Chapter 38
Joshua felt he was affected because he was the youngest son of the Ceylonka family, whose family had some influence in the council and was on good terms with the Bruce family. That's why he was taken away by Shen Shiqian's men at the hospital that day and interrogated repeatedly for two hours with three questions!
Not only did his act of bravery go unrewarded, but upon his return, he was inexplicably removed from the roster for this year's Four Schools League. His arch-rival, Joey, asked him suspiciously if he had offended Shen Shiqian. Joshua was both angry and aggrieved, so he decided to go to Sleika's house to complain to Basil.
That's right, the young master Basil, who once made a grand heroic rescue of the beauty, is still locked up at home by his father and reflecting on his mistakes. He hasn't even gone to school. It's said that he and his father have almost fallen out. Even though Basil fiercely said that he would sever their father-son relationship, Fernand didn't dare to let him out. He was both heartbroken and had a headache.
Even when confined, Young Master Basil was still served meals, desserts, and afternoon tea, and was well taken care of. After his terminal computer was confiscated, he could only use a quill pen that others had given him as a decoration to write and draw all over the house with a coating agent. When the housekeeping robot saw this messy scene, its data started to smoke.
Joshua sat on the only clean bed, eating an egg tart from his food cart: "So what I'm saying! Our family is at most Bruce's lackey. And I've been so cooperative, isn't my desire to join the military obvious enough? He actually kicked me out of the competition spot I worked so hard to get in this league, that's too much! I even made a bet with Joey that I would beat him in the mech battle in this league!"
Basil looked much more haggard, but strangely, he seemed to be in good spirits, as if he had made up his mind to do something big. His eyes, which were bright and piercing despite his dark circles, were as determined as if he were going to conquer the interstellar battlefield. His response to Joshua's words was very insincere, but also strangely sarcastic.
"Has the idol halo been shattered?"
"A little."
"Then what do you think if I say he stole my fiancée?"
Joshua's half-eaten egg tart fell from his mouth, and he almost choked as he mumbled, "Cough cough! Really?"
It's highly likely to be true. After all, since childhood, Basil has been the epitome of a noble young master in Kempe. Even Joey couldn't learn his arrogant and pretentious manner. He rarely gets so fixated on anything. That day, he was both arguing with Shen Shiqian and impersonating a clip to coax girls. He wouldn't believe it if he wasn't a hopelessly love-struck individual.
Although his friend was love-struck, based on his understanding, he was definitely not the kind of love-struck person who was clueless about his own feelings. He wouldn't go so far as to try to steal a woman from Shen Shiqian right away. But if Shen Shiqian was stealing him, it would be quite reasonable from the perspective of their status and position, but it would be a bit complicated from the perspective of their character.
Basil gave a cool, indifferent "heh".
Joshua had already imagined 300,000 words of love and hate for Kempin. He picked up the half-eaten tart that had fallen to the ground and continued eating it, his eyes filled with tears for their tragic love story. He said with genuine emotion, "Brother, you've had it so tough."
Basil: "My terminal was confiscated. You just happened to tell me how things ended up. Chris was such a coward. When I called him over, he said he was busy and wouldn't talk to me."
Joshua hesitated for a moment, thinking about his idol's downfall: "Do you want to hear good news or bad news?"
Basil: "I want to hear news that will make me happy."
Joshua sighed: "Does it count if we didn't catch White Sands and they all got away?"
Basil threw the quill on the table, stood up abruptly, and laughed heartily: "Ha! Shen Shiqian, you got your comeuppance for being so arrogant!"
Joshua was speechless: "How come you're just like those brainless haters on StarNet..."
Basil: "Not every brainless hater has had their fiancée stolen like me. If he really has that many brainless haters, it just means he's not a very good person, right?"
Joshua: ...
No, I can't think about this too much. The more I think about it, the more unsettling it seems. Anyway, since His Majesty Geno has already taken over the Third Legion that he wanted to join, it shouldn't be a problem for him to switch to the First Legion and find someone else to support. But the fact that the First Legion Commander's brother is an idiot makes it even harder to accept.
