Chapter 2332 - Going to Wuzhou (XI)

"...But the document matter is different. Only three or four people know the full sequence of events, and no single person has the complete picture. You can piece together that something happened, but the details remain unknown. Moreover, the Wuzhou riot provides a perfect excuse for destroying key documents. As long as he insists firmly that no such thing occurred, no one can prove otherwise."

"No wonder—this Old Xie's scheming runs deep." Chen Baibin nodded. "After all, Cai Lan destroying the inquiry letter is only what we've uncovered. There may be other security breaches we don't know about. The implications are far more serious than simply keeping a female spy. So Yi Haoran remains alive, but Cai Lan is already dead."

"Precisely." Ji Xin nodded. "Senator Xie has cut off the tail to save himself. As long as it's not a fundamental error of principle, he'll always have a chance to recover someday."

"So we're essentially letting him off..." Chen Baibin had expected Ji Xin to show at least some disappointment, but his expression remained utterly calm.

"Little Chen, whenever an investigation involves a Senator, the truth is only one aspect..."

"The more important aspect is the Senate's interests. Correct?"

Ji Xin nodded. "Precisely."

"But what if the truth conflicts with the interests of naturalized citizens and indigenous people?"

"Little Chen, are the Senate's interests consistent with those of the naturalized citizens and indigenous people?"

"That..." Chen Baibin found the question difficult to answer. It was subtle. According to the Senate's public line, the Senate and the people were one, sharing common interests. In a general sense, that wasn't wrong.

But privately, Senators understood the reality. Their interests weren't truly the same—at best, their goals aligned.

"In fact, they aren't consistent."

"Correct." Ji Xin's tone became more intimate. "We all know our interests differ from those of the indigenous people. The landlord class exploited them—don't we exploit them too? Well, not exactly. We brought new technologies and new systems, improving productivity and creating more surplus value to distribute. Giving them lives worthy of human beings—better lives than they had before. That is the greatest source of legitimacy for our existence in this era.

"But you must have noticed: plenty of people in the Senate view naturalized citizens and indigenous people as 'tools,' 'cannon fodder,' or merely 'numbers on a personnel table.' This thinking has been embraced by many. As Senators and rulers, perhaps thinking this way is beyond reproach. After all, people don't share the same sorrows and joys, and you can't sit on multiple sides of a fence. However, contempt for naturalized citizens and indigenous people will crystallize into a new form of class prejudice—and this prejudice has already begun to emerge. Once it solidifies, the harm to our future society will be endless..."

He sighed deeply. "I've never believed the Senate would establish any Thousand-Year Empire. But as one of its members, I hope it can endure a while longer. And when it finally reaches its dead end, I hope it can transition peacefully—or at least with minimal bloodshed—into a new nation. Rather than collapsing into violent revolution because of our arrogance and prejudice..."

"Director Ji, what you're saying is perhaps too..." Chen Baibin felt a twinge of nervousness. Although Senators enjoyed complete freedom of speech, no one had ever expressed such views. Whenever the Senate's future was discussed, despite disagreements on many issues, nearly all Senators held entirely positive expectations.

"Too alarmist?" Ji Xin smiled, then shook his head. "Not at all. Do you remember the Hao Yuan affair? Strange coincidence—Yi Haoran's alias also had the surname 'Hao'! Ha ha ha."

The laugh made Chen Baibin's scalp prickle. It was indeed an inexplicable coincidence. He remembered when the report on Hao Yuan and Black Heir was submitted for internal Senate discussion, the fear revealed by the Senators—unspoken terror from the depths of their hearts. The Political Security Bureau, Foreign Intelligence Bureau, and Special Reconnaissance Team had conducted near-frantic searches and purges of Hao Yuan's remnants in Hangzhou and elsewhere. Anyone who had contact with him, if they could be found, was secretly arrested or assassinated.

Wait—the work I'm doing now, ostensibly upholding the interests of naturalized citizens and indigenous people, is essentially just delaying the arrival of a certain moment...

"I understand your meaning," he murmured. "Protecting the rights of naturalized citizens and indigenous people is protecting the Senate itself... Isn't that the same logic as 'protecting the Earth protects humanity'?"

Ji Xin nodded. "Does the Earth need human protection? It doesn't. Whether the Earth becomes a lifeless desert or a lush paradise of life has no meaning to the Earth itself—only to humanity's existence."

"When you put it that way, your work is truly meaningful..." Chen Baibin said sincerely. "I support you. After returning, I'll do more to help with these efforts."

"I'm very pleased that you approve of my ideas. Actually implementing this work is not easy." Ji Xin said, "But let's set that aside for now and discuss business."

They had been in Wuzhou for more than ten days, essentially completing the investigation and interrogation work. The next step was drafting the formal report. This document, which would be submitted to the Senate, had to withstand scrutiny from all sides while also implementing Ji Xin's approach. Chen Baibin found the task daunting.

"My thinking is this," Chen Baibin said. "Based on the data we've gathered, the facts of the entire Wuzhou riot are relatively clear. Among the principal figures in the case, only Jiang Qiuchan, Song Ming, and Chang Qingyun remain at large. Everyone else is either dead or in custody—we've essentially swept the net clean. So the report itself isn't difficult to write. What's difficult is the situation regarding Xie Erren..."

He looked at Ji Xin, hoping for guidance.

Ji Xin nodded slightly. "Which parts do you find most troublesome?"

"First, his romantic relationship with Cai Lan. Second, the matter of Cai Lan accessing confidential documents. Both are powder kegs..."

"Our investigation report cannot be based on rumor—everything must rest on facts," Ji Xin said. "If evidence exists for something, we write it down."

And conversely, what lacks evidence need not be written. Chen Baibin thought, Isn't this exactly what Xie Erren was counting on? Though he recognized the wisdom of Ji Xin's approach, being outmaneuvered like this left a bitter taste.

Perhaps reading this thought in his expression, Ji Xin said, "Don't feel you've fallen into Xie Erren's trap. This lesson won't be light for him—at minimum, he'll be sidelined for three to five years. It also serves as a warning to many current Senators: don't think too highly of yourselves, trampling on systems at will."

"I have no personal opinion about Senator Xie. I'm just worried. Since we're acknowledging the relationship between Cai Lan and Xie Erren, it's not hard to deduce she had access to confidential documents and may have leaked information. What if someone presses that point hard at the hearing?"

"That's Xie Erren's problem, not ours. We speak only according to the facts. No one can fault us for that. As for Senator Xie, he'll likely maintain his version at the hearing as well. As long as there's no evidence, no one can touch him. Furthermore, if someone does press too hard, the Senators advocating 'Senator Rights Supremacy' will certainly jump in to defend him. Additionally, Wen and Ma are his direct and indirect superiors—they won't stand by while he's humiliated too badly, since they bear leadership responsibility. They'll quietly provide support. And other dispatched administrative Senators, watching Xie Erren under concentrated fire, will inevitably feel a kinship of shared vulnerability. So while his situation is precarious, it's not fatal."

Chen Baibin rarely heard such frank analysis during work—Bureau Director Xiong always spoke indirectly and never said anything unsuitable for public occasions.

While they were discussing how to draft the report, an orderly came in to announce that Zheng Ergen had arrived.

Zheng Ergen had come to deliver the final report on the Sanhezui Camp investigation. Ji Xin and Chen Baibin skimmed through it. The conclusion showed that Liu Youwang, Jiang Yougong, and others had been colluding, engaging in massive corruption that intensified contradictions within the camp until Chang Qingyun exploited the situation. The report specifically detailed how Liu Youwang and his cohorts had bullied men, preyed upon women, and lived corruptly in the camp. