I was a prince in the Middle East

Chapter 28 The King of Wa Returns! His Weibo phishing attempt backfires spectacularly, resulting in a complete internet slap in the face!
The morning sunlight was intensely scorching.

There was no way around it; the extremely dry climate and intense sunshine caused the temperature in Riyadh in May to soar to 33 degrees Celsius even at 8 a.m.

Sunlight, like molten gold, poured into the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of the palace restaurant, shining so brightly on the pure gold tableware that it blinded Walid.

Well, even though he had been in the world for four months, he still had a slight urge to hide the cutlery in his robe.

Suppressing the shameful thought, Walid slowly and deliberately cut a piece of Kunafah dessert drizzled with date syrup with a knife.

The cloyingly sweet aroma was completely out of place with the abacus beads clicking away in his mind at that moment.

He picked up the bone china cup, the scalding, bitter coffee sliding down his throat, his gaze seemingly casually sweeping over his father in the main seat.

Old Deng was wiping his mouth with a snow-white napkin, his movements revealing an barely suppressed irritation.

"Father,"

Walid put down his cup, his voice steady as a weight, "The matter concerning Prince Bandar... is it still not settled?"

At this moment, his inner calculations were running wild:
That shale oil company is like a golden thorn stuck in my throat!

Is this old man (Deng) any good or not?

It's been over half a month already, and it's still not over?

How much of my plans have been delayed? Confiscate their property, hurry up and confiscate it!

Prince Khalid sighed heavily, a sound so profound it could bend the back of a pure gold chair.

He waved away the servants, leaving only the father and son in the dining room.

"Quickly?"

Prince Khalid snorted coldly, his voice deep and heavy, a barely suppressed rage lurking beneath his weariness.
"That old fox is having a great time right now! All those interrogation methods are completely ineffective against him!"

Walid was stunned. "Invalid?"

He hissed. He hadn't realized that Prince Bandar had any red genes.

How can it withstand so much?
Prince Khalid nodded helplessly. "The draw you orchestrated effectively turned all his crimes into 'attempts'."

Therefore, the consensus within the royal family was to maintain a dignified appearance.

This guy saw through that, so now he's completely unresponsive!
Judicial immunity has become his indestructible shell, while the lousy place of the religious court has become his turtle cave!

We can't put him in detention yet; we can only place him under house arrest at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. That's more befitting of his princely status!

The hotel's name almost made Walid burst out laughing.

Ok……

No wonder Muhammad beat up the princes in this hotel in his previous life.

It seems to be a continuation of the same lineage.

Walid's tone was clearly disdainful, "Give him the high-intensity boost!"
Dad, you didn't skimp on the food for those religious police officers, did you?
Let them put in some effort.

Prince Khalid curled his lip in annoyance, "How are we supposed to go?"
Treason can be punished, but it was unsuccessful...

Islamic law forbids the use of punishment against members of the royal family who have not committed the four unforgivable sins of adultery, treason, apostasy, and homosexuality.

Moreover, the consensus above is to spare his life, so torture to extract a confession is not an option.

If I were left with scars, I would be attacked by members of the royal family.

The principle that princes should not be punished is a common aspect that a social class needs to maintain.

Just like the choice between building a primary school or a prison, politicians in all countries would choose to build a prison.

Walid rolled his eyes. "Dad, why don't you let me eat, drink, or sleep, or force-feed me water and prevent me from going to the toilet?"

That's it?

The look in his son's eyes, as if to say, "Old Deng, are you even capable?", made Prince Khalid's lips twitch.

He slammed his hand on the table, his voice suddenly rising, "No food, no drink, no sleep, no toilet? Ha!"

Who is Bandar? The Director of the General Intelligence Directorate!
This little trick isn't even enough to fill his teeth!

Decent? He can do without it; he can just lay down on the floor and sleep on it.

What will you do? What can you do?

His fingers tapped the table unconsciously.

The constant thumping was unsettling.