Joshua became increasingly frustrated. "Fine, you can play with my terminal. There are reports on StarNet, you can see for yourself."
After all, it's rare for a national phenomenon like Shen Shiqian to be punished for his mistakes. It's one thing for Kenpaen's big-name newspapers, but many entertainment reporters, tabloids, and online marketing accounts are scrambling to get a piece of the pie. The corporal punishment from the military and the sharing of power with His Majesty and the parliament are quite severe punishments for Shen Shiqian's status. As a result, his fans were provoked to be exceptionally fierce. They would attack any marketing account that made a dirty mouth. The last time such a scene was seen was when Bai Jinyu and Shen Shiqian were rumored to be dating. Two national figures, two fan groups, and even many fans of both, made for an unprecedentedly exciting feud.
While listening to these reports, Basil happily ate half a plate of cookies, drank a cup of vanilla tea, and even generously tipped some of the more critical media accounts. That is, until he saw a report titled "Central Prison Incident: The Truth Hidden Behind the Great Chaos in Kiria!" Its readership was pitifully low compared to the other reports, and even half of the readers had disliked it. It hadn't been published for long, and he figured Shen Shiqian's fans would be coming soon.
The report carefully analyzed Shen Shiqian's excellent coordination ability in the various battles he participated in since joining the military, and cited his brilliant undercover strategy during the Floating City Incident as an example to express doubts about the low-level mistake Shen Shiqian made this time, believing that there are unknown hidden reasons behind it.
What corroborates this is that after the space pirates escaped, Shen Shiqian did not go to the palace to report on his duties immediately, but only appeared in the public eye four hours later. Meanwhile, Li Zhun, the security minister who made the same mistake, was punished and dismissed from his post within an hour and a half after the incident. The two and a half hours in between, where he was and what he was doing, and why he did not come forward to explain in time, is very intriguing.
In addition, according to the testimonies of pedestrians on Corchari Street that day, besides the martial law imposed due to the pursuit of space pirates, there were other disturbances on the street. However, when asked about this matter now, the patrol teams will not say anything, but eyewitnesses have stated that someone was indeed injured that day.
It's hard to say whether there's a connection between the two, but let's make a bold assumption: Shen Shiqian may have been forced to admit to some kind of basic mistake in this incident that was inconsistent with his own character. As for the reason, this newspaper will continue to investigate and dig deeper, striving to clear the Marshal's name!
It's a local tabloid in Kempin called New United Chinese News, and the latest comments below have been flooded with comments from Shen Shiqian's fans: Get lost! You're a fake fan!
Basil couldn't even imagine what would have happened to Feng Ran if he hadn't happened to be in Eternal Square that day, and hadn't happened to pass by that intersection! Feng Ran's attitude towards Shen Shiqian was enough for him to see clearly. Confess? So his confession was that he betrayed Feng Ran and let the space pirates escape? A basic mistake? Didn't he find that ridiculous? Basil didn't know if he was negligent or not, but how could he dare to do that! Luckily, the space pirates escaped, and Feng Ran's injuries weren't serious. If they had really killed the hostage, would Shen Shiqian have regretted it or been afraid? In his opinion, a heartless hypocrite like him deserved to be alone forever!
Joshua was startled by his expression: "What's wrong? What did you see? You look terrible, like you're about to eat someone."
Basil pinched his trigeminal nerve, shaving his forehead until it was red, and said irritably, "I really don't know how long that old geezer is going to keep me locked up."
Joshua replied dryly, somewhat surprised by the change in address, after all, Young Master Basil used to be quite intellectual and polite, "So you hate him that much?"
Basil handed the terminal back to him: "Joshua, go and see if there's anyone behind this New United Chinese Society. If not, buy it for me."
Joshua also read the report, then looked at him suspiciously: "What are you trying to do?"
"I found something interesting."
Curiosity and exploration are the greatest driving forces for discovering the truth. Just wait, he will sooner or later expose Shen Shiqian's ugly face to the people of the entire empire.
