Here is the English translation of the given text, with Chinese characters translated into English and line breaks (carriage returns) preserved as instructed: What I Know About Yan Xishan

Author: Wen Si
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: "The son of a dragon is a dragon, the son of a phoenix is a phoenix, and the son of a mouse knows how to dig holes." This saying doesn't apply to ordinary people, but it holds some truth for Yan Xishan. Yan's father was a very shrewd merchant who, unfortunately, lost his fortune due to an accident. When they were at their wit's end, they stumbled upon the military academy entrance exam as a "lifesaver." Yan and his father secretly plotted to hire someone to take the exam for them, successfully passing and marking the beginning of their steady rise. Yesterday "Double Joy," today "Hundred Rivers"—double-dealing and, watch how the "sovereign of the East" rises to power. Turn enemies into friends, turn friends into enemies; one facade on the outside, another on the inside—Feng and Jiang couldn't figure out what "Yan Baichuan" was up to in his horns. Build "models"? Rob "models"? With one hand writing and the other commanding, why does "cleverness sometimes lead to its own undoing"? All schemes and machinations, desperately striving but powerless against the tide—so why, in the end, couldn't even the beloved "Five Beauties" be saved?