Zhang Menglong's words elicited a wave of applause from the audience, his speech was like an incredibly exciting debate, persuading most of those present.
"Do you think I would get angry when you ask these kinds of questions?" Zhang Menglong asked.
"Sorry, I'm not angry at all. In fact, I wish you would ask more of these questions so that I can show off a bit more!" Zhang Menglong said unabashedly.
The audience burst into laughter. Indeed, if you don't give us the chance to show off, how awkward would it be for us to do it ourselves? What constitutes a successful boast? It must involve having a face presented to you for a good whack—that's when it feels most satisfying.
"This lady!" Zhang Menglong pointed to another reporter.
"Mr. Zhang, let me clarify, I'm not here to cause trouble. I really respect your family history and Huaxia's culture," the female reporter stated her position right away.
"Thank you for your understanding!"
"But I do have a question," the female reporter said, "If your family was so powerful in that era and all its branches spread all over the world, then in these more than five thousand years, your family must have always maintained its glory and strength. The members of your family should all be very outstanding."
"I'm a student of the History Department at Harvard University, and I'm very interested in Huaxia's history. Moreover, I've studied Huaxia's history for a long time, but I haven't found any historical records relevant to your family. How do you explain that?"
Just like Zhang Menglong, his wealth alone ensured he could not possibly be unknown in this era; even if he wanted to keep a low profile, it would be extremely difficult.
For families like the Rothschilds, their strength is known all over the world.
And the Dolores family behind the Rothschilds might not be known to the public, but the leaders of various European countries are aware of their existence and live in trembling under their intimidation.
And the Zhang Family had the power over all these other families, being recognized as their master. Their influence must be overwhelming—how could there be no news of them at all?
At least before Zhang Menglong, almost no one knew about the existence of this family.
"That's a very good question," Zhang Menglong said with a smile, "Have you watched 'The Truman Show'?"
Many in the audience nodded. 'The Truman Show' is a very appealing movie where a group of people created a game in which everyone except the protagonist is an actor, including his neighbors, parents, and even his wife. He is the clown being manipulated in this game.
"Actually, what I want to say is that as long as my power is strong enough, I can do whatever I want behind the scenes, and all you can see is only what I want you to see!"
"But how much power does that require?" the reporter exclaimed.
"Actually, many historical transitions are related to our family," Zhang Menglong said, "Let's talk about Huaxia. Do you know about the Battle of Zhuolu?"
"That's the earliest battlefield recorded in history, where the Yellow Emperor fought against Chiyou at Zhuolu, ending in Chiyou's defeat," the female reporter recited the history fluently.
"Do you know the disparity between the tribes at that time?"
"As far as I know, Chiyou's tribe was far more powerful than the Yellow Emperor's tribe. Chiyou was the inventor of metal weaponry, known as the God of War, and also the progenitor of Eastern shamanic rituals. He was superior in both combat capability and military management."
"It seems this beautiful lady truly understands our Huaxia culture very well!" Zhang Menglong sincerely praised, acknowledging that even many from Huaxia were unaware of this information.
"Actually, I'm quite curious. At the beginning of the war, Chiyou's tribe had an absolute advantage, but in the later stages, they were turned around by the opposing side, which is quite incomprehensible. And I think many researchers of Huaxia's history are also curious about this."
"Actually, the reason is very simple," Zhang Menglong said with a laugh, "the Yellow Emperor's people secretly found Chiyou's mount and promised him that as long as he helped the descendants of Yan and Huang, he would have food and shelter guaranteed!"
"Hahaha, General Manager Zhang is spouting nonsense again!"
"Big Bear: Sorry Chiyou, they promised food and Accommodation!"
"Miss Politeness: Are you a panda?"
"Just kidding," Zhang Menglong said, "actually, this matter does have a little connection with our family."
Everyone perked up their ears; whether true or false, this sounded like an incredibly fascinating story.
"When my ancestors gave up that city, they found the natural environment of the Yellow and Yangtze River basins to be more conducive to living, so they settled down near there, just close to those two tribes."
"Chiyou's defeat is related to your ancestors?"
"Sort of, but it's also their own bad luck," Zhang Menglong explained, "Chiyou trained his troops every day to strengthen his military forces. If there was no war that day, they would train from dawn to dusk, making such a racket."
"Training troops is one thing, but do you know what else? They clanged and banged making weapons all day long. Do you have any idea how disturbing that noise was? My ancestors at the time lived near their camp and were almost driven to a nervous breakdown!"
"Could it be Chiyou's defeat was due to your..."
"My ancestor was so aggrieved, the more he endured, the angrier he got, stepping back only to be sterile, he directly led several of his allied tribes and raided Chiyou's camp overnight, beat them up good. That Chiyou, I heard, was especially stubborn, and ended up having several teeth knocked out by my ancestor."
"Later, when they fought the next day, everyone was listless and got slaughtered by the Yellow Emperor's troops, losing their helmets and armor. It was their first defeat. The Yellow Emperor then pursued the victory and wiped out Chiyou's forces."
"This... this is just too unbelievable," everyone listened, dumbstruck. This wasn't a recounting of history; it was more like an reenactment of a myth.
Yet it was so fantastical. The event that determined the fate of Huaxia's development was actually facilitated by Zhang Menglong's ancestors? How powerful were they at the time to be able to storm Chiyou's camp and give him a thrashing?
According to this, if Zhang Menglong's ancestors had wanted to annihilate both tribes, unifying Huaxia would have been a piece of cake, right?
"But regarding this point, do you have any evidence?" the reporter asked, "It's only your side of the story after all."
"You want evidence?" Zhang Menglong connected his phone to the big screen with screen mirroring, "I don't know if any of you recognize this thing!"
It was a photo, showing what appeared to be a villa. At the entrance of the villa was a dark red blade, which seemed to bear the marks of age judging by the rust on it.
"That's the Chiyou Demonic Blade!" An archaeologist immediately stood up.
In an instant, all the Huaxia scholars stood up.
Legend has it that during the Battle of Zhuolu, Chiyou possessed something called the Chiyou Demonic Blade, while the Yellow Emperor's sword was the Xuanyuan Sword. Though the Xuanyuan Sword hasn't been displayed, Huaxia announced one year that it was found in a tomb.
But as for the Chiyou Demonic Blade, up to now, there was no physical evidence whatsoever.
"This thing has been in one of our family's villas. If you're interested, you can have it tested to check its age," Zhang Menglong said, "after my ancestor gave him a beating, as a lesson, he took this demonic blade away. Now it's serving as a protective talisman in our house!"