Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Bai Yueran adjusted her emotions and coughed as she walked over to Huo Shaoheng’s side. Smiling, she looked at Cai Shengnan and said, “You are Madam Cai? I have heard about you. However, we are slightly busier today than usual and therefore do not have time to entertain you. Could you please go back? We will arrange for a time to speak in a couple of days.”
It had not even been a month since Cai Shengnan had returned to the Hua Xia Empire, but she had already learned about almost all the people who were in higher management of the government body.
The situation in Hua Xia Empire was not the same as in America, but there were some similarities.
The governing body of America was made up of three parts. The Senate, the Cabinet, and the Judicial System each had authority on their own. The Hua Xia Empire was made up of three systems as well. Their Senate, Cabinet, and Army were systems with equal levels of importance.
The legal system was divided into normal court and military court. The legal department governed the normal court, while the army governed the military court.
Similar to America, the Senate of the Hua Xia Empire was divided into two parts, the members of which were elected by its citizens. The ministers who were elected represented the will of the citizens and the many overlapping organizations behind the scenes. There were even foreign powers involved. However, this was the norm in countries that held diplomatic elections. This was because it was legal for groups of people to speak up for certain groups of beneficiaries. These groups of people sometimes represented foreign powers.
As long as everyone played according to the rules, it was acceptable. Senior Speaker Long was the Senior Speaker in the Senate. He had been a minister in the Senate for more than three decades, having started from the lowest rank.
Moreover, being a Senior Speaker in the Senate, he was granted authority equivalent to that of a president. He had permission from the country to employ his very own personal secretary. Even though the country paid for their employment, but he got to choose who the candidate for the job was.
When the citizens elected him, it meant that they had agreed to give him this power.
For example, when the president of America wanted to appoint a new government worker to an official position, he would require the permission of the Senate to hire them. However, if the president wanted to employ workers to work in the White House, he could decide that on his own. That was considered acceptable and within his power. It was similar to choosing a personal caretaker for the king in the olden Hua Xia Empire.
The only difference was that the personal caretaker in the past was salaried by the king himself, not salaried using money taxed from the citizens. However, the employees of the White House, although employed within the president’s circle of power, were salaried by its citizens.
At this point, Cai Shengnan was the unofficially appointed legal consultant to Senior Speaker Long. In that capacity, she would be providing him with legal suggestions about his personal and official matters.
She still did not hold a special office of the Senate. However, with the back up that she had, it would only be a matter of time.
As long as she was able to pass the background check smoothly.
To achieve that goal, Cai Shengnan had put in a good amount of effort into getting to know the more prominent families in the Hua Xia Empire.
Therefore, she already knew all about Bai Yueran, the Commissioner of the legal department in the Special Forces. She was extremely impressed by this professional woman who had been able to achieve such a high ranking position in the army at such a young age. Therefore, she was polite to Bai Yueran. “May I ask if you are Bai Yueran?”
“Oh? Madam Cai knows who I am?” Bai Yueran raised her eyebrows in surprise and mentally reminded herself to be more wary of Cai Shengnan.
“I heard about you from the Prime Minister, who is my uncle-in-law, and Senior Speaker Long. You became so well known in the law industry at such a young age, and your breakthrough case was held at the International Court of Justice. I am thoroughly impressed!” With that, Cai Shengnan shook Bai Yueran’s hand.
Bai Yueran smiled more meaningfully. “Oh? Madam Cai has even looked up my case at the International Court of Justice… you really are informed.”
“Of course. I need to know who I will, or could, be dealing with, so I can feel more confident.” Cai Shengnan laughed heartily and retracted her hand. She produced the documents and handed them to Bai Yueran. “Since Commissioner Bai is here, please help me to take a look at these documents. Your Mr. Huo here will not allow me to go in. I, however, feel that he is being unreasonable.”
Bai Yueran did not take the documents from her. Placing her hands behind her back, she stood with her back as straight as Huo Shaoheng’s. “Madam Cai, you only know about one of the rules but not the other, don’t you? Firstly, I do not specialize in checking documents. I am unable to determine if the documents you hold are authentic. Therefore, I will not be able to help if you give them to me.”
Finally, Cai Shengnan’s expression changed. She interrupted Bai Yueran. “Does Commissioner Bai mean that my documents are fake? I will not tolerate such an accusation!”
