Time Travel: The Queen's Coronation

A little over a month later, I received the complete information on the Fries and Yu families. I was amused by the information. Whether the Fries were considered aristocrats was another matter, as some members had indeed been granted the title of baron. However, British baronships were not generally hereditary, so the Fries had long since ceased to be a legitimate aristocratic family. The so-called marriage between the Fries and the Swiss consortium was simply a marriage between a Fries daughter and a senior executive of the Swiss consortium, who was merely a distant relative of the consortium. Li Zhanwen's description had me believing the Fries were some kind of royal family, but it was all just bluffing!

Documents indicate that the Freese Group does indeed suppress self-made entrepreneurs. Ten years ago, a talented designer founded a thriving studio, only to be scuttled by the Freese Group. In a fit of grief and anger, the designer fatally struck and killed the then-head of Freese, You Zhixin, the father of the current Freese President, You Yuanzhou. Due to this catastrophic event, the You family, who control the Freese Group, has become somewhat more reserved, appearing only at donation ceremonies in recent years.

"What are you looking at?" Li Zhanwen asked as he opened the door and came in.

"It's the same Frese Group you mentioned last time. You made it sound like the real thing, but I didn't expect it to be just a paper tiger!"

"Isn't what I said true?"

"It's true, but your content is watered down! Extremely watered down! What consortium marriage? The daughter of the Fries family is only marrying a senior executive of that consortium, and that executive is just a distant relative of the consortium! I calculated that they are five generations apart, so whether they are relatives or not is another matter! The most important thing is that the Fries family obtained the title in 1792, and it has been hundreds of years! If you calculate it this way, I can still say that I am a descendant of Wei Qing, and you can also say that you are a descendant of Li Shimin. Who doesn't have a noble ancestor!" I said disdainfully.

"How did you find out all this?"

"It was investigated by foreign private detectives. A few detectives could have known the whole story by each digging a little! The Friis family relied on their ancestors' false reputation to marry into wealthy nouveau riche, creating a false image of nobility. The Friis family needed the nouveau riche's money, and the nouveau riche needed the Friis family's reputation. It was just a matter of each taking what they needed!"

"Even if it's fake, we've been framed by them for real, and we haven't found a way to expose their conspiracy yet!"

"Yes, we have no breakthrough now!" I also sighed helplessly.

Li Zhanwen and I fell into deep thought again. The current evidence was unfavorable to us, and we hadn't found a suitable breakthrough. To reduce the losses, I had no choice but to go talk to Li Youlan first.

"Mr. Li, I'm really sorry. I thought this cooperation would be a win-win situation, but I didn't expect something like this to happen!" I sincerely apologized to Li Youlan.

"Mr. Wei, it's okay! It's not your fault!" Li Youlan didn't care.

"Did the higher-ups at Chideng give you any trouble? After all, this incident was quite a big deal and had a negative impact on Chideng."

"To be honest, I don't believe that Blue Forest could do such a thing!" Li Youlan's words surprised me.

"Thank you for your trust, Mr. Li, but Freese's evidence has already nailed Blue Forest to the pillar of shame for plagiarism, and we can't even refute it." I smiled bitterly.

"I want to tell you a story!" Li Youlan looked at me meaningfully.

"Appreciate further details!"

"Ten years ago, there was a gifted young designer named Deng Yonghao. He founded his own brand right after graduation. His brand received a fantastic market response, his career was booming, and he was on the verge of realizing his dream. But then a leading company in the industry came out to woo him, wanting to acquire his studio and brand and make it a subsidiary of the leading company. Deng Yonghao flatly refused the leading company's request. The leading company tried to persuade him several times, but Deng Yonghao remained unmoved. Eventually, the leading company bribed someone in Deng Yonghao's studio to falsely accuse him of plagiarism and money laundering. Because the evidence was overwhelming, Deng Yonghao's studio collapsed, and his brand was destroyed by the leading company, disappearing from the market without a trace. Furious, he went to the leading company's boss to argue, but when I heard from him again, he had become a murderer."

This story sounded familiar to me, so I blurted out, "The leading company is the Frese Group?"

"Yes!" Li Youlan answered firmly, with a hint of anger in her tone.

