“Let’s wait for the outcome of this matter to be decided. An emperor can be guilty of the same crimes common people commit. Our Shi family does not tolerate any violation of the law. We will not forgive anyone linked to us who breaches it.”
“You won’t forgive them?” The president continued to question them. “Did you not use your power to silence others from revealing your illegal activities? And when you were discovered, you distanced yourself and told everyone that this matter had nothing to do with the Shi Family?”
“…” Shi Maowen was at a loss for words.
“Officer Shi, the Shi family is one of the four big families. They got to where they are today thanks to decades and centuries of sacrifice. I hope that the Shi family can cherish their position a little bit more. You should understand that if the Shi family was a conglomerate and all of their members were just businessmen, things wouldn’t be much different than how they are today. The Shi family is a super-group that generates cash and has connections in the administrative department, the executive hall, and the Ministry of Justice. Even though our nation has no rules against families being able to pursue business ventures, we do have a clear rule against those in public office not being allowed to engage in backdoor activities with their family members. The last time those five bad apples from the Shi family revealed themselves was already bad enough. I thought Officer Shi would definitely be able to handle this matter well and keep the family in line, but it’s only been a while since then and now Lan Weisong’s involvement has been exposed. And what a terrible crime! Wu Jingzhong is a good official. How can your Shi family frame him like this? They only dare to do this because you, the 13th official, and the big boss of the Shi family are supporting Lan Weisong from the shadows!”
“President, vice presidents, and chief executives, I swear I really didn’t know anything about this! If I knew that Lan Weisong was framing Wu Jingzhong to get him out of his governor seat, I would definitely have stopped him.”
“Of course you say that now that this matter has blown up. But I don’t believe that the Shi family and you didn’t know about Lan Weisong’s ‘ambitions’. Even the 12th official knows aboutWu Jingzhong’s arrest, so I don’t believe that as a member of the Shi family, you didn’t know about it,” one of the vice presidents fearlessly said when he saw that the president was angry. “I don’t believe it!”
Shi Maowen was so anxious that he was drenched in sweat. He tried to explain himself. “I really didn’t know!”
“Vice President Yang, I don’t think Officer Shi is lying. After all, the Shi family is huge, so it makes sense that information doesn’t reach every branch of the family tree. And just like our executive hall, having a barrel full of apples means at least a few are bound to be rotten. Why should the whole Shi family be blamed for this mistake? It’s just a matter of probability. So what, the Shi family got in trouble twice? I feel like since what’s done is done, we should justfocus on the matter at hand and work on resolving this matter. We should not blindly accuse Officer Shi and the Shi family of poor supervision. Who agrees with me?”
Those who supported Shi Maowen nodded one after another.
Shi Maowen immediately said, “President, I am still willing to personally investigate this matter and bring justice to the Wu family.”
“The facts are already in front of us. Is there anything else that needs to be investigated? Do you think that the Shi family lost anything in this incident? Was Lan Weisong framed?”
