Volume 1, Chapter 40: Trapped Like Turtles in a Jar, the Mastermind Reveals Himself

The words fell, and the conference room descended into a deathly silence. Not a single person dared to utter a sound.

Everyone present knew exactly how ruthless Shang Linyuan’s methods could be. The empire built by the Old Master Shang had fallen into crisis after the eldest son, Shang Yanli, took the helm and suffered a series of disastrous investments. Following Shang Yanli’s sudden death in a car accident, the LR Group had been plunged into panic. It was then that Shang Linyuan, the youngest son of the Shang family, stepped forward. At just twenty years old, he took on the heavy burden of the group in the face of disaster. In a mere five years, he had not only stabilized the situation but had driven the LR Group to record-breaking performance, multiplying the shareholders' dividends several times over.

During that time, he had used iron-fisted tactics to suppress or dismiss the old staff who refused to comply. Those who remained in the group today were almost exclusively his loyalists—all except for Director Huang, a man of long-standing seniority. Huang Shichang had once done a favor for the Old Master, and for the sake of the late patriarch’s memory, Shang Linyuan had repeatedly tolerated him. But this time, it was clear that Huang Shichang had no intention of letting things rest.

Huang slammed his hand against the mahogany table, splashing half of his tea out of the cup.

"Shang Linyuan, do you really think the LR Group is your own backyard? Because of some woman of questionable origin, you’ve let the company’s stock price plummet like a cliff!"

He surged to his feet, his bloodshot eyes bulging, his finger nearly poking the tip of Shang Linyuan’s nose. "Ten years ago, you were nothing but a green kid; it was us old guys who hoisted you into this position! Have your wings grown stiff now? You dare to treat the interests of all the shareholders like a joke!"

At this remark, everyone lowered their gaze. Still, no one dared to voice their agreement. They had all witnessed what Shang Linyuan had done over the years.

Shang Linyuan remained calm. With a fountain pen held between his fingers, he tapped the cap against the tabletop, the rhythm as steady as if he were providing accompaniment to Huang’s roaring.

"Director Huang, watch your tone." When he lifted his eyes, the chill in his gaze seemed to drop the room's temperature by three degrees. "Stock fluctuations are a market reaction. As for Miss Lu, do you also wish to interfere in my private affairs?"

"Don't talk to me about that woman!" Huang interrupted rudely, his voice rising sharply, making the ceiling lights seem to tremble. "The whole city is whispering that you hurt someone’s child just to force her into submission! Chu Yutang is a scoundrel, but you, Shang Linyuan, are using your power to bully the orphaned and widowed!"

He suddenly turned to the shareholders, throwing his arms wide as if inciting a mob. "Gentlemen, when we were building this empire with the Old Master, Shang Linyuan was still wearing split-crotch pants! Now that he’s throwing the company into chaos for his own selfish desires, can we trust such a helmsman?"

The atmosphere at the shareholders' meeting was heavy.

Seeing no one respond, Huang Shichang decided to push further. "Shang Xubai is the direct grandson of the Old Master. By right of succession, it is only natural for the son to follow the father. I have never heard of an uncle snatching the position from his nephew. I say we let Xubai take over as Chairman!"

The crowd remained silent, but Shang Xubai hurriedly stood from his seat, his face full of sincere humility. "Director Huang, you flatter me. I have always looked up to my uncle, Shang Linyuan, as a role model. I still have too much to learn and am truly unfit for this position."

Seeing Shang Xubai’s lack of ambition, Huang was so infuriated he spat, "You spineless boy! You're like mud that can't be plastered onto a wall!"

Shang Linyuan suddenly laughed. The sound was low, yet laced with bone-chilling mockery. "Director Huang, instead of concerning yourself with other people's private matters, you should worry about the ledgers in your own office safe."

He rose slowly, his posture as straight as a pine. As his gaze swept over the room, the previously noisy chamber fell into a haunting silence. "When I took over five years ago, the LR Group’s debt ratio was as high as 73%. It was I who cut the rotten projects you were all too reluctant to discard, and it was I who stayed up for three days and nights to negotiate our European partnerships. Now that you are sitting here collecting dividends, do you actually have the gall to criticize me?"

"Stop changing the subject!" Huang bellowed, his bluster masking his fear as his hand tightened involuntarily on the tablecloth. "I think you’re just afraid! Afraid that woman will expose your dirty secrets!"

"Oh?" Shang Linyuan raised an eyebrow, spinning his pen expertly between his fingers. "Then why don’t you tell us, Director Huang, what dirty secrets I have? Are they like yours—using company money to bribe people in Yucheng, or leaking the base bid prices to our competitors?"

The words struck like a thunderbolt. Huang’s face turned paper-white. He stumbled back half a step, his finger trembling as he pointed at Shang Linyuan. "You... you're spouting slander!"

"Whether it is slander or not, everyone will know very soon."

Shang Linyuan gave Huang a faint glance and, without another word, picked up his phone to make a call. Before long, his special assistant, Su Cheng, walked into the conference room with a stack of documents and began distributing them to every shareholder.

The files contained detailed records of how Huang Shichang had abused his position over the years, colluding with company insiders and embezzling funds for personal gain. The sheer scale of the amounts involved left everyone gasping in shock.

But that was not the most stunning revelation. The documents showed that Huang had also conspired with the LR Group's biggest competitor, the Yucheng Company, repeatedly sabotaging bidding processes—only to have his schemes thwarted each time by Shang Linyuan’s vigilance.

Huang’s face was deathly pale, yet he still refused to admit it, slamming the table and shouting, "This is a frame-up! Shang Linyuan is planting evidence to ruin me!"

Shang Linyuan expressionlessly pressed a switch on the projector, and a video appeared on the screen.

In the footage, Huang was slumped into a leather sofa, three buttons of his shirt undone, his oily forehead flushed with the red glow of intoxication. He was feeding drinks to the general manager of the Yucheng Company.

The man was holding a hostess in a backless dress, laughing so hard his gold teeth were visible. Beside them, scattered dice cups sat next to piles of cash, and the music pouring from the corner speakers was so decadent that it rendered their whispered conspiracy sticky and vile.

In the video, Huang offered his advice: "Chu Yan’s own brother, Chu Yutang, is a complete fool. We can use him to drive a wedge between Chu Yan and Shang Linyuan..."

This had led to Chu Yutang causing a scene at the Shang residence and injuring Lu Mingxi—a turn of events that had, in a way, been an accidental success for them.

With the evidence stacked like a mountain, Huang could no longer deny it. He collapsed into his chair.

Shang Linyuan pressed his intercom button, his voice as cold as ice. "Call the police. Have security guard the doors; don't let anyone who’s trying to slip away leave."

Upon hearing the word "police," Huang’s legs turned to jelly, and he nearly crumpled to the floor. He stared intensely at Shang Linyuan, the last shred of his arrogance replaced by terror, though he still roared, "Shang Linyuan, how dare you touch me? The Old Master told me to look out for you! This is ungrateful!"

His only response was Shang Linyuan’s icy gaze and the sound of footsteps growing louder outside the conference room door.

Soon, the police arrived and took Huang Shichang away for investigation.

Watching this sudden turn of events, the shareholders’ hands trembled as they held their water glasses, the cold glass unable to hide the sweat blooming on their palms. Seeing Huang being dragged away by the police, his corpulent body stumbling across the polished floor while he fruitlessly shouted about his "contributions to the Shang family," a cold shiver ran down everyone’s spines.

From now on, they decided, it was best to speak less and work more, lest they suffer the same fate as Huang Shichang.