Chapter 32: Her Counterattack

Shang Yucheng returned to the bedroom first, instructing Liang Jinshang to tidy herself up before coming out. There were clothes for her in the walk-in closet, with an abundance of pajamas in particular. She selected the most conservative set—long-sleeved silk sleepwear—knowing full well that Shang Yucheng was unlikely to be in any mood tonight, but she needed to make her own boundaries unmistakably clear.

She walked over and locked the bedroom door. When she checked her phone again, she saw that Shang Yucheng had already removed her from the blacklist. She sent him the video.

Of course, Shang Yucheng didn’t bother to look at it again. He tossed his phone onto the silk duvet, leaned back against the headboard, his long legs sprawled out carelessly, and asked once more, “What do you want?”

Liang Jinshang replied, “If possible, I’d like you to assign me a few bodyguards in the near future… Hu Zhinan already knows I was the one who filmed that video.”

Anyone who had ever crossed paths with Hu Zhinan knew what a vicious and ruthless man he was. Let alone Shang Yucheng, who had already faced off with him in the business arena, and now made a cutting remark: “You’re really quite adept at courting death.”

Liang Jinshang understood that he was likely referring not just to this incident, but also to the time she had provoked him before.

But Hu Zhinan and Shang Yucheng were fundamentally different. Shang Yucheng might treat her as expendable, but compared to someone who posed an actual threat to her life, he was by far the lesser evil.

Yet his next words swiftly proved he was no saint either. He said contemptuously, “What obligation do I have to protect you?”

“Don’t tell me your reason for filming this video was to seek justice for me.”

Of course not.

Her original plan had been to play it during his wedding, ensuring the name Shang Yucheng would go down in a certain kind of infamy.

Liang Jinshang slyly skipped over his accusation and explained her reasoning, “But you’re the one who stands to gain here! With this video in hand, whether or not you go through with the wedding, the Gong family will have no choice but to yield to you completely. And as for the one named Hu, if you’re willing to make this public and stir up the scandal, Qingcheng Construction’s stock will likely plummet into new turmoil.”

Whether Shang Yucheng accepted this logic or not, he remained silent for a long while.

Liang Jinshang sensed that her bargaining chip might not be enough. At the very least, unless she explained her motives for targeting those two, Shang Yucheng—being as meticulous and suspicious as he was—would never allow himself to be the weapon she wielded against them.

There was one subject they had never broached—the past that Shang Yucheng surely knew something about.

After all, when she met him, she was already Liang Jinshang. Though her family had suffered illness and hardship, their lineage was clean. Only someone who knew she was actually “Fang Jiabao,” the daughter of the former architectural design master Fang Xin’ou, would use a phrase as character-assassinating as “daughter of a criminal.”

But they had never spoken about it, and Liang Jinshang had never let Shang Yucheng know that, hidden in some corner, she had once overheard him refer to her as “the daughter of a criminal.”

She bore the pain of that label alone, swallowing its bitterness in silence, and left resolutely, alone.

“Mr. Shang, the reason I want those two to pay is because of old grievances between us. If you’re interested, I can tell you the whole story.” Liang Jinshang paused, but Shang Yucheng gave no reply.

Assuming he would have no sympathy for her past, she refrained from saying more.

“You do have no obligation to protect me. But in that case, I can’t guarantee I won’t say something I shouldn’t if I’m in danger.”

Liang Jinshang had no idea that Shang Yucheng was already fully aware of everything concerning Gong Xueyuan, and she thought him almost unnaturally calm. A man who could mask his emotions so thoroughly, even when cuckolded, might be called deep and inscrutable at best, emotionally numb at worst.

But she was certain that, however unlike other men he was, Shang Yucheng would never willingly air his family’s dirty laundry.

So her threat was as clear as day.

Shang Yucheng raised an eyebrow, fixing her with a cold, assessing stare.

To rid himself of entanglements with her, he stuck to his principle of settling things with clean transactions, and agreed to Liang Jinshang’s meager request.

Perhaps out of a desperate need for security, Liang Jinshang pressed him to arrange the bodyguards immediately.

It was already past two in the morning, but for those who served as assistants to CEOs, personal rights were a luxury. Upon receiving Shang Yucheng’s call, the assistant confirmed that the bodyguards would be at the two locations Liang Jinshang specified by tomorrow.

“Delete every single video you have,” Shang Yucheng said at last. “If it ever leaks, I’ll hold you solely responsible.”

Liang Jinshang nodded in compliance, agreeing without protest.

After that, Shang Yucheng dismissed her.

“No,” Liang Jinshang said, adopting a slightly plaintive tone. “Someone followed me here tonight. Can I stay at your place just for tonight?”

Shang Yucheng considered the fact there were already two others outside—making his home feel more like a hotel than a private residence.

Aside from two guest rooms, the rest of the house had been converted into function rooms.

“So, which of the two do you plan to bunk with? Or—” his eyes narrowed as he looked at her, “do you think your request was too modest, and want to see if you can get something out of me as well?”

Lounging lazily against the headboard, his demeanor remained cool and indifferent, yet his striking good looks were undeniable.

The implication of “getting something out of him” was self-evident.

Liang Jinshang recalled their encounter in the bathroom—he had taken every advantage and now wanted to extract a verbal one as well!

But now was not the time to offend him, so she softened her tone further. “I’ll be gone before dawn. No one will know I stayed here.”

She gestured toward the sofa from a distance. “I’ll sleep there, all right?”

Shang Yucheng glanced at her, noting the buttoned-up, ultra-conservative pajamas she wore—every button fastened to the very top.

His gaze drifted away lazily, fatigue overtaking him.

“Fine.”

Liang Jinshang was a quiet sleeper, barely making a sound, so much so it was hard to tell whether she was asleep or awake. Yet she was keenly aware of Shang Yucheng’s breathing as he drifted off, and likely because of the alcohol, he fell asleep quickly despite all that had happened.

Two small nightlights glowed softly in the room. Liang Jinshang tiptoed over and picked up Shang Yucheng’s phone.

He was so arrogant he never imagined she’d dare unlock his phone after their split, so he hadn’t even bothered to change the password.

Liang Jinshang opened their chat, downloaded the video Shang Yucheng had ignored, then opened Weibo.

She logged into the official account of Nantian Construction without a hitch, selected the video, and posted it without any accompanying text.

It was three in the morning—most people were asleep, but there were always night owls online, ready to download and spread news at lightning speed across the internet.

By dawn, even deleting it would be too late.

Liang Jinshang looked at Shang Yucheng’s handsome profile and thought to herself—Mr. Shang, this didn’t leak from my hands!