Hello, Mr. Major General

Speaker Long’s gaze was relaxed and within his calm expression there was even a trace of pity for all the people before him. It made Tan Dongbang shake with fear to see this.

Tan Dongbang had never been so terrified since he first stepped into politics. He has always been confident and calm, gentle and elegant. But before he realized it, he had already lost his image. The only image he had now in the eyes of all the citizens in the nation and the world was his embarrassing image in bed.

If he lost his position as prime minister, he would never be able to hold his head up again. So aside from throwing all caution to the wind and risking it all, there was no other path for him. Tan Dongbang began to sneer. “Speaker Long, why aren’t you saying anything? Did you not yet think of an excuse to slander my reputation?”

Speaker Long didn’t expect Tan Dongbang to burn all bridges by calling him out in full public view and during a live television broadcast. Special Assistant Zhuang saw this from under the stage, so his expression also darkened. Speaker Long was being publicly humiliated by Tan Dongbang’s questioning. Even if there was evidence, how could he reveal it in a time and place like this?

He panicked in the moment and wanted to help Speaker Long get out of trouble. However, with the public eyes and so many cameras pointed at them, it didn’t matter what method Special Assistant Zhuang used to remind Tan Dongbang. Tan Dongbang would utilize anything to shift the blame towards Speaker Long for attempting to “manipulate things behind the scenes.”

He thought about it over and over again, but he could only use the law to shut Tan Dongbang’s mouth. He would also shut the mouths of other people who attempted to create drama. Special Assistant Zhuang quickly said to Gu Nianzhi, “Stay here and keep an eye on things. Call me if something happens. I need to go out for a second.”

He arrived at the small conference room beside the conference hall and opened his phone’s contact list to call all the legal personnel one by one. From the experienced legal counsel to the rookies, no one wanted to step up. Everyone gave various reasons, but the results were unanimous—they all politely declined Special Assistant Zhuang’s pleas for help.

Several of the lawyers even said, “As a citizen, Tan Dongbang has the right to know. If Speaker Long doesn’t want to lose his reputation before all the citizens of the nation, he must answer Prime Minister Tan’s question.”

Special Assistant Zhuang was aggrieved and helpless. After considering it for a very long time, he finally recalled Cai Shengnan. She was the candidate for the future Chief Legal Counsel as selected by Speaker Long, but she was also Tan Dongbang’s niece. With this kind of family tie, she should have an easier time speaking with him, shouldn’t she?

Special Assistant Zhuang considered this as he immediately called Cai Shengnan. “Lawyer Cai, can I ask you to step in and urge Mr. Tan to discuss this tomorrow? I think you’re probably watching TV right now and are aware of what’s happening?”

Cai Shengnan was certainly watching TV. She was in fact watching with her father, Cai Sumin. She and Cai Sumin were both glad to see this sort of thing happen in the Senate building. So they wanted her to shut Tan Dongbang up? That was impossible, he was her uncle. They must give her corresponding benefits in order to make her fight her own uncle. But she couldn’t cross Speaker Long, either. How could she continue to work in the Huaxia Empire if she crossed Speaker Long? She needed to become the Chief Legal Counsel for the Senate.

As a result, her mind worked as she replied vaguely, “Special Assistant Zhuang, I do want to help you. But I haven’t concluded my relationship as personal legal advisor with Mr. Tan, so I still have a contractual relationship with him as stipulated by law. I cannot betray my own client.”

“Oh?” Special Assistant Zhuang became even more anxious. “Lawyer Cai, didn’t you say that you wanted to come to our Senate to work as legal counsel? Speaker Long admires you a lot, you…”

Cai Shengnan smiled triumphantly, but she answered kindly, “I’ve always hoped to work at the Senate and become the Chief Legal Counsel for Speaker Long, but I have yet to see any documents appointing me to the Senate. How about this: as long as Special Assistant Zhuang can promise me that you will send the appointment letter as Chief Legal Counsel to me after today’s live broadcast ends, I will come to the Senate immediately and help Speaker Long resolve the issue.”

She was taking the opportunity to “raise the price sky high.” He was only asking her to help say something, and she dared to ask for the appointment letter as “Chief Legal Counsel!” If she was so capable, why didn’t she go to heaven?! Special Assistant Zhuang hung up the phone in anger, and his expression was as dark as the bottom of a burned pot. In a huff, he sat down next to Gu Nianzhi again.

Gu Nianzhi saw Special Assistant Zhuang go outside to make a phone call and come back so angry he had puffed up like a frog. She quickly grabbed a cup of coffee for him. “Have a bit of coffee and calm your temper.”

