Chapter 99 Investigation

Chapter 99: Investigation

Yu Xin, of course, also learned of Yu Ning's engagement.

Interestingly, he didn't first hear about it through the news, but from a relentlessly critical Yu Ning fan who had been hounding him.

Yu Ning initially garnered fans by cultivating the persona of a cherished young master from an elite family. After his public humiliation by Yu Xin on "Wilderness Adventure," most of his followers abandoned him, but a dedicated few remained. These loyalists had been thoroughly "purified" into ultra-devoted fans.

These ardent supporters meticulously tracked Yu Ning's activities, naturally aware of his plans to open a new restaurant and even hire Lucas as head chef. Like Yu Ning, they had hoped for a triumphant comeback, only to have Yu Xin once again disrupt their plans.

Love can be irrational, but hatred usually has a basis. By now, they couldn't discern whether their love for Yu Ning or their hatred for Yu Xin was stronger.

When news of Yu Ning and the Third Prince's public relationship broke, their immediate reaction wasn't to congratulate Yu Ning, but to gloat in Yu Xin's private messages, as if this would validate their unwavering belief.

"Fake! What good is your garbage cooking? The Third Prince and Yu Ning have announced their engagement! Yu Ning is about to become a Prince Consort, and perhaps even Emperor someday. You won't even be fit to cook for him, remember that!"

"You must be green with envy, right? No matter how hard you struggle, you'll never measure up to Yu Ning. Oh wait, from now on, you won't even have the right to compare yourself to him. Hahahahaha!"

Yu Xin raised an eyebrow. It had been so long since anyone called him "fake" that the term felt oddly familiar.

But Yu Ning was engaged to the Third Prince?

Hadn't Yu Ning claimed he was only reunited with the Yu family at eighteen? In just one year, he had progressed to marriage with the Third Prince.

Moreover, Yu Ning had never publicly attended any royal events, nor had he had any visible interactions with the Third Prince. Since entering politics, the Third Prince had been swamped with work, barely having time to breathe. When would he have found the time to date Yu Ning?

How did he even get the chance to meet Yu Ning? It clearly suggested that the Yu family and the Third Prince’s faction must have deep, pre-existing connections.

Internet users weren't foolish. How could they overlook such an obvious discrepancy? Everyone was curious about the relationship's development, so they flocked to Yu Ning’s social media, urging him to share the story of how he and the Third Prince met and fell in love.

As inquiries mounted, Yu Ning could no longer feign ignorance. A few days later, he posted a lengthy article on his social platform, recounting his past with the Third Prince.

In the post, he claimed to have met the Third Prince while being bullied during work on another planet. The Third Prince had championed his cause and secured justice for him. He was deeply grateful and admired the Third Prince but was unaware of his true identity. After returning to the Yu family, he coincidentally met the Third Prince again, only then realizing that his past benefactor was indeed the Third Prince.

Furthermore, the Third Prince still remembered him and held a favorable impression. Under the guise of repaying his kindness, Yu Ning invited the Third Prince to several meals. After confessing their mutual feelings, they began their relationship.

He even included a photo of himself with the Third Prince from when he was sixteen.

After reading it, Yu Xin couldn't help but marvel—what a classic tale of a hero saving a beauty, with the beauty offering herself in return. A noble prince rescues a resilient, innocent figure, they reunite, fall in love at first sight, and, with everyone's blessings, head toward a happy ending.

Seriously, with the Yu family's wealth, couldn't they hire a better scriptwriter?

The story was clearly fabricated, but the details within might not be entirely false.

For example, the photo of Yu Ning with the Third Prince at sixteen was likely real. The risk of being exposed for using a composite photo was too high; if discovered, the entire meticulously crafted love story would collapse.

The most sophisticated lies blend truth with falsehood. Yu Ning’s story was fake, but he likely had indeed met the Third Prince when he was sixteen.

However, according to earlier accounts, Yu Ning was only recognized by the Yu family at eighteen and had been living alone in a remote star system before that. How could he have so coincidentally met the Third Prince, who had close ties to the Yu family, at sixteen?

Was it truly just a coincidence?

Rather than coincidence, Yu Xin was more inclined to believe there was something behind it that he didn’t know.

But Ji Yixing was right—trying to figure it out on his own would waste a lot of unnecessary time. The Ji family was already investigating the Third Prince’s faction. Starting with the Yu family might yield some unexpected surprises.

With such a handy and capable ally at hand, not utilizing him would be almost impolite.

He contacted Ji Yixing: "Brother Ji, I'd like to ask you to investigate Yu Ning. There's something off about him."

"Focus on his experiences around the age of sixteen. I suspect he was actually found by the Yu family much earlier."

*

The Ji family’s efficiency was remarkable. In just two or three days, they had results from their investigation into Yu Ning.