“Please do not be angry. I did not say whether your documents were authentic or not. I was merely letting you know that I do not have the authority to check your documents,” Bai Yueran said with an extremely pleasant tone. It made Cai Shengnan, who sounded aggressive, seem like the unreasonable one.
Finally, Cai Shengnan understood what “hiding a needle in a haystack” meant.
She put away the documents and slowly said, “Must it be so complicated? Are you trying to make things so difficult for me?”
“Why do you have to put it that way, Madam Cai? You returned from America where you worked as a professional lawyer for many years. Don’t you know the importance of going according to the protocol? The protocol to follow would have been to get your documents checked when you were at the entrance. Therefore, please do not look for someone to check them for you after you have already entered. Firstly, General Huo has already been stopped by Major General Huo. Wasn’t that due to protocol? You also demonstrated your understanding of protocol when you acquired your entry permit and approval. Have you forgotten that?” Bai Yueran was showcasing her specialty as the Commissioner of the legal department in the Special Forces.
Huo Shaoheng folded his arms and stood calmly by her side. He was not going to attempt to stop the argument between the two women. However, he was not about to leave.
Cai Shengnan was at a loss for words after Bai Yueran said that to her, but she managed to find a loophole in no time and scoffed. “Protocol? You guys ignored the approval and entry permit I officially obtained, still did not allow me to enter, and now you want to talk about protocol with me?”
“Haha, Madam Cai, please be reasonable. You cannot be talking about protocol when we already tried talking to you about the law. When we tried to put ourselves in your shoes and talk about protocol, you changed your words and jumped over to talking about how maligned you feel… If you talk like this, you will be the winner no matter what we try to discuss with you. If that’s the case, to whom can we turn if we feel maligned?” Bai Yueran replied calmly.
Even Gu Nianzhi, who was looking on from a distance, was impressed by her.
Cai Shengnan narrowed her eyes.
Bai Yueran’s debating skills were way better than she’d known…
Although the debate at the International Court of Justice had been exciting, Cai Shengnan felt that she would have been able to perform similarly.
However, now that she was arguing with her in person, she realized that she could not gain any form of advantage over her. It seemed like she would have to reassess the abilities of the lawyers in the Hua Xia Empire.
“I am not trying to complain.” Cai Shengnan showed her entry permit and approval letter again. “I am merely shocked. By rights, the order from the Senate should be the highest form of order, correct? However, you can just ignore it. That’s really unexpected. Perhaps I have just returned to the country and still have not gotten accustomed to the working culture here.”
“The Hua Xia Empire has been on par with international standards for a long time. We are even more advanced than other countries in certain aspects.” Bai Yueran threw the ball back to Cai Shengnan, hinting that it was Cai Shengnan who was being unreasonable and that it was in no way related to whether or not she was accustomed to the local working culture.
“Really? If it is already on par, and the Senate is the highest form of order, then why was your Major General Huo able to ignore my approval letter that came directly from the Senate?” Cai Shengnan managed to find the loophole in Bai Yueran’s words and began to retort relentlessly.
“Look here. Isn’t this the stamp from the Senate? Also, didn’t you manage to set this organization up after getting approval from the Senate? Do you dare to go against the order of the Senate? No wonder there are people out there who think that you guys think too highly of yourselves and are conspiring things!”
Cai Shengnan began pushing her luck. “If we described a country as a big business, do you know what you guys would be doing? You guys would be openly defying orders. The Senate can terminate you guys immediately!”
Due to the special job scope of the Special Forces, many had been against its existence since the day it was approved to be set up.
It was purely because of the protection from Senior Speaker Long and General Ji, both of whom had really powerful ranks, that the Special Forces had managed to survive on such a huge scale.
Huo Shaoheng was a soldier who simply did things because he liked them. He fully understood the complications and special circumstances that came with politics.
From what Cai Shengnan had just said, Huo Shaoheng had sensitively managed to discover that there were people who wanted a piece of the Special Forces.
If they offended Cai Shengnan too badly now, he could not predict the consequences. However, if they succumbed now, the consequences would surely be worse.
Bai Yueran was also taken aback by Cai Shengnan’s words. It was true that the authority of the Senate was the highest under the law. They had established that the Special Forces had to report to them.
