Ironclad Evidence

“Never! Never, Your Highness! Please understand! I would never dare! Absolutely not!”

Wu Spanner’s face turned deathly pale. Beads of sweat as large as peas rolled down his forehead. He frantically waved his hands, bowing even lower—almost bent at a full ninety degrees.

His voice trembled on the verge of tears:
“Your Highness, you misunderstand! It was just… just a small misunderstanding earlier. I was worried that my two useless nephews might suffer unfair treatment here at the bureau. I got anxious and spoke too harshly. I absolutely had no intention of threatening Chief Wang. Chief Wang—tell Her Highness! Isn’t this all a misunderstanding?”

As he spoke, he cast a pleading look at Chief Wang, begging him to help explain.

But how would Chief Wang dare say anything?
He lowered his head, eyes fixed straight downward, pretending he had heard nothing.

Margaret’s lips curled into a cold smile.
“A misunderstanding? Just harsh words? Wu Spanner… do you take me for a fool?”

“N-no, Your Highness, I—”

“Then tell me,” Margaret cut him off, her tone suddenly sharp,
“Your dear nephew Shuo Spanner gathered dozens of street thugs, armed with controlled blades and clubs, and openly surrounded, chased, and attempted to harm someone in a busy commercial district. What is that? A small disagreement?”

“And your other fine nephew Hui Spanner”—Margaret’s icy gaze shifted to the pale Hui Spanner—“As the elder brother, not only did he fail to restrain him, he indulged him. And afterward, he even dared to threaten law enforcement officers in the police station. What is that? Another misunderstanding?”

Wu Spanner was struck speechless. His cold sweat had already soaked through his undershirt. He trembled as he tried to defend himself:
“Your Highness… there must be some misunderstanding. They are young and impulsive… maybe they just had a quarrel with someone, acted rashly—”

“Rash?”
Margaret sneered. She didn’t bother wasting more breath. Instead, she signaled with a glance to one of the men in black beside her.

The man stepped forward and handed her a thick brown document folder.

Margaret didn’t even look at it. With a flick of her wrist, she forcefully threw the entire folder onto Wu Spanner.

Crash—!

The folder burst open in midair.
A stack of documents and photographs scattered like snowflakes, falling over Wu Spanner’s head, face, and the floor around him.

Wu Spanner was stunned by the impact. Instinctively, he looked down.

One glance—and his pupils shrank sharply.
All color drained from his face. Even his lips began to tremble uncontrollably.

Scattered across the floor were not only photos from tonight’s incident, but also printed reports detailing Shuo Spanner’s past misdeeds:

Multiple fights.
Assaults.
And even involvement in several gray-area criminal operations.

Times, locations, witnesses, and even partial transaction records—everything was listed clearly.

But Hui Spanner’s file was even more shocking:

Using the family’s influence for unfair business practices.
Suppressing competitors.
Several cases of serious commercial fraud.
And investigative leads involving suspected personal threats.

Each accusation was explicit.
The evidence was complete.
The chain of proof airtight.
None of it fabricated.

This was no last-minute compilation.
Someone had been watching Shuo and Hui Spanner for a long time—
Perhaps even watching the entire Spanner family.

Margaret’s cold voice fell like a sentence:
“Now then, Wu Spanner… do you still have anything to say? Or is this, too, a misunderstanding? Someone framing your Spanner family?”

Wu Spanner felt a chill surge from the base of his spine straight up to his skull. His limbs turned cold.

He understood—Her Highness had come fully prepared.
With evidence this solid, she clearly intended to take real action.

“Your Highness! Please have mercy!”

Overwhelmed by fear, Wu Spanner lost his last shred of composure. His knees buckled, and with a thud, he fell to the floor before Margaret.

His voice shook violently:
“It is my failure as an elder! Please, Your Highness, for the sake of our Spanner family’s ancestors—who once rendered service to the Dragon Kingdom—spare them this once!

Our entire Spanner household will be eternally grateful! We will strictly discipline them! We will never allow them to err again!”

He kowtowed repeatedly, begging in desperation, hoping the family’s past merits could buy a sliver of survival.

“Your ancestors’ merits are not a shield for you to commit wrongdoing.”

Margaret looked down at him from above, her gaze unwavering.
“Wu Spanner… if not for the Spanner family’s past service to the nation, do you think today’s matter would end with just the two of them?”

Her words struck Wu Spanner like a hammer.

He jerked his head up, eyes trembling with terror.

Her Highness meant—
If he continued to act blindly…
The entire Spanner family might be implicated? - Marinien