Chapter 146: The Bodyguard

At this moment, Chao Jingyu's call came through.

"I looked into it. Nan Wenqian's girlfriend, Zhong Yue, is a collateral branch of the Zheng family and a cousin of Zheng San, Lord Zheng. The Zhong family is just an ordinary middle-class family. Still, there is a vast disparity in social status compared to the Nan family. In order to curry favor with Zhong Yue, it is entirely possible that Nan Wenqian stole the necklace and the sculpture."

Liang Jinshang indicated that she understood.

Chao Jingyu asked her, "Can you handle this yourself, or should I go over and have a word with Nan Wenqian?"

Liang Jinshang did not want to trouble him too much.

More importantly, if she really intended to pursue a relationship with Shang Yucheng, walking too closely with Chao Jingyu would make her feel despicable.

Hearing her refusal, Chao Jingyu did not push further and simply told her to reach out if she needed anything.

When Liang Jinshang entered the detention center, she was met by the same familiar round-faced female police officer on duty.

Nan Wenqian walked out looking disheveled with a stubbly beard. Upon seeing Liang Jinshang, he rolled his eyes directly and demanded to be taken back to his cell.

The officer beside them struck the desk with a baton and warned, "Behave! Sit down!"

Only then did Nan Wenqian reluctantly sit down.

He looked at Liang Jinshang with a flippant air, "What is it? Looking for me?"

Actually, the members of the Nan family were quite decent-looking, but the quality of their Y chromosome genes must have been severely defective. Both the elder Nan she saw last time and the Nan Wenqian before her lacked any semblance of human decency.

Liang Jinshang cut straight to the point, "Nan Wenqian, besides my necklace, what else did you steal?"

Nan Wenqian's eyes widened instantly as he pointed at her, "I'm warning you, stop making false accusations! I already returned that necklace to you. Why would I steal anything else of yours?!"

Liang Jinshang asked him expressionlessly, "Where is the old agarwood carving from my house?"

"What? What old agarwood dish?" Nan Wenqian's expression didn't look like he was acting. "Never seen it, what kind of nonsense is that!"

However, Liang Jinshang knew it wasn't necessarily that he hadn't stolen it, but rather that, like her, he didn't know what old agarwood was.

She had only checked online that morning to discover that the price of old agarwood could soar to nearly ten thousand yuan per gram. The unworked raw material of the wood carving in her home alone was worth nearly ten million yuan!

Not to mention, it was a family heirloom left to her by her parents. Beyond its exorbitant value, it held profound sentimental and generational significance.

"Nan Wenqian, stealing my necklace will net you at least three years in prison. If you think that's too short, I can tell you that if you really stole that wood carving, you can rot in prison for the rest of your life!"

There was no trace of exaggeration or pretense in her expression.

Although Nan Wenqian was still sitting in the chair, his legs were trembling slightly beneath the table.

Rot in prison...

He truly had never imagined that such a lump of wood could be so valuable!

Yet he had already sent the item to the Zhong family to win the favor of his prospective parents-in-law.

Before Zhong Yue was released yesterday, she had promised him that she would bail him out within three days at most.

If he betrayed the Zhong family now, not only would his girlfriend dump him on the spot, but no one would ever bail him out again!

Now his only option was to stubbornly deny everything. Fortunately, this woman surnamed Liang looked completely powerless and destitute.

So Nan Wenqian put on a bluff and said, "Who do you think you're trying to scare in front of the police?! Do you think a commoner like you gets to decide who goes to prison? Besides, I said I didn't steal your things, so I didn't! If you slander me again, I'll sue you for defamation!"

His attitude was arrogant, his appearance wretched, and the flying spittle was almost crossing the long table to spray on Liang Jinshang.

She lowered her head and calculated in her mind.

With an item that expensive, if Nan Wenqian wanted to sell it off, traces of the transaction would surely turn up.

If he hadn't sold it, the location of the item would be even easier to track down.

After all, this fellow clearly did not have the financial means for a "crafty rabbit hiding in three burrows."

Liang Jinshang stood up and left her with a cold, detached remark, "Then you can squat here slowly. I'll go 'help' you find the evidence. Once I find it, it will pretty much solve your food and board issues for the rest of your life."

With that, she turned to leave.

To everyone's surprise, the round-faced female officer walked in at that moment and said right in front of Liang Jinshang, "Nan Wenqian, someone has posted bail for you. Come with me."

Nan Wenqian sprang up instantly and shouted loudly, "Thank you to the authorities for your sharp discernment in releasing an upright citizen like me!"

He shuffled clumsily past Liang Jinshang, snorting contemptuously.

Taking advantage of a blind spot where the police couldn't see, he whispered a threat to Liang Jinshang, "We'll settle our score slowly after I get out! I, young master, have plenty of everything, but most of all, I have free time. Watch your step when walking home at night!"

With that, he walked out triumphantly behind the female officer.

That petty, villainous smugness made Liang Jinshang's teeth itch with frustration.

She couldn't believe the Zhong family's reach extended this far, nor that they would actually fancy such a "punk son-in-law"!

Furious, Liang Jinshang followed them out, but Nan Wenqian had already signed the papers and walked out.

Liang Jinshang intended to ask the round-faced female officer what was really going on, but the officer gave her an imperceptible look, signaling her to hurry and follow him outside.

Liang Jinshang strode quickly and intercepted Nan Wenqian by the roadside just as he was hailing a cab, "Stop right there!"

Nan Wenqian turned around impatiently and shoved her, "This is a police station. If you really have the guts, come with me. I've taken a whole day of unfair grief, and I'm just looking to 'reason' with you!"

As they spoke, a car pulled up right beside them.

Nan Wenqian thought the taxi he called had arrived so quickly, but when he raised his eyes, he saw a luxury car that was definitely not a regular cab.

Before he could process it, a man in a black suit stepped out of the car, grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt, and shoved him straight into the backseat.

In the blink of an eye, Nan Wenqian didn't even have time to struggle.

"Hey, you! Who are you?!" Liang Jinshang followed a few steps behind, utterly bewildered.

That man in the black suit didn't look like Nan Wenqian's friend; he looked more like an enemy.

He looked so menacing—wasn't he about to seek revenge?!

They might even kill him on the spot!

Just as Liang Jinshang was panicking and at her wits' end, another car pulled up. The window rolled down slowly, revealing Shang Yucheng's face behind a pair of sunglasses. "Get in the car."

Like timely rain in a drought, Liang Jinshang immediately hopped into the car.

"Shang Yucheng, why are you here?"

And arriving at such a crucial moment.

Shang Yucheng cast a faint glance at her.

He had finished his meeting too late last night and hadn't wanted to return to her place and disturb her rest.

He hadn't expected this woman to rush over all by herself at the crack of dawn to confront Nan Wenqian. If he hadn't left "eyes and ears" around here, there was no telling what kind of trouble she might have gotten into.

Shang Yucheng said indifferently, "Don't want me here?"

"I do!" Liang Jinshang pointed at the car ahead. "Quick, follow that car! Nan Wenqian is in that car, don't let him get away!"

Shang Yucheng didn't rush to step on the gas pedal; instead, he looked at her with a rather helpless expression.

Anxious in her heart, Liang Jinshang assumed he minded being treated like a chauffeur.

"Shang Yucheng, I'm begging you, that wood carving of my father's was definitely stolen by Nan Wenqian. He's about to be taken away by the Zhong family..."

After a moment, Shang Yucheng spoke up, "Those are my bodyguards and my car. What is there to chase?"