"So what is Deng Yonghao like now?"

"He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the judge for intentional homicide." Li Youlan's eyes were full of heartache when she said this.

"So what is your relationship with Deng Yonghao?"

"He's my half-brother! My parents divorced when I was five, and my dad took me to live in France. My mom married another man and gave birth to Hao. Even though we have different fathers and don't live in the same place, we have a deep sibling bond. I always come to Hong Kong to see him during the holidays. I'm a designer, and he fell in love with design under my influence. I've seen how he's realized his dreams step by step. But I still don't believe he would kill anyone!"

"Did you appeal at that time?"

"After Ah Hao's accident, his father rushed to the police station to see him. He had been in a car accident on the way. Later, after seeing the results of the first trial, Ah Hao's father suffered a relapse of heart disease and urgently needed medical expenses for surgery. For some reason, You Yuanzhou from Freese paid for Ah Hao's father's medical expenses and arranged the surgery, which was very successful. Then my mother felt very guilty towards You Yuanzhou. Her son killed You Yuanzhou's father, but You Yuanzhou put aside personal grudges and chose to save his father's murderer. My mother finally chose not to appeal and persuaded Ah Hao to accept the facts. Afterwards, I went to look for witnesses at the scene, but found nothing!"

"So why is this story being told to me today?"

"I know Ah Hao's personality. Although he's impulsive, he's a kind person at heart! He usually takes stray cats and dogs home when he sees them. I don't believe he would kill someone like that!"

"So, why are you telling me this?"

"For the past ten years, I have been looking for evidence to clear his name, but because I have been in France all year round and Hegang is You Yuanzhou's territory, I can't find anyone here who can help me! Until I heard Jingshu tell your story, I felt in my heart that you are my hope!" Li Youlan looked at me with expectant eyes.

"Ah?" I didn't understand.

"Jingshu said that you, a new and unknown young man, have defeated several wealthy families in Hegang. I admire your ability and want to use you for my own benefit, but I haven't found the opportunity. Until this time when Chideng held a fashion week in Hegang, I felt that my chance had come!"

"Mr. Li overestimates me!"

"I'm not overestimating you! You've risen from a nobody to become the richest man in Hong Kong Island today. Your ability is unquestionable!"

"So you approached me on purpose for this collaboration?"

"Yes! I wanted to find an opportunity to visit Li Zhanwen and get to know you through him. But I didn't expect that we would have an intersection in the business world because of our child. God is really helping me!"

"But there's no point in approaching me, because I won't help you for no reason! Unless you know that Freese will definitely frame Blue Forest, then I will have no choice but to stand on the opposite side of Freese! The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so..."

"Yes! I knew in advance that Fries would frame Blue Forest!" I was a little surprised by Li Youlan's straightforwardness.

"So, you were the one who orchestrated Fries's accusation of plagiarism against Blue Forest? Otherwise, how could you be so sure they would frame Blue Forest?"

"I've been tracking Freese for ten years, and during that time, I've discovered an interesting phenomenon. Whenever Freese discovers a designer or company with potential, he constantly suppresses them, preventing them from growing and threatening his position."

"So it was you who spread the news of the cooperation between Blue Forest and Chideng! Your goal was to let Freese know about Blue Forest, a potential competitor!"

"Yes, President Wei! The existence of Frese is a cancer in the industry. Let's join hands to eradicate it! I have already promised the top management of Chideng that as long as they can prove within three months that Blue Forest did not intentionally plagiarize, Blue Forest will not have to pay liquidated damages."

"But the plagiarism was indeed done by the Blue Forest designer, but this designer was forced by Freese!" I was helpless.

"So we need to prove that this designer was forced by Freese!"

"But does this have anything to do with your brother's case?"

"Fries has blocked too much information. I need President Wei's help to unlock this information one by one! My intuition tells me that there must be evidence in the blocked information that can clear my brother! My brother was originally a promising designer, but now he is depressed in prison. I feel very sad every time I see him!" Li Youlan wiped away her tears.

"let me see!"

After I got back, I felt very complicated. I didn't expect that not only did I fall into Fries's trap, but I was also tricked by Li Youlan!