Chapter 17: Coward
Chapter 17: Coward
Are you a devil?
How could you even think of that?
With Old Man Chen here, even if Leng Mingda truly had the thought of dying to resolve this crisis, it would have been very hard for him to succeed!
Who would have guessed that she would actually have medical staff prepared on site?
Who would have believed she would also invite Old Man Chen, the Divine Physician of Great Qin?
People looked at Luo Xue standing in the center of the stage. A beam of light shone on her. Her neat short hair, her bright and charming face, and the relaxed, confident smile on her face were etched into the hearts of countless people.
This scene would probably be unforgettable for many people for the rest of their lives!
An angelic face, terrifying intelligence, super strong crowd-control ability, exceptional eloquence… this was what you called a woman of both beauty and wisdom!
Of course, in the minds of some, Luo Xue was a genuine enchantress!
Far away in that small private kitchen in Spring City, Gu Tong and Su Qingqing were already stunned speechless.
They did know a tiny bit in advance through their own channels, but what this press conference presented… had already completely exceeded their understanding.
Who would have thought that a press conference held by a group of young people could be this brilliant?
The entire online world was now completely exploding!
Whether it was a scandal or not, that was something for the experts to analyze later.
At this moment, almost everyone had only one feeling left—
These graduates from the Champion Class of Zongwu Academy were really… so damn awesome!
To clear their classmate’s name, they actually organized such a novel press conference.
Look at that poor man who fainted!
He was completely scared into unconsciousness!
If he really died, it would have been from sheer fright.
It was simply a dimensional strike!
No power to fight back at all!
Su Qingqing looked at Ling Yi: “Is Luo Xue really your girlfriend or not?”
Ling Yi glanced at her.
Su Qingqing said: “I’m just curious. Many people say you two are a pair.”
Ling Yi said: “Just buddies.”
Su Qingqing pouted, and turned her head back to the TV. Still unable to hold back, she muttered: “A girl like her as my sister-in-law… good as it sounds, I feel a bit scared… too smart! But this battle was really beautifully fought!”
…
With Old Man Chen here, Leng Mingda of course did not die.
He didn’t even need Old Man Chen to intervene. Those doctors wanting to show off in front of Old Man Chen quickly revived him.
Although he was revived, he wasn’t fit to stay here any longer.
He was directly carried away and sent to the hospital for observation.
The press conference was still continuing.
The evidence that the Cabinet staff member brought out earlier, after that little incident, was finally played.
Since it was surveillance footage, Luo Xue had someone fast-forward it continuously.
The scenes were all from the Zongwu Academy campus. Soon, Ling Yi’s tall and straight figure appeared.
The playback speed was slowed a little, but it was still on fast-forward.
The venue was quiet. Everyone stared at Ling Yi on the screen.
Even though it was fast-forwarded, everyone saw very clearly.
Countless cameras on site broadcast Ling Yi’s movement path to even more people—
Cross-referencing the time from Leng Mingda’s group’s video, Ling Yi saying he was miles away from the building where the Magical Artifact was kept at the same time was an exaggeration. But from start to finish, all the way past that time period, Ling Yi never got close to that place at all!
The later videos were also continuously fast-forwarded. In the end, Ling Yi returned to the Old Principal’s small villa at Zongwu Academy and never came out again.
When Ling Yi appeared in the video again, it was already the next morning!
Seeing this, the truth was already clear.
Whether the video that Leng Mingda and his few subordinates dared not hand over for inspection was real or fake, everyone also had an idea.
On Luo Xue’s face, from beginning to end, she wore a confident, knowing smile.
“The facts are clear, the evidence is solid. Zongwu has the right to expel a student who has made a major mistake, but it has no reason to ruin a young man of exceptional talent through such framing and false charges!”
Luo Xue stood on the stage and said seriously: “Please, Zongwu, respect the facts, respect the evidence, respect the position of Great Qin’s first and the world’s sixth that Principal Shen built for Zongwu over twenty years! Admitting a mistake and correcting it is what deserves praise!”
After saying this, Luo Xue bowed deeply to the media members below the stage.
The other sixteen young students from the Champion Class sitting on the stage all stood up together and bowed to the audience below.
There was a second of silence below the stage, followed by warm applause.
It lasted for a long time.
This press conference, though not long, was exceptionally brilliant, and now it was over.
But everyone knew that the storm triggered by this press conference had only just begun!
Early the next morning.
Su Qingqing, back in her military uniform, knocked on Ling Yi’s door. After entering, she sat on the sofa and looked at Ling Yi. “I booked this room for you for two months.”
“…”
Ling Yi looked at Su Qingqing: “Why book it for so long?”
“Our house renovation will take at least over a month, and that’s with the Engineering Department guys personally handling it. You have no idea, I went and begged Uncle Zhang myself, pleaded for quite a while before he agreed to bend the rules this once. He got Elder Hua from the Engineering Department to personally draw up the plans. Hey, let me tell you, the renderings Elder Hua made are just amazing!”
