The Great Sage Returns from Ten Years of Imprisonment

Upon seeing Zhou Hua and the others arrive, Li Wen's expression immediately turned somewhat awkward.

Fortunately, time has passed, and her emotions are no longer as volatile as they were at the beginning; she has long since accepted reality.

She quickly composed herself, greeted Zhou Hua and the others, and introduced Xu Jiaying to them.

Then, she lowered her voice and asked:

"Are you here to testify in court? I heard from the neighbors that Guo Zirong and his uncle will both be given heavy sentences, is that true?"

Zhou Hua and the others quickly exchanged glances and then responded in low voices.

"That's right, we are indeed here to testify in court. We were all parties involved in that mess back then, and we can't escape testifying in court."

"Ling Yun is the most crucial witness, but he has more important matters to attend to today and cannot appear in court to testify. His private lawyer will appear on his behalf and provide video testimony."

"As for whether Guo Zirong and his uncle, those two scumbags, will be severely punished, as an important witness, we cannot speculate and can only wait for the court's verdict."

Li Wen paused for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"That's right. You are all parties involved in this case, unlike us bystanders who are just watching the show. Before the verdict is announced, we really can't make wild guesses."

"You just said that Ling Yun had more important matters to attend to. Are you referring to his trip to Washington to attend the Global Financial Summit? I saw him on the news this morning; he looked very impressive!"

"The news mentioned that he is now a member of the Financial Stability and Development Committee, which is a ministerial-level position. When did this happen? Did you all know this all along? And you kept it from an idiot like me?"

When she asked about this, Zhou Hua and the others fell silent.

After a moment's thought, they gave their response.

"Like you, we only found out from the news that Lingyun went to Washington to attend the Global Financial Summit. Before that, we hadn't received any information at all."

"In the words of our company chairman, this matter needs to be kept strictly confidential. We are not qualified to know this information beforehand. To put it bluntly, Lingyun has already left us far behind!"

"We knew about Ling Yun's appointment as a member of the Financial Stability and Development Committee a little earlier than you, but our knowledge was limited. We only knew that he had very high-ranking connections in Beijing..."

Hearing Zhou Hua's explanation, Li Wen felt a little better.

It seems that I'm not the only one who's been kept in the dark, and Ling Yun didn't do it on purpose; it's just that what he did needed to be kept strictly confidential.

After some self-consolation, Li Wen finally managed a smile.

Just then, Mr. Wang, the general manager of Yuanda Group, who was standing not far away, suddenly waved to them.

"Zhou Hua, Li Jie, Zhang Yuntian, we should go in now. There are still some preparations to be made before the trial begins. You can chat after the trial is over."

Zhou Hua and the others immediately stopped talking and turned to look over.

"Okay, Mr. Wang, we'll be right there."

After they finished speaking, they looked at Li Wen and whispered a few words to her.

"We're going in now. We'll talk later. We need to call Lingyun to discuss the trial."

"As far as I know, he should be with SZ at the White House for the welcome dinner right now. He'll call me after the dinner ends and he's back at the hotel."

"Today's court hearing is somewhat related to you. If he knows you're in court too, he'll definitely want to talk to you."

Li Wen's eyes lit up, and she nodded hurriedly.

"Okay, let's talk again after the court hearing."

Afterwards, Zhou Hua and his group turned and left, heading towards General Manager Wang and several other company executives and colleagues.

After walking about five or six meters, Li Jie suddenly muttered to himself:

"Obviously, Li Wen must be kicking herself for breaking up with Ling Yun right now."

"Isn't that obvious? Given Ling Yun's tremendous achievements, the fact that Li Wen didn't regret jumping into the Huangpu River to commit suicide shows she has a strong mental fortitude."

Zhang Yuntian chimed in with a few more complaints.

Amidst laughter and conversation, they approached Mr. Wang and the others, and together they entered the courthouse.

Across the ocean, Washington.

From Andrews Air Force Base to the five-star hotel where they stayed, Ling Yun, as a member of the delegation, truly experienced the extraordinary treatment that garnered widespread attention.

Wherever the convoy went, it was escorted and protected by a large number of US special operations vehicles and police cars, ensuring a smooth journey.

Every street and intersection we passed through had been closed in advance for traffic control.

Pedestrians standing on the street and vehicles on adjacent streets all stared at them intently.

At every street and intersection the convoy passed through, there were large numbers of fully armed military and police officers on duty, all carrying guns and with serious expressions.

This was the first time Ling Yun had ever received such extraordinary treatment, both in his past and present lives. It would be a lie to say he was unhappy about it!

Moreover, this kind of glory is different from the glory in the financial world, and different from the glorious moments of making a fortune in the international financial market. It is a different kind of feeling, which brings a greater sense of accomplishment!

The Chinese idiom "to achieve fame and success" perfectly describes this feeling!

When the convoy arrived at the hotel, there was another lively welcome ceremony.

After checking into the hotel, Ling Yun quickly unpacked her luggage and was about to call her mother to let her know she was safe when Deputy Director Zhang suddenly knocked on the door and came in.

Upon entering the guest room, he quickly surveyed the interior, then lowered his voice and said:

"Lingyun, we need to conduct another thorough security check inside and outside the guest rooms later to prevent eavesdropping and surveillance. The cash has already been checked twice, but we need to do it again."

"Therefore, until this final security check is completed and safety is completely confirmed, you must be careful to keep things confidential and avoid discussing anything too sensitive or important over the phone."

Ling Yun's expression turned serious, and he immediately nodded in response.

"Understood, Director Zhang. I will keep that in mind. I'll call home again after the final security checks are completed."

"Very good. This place is different from the capital; you can never be too careful."

Deputy Director Zhang nodded, then changed the subject.

"Several SZ staff members highly praised your performance at the airport just now, commending you for your leadership qualities and for your well-reasoned and logical conduct."

"Please wash up and get ready. You'll be attending the White House welcome dinner later. All the heads of state who have come to Washington today will be attending this dinner."

"Tonight's event will be even larger, with multilateral informal talks to be held during the dinner to address core disagreements on issues such as market intervention and financial reform."

"Not only that, SZ will also hold small-scale private consultations with heads of state from several countries to lay the groundwork for consensus in tomorrow's formal negotiations."

"Your task is no small matter! Not only that, you'll be meeting many financial tycoons tonight, so be prepared. Just behave like you did at the airport..."

Hearing Deputy Director Zhang's words, Ling Yun couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Wow! That's a big event!

At this moment, he felt no tension at all because of this grand occasion; on the contrary, he became even more excited.

As soon as Deputy Director Zhang finished speaking, he nodded with shining eyes and replied:

"Rest assured, I will complete the mission flawlessly. To be honest, I've been dreaming of witnessing such a grand spectacle!"

"Haha, it's good that you have that confidence; that's what you call a newborn calf not afraid of a tiger!"

Deputy Director Zhang patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Deputy Director Zhang turned around to leave and go back to his room to pack his things.

As he reached the door, he suddenly remembered something and immediately whispered a few words of advice.

"According to sources, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd will attend tonight's welcome dinner. You're old rivals, so be prepared!"

"Thank you for the reminder. I'm confident I can handle this old friend."

Ling Yun nodded confidently.