Khalid gave a short, cold laugh. "Son, you underestimate Bandar."

Even if we threaten him with his children, guess what?

They can't even be bothered to lift their eyelids!
They say things like, "It's fate for a daughter to marry her enemy," and "Since they've enjoyed such a comfortable life for so many years, this is the price they have to pay."

He had a resigned, dead-faced look on his face, but deep down he was determined to tear the royal family's clothes off and show them to everyone!
He was proficient in all forms of torture; ordinary methods were completely ineffective in breaking down his psychological defenses.

He clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"Even without his own testimony, he can still be convicted!"
But what about a public trial?
Even if it's just a formality behind closed doors in the Vatican, what good could Bandar possibly say out of his mouth?
Which of his shady dealings wasn't connected to the royal family's fig leaf?

"That would be a disgrace to the entire family! It would be a disgrace to the very foundation of the kingdom!"

Walid listened quietly.

He accurately grasped the core demand behind that helplessness—to achieve the desired result while maintaining the dignity of the royal family.

The opportunity is coming!

"Are you just going to keep dragging this on?"

Walid raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone subtly laced with a touch of youthful arrogance and skepticism.

"Let Bandar fatten up in the Ritz-Carlton's presidential suite while he laughs at us for being a bunch of useless trash?"

Khalid glared at his son with a sharp, piercing look and gave a cold snort.

Do you have a way to get him to talk?

Walid shrugged. "Father, this isn't difficult. It's just that you're not ruthless enough. Why don't you let me give it a try?"

Khalid frowned, about to scold his son for his arrogance, but stopped abruptly.

This kid... his performance in that ridiculous match against Bandar half a month ago was just too monstrous. He might actually have some tricks up his sleeve.

Besides, Bandar is probably a little scared of this kid going. My men are timid and hesitant, afraid of being labeled as "disrespectful to the prince." How can they be as unrestrained as this kid?
Forget it, let's try it out.

That wicked energy emanating from this kid might just be able to tear that old fox's mouth open.

It's better than being stuck here and losing face for the entire royal family!
He nodded and said, "It's not that you can't give it a try. But..."

Prince Khalid quickly added, "Walid, remember this!"
There must be a bottom line! Royal family members must never be tortured; not even the slightest trace of torture can be left!

I want him to open up, confess, and clean up this mess with dignity.

He paused, lowering his voice even further, "The best course of action is... to negotiate. Let him understand that voluntarily retracting his confession in exchange for exile or house arrest is better than dragging everyone down to hell with him!"

"Father,"

Walid gave a confident smile and elegantly dusted off the cuffs of his robe.
“Give me a day. I’ll go and have a deep conversation with Uncle Bandar. Maybe I can help him understand what the word ‘decency’ means.”

He deliberately pronounced the words "communication" and "decency" slowly and heavily, and even a blind person could understand the meaning behind them.

Haha! It's just forced confession...

Today, Master Wa will show them the profoundness of five thousand years of culture!

Khalid gave him a deep look, his eyes a tangled mess of emotions, but finally nodded.

"Go. Take your men with you. Walid, remember my words: be respectable! Be respectable!"

"clear."

Walid bowed slightly, then turned and left.

After all, Bandar's shale oil company is based in the United States.

Bandar's 22-year tenure as ambassador to the United States allowed him to establish extremely broad and deep personal relationships with the American political, especially Republican, business, and intelligence communities.

Prince Bandar also has the title 'Bandar Bou,' which is enough to illustrate his relationship with the Bou family.

He even played a pivotal role in persuading Bush to send troops to liberate Kuwait and in coordinating with Saudi Arabia to allow the US military to use its military bases.

As long as such a person does not plead guilty and obtain an impeccable legal verdict, he will never be able to get his hands on the shale oil company.

The sunlight fell on his straight back, but Prince Khalid couldn't feel any warmth at all.

Well, you could tell from last time that this kid is indeed ruthless.

……

The deep blue Bentley Mulsanne Versailles 65 armored limousine glided like a silent shark through the somewhat deserted streets of Riyadh in the morning.