Ling Yi said somewhat helplessly: “Was it worth begging for something like this? Besides, with Elder Hua involved, how much will the renovation cost?”
Su Qingqing rolled her eyes: “You should be secretly delighted. Once it’s done, you’re the one living there. How many days of vacation do I get in a whole year? Actually, even if I went directly to beg Elder Hua, given Dad’s friendship with him, it would be fine. He even scolded me when he saw me, saying for something this small, I should have gone directly to him. As for the money, don’t worry. Big money we don’t have, but the cost for this renovation is no problem.”
“I have a third-tier Crimson Wolf Crystal Core here…” Ling Yi looked at Su Qingqing.
“You are not allowed to sell even one of those things! Even though you can’t use it now, you will need it in the future.” Su Qingqing looked at Ling Yi and said gently, “Times were so hard when you were little, but that didn’t crush you. This time certainly won’t either.”
For the old house renovation, she directly went to beg a Great Qin Academy of Engineering academician to personally design it. To vent his anger for him, she directly instructed her subordinates to slap that scoundrel hard. Faced with a Su Qingqing like this, saying anything more would just be affected.
“I’m older than you, but ever since we were kids, you’ve been like an older brother to me. Now I can finally do something for you. Let me have a little fun being the older sister, okay?”
Su Qingqing smiled playfully and looked at Ling Yi. “Alright, I have to go back. After the commotion your amazing classmates made last night, the blame on you will probably be cleared soon. But we still can’t let our guard down. About joining the Military Headquarters, you should think about it some more.”
Ling Yi nodded: “Okay, I understand. Let me walk you out.”
Su Qingqing shook her head: “No need. I don’t like the whole see-off thing. It feels awkward.”
She stood up, waved at Ling Yi, and left coolly.
Not long after Su Qingqing left, Luo Xue and a few classmates landed at Spring City Airport on an early morning flight.
Looking at the incoming call on his phone, Ling Yi somewhat speechlessly answered. Luo Xue’s cheerful voice came through: “Class President, did you watch the live stream last night? So? Did your girlfriend disappoint you?”
“Less of the nonsense. Are you in Spring City?”
“Wow, not seeing you for a while, and you’ve learned fortune-telling? Did you change careers to become a fortune teller?” Luo Xue joked with a laugh. At the same time, the voice of Boss He Qin came through—
“Old Nine, send your location quickly. We’re taking a cab over right now!”
Old Eight said, “Did you manage to get the golden small-scaled fish? That’s the whole reason I came this time!”
Ling Yi remained silent.
He quietly sent his location to He Qin.
On the other end, He Qin replied with a grinning emoji and an “OK” hand sign.
Alright, this meant things were done, everyone was safe and sound.
For the past few days, no one had responded to any of his messages.
An hour later, a group of people gathered in the suite Su Qingqing had booked for Ling Yi.
Luo Xue strolled around the room and clicked her tongue. “Not bad! You were seriously injured, your accounts were frozen, your credit score got trashed. I thought you’d be living a miserable life, but it looks like you’re doing pretty well!”
Ling Yi glanced at her. “It’s not that exaggerated. I’ve been fine. What about all of you… is everyone okay?”
The lean-built Old One, He Qin, grinned. “What could happen? Originally, we all planned to come together as a group, but then we thought that might be too showy. Plus, a few brothers and sisters were called back home by their parents to ‘receive education.’ So we decided to wait until the end of the year when things calm down, then organize a proper get-together.”
Ling Yi stayed quiet.
“Receive education?” More like they went home to get a spanking, right?
Most of his classmates came from wealthy or influential families; very few were from ordinary backgrounds. For those with strong family backing, which side they truly belonged to was often a mystery.
But these guys didn’t care about any of that. They had chosen to stand by Ling Yi’s side without hesitation.
How could he not be moved?
Old Eight Zhang Lei’s family had a high-ranking official. But Zhang Lei had acted like a spoiled playboy since he was young. Those who didn’t know him well would never believe that such a seemingly unruly, somewhat reckless guy could score high enough to enter Zongwu Academy.
And he had broken through to the Second Stage Acupoint Activation right after his twentieth birthday!
A genuine genius!
Zhang Lei said with a chuckle, “Ninth Brother, you weren’t there. You have no idea how awesome it was this time, really. It was so damn satisfying. Brothers and sisters united as one. Everyone turned off their communication devices, refusing to talk to anyone. We were dead set on taking down those bastards!”
Old Seven Sun Pengfei glanced at him. “Alright, who was the one getting chewed out over the phone on the way here?”
Zhang Lei laughed loudly. “Seventh Brother, you don’t understand how the elders in my family operate. If they didn’t call at all and stayed completely silent, that’s when I’d need to worry. Getting scolded basically means nothing happened at all!”
He Qin nodded. “True. Actually, within their circle, it’s not completely united. Not everyone has a weak spine.”
The group finally gathered, and as they chatted, they inevitably turned to last night’s press conference.
“That final piece of evidence couldn’t have been easy to obtain, right?” Ling Yi asked, looking at them.
