Nanhai's Reaction

"Master Liu, why are you talking in such a strange tone?" "Nothing, really. I'm just musing over how much you've grown—handling things so flawlessly." Lin Zhiyan detected a subtle difference. Master Liu's tone today was decidedly off, almost as if she had just gotten married. And what did he mean by handling things flawlessly? Hadn't he just scolded her yesterday, claiming she acted without a sense of propriety and didn't understand that a wise man never stands beneath a leaning wall? Even if she had been acting strictly according to Federation regulations, an elder still hated to see the younger generation taking risks. Liu Hanwen said, "Yesterday, the special investigation team filed a lawsuit with the Nanhai Circuit Dali General Department, intent on overturning the entire leadership of Fangshi." "I am very pleased to see such resolve and capability from you, but you still should have given your old Master Liu a heads-up." Far more than feeling troubled, Liu Hanwen felt gratified. What the Federation needed most right now were officials like this. If every special investigation team could pursue cases to the bitter end and had the power to see them through, the Federation would be far more peaceful. Lin Zhiyan had done her father and grandfather proud. "Master Liu, what are you talking about?" Lin Zhiyan was even more baffled; she couldn't make heads or tails of it. It sounded as if she had pulled off some monumental feat that even Master Liu admired immensely. Yet yesterday, she had merely dined at an upscale restaurant, strolled around a shopping mall, and then returned. "Girl, are you trying to fool even Master Liu now?" "Master Liu, I swear I'm not. What on earth did I do?" A brief silence fell between them as both realized something was amiss. Liu Hanwen verified, "So this wasn't your doing?" Lin Zhiyan also sought confirmation: "The special investigation team filed a lawsuit against all of Fangshi yesterday?" "They submitted an application to arrest the city executive. If not you, who on earth did it? Does anyone else on the special investigation team possess that kind of clout?" Liu Hanwen's voice sounded even more bewildered. Could it really have been done by a petty border-defense junior officer? A handsome, resolute face flashed across Lin Zhiyan's mind. There was hardly any need to guess. Only Lu Zhao could have pulled this off, and only Lu Zhao would dare. He wouldn't even eat beef; would he fear a city executive? "Master Liu, do you remember that man I recommended to you?" "Are you saying he was behind it?" Liu Hanwen's tone grew rather stern as he demanded, "What is his background? Why did he come out to disrupt the board at a time like this? Who sent him?" Lin Zhiyan said, "Master Liu, if I told you he most likely acted entirely on his own, would you believe me?" The line went silent for a long moment; he clearly did not believe it. An evidentiary chain capable of indicting an official of the Federation's regular executive rank could never have been put together on a whim. Lu Zhao must have planned this from the very beginning. Yet as a mere captain, where did he get the courage to swing a blade at an official of regular executive rank and openly challenge the Chen family's power faction? If not for having spent time around him recently, Lin Zhiyan would also have suspected someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes. Now, she believed Lu Zhao truly had the guts. She had simply underestimated him, assuming he had already yielded. Liu Hanwen let out a sigh. "Things have already come to this. Go stop him first; don't let him keep digging." The call disconnected. Lin Zhiyan got up and threw on her clothes, hurrying out of the room without even putting on makeup. *** Far away in Cangwu City of Nanhai East Circuit, Liu Hanwen had his secretary bring him Lu Zhao's dossier. Because Lin Zhiyan had mentioned him twice and Lu Zhao had been transferred into the special investigation team, Liu Hanwen had not kept it in mind himself, but his secretary had already created a backup of Lu Zhao's background. Before long, the dossier was placed in Liu Hanwen's hands. Lu Zhao was not the cat's-paw with 'someone backing him' that Liu Hanwen had anticipated. Instead, he was merely a son of a farming family who had been oppressed by the Chen family. The secretary said in bewilderment, "How did he get his hands on so much intelligence?" "Walls have ears everywhere under heaven. Even scandals involving Martial Marquises leak out, let alone in a small place like Fangshi. Many people don't bother covering their tracks, so why should they fear others finding out?" Liu Hanwen stared at Lu Zhao's curriculum vitae for a long while, then flipped through his past merits. It corroborated his