Chapter 181: Public Opinion Ferments Again, So We’re Not Allowed to Go to the Ghost Market?

Yang Jiao said, "Won’t it be unsafe for two girls like us?"

"It’s a real mixed bag—all sorts of people show up. Should I bring my bodyguards?"

Gu Shengsheng shook her head. "No need. I’ll be livestreaming from my phone."

"My fans will be there with me."

With that, Gu Shengsheng slung her small bag over her shoulder and, when it was about time, headed out with Yang Jiao.

Before they even reached the door, Lin Kai came rushing up in a panic!

He knocked urgently and said, "Young Madam, Miss Yang. You need to get back inside, quickly. There’s a crowd of people waiting at the entrance."

Gu Shengsheng found this odd and asked directly, "What are they waiting for?"

"Is it reporters?"

After pulling them back inside, Lin Kai explained, "Here’s the situation, Young Madam. You should check Weibo on your phone. A lot of people are saying you’re just shuffling money from one hand to the other—a complete sham. They’re accusing you of money laundering with those artifacts you brought back from Anxi."

Gu Shengsheng sat down, opened her phone, and calmly looked at the number one trending topic.

#Huaxia Authorities Verify Gu Shengsheng’s Money Laundering, Artifacts Seized#

#Gu Shengsheng Money Laundering, Seize Her Assets Immediately#

The internet was flooded with wild rumors and all kinds of gossip.

After a quick look, Gu Shengsheng said, "This is all just baseless speculation. It was difficult for me to transport the artifacts back to Beijing City, so I asked Zhang Lianqing to help."

"For this to have blown up so much, someone must be orchestrating it from behind the scenes."

Lin Kai nodded frantically. "That makes sense, Young Madam. We figured as much. But this is not the way we wanted things to go!"

"The public outcry against you is huge right now. You should avoid going out."

The boss has the legal team deleting comments, but at the very least, you can’t go out tonight.

This time, the Heizi have hired even more paid trolls.

Gu Shengsheng wasn’t a fool. Even before her visit to the Imperial Palace Museum, these rumors had been spreading like wildfire.

Then, suddenly, the news died down.

It seemed someone on her side had helped, but now her opponents had ramped up their attack, choosing the cover of night. They were clearly determined to cause trouble for Gu Shengsheng.

Gu Shengsheng sat there, reading the online comments with great relish, enjoying the drama. She was amazed at how netizens could analyze these fabricated accusations so convincingly, things she herself knew nothing about.

Combined with some out-of-context photos, even she might have believed it if she weren’t the one living through it!

Meanwhile, Director Gao Liu was worried sick!

His assistant was also concerned. "Director, the Beijing Museum was planning to ask Miss Gu to be our promotional ambassador. She’s talented, attractive, and most importantly, she’s an appraiser with a decent following. In that regard, she’s as good as any celebrity."

"But the list we submitted was just approved today, and now this story about Gu Shengsheng breaks—and it’s about money laundering, of all things. This isn’t right. Should we... terminate the contract?"

"Our museum’s representative can’t have this kind of reputation."

After hearing this, Gao Liu also read through much of the public commentary, his expression growing serious. "No, we’re not terminating the contract. This is all just a deliberate attempt to ruin her reputation."

"When you make a lot of money, who isn’t going to be envious?"

It’s just that everyone goes through something like this on their path to fame. What we need to do now is observe and stand firm in our choice of Gu Shengsheng...

Even speaking for himself, Gao Liu trusted Gu Shengsheng.

"Now, we’ll see what she does. As for the Beijing Museum’s spokesperson, I won’t consider anyone but her."

"This whole controversy is baseless. The reality is nothing like what they’re claiming."

His attitude was perfectly clear. The assistant nodded and prepared to leave to attend to other work.

Gao Liu thought to himself, ’When the time is right, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to voice my support for her on Weibo.’

He also called Gu Shengsheng. "Shengsheng, you’ll need to be careful about how you clarify this. Don’t let your reputation be ruined by these baseless accusations."

"Of course, we will help you clarify things as well."

Because the online outcry was so massive, most people didn’t know the facts and were jumping to conclusions about Gu Shengsheng based on just a few viral posts.

She had a long future ahead of her; it shouldn’t be derailed by such rumors and slander.

Gu Shengsheng replied, "It’s a small matter, Director. These kinds of baseless accusations are common. I’ll start a livestream right now to explain the situation."

It wasn’t that she was completely unconcerned, but many people were starting to steer the narrative, claiming that Gu Shengsheng had only gotten this far because she had a powerful backer.

The rumors were growing more and more outrageous; they needed to be cleared up.

She stood up and said, "Sister Yang Jiao, let’s go. We’re going to the Ghost Market."

Yang Jiao thought she had misheard. "We’re still going now?"

Lin Kai was even more anxious. "There are too many people out there, just waiting to dig up some dirt on you."

"Then let’s go meet them." She had handled aggressive foreign reporters with ease before, so this didn’t particularly faze her.

Gu Shengsheng put on a black overcoat and a knitted plaid scarf. Even dressed so casually, she exuded an exceptional elegance.

Of course, Yang Jiao was also dressed exquisitely in a shearling coat.

The two of them walked out, unhurried and composed.

Gu Shengsheng stood right at the entrance of Wanliu District, watching as a horde of reporters pushed their way in, on the verge of arguing with the security guards.

Gu Shengsheng stood there with her arms crossed. "It’s the middle of the night. What are you all doing, causing a scene at my residential district’s entrance?"

The crowd immediately realized that Gu Shengsheng herself had come out. They were stunned for a moment, not expecting their target to be handed to them so effortlessly.

The quickest to react was already asking, "Miss Gu, your performance at the Imperial Palace Museum was outstanding and a source of pride for us all. However, recent exposés claim that you were able to acquire so many artifacts in Anxi because you were engaged in a sham transaction, laundering money."

"Regarding this whole self-directed drama, don’t you think you’re being phony?"

As everyone frantically snapped photos, Gu Shengsheng stood there with a calm expression. "I’m as phony as you are hypocritical."

She shrugged, then turned on her livestream.

"Since so many people are here, I’ll just explain everything clearly to both my online and offline audiences at once! Otherwise, what’s to stop all of you here from maliciously editing my words again?"

"I’m not a celebrity. I don’t need to feed off your traffic. If I have a problem with someone, I’ll call them out directly."

She continued, "Don’t waste my time with baseless accusations. I brought back so many artifacts from Anxi. Why would I bother buying fakes?"

"Whether they’re real or fake isn’t for me to decide. This was already brought up back in Anxi, and at the time, I had them appraised with the police department. If you don’t believe it, then wait until about this time tomorrow. An appraisal event will be held at Director Gao Liu’s museum. We’ll let the experts determine if they’re real or fake."

Since she was set to become the Beijing Museum’s ambassador, the increased attention on this event tomorrow would also help drive traffic to the museum.

’People love drama, after all. Might as well make good use of this malicious setup.’

"Let the professionals handle professional matters, shouldn’t we?"

When Gao Liu saw her statement, his eyes grew warm. ’That girl, Shengsheng,’ he thought, ’she’s still looking out for the museum!’