Chapter 28
Chapter 28: The Shock of a Yun Jing University Professor!
Zhao Yan Group had come to River City to find a partner. This was crucial—how could they decide on a partner in a single day?
Zhou He Chen had his secretary investigate the movements of the other major families. None of them were the person who had gotten ahead of him that morning to talk business with Quan Zhao Ning.
He didn’t believe anyone in River City could make Quan Zhao Ning give up on him, or on Madam Zhou Group.
“I’m very sorry, Sir Zhou.” The special assistant was neither humble nor arrogant. “This is company confidential information. We can’t disclose it.”
Zhou He Chen laughed out of anger, his expression turning cold. “If President Quan doesn’t want to cooperate with Madam Zhou Group, she can just say so. There’s no need to invent a partner. In that case, I wish Zhao Yan Group smooth sailing from now on.”
He wanted to see how hard the road would be after Quan Zhao Ning chose the wrong person.
Zhou He Chen took Sheng Yun Yi’s hand and left with a cold face.
The special assistant relayed every word to Quan Zhao Ning.
“Looks like you really can’t judge by appearances.” Quan Zhao Ning’s tone was flat. “Zhou He Chen looks respectable, but he’s petty to the point of ugliness.”
She took a sip of wine. “Compared to his brother, he’s far behind.”
Unfortunately, two years ago the Zhou Family’s eldest young master fell into a vegetative state after a car accident. Otherwise, Madam Zhou Group would never have fallen to Zhou He Chen to inherit.
The special assistant couldn’t help asking, “President Quan, are you really going to cooperate with Miss Ye? Maybe we should…”
This Miss Ye was so young. Leaving aside her middle-school education, she hadn’t even stepped into society. How could she understand how vicious business warfare could be?
If she ruined Zhao Yan Group…
Quan Zhao Ning didn’t answer. She only waved lightly. “Go out first.”
The special assistant could only withdraw.
“Miss Ye, I read the materials you gave me,” Quan Zhao Ning said over the phone later. “It’s truly shocking.”
Zhao Yan Group was one of the giants in the entertainment industry, with film and television, games, music production, and other companies under its umbrella.
Shen Zhou culture had declined. Three hundred years had passed since the war that nearly wiped out Shen Zhou, and it still hadn’t recovered.
Quan Zhao Ning believed cultural revival and intangible cultural heritage would be the next boom, but she still hadn’t found a plan she was satisfied with.
The cultural break was too severe. Many traditions had already vanished. Relying on a handful of intangible-heritage artisans was nowhere near enough.
Until Ye Wan Lan appeared.
Quan Zhao Ning even had an absurd, fairytale-like feeling that one day Shen Zhou could regain the glory of the Great Ning Dynasty—every nation paying tribute, all corners rejoicing.
“But, Miss Ye,” Quan Zhao Ning said, “your file mentions Heavenly Music arts, Tai Yi Needle Art, Divine Strategy Spear Method, Penglai arts…”
Her brows knit. “There have always been rumors that the Six Great Sects left inheritances behind after they died in battle. But aside from the Yun Jing Lin Family being confirmed as descendants of Heavenly Music Hall, the other sects have no news at all. Where are we supposed to find those cultural inheritances?”
Ye Wan Lan laughed softly. “Don’t worry, President Quan. I know a thing or two about all of that.”
Quan Zhao Ning went silent.
For some reason, she felt Ye Wan Lan’s “I know a thing or two” didn’t mean what she thought it meant.
“Then I’ll look forward to your guidance, Miss Ye,” Quan Zhao Ning said, exhaling. “Oh, and you don’t have to be polite to that brat Jiang Xu Lin. If he doesn’t work properly, tell me. I’ll break his legs.”
The call ended.
Ye Wan Lan set down her phone and flipped through the study materials Lin Wen Li had given her.
They looked like two books he’d grabbed at random, but the pages were filled with his notes.
Ye Wan Lan closed her eyes. The hand pressing on the paper trembled.
They were supposed to have been siblings who lived in harmony, but…
How was she supposed to make up for the four years the Transmigrator had stolen?
Hatred and killing intent surged and receded, crushing her chest.
It took a full three minutes for her breathing to steady.
She was a law-abiding citizen now. She couldn’t kill.
“The Battle of Yan Mountain… Royal Brother…” Ye Wan Lan murmured. “That was so long ago.”
In the blink of an eye, three hundred years had passed.
And her closest family hadn’t even left behind whole bodies.
Ye Wan Lan lowered her gaze, dug out several historical sources, and sent them all to Lin Wen Li.
As the person who had disguised herself as the Prince of Yan, no one understood that history better than she did.
Not even the history books.
—
The next morning, at River City No. 1 High School.
Grade 11 Experimental Class 1’s open class drew many guests. Besides senior high school teachers, there were professors from Yun Jing University.
Lin Wen Li gripped his notebook and drew a slow breath.
“Wen Li, don’t put so much pressure on yourself,” the Chinese teacher encouraged him. “You’re already doing great.”
“I know, Teacher,” Lin Wen Li said quietly.
But he didn’t dare relax for even a second.
Ever since Ye Wan Lan became Zhou He Chen’s stand-in, he had been on guard every moment, afraid the feuds of River City’s powerful families would spill over onto their family. All he could do was keep studying.
To trust Ye Wan Lan completely… he couldn’t.
Lin Wen Li loaded the PowerPoint, picked up a piece of chalk, and began his pre-class presentation.
He started by reviewing the Battle of Yan Mountain, a required topic in seventh-grade history.
The Prince of Yan was made a prince at sixteen. In four years, he swept away every bandit force in the Northwest. From then on, the Northwest had no royal court.
The Chinese teacher nodded, satisfied.
Using the Battle of Yan Mountain as the topic was safe and steady. She truly hadn’t misjudged Lin Wen Li.
“But the Battle of Yan Mountain has a doubt,” Lin Wen Li said, his voice steady at last. “How did the Prince of Yan reach the border so quickly from Yan City?”
He looked up. “So the one stationed in Yan City at the time wasn’t the Prince of Yan himself. The Prince of Yan was secretly on campaign. To keep the enemy from realizing it, someone else had to impersonate him.”
He paused, then said clearly, “And the only person who could impersonate the Prince of Yan was Princess Yong Ning.”
Silence fell across the classroom for a heartbeat—then laughter exploded.
“Lin the Study God, stop making things up. What kind of trashy history did you read?”
“Princess Yong Ning stayed in the capital, Feng Yuan. How could she have been in Yan City, impersonating the Prince of Yan?”
“Historians have studied the Battle of Yan Mountain inside out. If this were real, they’d know. Are you better than them?”
The Chinese teacher went pale.
Lin Wen Li was always cautious. How could he believe wild tales and make such a mistake?
This was an open class with senior teachers everywhere.
She had to intervene. “Wen Li, you can skip this part. Move on to the next section.”
Lin Wen Li clenched his fist. His lips pressed tight.
He knew it. Ye Wan Lan was still the same—just like during those four years. She loved tricking him and watching him make a fool of himself.
And yet he had still believed her.
In the left rear of the classroom, a gray-haired history professor from Yun Jing University stared in shock.
Princess Yong Ning had disguised herself as a man, impersonated the Prince of Yan, and held Yan City for three months.
That was a new discovery from the Yun Jing Archaeology Center two days ago, and it hadn’t been announced to the public.
How could a Grade 11 student know?