She is the most beautiful rose

Chapter 367 It's the Shen family that has wronged you.

Qin Yanfeng stood sideways in the corridor. Hearing the door of the ward open, he turned around and saw Shen Manzhi with red eyes.

He went over and took her hand.

Xie Yulan and her daughter, who were waiting on the other side, glanced at Shen Manzhi several times but didn't say anything. They then pulled Shen Luo and hurriedly went into the ward.

Shen Manzhi moved closer to him, "I'm going to the nursing home."

She was clearly emotionally affected, but in front of him she acted as if nothing had happened.

Qin Yanfeng pursed his lips, raised his hand and brushed a strand of hair that had fallen beside her ear, "I'll take you there."

Having wasted too much time in the middle of the night and then having to go through all this trouble, Shen Manzhi was feeling tired, her gaze fixed on the glass window. She hadn't spoken a word since leaving the hospital.

While waiting at the traffic light, Qin Yanfeng reached out and touched her forehead.

Shen Manzhi turned her head, her expression somewhat blank, before slowly regaining her composure. "Let's go have breakfast first."

The morning glow gradually emerged from the horizon, dispelling the city's gray fog.

Qin Yanfeng was heading to the breakfast shop anyway. He held her hand and said, "You don't look well."

Shen Manzhi blinked. "A little bit, maybe I'm a little sleepy. You know, I always like to sleep."

Qin Yanfeng neither agreed nor disagreed.

As the traffic light changed, Shen Manzhi's gaze returned to the window. After a while, she made a phone call: "Go to the hospital and look after someone for me."

After a long silence on the other end of the phone, Shen Manzhi softly replied "okay" and hung up.

Qin Yanfeng silently tapped his fingers on the steering wheel twice.

After breakfast, she went to the nursing home, where Qin Yanfeng waited for her outside.

The old lady, just like before, loved to sit in the courtyard, quietly reading with her reading glasses in hand.

Shen Manzhi wasn't one to say sentimental things. She would bring gifts back to the Shen family every month before, but she would only say a few words. It was a bit sudden for her to come to see the old man so early in the morning, and she didn't know where to begin.

Aunt Lan, who had been taking care of the old lady, was also there. She saw Shen Manzhi first, and the latter made a shushing gesture and didn't rush in.

Shen Duanwen said that he had received the same threats while investigating past events. He knew that the other party was only targeting him, so he made an excuse to send the old lady to a nursing home.

The veracity of this statement is debatable.

At least Shen Manzhi didn't think he would suddenly feel guilty and reopen the old story, thus bringing disaster upon himself.

Over the past twenty years, she has seen through it all.

For the sake of his future and career, Shen Duanwen tacitly approved the murder of Zhan Yunqing by those with vested interests, even binding himself to them. The two sides had lived in peace for more than 20 years, so why would he abandon his current stable life for a little bit of conscience?

Unless, the person at the helm of this ship gets impatient first.

The other party kept pressuring and threatening Shen Duanwen to prevent anyone from investigating the matter again. The latter was pushed to the limit and wanted to use the evidence from that year to fight back. The ship tilted and had to use an accident to shut it up.

Yes, tonight's fire is more than just a warning; it's more like a cover-up.

The warning Shen Duanwen received at Hanlu Temple last year, and Shen Duanwen's advice to her just now, all point to one thing: investigating the truth of the car accident has made the other party feel a strong sense of crisis.

Because the car accident case not only involves premeditated murder, but also has motives related to a scientific research case from earlier years, once the old case is reopened for investigation, these vested interests will inevitably have a stain added to their resumes.

However, Shen Manzhi felt that something was not quite right.

These beneficiaries have become big names in various industries over the past two decades, and some even have their own powerful protectors.

Even if the truth from back then is revealed—a switcheroo, a premeditated murder—it would be very easy for them to completely clear themselves of any wrongdoing given their current power.

Even she could only resort to some clandestine means of revenge, unable to bring the truth to the public eye.

So what do they have to worry about?
Moreover, she hasn't continued investigating this matter since leaving Huaicheng last year. Even if she wanted to take revenge on her, why not go after her directly?

Shen Manzhi lowered her eyes and took a few steps into the courtyard.

"Manzhi".

A gentle voice came from ahead; the old lady had already seen her.

Shen Manzhi gathered her thoughts and stepped forward, taking the blanket from Aunt Lan's hand and squatting down to cover the old woman's legs.

Looking at her beautiful yet aloof features, the old lady's expression showed some heartache. "Something happened at home, didn't it?"

Shen Manzhi paused slightly, her hand tucking in the corner of the blanket. She looked up and saw the old lady's calm gaze. "You know?"

Those eyes, weathered by time, seemed to have seen through everything; their lowered corners held a tenderness, as if they had something to ask.

Shen Manzhi lowered her eyes. "He's alright."

The old lady breathed a slight sigh of relief; after all, they were connected by blood.

She remained silent for a long while, then looked up at the eaves above. "He hid this for half his life, and the other party never let him go." Shen Manzhi seemed somewhat taken aback. "What do you mean by that?"

