"Won't you tell me anything?" Mei Qingyang asked Gu Jiujiu. She had played the act of a kind friend for too long. Now it was time to get a bit tough. She also stopped the mic in front of her slowly because she did not want anyone else behind the mirror to listen to what this girl had to say. Sweat poured through Gu Jiujiu's forehead when she heard her question.
"Wha… what do you mean schemes? What could she plot anyway? This is such a guarded facility.", Gu Jiujiu stammered.
"And yet, a murder happened. See, I don't want innocent people like you get caught in nonsense. It would be great if you could reveal a few hints at least.", she looked straight into her eyes. "It's easy. No one would know what you tell me. I'm pretty sure you know better than me how ruthless your cousin is. If she gets convicted, I wonder who will end up taking the fall."
"So, you have already decided that cousin Layue is the culprit?", Gu Jiujiu inquired.
Mei Qingyang nodded slightly again. "I'm 90% sure at this point of time that it's her. Rest will depend on our conversations and the results from postmortem etc." She did not have any qualms about telling this to Jiujiu. She knew this girl was scared out of her wits and was going to think about herself first now. Her conversations just now had fueled her fear more. If she had learned anything at all from Gu Layue, she would be able to foresee her fate. There was no time to play games. Even if she didn't give Yu Rong and her cousin away, she definitely would not tell about her chat with Qingyang to anyone.
"How do I believe you that no one is going to hear what I say?", Gu Jiujiu's eyes darted around. She was not sure who to believe anymore. She wanted to trust in her cousin but she had seen a lot of stuff over the years. She had known from the beginning that she was just a pawn to Gu Layue.
Mei Qingyang was correct. Her loyalty fueled from the desire of materialism. Gu Layue perhaps won't even think twice before discarding her. There was nothing as sisterly bond between them. She was equivalent to a servant to her anyway. That is how things happened in this school. Spawns of stronger and wealthier families reigned the weak. This truth was out there before her for so long, she was just in denial. Now this whole trial had really opened her eyes. Gu Jiujiu felt so pathetic at this moment.
"In two minutes, you'll see Wang Hao knocking on the door because he is as afraid of the secret going out as your cousin. He would want in on everything.", Mei Qingyang was happy that she had convinced this lass to tell something at least. In the future, she would definitely act as a great informant for her. She needed all the dirt on Yu Rong and Gu Layue.
Sure enough, within a minute, Wang Hao Started banging the door. "Open this door right now. You're not allowed to have private chats. That's what you had promised. Come on!"
"It's definitely time to leave Ms. Gu. You have to make your decision within five seconds.", Qingyang got up from her seat and started walking towards the door.
"Fine! I will tell you what I know.", Gu Jiujiu lowered her head while yelling her to stop. Her voice was quivering and it was apparent that she was on the verge of breaking down. The decision to help out Mei Qingyang would have been a hard one for her. Qingyang stopped in her tracks.
"Alright. I'm listening here. Keep your head lowered and talk. I don't want you to get in trouble if someone reads your lips. Video is still being recorded.", Mei Qingyang informed Gu Jiujiu.
"Okay! I just know that Yu Rong was the one who gave us the information that the guy was being treated here. Gu family has spies here, so Layue did get the info of his exact location. But the plan was never to kill him.", she had started sobbing by now.
"Can you be sure that you knew about the whole scheme?", Mei Qingyang turned around and walked towards Gu Jiujiu. She acted as if she was consoling her.
"Gu Layue did have meetings with Yu Rong later but I thought those were just to decide with the professor about group assignment and all. They wouldn't change the whole plan just like that. And Gu Layue killing someone? It's impossible!", through her tears, she looked at Mei Qingyang like she wanted her to believe Gu Layue.
Mei Qingyang scoffed and mumbled to under her breath, "Such naïve."
"Plus, the plan was to be executed in the second half of the day. We saw the schedule and although you guys had announced that the beach would be open by evening, the tour was ending at 3 pm in the schedule by the professor. So, it was better opportunity when everyone would be scattered. The injury to senior Fan was a coincidence!", she tugged Mei Qingyang's shirt to be more convincing. Now this was good information.
Mei Qingyang walked hastily and opened the door to let Wang Hao come in.
"Why the f*ck did you turn off the mic? What were you girls talking about?", he yelled.
"Ah! Sorry, I didn't realize I had shut the mic off. Can you tell me how to turn it on?", she made an innocent face.
"You… what did you guys talk about?", he grabbed the girl with both shoulders and shook her like a sac.
"Hey, calm down. You're acting like she really had something to tell me. Are you aware of something that I'm not?"
"Are you accusing me now?", Wang Hao was furious. This girl was way too cunning than they had estimated her to be. She was proving to be one step ahead of them at every step.
"I'm just stating the fact. You're being too aggressive for just wanting to know what happened here. Plus, you can always watch the video. At least the video of this room won't be withheld.", Mei Qingyang smirked.
Wang Hao realized his reaction had indeed been over the top. He felt like he was a prey to an anaconda right now which was tightening its grip around his neck.
"Fine. Your time with this girl is over.", he said in a resigning voice. "I am going to be here, with you, in this room, from now on."
Bingo! This is what Mei Qingyang was waiting for. She had already questioned the person she wanted to. Others did not really matter. The one other person she was worried about was Gu Layue but she wasn't going to tell the truth anyway.
"I'm kind of worried about her well being. She even cried due to fright. She thought I called her first because I really suspected her. I think I'll talk to senior Fan and send a guard for you. How about it?", she gave a questioning yet assuring look to Gu Jiujiu.
"Many thanks." She was surprised that this girl was providing her with the protection. Or perhaps she just wanted to make sure that she doesn't contact any of Gu spies.
As for Mei Qingyang, it was both. Wang Hao wouldn't believe her just because she tried to use her puppy eyes. As he could not really confront Gu Jiujiu right now, he would just ensure that she doesn't blabber to people without reason. So, he found it a reasonable request.
"Alright. I need her separated from other students.", he ordered.
"Fine by me.", she nodded towards Gu Jiujiu and let her go. By this time Wang Hao had already turned on the mic, so Fan Ruyi had heard about Qingyang's request for a bodyguard. She assigned one from her own trusted entourage.