Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 302

They felt as if they were being pushed to the edge of a cliff, forced to make their own choices...

..........

at the same time.

Yan Chen's office.

The weather in the New Territories was lovely today, with plenty of sunshine. However, the curtains in Yan Chen's office weren't drawn as usual; they were half-open.

This made the usually dimly lit office appear much brighter than usual.

On the sofa in this office, Yan Chen and Lai Shun, the deputy director of operations, sat facing each other.

The two seemed to have been chatting for a while, as the tea beside them had gotten a little cold.

The office was well soundproofed, keeping out all the noise from outside. However, because both of them were Cataclysmics, they could see through the walls of the room using only their spiritual vision.

So they watched the farce unfolding in front of Qiu Tu's office in silence for a long time.

After a moment, Lai Shun sighed and said to Yan Chen, "Director, it's my fault for not doing this job well."

"The Scarlet Widow has become a well-known assassin in the black market in the past two years. She has hunted down more than one Tier 3 Cataclysm, and is especially skilled in disguise and assassination."

"I didn't expect that Qiu Tu would see through this and arrange for Tang Feifei to suppress the cataclysmic power within her, disguise herself as an ordinary person, and guard the rest room in advance."

Upon hearing Lai Shun's words, Yan Chen's wrinkled face remained expressionless.

He held his now-cold tea in his hands and said softly, "It's not your fault."

"No one could have imagined that Qiu Tu could be so quick-witted..."

"Even though I've never met Yan Yan before, I still managed to spot the flaw."

Upon hearing this, Lai Shun said with some annoyance, "If I had known, I wouldn't have been so sentimental."

"I should have listened to the director and had the Scarlet Widow kill one of Qiu Tu's confidants, then disguised herself as that confidant to approach Qiu Tu and assassinate him directly."

Hearing Lai Shun's words, Yan Chen shook his head slightly and then said, "It shouldn't change the outcome much."

"Qiu Tu is too shrewd, and his strength is not weak either."

"The Scarlet Widow excels at delivering a fatal blow after a disguise. Disguised as Qiu Tu's confidant, she'll likely be discovered before even reaching him..."

At this point, Yan Chen sighed deeply, picked up his now-cold tea, took a sip, and lamented, "It's fate, it's destiny..."

After finishing her reflections, Yan Chen put her teacup aside, placed her hands on the sofa armrests, and slowly stood up, saying, "Alright. In any case, now that the plan has failed, we still need to clean up the mess."

Upon hearing this, Lai Shun also stood up.

As the two got up, another Yan Yan also walked out of the rest area of ​​Yan Chen's office.

This Yan Yan's temperament is somewhat similar to that of the character played by La Riluo; both are so pure and introverted...

It looked like a piece of fragile glass. It seemed as if the slightest bit of force would shatter it completely.

But upon closer inspection, one can almost see the suppressed madness beneath her calm exterior...

Looking at her daughter, Yan Chen frowned slightly, but said nothing. She simply waved to her and they walked out of the office together.

As he stepped out of the office, for some reason, Yan Chen recalled a secret meeting he had with Tang Feifei a few days earlier, representing the "Fengtian Clique"...

'Perhaps...we should consider Tang Feifei's suggestion?'

........

Even though Yan Chen suffered several setbacks at Qiu Tu's hands during this period, his influence within the Investigation Bureau remained strong.

So when Yan Chen arrived at the crime scene with Lai Shun and Yan Yan, many middle and senior managers couldn't help but quickly make way for them, and saluted and greeted them.

Yan Chen walked through the human wall formed by the middle and senior managers without any expression on his face and arrived at Qiu Tu's office door.

He stopped, then slightly opened his droopy eyelids and looked up at Qiu Tu lying in a pool of blood in the office.

Officials are all born actors and liars. Even though he was the one who did it all, he still naturally showed a look of surprise on his face.

Then he pointed at Qiu Tu, looked around, his face filled with suppressed anger, and asked in a deep voice, "What's going on here?"

"What's wrong with Minister Qiu?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Feifei opened her mouth to explain.

However... Yan Chen didn't give her a chance.

