Chapter 203: The Mastermind
Chen Lin said with a fawning smile, "Does this even need to be appraised? Anyone with eyes can see that the broken edges of these porcelain shards are jagged. This is clearly low-quality clay—they’re absolute fakes! Teacher Zhang didn’t make a mistake! He was just tricked by Zhang Han’s sleight of hand!"
Tears streamed down Zhang Zhigang’s face. He had thought his reputation would be ruined today, that he would be forced to withdraw from the world of antiquities for good.
But he never expected that Cheng Yuan, with a casual move, would expose the truth!
His reputation was finally saved!
Zhang Zhigang suppressed his turbulent emotions and slowly walked over to the two piles of porcelain shards to conduct a serious appraisal.
TINK! TINK! TINK!
With each tap from Zhang Zhigang, the fake porcelain shards emitted a dull thud. Zhang Zhigang spoke in a deep voice, "Honored guests! Dear friends watching the stream! Did you hear that sound? Is it the same as when I appraised it the first time?"
All the guests bowed to Zhang Zhigang in unison, offering their sincere apologies.
"Teacher Zhang, you weren’t mistaken! You are the most professional master of antiquities! We were wrong! We never should have doubted you!"
The livestream chat was also filled with a chorus of apologies.
Zhang Zhigang smiled and waved his hand. "Honored guests, and dear friends watching the stream, there’s no need to apologize! None of you were wrong! The one at fault was Zhang Han for pulling a bait and switch! I, Zhang Zhigang, promise you once again! Our Yuanxi will not let a single fake pass us by! Nor will we fail to recognize a single treasure! We welcome everyone to visit Yuanxi at any time to guide our work!"
While everyone’s attention was on Zhang Zhigang, Zhang Han began to quietly back away, planning to take advantage of the chaos and slip out unnoticed.
Unfortunately for him, the viewers all had eagle eyes. They spotted Zhang Han’s furtive movements and immediately spammed the chat with warnings.
"The Magician is trying to slip away! Quick, someone tell Mr. Cheng!"
"Catch that despicable Magician! You have to find out who’s pulling the strings!"
Veteran saw the viewers’ warnings. Having a personality that despised evil, he suddenly shot up from his seat, rushed toward Zhang Han, and seized him by the arm.
"Hey, old man! Where do you think you’re going? With Master Cannon here, you’re not going anywhere today!"
Veteran’s actions drew everyone’s attention. A crowd quickly gathered around them, shouting angrily.
"You slandered Yuanxi and Teacher Zhang, and you think you can just walk away? Not so fast! With us here, you’re not going anywhere today!"
"Brothers! Let’s get him! Take this bastard down! Get justice for Yuanxi! Get justice for Teacher Zhang!"
Zhang Han could have killed Veteran. He had almost managed to escape, only to be foiled by this big oaf!
Seeing he was about to be mobbed, a vicious glint flashed in Zhang Han’s eyes. With a flick of his wrist, he produced a razor blade from nowhere and said coldly, "You’re asking for it, big guy. Don’t blame me for what happens next!"
With that, Zhang Han flicked his wrist, and a silver glint shot straight for Veteran’s neck!
The surrounding guests never imagined that Zhang Han, cornered, would lash out and attack someone with a blade. They gasped in shock and instinctively backed away several steps, terrified of getting hurt.
Only Cheng Yuan moved. In a flash, he was in front of Zhang Han. With a flip of his own wrist, he accurately seized Zhang Han’s.
Cheng Yuan applied a little pressure.
Cheng Yuan’s strength was immense. Unable to withstand it, Zhang Han cried out in pain as the blade slipped from between his fingers!
With another flick of his wrist, Cheng Yuan deftly caught the falling blade.
Cheng Yuan’s two fingers fluttered like nimble butterflies. The blade danced across his fingertips, a glittering silver Elf.
WHOOSH!
The blade in Cheng Yuan’s hand came to rest against the major artery in Zhang Han’s neck. "Playing with blades in front of me? You’ve got another hundred years of practice before you’re ready for that."
It all happened in less than a second. Veteran thought he was a dead man and had squeezed his eyes shut.
But when he opened them, he saw that Mr. Cheng had already subdued Zhang Han. Veteran was overcome with excitement.
"Mr. Cheng, you’re incredible! Thank you for saving my life, Mr. Cheng!"
Cheng Yuan grinned. "Brother Pao, you’re too kind. I should be the one thanking you. If it weren’t for you stepping up, Zhang Han might have already gotten away."
Seeing that Cheng Yuan had the situation completely under control, Lin Xinghe, Hua Yao, and Lin Ruoxi strode out from backstage and walked up to Zhang Han.
Hua Yao launched into a furious tirade. "You, Zhang! Who told you to slander Yuanxi? Spit it out, now! Otherwise, we’ll make sure you rot in prison!"
Knowing he couldn’t escape, Zhang Han prepared to confess everything without hesitation. "I’ll talk. It was..."
But Cheng Yuan suddenly cut him off.
"President Hua, we don’t have the authority to do this. We should hand him over to the Patrol Office. I trust the Patrol Office will give us a proper resolution."
With that, Cheng Yuan personally escorted Zhang Han toward the conference room.
The online influencers and Wang Liang hurried over. "Mr. Cheng, Zhang Han was about to confess. Why didn’t you let him speak? Wouldn’t it be better to have him expose the mastermind in front of the audience all across Dongshan Province?"
Cheng Yuan spoke very seriously. "Reporter Wang, and all our influencer friends, you’ve all been misled by Zhang Han once. Can you really trust his words now? Think about it—it’s obvious who is trying to slander Yuanxi. If Yuanxi were to collapse, who would benefit the most? Whose toes did Yuanxi step on?"
Wang Liang and the influencers nodded in agreement. They really couldn’t trust anything Zhang Han said.
Besides, Cheng Yuan’s words had given them a new angle for their reporting. All they had to do was figure out who had the most to gain from Yuanxi’s downfall!
It had to be the established players in the industry!
’This time, I really wasn’t trying to trick anyone,’ Zhang Han thought, feeling deeply wronged. ’I was going to tell the whole truth. Why didn’t Mr. Cheng give me a chance to speak?’
Lin Xinghe, Hua Yao, and Lin Ruoxi followed Cheng Yuan into the conference room. Hua Yao asked hesitantly, "Xiaoyuan, it looked like Zhang Han was really about to confess. Why didn’t you let him talk?"
Zhang Han quickly chimed in, "It’s already come to this! I have no reason to lie anymore! I really was going to confess!"
Cheng Yuan snorted in contempt. "I don’t need you to confess. I already know. The Lin Family sent you, didn’t they?"