Special Assistant Zhuang looked up at Gu Nianzhi and couldn’t help complaining to her. “Nianzhi, do all you law students love robbing people during a fire?”

Gu Nianzhi didn’t know what to say. How was she supposed to answer that question? She could only laugh nervously. “That’s not the case. There are many law students who don’t rob people during fires. They only want to uphold the justice in their hearts.”

“Justice? I’m afraid that justice is not as important as personal fame and benefits!” Special Assistant Zhuang sighed as he pointed at the stage. “Nianzhi, you can see that Speaker Long has been attacked speechless by Tan Dongbang. If we ignore this topic without discussing it, then Tan Dongbang will certainly not let things go.”

On the podium, Speaker Long looked at Tan Dongbang for some time before replying, “If Mr. Tan has any opinions, we can discuss them in detail after the election results are announced today.”

“No! You must clarify it right now!” Tan Dongbang stood up angrily. “I can’t allow you people to bury the truth! Nor will I accept any results manipulated behind the scenes!”

Of course, Special Assistant Zhuang didn’t even need to go “remind” Tan Dongbang before he mentioned “manipulation behind the scenes.”

Gu Nianzhi frowned and replied quietly, “Then we have to make him shut up. Where is the Senate legal counsel? Don’t tell me we don’t have a single one…” She knew that Speaker Long was hiring legal counsel, but the Senate should already have legal counsel to begin with. It was impossible for them to not have any.

“Of course we have them,” Special Assistant Zhuang replied bitterly. “I went out just now to ask them to come, but after making a round of calls, none of them accepted the task…”

They certainly had their own worries. Tan Dongbang had previously hinted to them that he would win this election as well. And these people had gleaned the information through various sources indicating that Tan Dongbang was leading in the polls. How could they have ever known that the tides had already changed? It could only be said that Yin Shixiong’s secrecy work and “concealment methods” worked too well. He accepted Speaker Long and General Ji’s orders and released fake news. He wanted to observe which people would be wavering and attempting to ride on both sides. Such people had no principles or bottom lines, so they were exactly the ones that Speaker Long needed to remove from the Senate.

Gu Nianzhi overheard Special Assistant Zhuang’s complaints and hesitated before volunteering with a blushing face. “Special Assistant Zhuang, if you think it’s ok, do you need me to get on stage and help Speaker Long resolve the issue?”

“You?” Special Assistant Zhuang regarded Gu Nianzhi with surprise. “Nianzhi, it’s not that I’m looking down on you, but this matter requires someone with very high levels of legal knowledge and political experience to resolve. Someone who only understands the law or only understands politics will be unable to help Speaker Long resolve the issue.”

The Senate-employed legal counsel should have been able to take on this task, but they were all concerned with their own interests and refused to offend the future prime minister. This left Special Assistant Zhuang with no other option. Special Assistant Zhuang hadn’t studied law. At that moment, he even considered calling Special Assistant Yang from his “vacation” at home to help Speaker Long.

Gu Nianzhi could tell that Speaker Long didn’t need someone to help him resolve the issue, since he was clearly very confident. However, she also had to admit that Tan Dongbang was making an embarrassing fuss, so Speaker Long was stuck on stage and unable to come down. This made Gu Nianzhi feel pity in her heart. Also, she was worried that Tan Dongbang might somehow manage to “rise again.” Although that was a very slim possibility, who knew what could happen?

There was no point guessing the psyche of the voters, since she wouldn’t understand regardless how much she guessed. Gu Nianzhi felt even more uneasy when she recalled the results of the last American election. No, she couldn’t allow Tan Dongbang to have the opportunity to rise again. Even if he had it, she must suppress him!

Gu Nianzhi grabbed Special Assistant Zhuang’s arm. “Let me go up there. Even if I say something wrong, you can come up and solve the issue by saying I’m an intern. It doesn’t matter if I say the wrong thing!”

“You can really do this?” Special Assistant Zhuang was tempted since he truly had no other choice. Perhaps Speaker Long sincerely admired Gu Nianzhi, and she truly had the ability as the successor he was grooming?

Special Assistant Zhuang swore that as long as Gu Nianzhi could completely suppress Tan Dongbang this time, he would certainly go to Speaker Long and request that he promote her to Chief Legal Counsel! As for the old, sly legal counsel, as well as Cai Shengnan, the American lawyer who refused to do anything without personal gain, they would all step aside!

Gu Nianzhi rose up, her expression stern. “We can’t let him continue behaving with such arrogance. I’ll go fight him.”

…