Yu Xin, Ji Yixing, and Bai Yizhou gathered in the high-ranking general’s office to review the investigation report.

The report was exceptionally detailed, covering Yu Ning’s life from childhood: being taken in by an orphanage, then adopted by a couple, living alone after the couple divorced, working while completing his studies. It included his life experiences, interpersonal relationships, and information about those close to him.

The three of them quietly read through it.

"This doesn't seem right…" Bai Yizhou rubbed his chin. "The earlier part seems believable, but later on, it feels oddly off."

"Starting from when he left his foster family to live independently, it clearly didn't add up."

"His foster parents’ records are also strange. Even though they separated due to divorce, there’s no record of dividing their shared assets. Moreover, they almost simultaneously moved away from their original residence to other planets," Yu Xin pointed out sharply.

"Exactly. According to the records, he would have needed to work three jobs simultaneously just to support himself while maintaining good grades in school. Given Yu Ning’s later behavior, that seems almost impossible."

"This report is fabricated starting from when Yu Ning left his foster family," Ji Yixing concluded.

If the report was fake, what were Yu Ning’s actual experiences?

"From the time he left his foster parents—no, even while he was still living with them—the Yu family had already found him."

"Everything afterward—working alone on the imperial capital planet, then coincidentally reuniting with the Yu parents—was all fabricated," Yu Xin stated with certainty.

"Well, this is getting interesting…" Bai Yizhou said. "If the Yu family had found their biological child, why didn’t they bring him home immediately? Instead, they secretly raised him until he was eighteen, then made a grand show of bringing him back?"

Moreover, they went through all the trouble of creating a fake report to cover it up. Wasn’t that just pointless extra work?

"Behind every illogical action, there’s always a hidden reason. And that reason is what they’re going to such lengths to conceal," Ji Yixing said calmly, twirling a pen with his slender fingers.

"Heh, who would have thought this would be the breakthrough point," Bai Yizhou remarked.

The Ji family had also been investigating the Yu family and the Third Prince’s faction’s past activities, but their tracks were too clean, and too much time had passed, so they hadn’t made much progress.

Who would have thought the breakthrough would lie with the Yu family’s late-recognized youngest son?

"More than that, I want to know: since the family already had a younger son, what reason or purpose did the Yu family have for investigating Yu Ning’s whereabouts?" Yu Xin asked after a long silence.

As soon as he said it, the other two were also stunned.

When Yu Ning was found, he was only twelve, living with his foster parents on a remote planet. It was unlikely he sought out the Yu parents himself, and coincidence could be ruled out. That meant the Yu family actively searched for him.

Yes, why would the Yu family go to such lengths to find another son when they already had Yu Xin?

Unless… the Yu family had always known Yu Xin wasn't their biological child.

Without needing further investigation, Yu Xin was almost certain this was the truth.

This would explain why the original host had always felt something was off about his so-called family.

A father who was always too busy to be seen, a mother he could never feel close to, and only an older brother who showed him some care.

Raising the original host was just something the Yu parents did out of convenience.

Without any emotional investment, they could cast him out so decisively and mercilessly.

"If they knew from the very beginning that the original person was not their biological child, then everything makes sense."

"I'm truly curious—what kind of secret could be so important that they would rather raise someone else's child and let their own biological son be cast aside, just to keep it hidden?"

Yu Xin's tone was icy and cutting. If everything the original person experienced was man-made, and he never realized it until his death, then his entire life was ruined—all to conceal a secret.

Well, he was determined to pierce through the mist for the original person and see if the world would come crashing down for certain people once this secret was exposed.

"If, as you said, everything was wrong from the very beginning, then we must trace it back at least nineteen years," Ji Yixing said.

What happened nineteen years ago, he wondered?

Several resource-rich private mining planets, through backdoor dealings, ended up in the hands of the Third Prince's faction. The company responsible for handling this matter was none other than Yu's father's firm.

It was like a tangled mess of threads finally finding the starting thread. As long as they followed it, untangling the entire knot would only be a matter of time.

On the day the tangle was finally unraveled, the people and events that had been entangled for nineteen years would finally be brought into the open.

The questions that haunted the original person throughout his life would surely find their answers.

Yu Xin fell silent, feeling the churning emotions in his chest. He rarely experienced such intense feelings, as if someone were living inside his ribcage, hammering against his ribs with both fists, trying to cry out for justice.

His hands, hidden under the table, trembled slightly, fingers curling inward, cold and pale.

Then, a larger, calloused hand covered his, enveloping it completely. Warmth spread through his skin.

Ji Yixing didn’t turn to look at him, as if unaware that there was now a hand in his palm.

He gripped Yu Xin’s hand tightly and uttered a single word: "Investigate."

"Increase manpower, conduct a thorough and in-depth investigation. Regardless of the manpower or expense required, I want to get to the bottom of this."