words precisely. Many matters could have been kept confidential, but many people simply couldn't be bothered to conceal them. The key lay not in knowing, but in whether one dared to act, and whether one had the ability to act. Liu Hanwen still found it hard to believe that a peasant's son with no background dared to do something like this. "Look into it in more detail." "Understood." "Leave the lawsuit before the Dali General Department alone for now, but suspend the arrest procedures against Fangshi's city executive." "Understood." "Protect Lu Zhao. Don't let anyone strip him of his post." Liu Hanwen laid down the baseline with resolute finality: "I don't care what underhanded tricks they play in the dark, but whatever is brought into the open must be constrained by the system." Subjectively, Liu Hanwen did not want trouble erupting in Fangshi at this crucial juncture; yet objectively, the rule of law had to be maintained. Power had to yield to the system, and anything placed on the table had to be resolved through the system with dignity. The news soon circulated among the top figures of Nanhai Circuit, though confined within the Circuit Politics Bureau. *** Nanhai Circuit, Cangwu City, the General Department of Finance, Taxation, and Household Registration. Following the Cataclysm, the Federation's bureaucratic apparatus and power structure had undergone several overhauls. Moving from centralization toward decentralization, and shifting from personnel authority holding supreme sway to military authority taking precedence, some positions had plummeted while others soared toward the heavens. For example, the household registration department had originally been a subordinate organ under public security. But once the Federation introduced the concept of foreign states and established the distinction between citizens and Federation subjects, its authority inflated hundreds of times in an instant. After a subsequent series of reforms to production structures and economic conditions, the Federation merged household registration with public finance, giving rise to the third-largest branch of the Federation after personnel and military affairs. Namely, the General Department of Finance, Taxation, and Household Registration, which held supreme power over the circuit's economy and household registers and governed all Foreign Districts. The chief executive officer of the General Department of Finance, Taxation, and Household Registration generally served concurrently as the Vice Chief of the Circuit Politics Bureau—effectively the circuit's second-in-command. Meanwhile, the Chief of the Circuit Politics Bureau oversaw personnel authority, and certain formidable Chiefs would concurrently serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Army Corps. If the Chief did not concurrently serve as Commander-in-Chief, then the Commander-in-Chief was the second-in-command. Nanhai Circuit was an exception. Because its Federation subjects numbered in the hundreds of millions, the General Department of Finance, Taxation, and Household Registration was always the second-in-command no matter what. The current chief executive officer of the General Department of Finance, Taxation, and Household Registration was named Chen Yunming. *Knock, knock, knock!* Chen Yunming's secretary knocked on the office door with hurried urgency. "Enter." A rather low, deep voice called out. The secretary pushed the door open, stepped inside, and said, "Leader, something has happened in Fangshi." Behind the desk sat a middle-aged man dressed in a dark formal jacket. He had an emaciated face, deeply sunken eye sockets, prominent nasolabial folds, and dark purplish bags under his eyes, giving his entire demeanor a chilly, gloomy cast. Though he looked quite fierce, subordinates who interacted with him in practice regarded Martial Marquis Chen as a good leader. He was maximally tolerant of his subordinates, rarely punishing them even when they made mistakes. "Wasn't that already settled?" Chen Yunming's brow furrowed slightly. A few days earlier, he and Liu Hanwen had reached a consensus to minimize the fallout in Fangshi to avoid giving others grounds for gossip. "The special investigation team indicted the Fangshi city executive and requested the arrest of Zhao De. I've already checked with Secretary Liu—Liu's secretary—to confirm it. This wasn't done on their instructions." The secretary answered methodically, having thoroughly prepared before coming to report. A Federation secretary was often an extension of an executive official's power; theoretically, their influence was as vast as that of their superior. "I tapped a few contacts and learned that the one currently leading the special investigation team is a border-defense captain named Lu Zhao."