Chapter 177: Sending Father Liang To Prison
Xiao Da’s car passed through the snowfield.
The snow was pure white and vast, the night sky’s stars were misty purple, merging magnificently at the edge of the horizon, becoming a thick, grand ribbon; it was the sky, and also the earth, indistinguishable yet unforgettable for a lifetime.
No one in the car was appreciating the view; the atmosphere was frozen, and confrontational. They remained silent all the way to the hospital.
Xiao Da opened the back door of the car. Mother Liang was filled with uncertainty and refused to get out, “Why are we at the hospital?”
Xiao Da’s voice was normal, his expression without flaws, “Mr. Liang is hospitalized.”
He didn’t even offer a detailed explanation, and the group took the elevator to the sixth floor.
Xiao Da took them to the doctor’s office.
Regarding Liang Chaosu’s injuries, the doctor explained the causes and consequences, having been involved throughout. With the family’s arrival, he naturally explained everything clearly, even the thrilling events of that day, expressing his astonishment.
Father Liang hadn’t finished listening before Mother Liang, stumbling, ran towards the hospital room.
When Father Liang followed her in, Mother Liang collapsed weakly beside Liang Chaosu’s bed. She raised a hand, wanting to touch him, but was frightened by the wires extending into his clothes and dared not move him.
She was completely broken.
“Does it hurt? How are you now? The doctor said you’ll live—” Her hand found a point of support, clutching Liang Chaosu’s left sleeve, “You’re crazy, what are you seeking by risking your life like this?”
Liang Chaosu was sitting up and pulled his sleeve away, his face calm, “I’m seeking her.”
Mother Liang looked at him through the blurry tears. The hospital room was brightly lit. Her son, whom she had raised, was becoming so blurry she could barely see him.
Her heart spasmed again and again; it was intense pain, and even more so, fear.
As parents, they might sometimes be overbearing, seeing their children take the wrong path, the misguided path, with a stubbornness that refused to turn back, they always wanted to correct them, to save them.
When children refused verbally but didn’t act, in the face of this “for your own good” based on past experience, it was useless; it only made them feel the child was going astray and needed a stronger rescue.
But “for your own good” ultimately still contained the word “good.” Mother Liang genuinely cared for Liang Chaosu, perhaps mixed with considerations of face and clan, but in risking his life, she was truly scared.
Fear led to a desire to yield.
“Then why didn’t you take the opportunity to give her a new identity? If you had, the resistance to returning to the country would be much smaller.”
Liang Chaosu’s gaze fell on the doorway. Father Liang stood there, his temples frosted with gray, his fatigue evident, his face etched with lingering shock, his eyes dark.
Liang Chaosu understood the darkness, a touch of deliberate provocation, “Less resistance means you are willing to concede?”
The word “you” was followed by “all,” Mother Liang wiped away her tears and turned to look at Father Liang.
Father Liang came over and helped her up, “Feifei is feeling a bit unwell. She took everything in at the airport. Go and see her; I’ll handle things here.”
Mother Liang had only just seen Liang Chaosu, her heart full of pain and longing, wishing she could pour all her affection onto him, unwilling to leave. Father Liang coaxed and half-forced her out.
Turning back, Liang Chaosu pulled out the IV drip with one hand, drawing out a thin line of blood.
Father Liang stepped forward, picked up the cotton swab box from the bedside, and handed it to him.
Liang Chaosu calmly plugged the needle hole, and sporadic blood drops splattered onto his sleeve.
His hospital gown was buttoned up tightly. Mother Liang wanted to see the incision, but Liang Chaosu wouldn’t allow it. Mother Liang clutched his sleeve, but it was no use, only leaving a few tear-soaked marks.
Father Liang’s gaze lingered for two seconds before shifting to the cardiac monitor beside the bed.
“You haven’t answered the question about your mother. Why didn’t you go with the flow and finalize Liancheng’s new identity?”
From Liang Chaosu’s angle, to see Father Liang’s face by the bedside, he would need to turn his head. He didn’t; he looked at his reflection in the window.
Outside, the night was deep. The glass was a mirror, reflecting the eerie and dark interior with nothing hidden.
