Chapter 3284

When Ye Chen returned to Northern Europe together with Li Ailin, Lin Wanan had already become very close with Empress Helena.

The season in Northern Europe had reached deep winter, with daytime lasting only as long as a meal, and the entire country had entered a state of semi-hibernation, naturally including the royal family.

Every deep winter season, the Norwegian royal family enters its annual period of rest and recuperation, during which foreign affairs and domestic public activities are largely suspended, and the Empress also enters a state of seclusion, avoiding unnecessary public appearances, so Helena basically has few matters to handle and spends most days with Lin Wanan.

The farm that Ye Chen entrusted her to purchase has already been prepared, and whenever they have free time, the two of them go to the farm to stay for half a day, where besides playing with cats and teasing dogs, they also take care of the farm animals.

After several days of contact, Helena became increasingly curious about Lin Wanan.

She discovered that although Lin Wanan appears to be a very young girl, she handles affairs with remarkable composure, and many things she can do without formal instruction, showing extraordinary intelligence; Helena sometimes fails to understand why a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl would master so many obscure skills, even feeding cows and horses to a degree that astonishes professional farmers.

Lin Wanan attributes this to talent, saying that some people are simply born suited for certain tasks, and she is best suited for caring for animals and plants.

After Ye Chen and Li Ailin arrived at the palace, they learned from the chief steward Susan that the Empress had gone to the farm with Lin Wanan to relax.

Ye Chen originally wanted them to enjoy themselves without rushing to inform them of his return, but Susan still quietly informed Helena, so she and Lin Wanan hurried back to the palace without delay.

After Ye Chen had been away for several days, both of them missed him greatly, and upon hearing of his return, they naturally looked forward to rushing back to see him.

Upon seeing Ye Chen again, Lin Wanan appeared much more composed; she merely smiled and called him "older brother," while Helena kept asking about his well-being, concerned whether his trip to Morocco had gone smoothly, knowing that a major industrial accident had occurred there and suspecting it was his doing, which made her especially worried.

Ye Chen then said to the two of them: "This trip to Morocco went smoothly overall, and I gained much; most of the personnel of the Right Military Governor's Office have already been brought under my control, so any future movements by them will be known to me immediately."

As he spoke, Ye Chen said to Helena: "Helena, you should seize the recent opportunity to upgrade the surveillance system of the palace and the surrounding area within several kilometers, equip all guards, sentries, and security personnel responsible for patrol and vigilance with personal recording devices, and ensure they are of the type capable of real-time video upload to the cloud, then synchronize all surveillance data in real time to Ai's servers."

Helena curiously asked: "Mr. Ye, what is this based on?"

Ye Chen replied: "According to the territorial division of the Breaking Qing Association, all of Europe except Russia falls under the jurisdiction of the Right Military Governor's Office, and Northern Europe is naturally no exception; if the Breaking Qing Association later sends personnel to Northern Europe, they will certainly be from the Right Military Governor's Office, and Ai has mastered the facial features of many of its members, so as soon as they appear, an immediate warning can be issued."

Helena nodded and said: "I understand, Mr. Ye, rest assured—I will arrange this tomorrow and carry out an upgrade and replacement of the security system."

"Good." Ye Chen said: "These past few days, thank you for taking care of Wanan for me; having been away so long, affairs are nearly settled, and we should return as well."

Helena hurriedly asked him: "Mr. Ye, you have just returned from Morocco—won't you rest a few days before departing again?"

"No." Ye Chen smiled: "There are still many matters in Jin Ling, so I will not delay further; I plan to depart early tomorrow morning."

Helena, being tactful, upon hearing Ye Chen say this, felt a sense of loss but still said: "Since Mr. Ye has already decided, I will not press further; tomorrow I will go to the airport to see you and Miss Lin off."

At that moment, Lin Wanan suddenly smiled and asked: "Helena sister, the winter in Northern Europe is too long; staying too long becomes tedious—why not come with us to Huaxia for a vacation? Your Northern European royal family, when it enters its winter recess, should also go to Southern Europe or equatorial countries for holidays, shouldn't it?"