Yan Chen raised his hand and waved to Vice Minister Zhao in the crowd.

Vice Minister Zhao quickly jogged over to Yan Chen's side.

Yan Chen gave him a cold look and scolded, "What time is it? Still watching the show."

"Hurry up and arrange for a medical team to examine and treat Minister Qiu."

Director Zhao was clearly far inferior to Secretary Bai. So when he heard Yan Chen's arrangements, he quickly said "oh, oh" twice, and then took out his communicator to start making the arrangements.

Yan Chen had just appeared and easily controlled the situation with just a few simple words.

After doing all this, he finally looked up at Tang Feifei standing in front of him and asked in a flat tone, "Director Tang... what exactly happened?"

Tang Feifei tried to speak again.

Suddenly, Lai Shun, the deputy chief of operations who was standing next to Yan Chen, exclaimed in surprise, "Wait a minute! Isn't this the black market assassin Scarlet Widow?"

After saying that, he walked past Tang Feifei and quickly went to the Scarlet Widow, who had already fainted.

He squatted down, examined and scrutinized the woman carefully for a few moments, and then turned to Yan Chen and said, "Chief, it is indeed the Scarlet Widow."

He glanced at the Scarlet Widow, then at Qiu Tu lying in a pool of blood, pondered for a moment, and then said, "It seems... Minister Qiu's work in the Political Department has been too outstanding lately, attracting the jealousy of some anti-shelter groups..."

Tang Feifei: .....

The middle and senior managers present:....

To be honest, everyone knows Lai Shun is lying. After all, Chiu Tu has only just taken over the political department and doesn't have any notable achievements or cases to his name yet.

Judging from the current situation, this assassin was most likely arranged by Yan's faction.

But... now Lai Shun says that Qiu Tu's success in the political department has attracted retaliation from anti-shelter groups. Can Tang Feifei and the others speak out against this?

Is it possible to argue that Qiu Tu's work was actually unsuccessful?

Or should we just say that the assassin was arranged by Yan Chen?

Let's not even talk about whether Qiu Tu and Tang Feifei have any evidence that Yan Chen colluded with this assassin; even if they did... Yan Chen would definitely have already prepared a way out.

Just like how he keeps Yan Yan by his side without making a sound, isn't it to show everyone that his daughter has always been by his side, and that he doesn't know what the killer is all about?

At this moment, Qiu Tu, lying in a pool of blood, his body soaked in blood, "saw" this scene and couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

Don't let Tang Feifei's intelligence and abilities fool you. Compared to a cunning old fox like Yan Chen, she's still far inferior in eloquence.

Despite having the advantage at the beginning, Yan Chen managed to take control of the situation with just a few words.

Fortunately, she wasn't fighting alone; she had Qiu Tu with her.

Thinking this, Qiu Tu took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and winked at Su Xiaowan, who was still standing stupidly at the door of the lounge.

This silly girl, Su Xiaowan, finally didn't let us down at a time like this. She let out a surprised cry, then ran to Qiu Tu's side and exclaimed, "Minister! You're awake?!"

Seeing this, Qiu Tu endured the pain from his wound and said cooperatively, "I'm awake... How is it? Have you caught the murderer who was disguised as Miss Yan Yan?"

As he spoke, Qiu Tu struggled to sit up.

Seeing this, Su Xiaowan quickly reached out and hugged Qiu Tu, letting Qiu Tu's weight fall on her, and then tried to help Qiu Tu up.

Seeing this, Tang Feifei knew that Qiu Tu was about to make a move.

So she silently loosened her clenched fist, then quickly walked to Qiu Tu and helped him up, ignoring the blood all over him.

Qiu Tu had been quite ruthless to himself just now. The wound from the "Ten Thousand Waters Silk" was deep enough that as soon as he sat up, thick blood gushed out from the cracked layers of skin and muscle, which looked extremely horrifying.

Upon witnessing this scene, the expressions of the middle and senior managers present changed slightly, all feeling a sense of shared sorrow.

In an instant, the "hearts" that had been directed towards Yan Chen silently turned towards Qiu Tu.

At this moment, Qiu Tu saw his target, Da Da, and began his performance.