The old lady sat in her rocking chair, her gaze towards her younger generation filled with rare tenderness and guilt, as if she had foreseen this situation from the moment Shen Duanwen sent her to the nursing home.

"Manzhi, it is the Shen family that has wronged you."

This was the second time Shen Manzhi had heard those words.

She heard the whole story from the old lady.

Zhan Yunqing realized that her parents' deaths might not have been simple suicides due to pressure and public opinion from various parties, but rather a premeditated and organized setup. She then began to re-examine the case and investigate.

In order to prove her parents' innocence in academic fraud, she accumulated a lot of connections and experience. Following this direction, she quickly found relevant evidence, but at the same time, she attracted the attention of those with vested interests behind the scenes.

Chengyang Laboratory is one of them.

While keeping an eye on Zhan Yunqing, the other party also set their sights on the government project that the Shen family had just won the bid for. So they proceeded step by step, deeply intertwining their interests with the Shen family, and successfully planned the murder of Zhan Yunqing.

Finally, by framing someone and launching a commercial attack, Shen Duanwen was forced to compromise, covering up Zhan Yunqing's murder and completely concealing the truth of the scientific research case.

"Later, the Shen family couldn't keep up with the development plan of Chengyang Laboratory, and the interests were finally divided."

Shen Manzhi's heart was stretched to its limit. She already knew the outcome, but as the details were revealed one by one, it was still hard to accept.

"Working with the enemy who killed his wife for so many years..."

She frowned almost imperceptibly, and her murmured words eventually faded into silence.

The old lady was stunned. She reached out her hand, and Shen Manzhi tilted her head slightly.

The wrinkled, mottled hand hesitated before withdrawing, followed by a sigh, "Your father didn't have the courage he had when he was seventeen or eighteen to fight against those people again. He let down your mother, and he let you down too."

The pure love and impulsiveness of youth could no longer support the burdens of young people. Zhan Yunqing's death became an unspeakable secret for the Shen family. They were constantly worried about dealing with a dangerous situation, and those unknown dangers hung over them like an inescapable haze.

So it was only natural that they took their anger out on Shen Manzhi.

Emotional neglect, aversion and hatred, and utilitarian abandonment.

The girl spent her entire damp and gloomy adolescence after her mother's death, never understanding why her father disliked her.

She remained silent for a long time, then smiled self-deprecatingly, "He never really wanted to overturn the verdict. If those people hadn't gone to such lengths to kill him, he would never have realized he was wrong."

The old lady's expression was complicated.

“He would only blame my mother for insisting on thoroughly investigating what happened back then, which brought hidden dangers to the Shen family and made him feel uneasy for half his life.”

Shen Manzhi's expression turned indifferent. She stood up and said softly, "You've blamed her too, haven't you?"

She also disliked her children.

The old lady's eyes welled up with tears, "Manzhi..."

Shen Manzhi took a half step back, lowered her eyes as if lost in thought. When she spoke again, she had already concealed the emotions in her eyes.

What exactly did my mother find out?

The suicide of the Zhan couple was the final result of a scheme orchestrated by a vested interest group, and Shen Manzhi's conclusion was based solely on scattered evidence and speculation.

The evidence Zhan Yunqing found back then must have been more comprehensive, which led to his death, and the other party still refuses to let the Shen family go to this day.

Back then, when Madam Shen was the head of the group, she knew just as much as Shen Duanwen.

The old lady frowned. "Your mother died because of this, and your father too..."

The worry in her eyes was accompanied by hesitation and struggle. "So many years have passed, and even if we have evidence, we can't do anything to them. In the end... Manzhi, no one can bear the consequences of thoroughly investigating this matter. You are still young, and you still have a way out."

Shen Manzhi calmly stated the facts, "He kept this secret for twenty years, but they still didn't let him go. If they failed once, they'd try again. If I didn't investigate, would they let the Shen family and me go?"

After a long silence, Shen Manzhi squatted down again. "The fact that they've remained vigilant all this time, even resorting to murder, must mean that my mother found crucial evidence back then. This evidence can make them wary, and it can also become a bargaining chip for the Shen family."

Even if you can't completely defeat the other party, you can still fight against them and save your life.

These words silenced the old lady.

She looked at Shen Manzhi with a complicated expression and unfathomable emotions in her eyes. As if she had been thinking for a long time, she carefully chose her words and said softly, "I heard that you and that boy from the Qin family are very much in love now. Manzhi, are you happy with him?"

This topic may seem to have shifted abruptly, but it actually points to a very clear direction. If this matter is to be thoroughly investigated, the Qin family cannot be avoided.

Shen Manzhi's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her hands, which were hanging on her knees, clenched into fists.

Last year, when investigating the mastermind behind the car accident, she traced the trail back to the Qin family. She took revenge on everyone except the Qin family because her desire to protect Qin Yanfeng overwhelmed her instinct for revenge.

Regarding the truth behind the research case, she suspected that the Qin family was involved in setting it up, and even tested Old Master Qin many times, but she never had any solid evidence, and she had long since given up on investigating the matter.

She deliberately avoided mentioning the Qin family, fearing she would find herself unable to make a decision.

Seeing her reaction, the old lady understood. "If this matter is also related to the Qin family, do you still want to continue investigating?"