The air conditioning was turned up high, effectively blocking the sweltering heat from outside the window.

In the passenger seat, Angari Jr. was like a sophisticated instrument, silently monitoring everything.

Meanwhile, in the back seat behind the partition, Walid's mind raced. Bandar, that old turtle shell—threats from his children were ineffective, conventional methods of keeping him occupied were ineffective, and he was protected by judicial immunity…

Where is the breakthrough?

Walid smirked.

He opened his tablet and skillfully logged into Sina Weibo.

The login screen popped up, and he tapped it to enter his username and password.

An officially verified account appeared prominently on the screen, with a gold "V" sign clearly displaying: Prince Alwaleed bin Khalid of Saudi Arabia.

Open the release box and your slender fingers tap rapidly on the virtual keyboard.

With a crooked smile, King Varian has returned!

"Hilarious! Laughing torture was clearly invented by us Arabs! Why is it that people always try to steal it from us?"

Dear Chinese friends, didn't your ancestors invent such civilized and woundless torture techniques?

The moment the send button was pressed, the crooked-mouthed war god's eyes became even more sinister.

There's nothing I can do; he knows absolutely nothing about torture techniques!
But he understands Chinese netizens.

In that Chinese internet, there are too many enthusiastic netizens with the surnames Jia Xu and Cheng Yu.

Moreover, he understands even better the surging patriotism and pride in history and culture of that land.

They will never tolerate accusations of "cultural plagiarism".

and so……

"Come on! Come on! Slap this king's face!"

Sure enough, within minutes, the tablet started vibrating wildly, and the notification bar was instantly flooded with red numbers.

Weibo exploded instantly.

Netizens were initially astonished by the account that claimed to be verified under the name of a Saudi prince:
"??? This ID... 'Prince Valid himself'? Are you kidding me? Are scammers this brazen now?"

"Cosplaying a Saudi prince? Dude, that's a bit too much, and you even need to get real-name authentication for cosplay?"

"+1 to the comment above, it's definitely a fake account or a photoshopped image!"

"Wait a minute. I accidentally clicked on the homepage! Holy crap! What's that shiny gold V certification?!"

"Wait! I found His Highness's profile picture! It's a candid photo! His Highness is sitting and laughing, leaning against a lion! Holy crap! A real lion! [spitting blood.jpg]"

"Authentication Information: Prince Alwaleed bin Khalid of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ??????????"

"My God! Alive! It's really a living prince??????"

"Good heavens! His Highness is using Weibo too???"

"Ber... didn't you guys notice? The prince can actually speak Chinese!"

"What's so strange about that? Can't you use machine translation?"

"OMG! He's leaning against the lion and still smiling so brightly! So heartwarming! So handsome!"

"Information overload! This identity paired with this content... it's terrifying to think about! [shivering.jpg]"

"What do you mean by 'terrifying upon closer inspection'? I think you're just being infatuated!"

"Help! Is this aristocratic aura real? Every single strand of hair is radiating charm!"

"Your Highness's profile is absolutely stunning! The bridge of your nose is clearer than my life plan!"

"That jawline! Even sculptors wouldn't dare to sculpt like that!"

"Is this level of beauty even real?!"

Countless male netizens in front of their screens silently nodded: Even men have to admit, this prince is fucking handsome...

They should be banned from entering!

The building tilted at the speed of light:
"Ahhhhh! Your Highness, look at me! I'm fair-skinned, beautiful, and have long legs! Do you need a queen???"

"Make way, Your Highness! Choose me! I'm gentle, considerate, and good at warming your bed!"

"Your Highness! The way you lean against the lion in your profile picture is so cool! And your smile is so healing! I want to have your babies!!!"

"Your Highness! Don't be so rigid about gender! Give us a chance! True love is between men!"

