Yang Dailu's subtle nudges, which Liang Zixin expertly carried out, began to come together into a more secretive campaign against Liang Chen. Their tactics changed from just controlling information to actively interfering with Horizon Tech's daily operations, even though they could still deny it. It was a war fought in secret, meant to make people think that Liang Chen's leadership was chaotic and ineffective. It was perfectly timed to coincide with the cyber threats from outside that were already taking up a lot of his time.
Specific acts of sabotage that were almost impossible to see became more common. Somehow, important communications between departments got "misrouted," which made it take longer to get projects approved. People who shared management systems changed project timelines in small ways, which caused deadlines to be missed that looked like Liang Chen's fault. Also, Liang Zixin, with his mother's careful help, started pushing for the use of bad vendor choices or slightly flawed strategies in meetings where Liang Chen's attention was split. These choices, which seemed harmless, were carefully planned to cause future problems and waste money that would make the CEO look bad in the end.
Liang Chen was already under a lot of stress from the ongoing cyberattacks and Grandfather Liang Zhong's demands. Now, he was starting to feel the weight of all these "misfortunes" inside. He saw that his divisions were having more and more problems, like friction, slowdowns that made no sense, and bottlenecks that made him angry. He couldn't find any direct malice, but a low-level suspicion started to grow. He might think it's because of unexpected problems in the system or even his own divided focus, but these internal problems kept piling on stress and draining his energy.
Yang Dailu's cunning and Liang Zixin's ambition made this internal sabotage look like it was done perfectly. They worked together to make Liang Chen look overwhelmed and incompetent, which made Liang Zixin look like the more stable and reliable choice for president. They worked hard, a strong and often underrated duo, convinced they were not only hurting an opponent but also correcting a perceived wrong, making it clear that Liang Zixin should take the power they thought was rightfully his.