When Xiao He rushed back to the hotel, Liu Rulan was still in the middle of an emergency online video conference.

"Suppress the trending searches further. Pay attention to the management of internal accounts; do not post anything unnecessary. The PR department needs to give me three sets of proposals..."

"Alright, I understand. You guys handle this matter. If there are any issues, ask President Lin directly."

Seeing Xiao He walk in, Liu Rulan didn't look particularly surprised. She simply muted her microphone for the meeting and asked, "How did you get back? You didn't run into any trouble on the way, did you?"

"Don't worry," Xiao He shrugged. "Ever since the last time I was chased by the paparazzi, I've grown quite a bit."

If he couldn't leave through the front door, he'd take the back door. If the back door was blocked too, he'd find some other secret spot to parkour his way out.

On the way, Xiao He hadn't forgotten to observe his surroundings, lest he be caught on camera again returning to his old trade of climbing buildings and doing parkour.

If that happened, it would really be adding chaos to the mess, and Sister Liu would definitely lose her temper.

"Sit down first."

Liu Rulan was indeed too busy to deal with Xiao He's antics. She pushed a nearby laptop in front of him and said, "Wait until I finish the meeting, then we'll discuss the details."

"Sure."

Without any hesitation, Xiao He pulled out a chair, sat down, and turned on another computer.

About twenty minutes later, Liu Rulan finally managed to pull herself away from the video conference and looked at Xiao He. "You probably have a general idea of the situation?"

"Yeah, I've got a pretty clear picture now."

Xiao He nodded.

"The authentic work by Emperor Chen was accidentally destroyed during the transfer process last week. Then this afternoon—while we were at the recording of 'mars collision'—the news was suddenly spread to the internet by the media, sparking a lot of discussion among netizens."

As Xiao He spoke, he frowned slightly. "And because the main investor for the Film Crew is also one of the people responsible for the authentic work, there's a high probability they'll be held liable for compensation along with the head of the Calligraphy Association. So now, the Film Crew is indirectly implicated, and filming has been suspended."

Although the authentic work was lent to the Film Crew by the Yun Family to facilitate research and reference for 'The Emperor's Cause,' the work itself actually had zero connection to the Film Crew; it was all about the connections and cooperation between the parent companies.

Therefore, the destruction of the authentic work technically had no direct link to their Film Crew. However, because many high-level members of the Film Crew were involved in the 'borrowing' itself, and since 'The Emperor's Cause' was already a hot topic with high traffic in the entertainment circle, the Film Crew was forced to stop filming midway once the incident broke out.

Most critically, the director of 'The Emperor's Cause,' Qiu Zhenlong, has already flown back to Beijing. Several other important Assistant Directors and producers are also no longer with the Film Crew at the moment.

Forget about filming; the director and the screenwriters are all gone. How can they possibly continue!

Liu Rulan said, "The details are still under investigation, and we need to wait for further news—so, did you find out anything?"

She believed that during the time just now, Xiao He must have investigated some information they didn't know yet.

"Yes."

Xiao He nodded readily.

Firstly, the origin of everything was Yun Ziqi's attempt to win support for a role in 'The Emperor's Cause.' Through the Yun Family's channels, he provided the Film Crew with an opportunity to reference and view the authentic work.

Because this collaboration involved many industry professionals, it naturally attracted the China Calligraphy Association, related historical researchers, and other antique collectors who were also collaborating with 'The Emperor's Cause.' Taking this opportunity, all parties simply decided to cooperate, reach an agreement, and formally welcome this authentic work—a symbol of important historical heritage—back to the country.

Of course, it must be admitted that during this period, all parties stood to gain certain benefits; otherwise, they wouldn't have been so proactive in pushing this matter.

For example, the Art Center where Xiao He went for his last audition had been collecting a certain amount in ticket fees. Calligraphy and history enthusiasts flocked there upon hearing the news, providing the Art Center with substantial ticket commissions. Furthermore, as the audition results for 'The Emperor's Cause' were made public and became deeply tied to the entertainment industry, the event successfully broke into the mainstream. More people learned about the exhibition of Emperor Chen's authentic work and rushed to visit...

So, if the subsequent events hadn't happened, this would have been a mutually beneficial and happy outcome for everyone.

Unfortunately, such a major disaster occurred at the very end.

When the Yun Family went to reclaim Emperor Chen's work—a precious cultural relic that is priceless in today's market—it was accidentally burned at the Art Center, leaving only fragments.

By the time the people on-site tried to save it, it was already too late.

"At the time, the handover team sent by the Yun Family and the appraisers from both sides were present. However, because the procedures hadn't been completed and the Yun Family hadn't signed the acceptance documents, technically, the ownership of the work was still temporarily with the Art Center. That's why things have turned out like this..."

As Xiao He spoke, his fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard, finding the surveillance footage from the scene. "As for the scene itself, it can be said to be full of suspicious points."

Liu Rulan was also curious and leaned in to watch the screen in front of Xiao He.

She didn't know which channel Xiao He had used to find the surveillance video, but the image was very high-definition. It showed a location in the Art Center similar to a rear warehouse.

Generally speaking, for the return of such valuable items, a formal on-site inspection and appraisal process is required, along with very detailed appraisal certificates and procedural documentation. Otherwise, if issues arise later, it becomes extremely troublesome, just like now.

After all, no one can fully guarantee that a borrowed item will be the same when it's returned, let alone a rare treasure like this that is one of a kind and priceless.

If the item lent out was real but the one returned was fake, ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) and it wasn't caught during the on-site inspection, then the rule of'sold as seen, no responsibility thereafter' would apply. This jargon is an established unspoken rule in the entire antique circle. Therefore, the typical scenario of swapping the real for a fake is actually quite difficult to pull off, especially when both parties take it so seriously.

But here was the problem: the authentic work had already been packed and brought to the rear warehouse. Logically, the appraisal should have been completed, and they should have been preparing for the final handover to move the work into the truck's cargo hold for sealed management and transport... yet, at that very moment, an accident occurred.

In the footage, the people who looked like the Yun Family's appraisers were already checking the documents in their hands one by one, preparing to sign the final acceptance papers.

However, for some reason, the group was standing at the far end of the warehouse for the handover, a long distance from the truck—they were at opposite ends. Meanwhile, the truck containing the authentic work was at the other end of the warehouse, and there were actually no other staff members guarding it!

Consequently, when the truck suddenly caught fire, no one noticed at first.

It wasn't until thick smoke billowed out from the gaps in the cargo hold and triggered the warehouse's fire alarm that everyone finally discovered the situation!

Unfortunately, it was too late.

A precious authentic work that should have been well-packaged and, logically, fireproof and moisture-proof to a certain extent, had withstood the torrent of time but could not withstand a single fire. It was destroyed just like that...

After repeatedly observing the surveillance, Xiao He confirmed this point with some disbelief.

The accident at the scene happened so sloppily, so ridiculously!

At this moment, Xiao He would have preferred it if the authentic work had been secretly swapped by someone with ulterior motives.