Helena had not expected Lin Wanan to invite her to Huaxia, and she blurted out somewhat awkwardly: "We... we go to Southern Europe or equatorial countries for vacation mainly because we have interests there, are relatively familiar with the local government, entry is easier and more private; as for Huaxia... the royal family has only previously conducted state visits there, but has never had any contact regarding vacation, so it might be rather troublesome."

Lin Wanan said: "Actually, there is not much trouble—just let Aosu City and Jin Ling establish a friendly city relationship, then you can come to Jin Ling on that pretext; when the time comes, the Northern European royal family can take the lead, rent a hotel in Jin Ling, and ensure security is properly handled, which would basically pose no problem; if you want greater convenience, you could directly rent the White Platinum Palace in Jin Ling, which is Ye Chen's elder brother's property, and also notify the relevant departments in Jin Ling, saying you do not wish to be too conspicuous, asking the media not to report on you—then basically there would be no problem."

Upon hearing this, Helena's eyes instantly gleamed with a hint of brightness.

Lin Wanan's idea is highly feasible, given that Northern European countries are small in scale, and moreover the royal family is more of a symbolic status, so establishing friendly city relations with major powers as the Empress herself would not be out of place, and resolving her own accommodation and security matters is also reasonable; the Saudi royal family, when it first came to Huaxia to discuss cooperation, had once booked an entire hotel, besides airlifting a convoy, also rented dozens or even hundreds of luxury Mercedes-Benz and Maybach vehicles in Yanjing; although the Northern European royal family does not have such grandeur, arranging her own accommodation and security would still be quite easy.

Thus, she turned to Ye Chen and asked: "Mr. Ye, if Helena goes to Jin Ling, will it cause you any disturbance?"

Ye Chen did not understand why Lin Wanan had suddenly come up with this idea and invited Helena to Jin Ling, but since she had said so, he certainly could not show reluctance, after all, he and Lin Wanan had come this time, and Helena had helped them considerably, so he smiled and said: "No, whenever you wish to come to Jin Ling, we will welcome you with open arms."

Helena's heart was stirred, and she quickly said: "Then I will turn around and discuss this with Susan as well as the prime minister and mayor, to push this matter forward."

After dining with Helena, Ye Chen returned to his room to pack his personal luggage; halfway through, he heard Lin Wanan's voice from outside the door: "Ye Chen older brother, is it convenient now to say a few things to you?"

"Convenient." Ye Chen replied casually.

Lin Wanan pushed the door open, carefully closed it behind her, walked up to Ye Chen, and with an expectant face whispered: "Young Master, did everything go smoothly this time you went to Morocco?"

"Smooth." Ye Chen gave her a general overview of the process.

After listening, Lin Wanan could not help but laugh: "Young Master truly has remarkable methods—just one Reshaping Pill caused Wu Feiyan to lose her composure; after this incident, her mindset will surely undergo a great change, and when the mindset is impaired, judgment is affected, which is beneficial to us."

Having said that, she asked Ye Chen: "By the way, Young Master, have you continued practicing that set of hand seals to accumulate spiritual energy these past days?"

Ye Chen nodded: "Whenever I have free time, I have not stopped even for a moment."

Lin Wanan eagerly asked: "Then, Young Master, have you tried infusing more spiritual energy into that ring?"

Ye Chen said: "Not yet—I worry that the ring is too domineering and might directly drain all my spiritual energy, leaving me completely empty; I plan to try it only after returning to Jin Ling, and even if the spiritual energy is drained, I can replenish it with medicine; the spiritual energy-replenishing pills I carry have already been used to detoxify those dead warriors and the Elite Cavalry Guards."

Lin Wanan nodded repeatedly, looking at Ye Chen and asked: "Young Master, if you plan to try it after returning to Jin Ling, may I be allowed to observe from the side? I am extremely curious about what other effects that ring might have."

Ye Chen smiled: "Of course we must try it; if Miss Lin is interested, then after we land in Jin Ling tomorrow night, we can first go to the half-mountain villa of Xiangxieli, and together we shall see whether this ring will have any special qualities."