He raised his pale face, looked at Yan Chen, and said weakly, "Chief, just now... I was attacked by an assassin."

"The assassin impersonated Miss Yan Yan, saying he was acting on your orders to discuss arrangements and security for your itinerary over the next few days."

"She showed me your schedule for the next few days, which gained my trust."

"So... I was caught off guard and she got close to me, almost killing me."

Qiu Tu's method of confrontation with Yan Chen was simple: fabricate stories based on existing evidence!

Isn't Yan Chen trying to clear his name of his relationship with the Scarlet Widow? And don't Qiu Tu and Tang Feifei have no evidence?

It's okay... If there's no evidence, then Qiu Tu will just make it up based on the existing evidence and then smear Yan Chen.

He claimed that the itinerary was brought by the Scarlet Widow herself, even though he had asked her to steal it.

Then the middle and senior management present must be wondering where the Scarlet Widow's itinerary came from, whether it was secretly given to her by Yan Chen.

At this moment, Qiu Tu, following everyone's lead, weakly spoke to Director Zhao, who was on the phone, "Director Zhao... could you come and take a look? Is this itinerary a real itinerary?"

Qiu Tu was betting that Director Zhao was not involved in this operation.

After all, things are done in secrecy. Given Yan Chen's cautious nature, it's highly unlikely he would allow someone like Director Zhao, who isn't a close confidant, to participate in this operation.

So... the Scarlet Widow didn't get the itinerary from Director Zhao, but directly from Yan Chen...

As expected, Qiu Tu guessed correctly. After hearing Qiu Tu's greeting, Director Zhao paused for a moment, then actually walked towards Qiu Tu, wanting to check the Yan Chen schedule in Qiu Tu's hand.

Seeing this situation, Lai Shun took the initiative to speak.

As if remembering something, he suddenly said, "Pretending to be the chief's daughter...?"

"This afternoon, Yan Yan seemed to have come to my office and inquired about the director's schedule."

“I was busy at the time and didn’t pay attention. So I just casually gave him the itinerary.”

Upon hearing Lai Shun's words, Director Zhao asked with a puzzled look, "Director Lai, how come you have a director there...?"

He was thinking, "How do you have the director's schedule?"

But halfway through his sentence, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he finally saw the situation clearly!

This isn't just a schedule issue; it's a massive storm vortex!

It's a power struggle between two factions, with several high-ranking officials vying for control of the assassination!

What right does a mere deputy director of the administrative department have to participate in such a high-level power struggle?

That's why he quickly shut his mouth to avoid becoming cannon fodder!

After shutting his mouth, Director Zhao secretly glanced at Yan Chen.

At this moment, Yan Chen stood there with his hands behind his back, expressionless, his eyes dark and unfathomable, making it impossible to discern his inner thoughts.

Perhaps sensing Director Zhao's gaze, he slightly lifted his droopy eyelids and glanced at Director Zhao.

With just one glance, Director Zhao felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. Because those aged eyes were filled with icy coldness...

Clearly, Director Zhao's brainless behavior had displeased this local tyrant of the investigation department...

After all, his actions were proving to other mid-to-high-level personnel that Yan Chen was the one who assassinated Qiu Tu.

At that moment, just as Director Zhao was filled with trepidation, Qiu Tu spoke again...

-------

My computer suddenly broke down! First, it upgraded itself, and after the upgrade, suddenly the Wi-Fi wouldn't turn on, and the wired network connection wouldn't work either! Nothing I did worked.

I spent over half an hour fiddling with it, and since I had to use a backup computer to write this, it's quite late. Sorry.

It's still 2 chapters and 1 words each, please vote with monthly tickets!

Chapter 322 Yan Chen's Price (10,000 words, please vote!)

It seems like Qiu Tu has really gotten into a fight with Director Zhao today.

He glanced at Deputy Director Lai Shun but didn't reply. Instead, he turned his gaze back to Director Zhao and said with a pale face, "Director Zhao, was it you who greeted me and led me into the director's office yesterday?"

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's question, Director Zhao's forehead was almost dripping with sweat.

He realized how miserable he was.