"This is off-topic! You all need to be more reserved! But Your Highness, look at me! Would you consider a cross-cultural marriage? It would be a perfect match! [doge emoji for protection]"

But the astonishment was quickly overwhelmed by a more surging wave of rebuttals, fueled by national pride.

While netizens might enjoy making jokes, they will never tolerate injustices on matters of historical and cultural "sovereignty," even if the other party is a prince.

"Your Highness, did you learn history from camels? The laughing punishment existed in the Shang and Zhou dynasties!"

"What's so bad about 'laughing torture'? How about 'sticking official titles' on your face? Layers of mulberry paper are pasted on your face, creating an intense feeling of suffocation, leaving no trace or injury, a purely natural physical form of asphyxiation, a cure for all kinds of stubbornness!"

"Come, let me show the prince something: pasting official titles, rats playing zithers, rain pouring on plum blossoms... which one isn't more elegant than the laughing torture?"

"Water torture, standing cages, luring the enemy into a urn... our ancestors had a whole host of tricks up their sleeves, each one a product of wisdom (and cruelty)?"

"Your Highness, I suggest you read more of the 'Rubbing Classic' or the 'Zizhi Tongjian'; they contain many 'civilized' methods!"

"When our ancestors were making inventions, they were still playing in the sand in the desert! (Just kidding!)"

The verified identity propelled the post to the top of the trending searches, with comments on the hashtag #SaudiPrinceOnlineExtortionOfChina'sHistoryOfTorture# increasing by hundreds per minute.

King Václav's mouth became even more crooked.

It has to be said that Chinese netizens still have that familiar taste and that familiar formula.

You have truly lived up to my expectations!
He squinted, his fingers flying across the screen, saving and reading screenshots of ancient books, diagrams of torture instruments, and even links to academic papers provided by netizens.

Twenty minutes later, he updated his Weibo with a new post:
"My goodness! Chinese culture is truly profound and extensive! Five thousand years of wisdom are well-deserved!"

Thank you for sharing, my dear Chinese friends. I apologize for my ignorance!

I hope to have the opportunity to visit this magical land of China in the future and learn more about your country's long history and culture.

emoji.

I also included a selfie at the end with my hands clasped together.

This reply, polite and humble, with just the right amount of "shock" and "admiration," formed a dramatic reversal from his previous provocative remarks.

They knelt down so quickly, so completely...

Some people felt that something was amiss.

However, that's not what Walid is concerned about right now.

He closed his tablet and leaned back into the comfortable rear seat of the Bentley Mulsanne.

The golden tower of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel is faintly visible against the Riyadh skyline.

Time is of the essence; it's time to get down to business.

He picked up the encrypted satellite phone, swiped his finger across the screen, and dialed Mohammed first.

"I'm on my way to the Ritz-Carlton."

"It's time to break the deadlock with Uncle Bandar. My father wants me to go and 'talk' to him."

He deliberately emphasized the word "talk".

Mohammed was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone.

Prince Khalid ordered Walid to deal with Bandar.
This was both unexpected and reasonable.

He immediately realized that this would be the first-hand window to understanding Bandar's ultimate fate, and might even affect the subsequent distribution of power.

"understood."

Muhammad's voice regained its usual calmness, but his speaking speed increased by a third.
"I'll leave now. Is there anything I need to prepare?"

“Just showing up is enough,” Walid said succinctly. “To bear witness. Oh, by the way… is Turki next to you?”

Turki's voice immediately came from the other end of the phone, "Yes, yes! You're going to interrogate that old fox? Really?!"

“Really.” Wallide said calmly, “Interested in being an audience member?”

"Interested! Extremely interested!!"

Turki's voice instantly became energetic, "We're coming right away! Immediately! Right now! Wait for us!"

Walid, you're such a good friend! You even remembered to call me for such a big event!

Wait here, hey! Bro, get in my car…

He hung up the phone in a hurry before Walid could even say anything more.

Hearing the busy tone on the phone, Walid smiled, put down the phone, and began to seriously ponder the wisdom of his Eastern ancestors.

……

(End of this chapter)