In Liang Chaosu’s mind was the night Liancheng returned to the Liang family from Jade Mansion, pointing at the window with a heart-wrenching cry, his shadow in her eyes, which were then suddenly consumed and swallowed by spreading hatred.
He had never thought of taming her. Whether she was stubborn or played little games, he accepted it all. He just wanted her to be a little more obedient. At that time, the external pressure was immense, and he couldn’t pay attention to everything; he often returned to the Liang family, and it was easy to be discovered if he wasn’t careful.
The mother she feared was not even a real obstacle; the true person to guard against was someone else.
In fact, there were other ways.
Let her go, let her be clean and free, and when he was sure, he would go find her.
But he was despicable. Under the immense pressure day and night, she was his only anchor; he couldn’t leave her, couldn’t let go, bound tightly.
“This is just the beginning,” Liang Chaosu said, his tone declarative and inexplicably solemn, “She chose a new identity, and of course, I must satisfy her.”
Father Liang heard something in his words, his expression shifting uncertainly.
At the airport, Liancheng said she didn’t want to be a good person. She harbored hatred for Liang Chaosu and resentment towards the Liang family, yet she wanted to stay with the Liang family. Liang Chaosu pointed out that this was just the beginning.
“She wants to break the Liang family from within, to destroy you?” Father Liang’s brows furrowed tightly, sharp and sinister, “I think you’ve lost your mind and are seeking your own destruction.”
Liang Chaosu, having sat for a while, stretched his limbs, becoming a bit more languid, “If I don’t destroy myself, you intend to destroy me as well.”
Father Liang’s pupils contracted.
Liang Chaosu was neither anxious nor impatient, very indifferent, but there was a new chill in his eyes, more profound and sinister than the deep night outside.
“Your little maneuvers domestically can stop. Everyone in the Liang family is greedy; whether wolf or tiger, those from the branch families have been suppressed for too long and are starving fiercely. If you elevate them, the main line will be left with nothing but bones.”
Father Liang’s face completely darkened, “You think I will lose?”
Liang Chaosu’s gaze was intense, fixed on Father Liang, like a rope, strangling him.
“I know what you intend to do. You’re coaxing your wife to stay in the hospital, secretly instructing the doctor to prepare for pregnancy, hoping for a child in your fifties or sixties.”
“If that doesn’t work, you’ll settle for cultivating Liang Wenfei’s child. With an heir, the branch families won’t dare to go too far.”
“And you have great ambitions, planning for someone from the Liang family to enter politics within two generations. This is the root of why you object to Liancheng and me.”
Seeing that he understood completely, Father Liang suppressed his anger, “Money is like sand on the beach; even if it turns into capital, it only forms sandcastles. Power is the foundation. The tides of the era wash away sand, but the foundation remains firm. Is my plan incorrect?”
“Too greedy,” Liang Chaosu’s eyes were profound, with a third of mockery and seven parts coldness, “And you have already left a stain on yourself: attempted murder.”
Father Liang tensed suddenly, fire burning in his eyes. In his anger, there was even more ferocity.
The door suddenly opened; it was Xiao Da.
He walked quickly closer and handed Father Liang a document.
Father Liang opened it, his hand trembling; he barely managed to hold on, but it shook even more violently.
Liang Chaosu was like Jiang Taigong calmly fishing, his posture not entirely proper, but his demeanor was steady and composed.
“I fully believed you would take this step, and you must have thought of an escape plan. Secretary Fan will bear the charges.”
Father Liang turned the pages of the document to the end. There was no substantial evidence. All the turmoil subsided. When he looked up again, he had regained his strategic composure.
“What you’re saying, I don’t understand. If slandering your father benefits you in chasing a woman, then I can only admit that I, Liang Zhengping, have been wise my whole life, only to produce a lickspittle beneath a woman’s skirt.”
Liang Chaosu suddenly laughed twice, his chest resonating, “Are you guarding against me recording this? That kind of tactic is too low-level; I would use it to insult you.”
Xiao Da, receiving a signal, took out his phone and played a recording. It was Mother Liang’s voice, discussing an overseas call with Red Beard’s group, coaxing Liancheng to abort her child.
Father Liang was shocked and lunged towards Xiao Da, snatching the phone.
