained silent for a long time, perhaps too shocked or maybe unable to comprehend where things had gone wrong.

When Li Qiao took her seat, the venue fell silent.

After a moment, an elder beside Shang Qiongying whispered something to her, and she raised her hand to massage her temples, seemingly regaining her composure.

Meanwhile, Li Xiaoxiao from Renhe Laboratory, who witnessed Li Qiao’s entrance, had her expression drastically change to one of panic in an instant.

In any case, the crowd’s reactions varied.