It was due to Huo Shaoheng’s presentation to the Senate that he had managed to get permission to expand the authority of the Special Forces.
To put it blatantly, if the Senate decided to take back the power that they’d given, what could the Special Forces do to stop it?
Bai Yueran and Huo Shaoheng fell silent. The parade square in front of the headquarters of the Special Forces was so still that the only sound was the cold wind blowing, making the entire place seem even emptier.
There was only one vehicle left with a few people inside. However, no one dared to speak.
Seeing that she had managed to silence both of them, Cai Shengnan felt extremely pleased with herself. She mentally took note that she had to work harder to defeat both Huo Shaoheng and Bai Yueran together.
If she was able to successfully get a permit to learn about the operations of the Special Forces, her future in Hua Xia Empire would be limitless.
She had been in America for years and had managed to become a shareholder in the second-largest law firm there. However, she’d still felt like an outsider most of the time, and she’d felt horrible about it. Therefore, she had not wished to become a citizen there like her father. She still wanted to return to her home country and be successful there.
She wanted to feel the glory and pride right at home.
“What is the matter, Major General Huo? Commissioner Bai? May I enter now?”
Cai Shengnan stood up straight with her chest out, taking a step forward.
…
Gu Nianzhi, who had been watching the entire incident unfold from a distance, was panicking. There was no way she was going to allow this woman to take another step forward, okay?!
If she managed to enter the facility, how would Huo Shao be able to hold authority in the future?!
To a commanding officer, the consequences of having his authority tarnished were extremely severe.
However, what Cai Shengnan said had a point. If not, Bai Yueran would not have remained quiet.
True, she had approval from the senate. This approval truly held a different meaning to people who were in the army, like Bai Yueran. However, what Cai Shengnan had said just now had truly gone overboard.
It was clearly a slap in Huo Shaoheng’s face. Gu Nianzhi would never allow anyone to slap Huo Shaoheng in the face in front of her. She began thinking as she heard Cai Shengnan say, “…Defying the orders from the superiors. The Senate could terminate you guys immediately!”
Bingo!
Gu Nianzhi managed to think of something that could embarrass Cai Shengnan so much that she would have to go back. She picked up her phone and said to Yin Shixiong, “Brother Xiong! Put me through to Huo Shao. Quick! Now!”
Yin Shixiong was standing behind Huo Shaoheng. He was extremely annoyed too. Hearing Gu Nianzhi, he knew that she had managed to come up with a solution to fix the b*tch. With sparkling eyes, he put Gu Nianzhi through to Huo Shaoheng’s phone.
Wearing his Bluetooth earpiece, Huo Shaoheng had been in constant contact with Zhao Liangze. Yin Shixiong cut in and put Gu Nianzhi through.
Gu Nianzhi’s clear and sweet voice came through to Huo Shaoheng’s earpiece immediately. “…Huo Shao, tell her that the Senate could not even bring down Prime Minister Tan, who was under a case of impeachment from the entire panel of judges from the supreme court. She should not be so confident in her ability to terminate anyone she wished.”
Huo Shaoheng could not help but smile.
So cunning…
To think she had been able to come up with this.
Gu Nianzhi’s words inspired Huo Shaoheng. He did not worry about offending the Senate anymore, or that they would take his powers away. Huo Shaoheng said without worry, “Madam Cai, you mentioned that the Senate has the highest form of authority. Then why couldn’t they bring Prime Minister Tan down for an impeachment case that was judged by the entire panel of judges on the supreme court?”
The moment Cai Shengnan heard that her expression turned ugly. She was so angry that she almost spat blood!
This was a classic example of using her words against her!
She had just said that the Senate had the highest form of authority and that they could do almost whatever they wanted. However, Huo Shaoheng immediately brought up the case of impeachment that had been raised by the senate. However, they had failed in that case purely due to Cai Shengnan’s manipulation!
If she wanted to insist that the Senate had the highest form of authority and that the Special Forces had to adhere to them unconditionally, then how could she explain why they had been unable to take Prime Minister Tan down from his position?
No matter what, the government was granted permission to have their cabinet upon approval from the Senate. It was almost equivalent to the Special Forces.
He was pointing out that the Senate did not have the highest form of authority. It was like any organization with rules and weaknesses!
How could she talk now without hitting herself in the face?!