When Ling Yi brought this up, everyone couldn’t help but smile, their expressions carrying a faint trace of relief.
He Qin looked at Ling Yi. “How to put it… It wasn’t extremely difficult. We had help. But it was a bit risky…”
Zhang Lei said, “When we started the press conference, we still hadn’t gotten the final piece of evidence. Luo Xue had to keep stalling by controlling the flow of the event. Our hearts were in our throats the whole time!”
Luo Xue grinned. “Those who stand for justice find support. Luck had to be on our side!”
Zhang Lei explained, “The surveillance video was captured by the academy’s internal monitoring system. To get it, we had to get into Zongwu’s monitoring room! You know what we’re capable of. We definitely could have hacked in, but evidence obtained that way… couldn’t be brought out into the open so brazenly.”
Ling Yi nodded. “Yeah, that would have given them a handle against us.”
Zhang Lei said, “That’s why that Cabinet staff member appeared on stage! His appearance wasn’t to endorse us, but to coordinate with the Military!”
He Qin took over, “Actually, all those surveillance videos had already been destroyed. So, it just goes to show the world is never short of smart people.”
This was a pointed remark at Luo Xue, who had mercilessly mocked the opponents’ intelligence during the press conference.
Luo Xue chuckled. “Tactically, we had to look down on them. That’s how we put immense pressure on them! That’s how we forced them to step forward and explain!”
He Qin smiled. “Well said. Your control of the situation was truly impressive. We were all sweating for you, but you stayed so calm the whole time. They were definitely scared.”
Hearing them recount the inside story of obtaining the evidence, even though it was over, Ling Yi could still imagine how tense it must have been.
That fake video might have looked crude to Luo Xue and the others, completely unable to withstand scrutiny, but in reality, all the surveillance footage from Zongwu Academy that day had already been wiped!
If Leng Mingda had held his ground back then, hadn’t been intimidated by Luo Xue’s commanding presence, hadn’t stepped onto the stage, then Luo Xue and the others would have had to carry on their one-sided performance alone.
If that had happened, the outcome would have been hard to predict.
Any delay could have easily turned the whole thing into a farce.
In a game like this, no one can claim victory until the very last moment.
But this time, they won!
Just half an hour before the press conference began, a group carrying secret orders from the Military quietly infiltrated Zongwu Academy.
Without anyone noticing, they suddenly acted, taking control of the academy’s monitoring room, a place not considered particularly crucial.
Then, with everything being recorded, experts from the Military restored the deleted data on the spot!
So, even when that young Cabinet staffer stepped onto the stage during the press conference, Zongwu Academy’s monitoring room was still under Military control!
By that point, the outcome of this confrontation was basically settled.
Looking back, it seemed Zhao Tianping and those behind him had somewhat underestimated the Military Headquarters’ determination.
They thought the Military was currently being suppressed and heavily weakened by Shen Xiaowu’s death, so it would surely keep its head down.
Moreover, in their view, even if the Military sought revenge, it would plan carefully over time, and the entry point wouldn’t be Ling Yi.
A mere Ling Yi, a ruined man—why would the Military go to such great lengths for him?
What right did he have to have the Military Headquarters clear his name?
Never mind he was Shen Xiaowu’s adopted son; even a biological son wouldn’t warrant it!
Who would have thought that this time, the Military actually did take action.
And they really did use the “Ling Yi incident” as the entry point, striking with thunderous force, hitting right at the vital spot!
The method wasn’t necessarily brilliant, but it was undoubtedly clean.
From start to finish, apart from using Military power to obtain the surveillance video at the very end, the entire affair had no visible connection to the Military!
The ones who stepped forward were Zongwu Academy’s own students!
This effectively limited the scope of the incident to the smallest possible range.
What the public saw was just a group of righteous young students speaking out against the injustice suffered by their classmate!
If successful, Ling Yi’s name would be cleared; if it failed, the higher-ups in the Military Headquarters wouldn’t be implicated.
The Academic Faction had only been gloating for a few days. After this turmoil, the Military basically recovered almost all the ground it had lost due to the series of setbacks following Principal Shen’s death.
He Qin laughed. “If Zhao Tianping doesn’t throw out a few sufficiently important scapegoats this time, he won’t be able to silence public opinion!”
Luo Xue sat on the sofa, her long legs crossed, and said quietly, “Those people’s mistake was treating Ling Yi like an ant they could crush at will. They can fight however they want amongst themselves, just don’t bring it to our doorstep. But if they dare bully my rumored boyfriend, they have to pay a heavy price!”
Zhang Lei guffawed. “Xue, I beg you, be bold and just drop the word ‘rumored,’ okay?”
Luo Xue pouted, putting on a pitiful look. “I’d love to, but the key person isn’t willing!”
Ling Yi shot her a glance. “Are you serious?”
Luo Xue giggled. “Fake, fake! Just teasing you. Don’t take it seriously.”
“Pfft!”
He Qin and the others, who had been watching the show while snacking, immediately looked scornful.
Coward!