/
By the time Xisen allowed Fengran to be discharged from the hospital and return to Shen Shiqian's home, there was hardly any time left in the semester. Shen Shiqian had been suspended from his job and was recovering at home, struggling to handle work every day, which was quite miserable, but Fengran didn't care.
Since Saroo and the Third Legion are now under the command of His Majesty Geno, the assistant in charge of assisting Shen Shiqian has been replaced by a man named Zuo Ling, who was promoted from the Second Legion. Feng Ran has some impression of him only because the Zuo family has been developing quite well in recent years and is showing signs of replacing the Feng family's prestigious status. When she was still in the Feng family, she often heard Feng Xiqiao curse those people with the surname Zuo.
Her original terminal was reportedly damaged during the inspection, and Zuo Ling bought her a new one. He also told Feng Ran that he and two other bodyguards would be responsible for her safety when she traveled in the future. They were all trusted confidants of the marshal and would not interfere with her daily life.
Feng Ran doesn't know if Zuo Ling harbors any resentment, since he probably didn't climb up here just to help Shen Shiqian take care of the child. But he guesses Fran will soon be resentful. Having bodyguards with her means she can no longer come and go from the villa as freely as before. Fran's long wait for her to call him back in Laplace is probably over.
Feng Ran's attitude towards Shen Shiqian was completely one of "what's the use?" As long as it didn't interfere with her current plans, she would just give him the cold shoulder and ignore him. As for what Shen Shiqian thought, did that matter? She didn't care. After all, she was an innocent victim who had been implicated, and she could stand on the moral high ground to judge him.
Of course, she welcomes Shen Shiqian's desire to reconcile. After all, her current persona is that of a heartbroken and disillusioned vase who only blindly obeys orders. How can you win back a desperate person without showing enough sincerity?
Feng Ran returned to school on the last day of her final exams. The scar on her neck was very light, and after the new flesh grew back, it blended into her original skin color and was almost invisible.
After the first exam, there was a half-hour break. Afu left her seat and came to find her: "Why did you take so long off this time? Is it a serious illness? You even missed the first snow festival dance. The other students in the class were heartbroken for a long time."
Feng Ran: "It's not a very serious illness, it's just that the attending physician is too persistent. He insists that I recover before he allows me to go out. I'm not that enthusiastic about the ball, but there's always basil, isn't there?"
Aphrodite: "Oh, you mean that? Basil also took a long leave of absence and only came back the day before yesterday. Both of the two big shots of the second-year prom were absent, and I heard that the auditorium was deserted on the day of the event."
Feng Ran: "Didn't you go?"
Afu: "My products haven't even arrived yet, so what's there to see? Of course I'm leaving early." She then pulled out a beautifully wrapped little gift and handed it to Feng Ran, "This is a gift I prepared for you. Although it's quite late, I still wish you a happy first snow day!"
Feng Ran's eyes sparkled: "Can I open it now?"
Afu: "Of course!"
Inside the gift box was a new Petra blue diamond Poirot bow tie, its color as clear and deep blue as the sea, clearly quite expensive. Although Fengran preferred natural IIA diamonds to rare blue diamonds, she was still very grateful for Afu's kindness.
Feng Ran: "Thank you, I really like it, but I haven't had time to prepare any of these. How about we go to the mall together to pick some out after the exams?" As she spoke, she took the bow tie out of the box and fiddled with the brand tag next to it. "But, it's Petra! You didn't sneak in any unwanted items, did you?"
"For example, if their brand ambassador for this quarter is Bai Jinyu, would you buy all the new products at once?"
Afu was somewhat annoyed that her prediction had been correct: "How could I be so..." She pondered for a long time, finally realizing that she had suffered zero damage to the enemy but also a lot of personal losses, "So fanatical..."
Feng Ran: "That's true, after all, you always fall in love with every girl you meet, and your love life doesn't last long."
Afu pouted, not telling Feng Ran that although this time it might be a bit longer, it wasn't for Bai Jinyu, but for someone else.
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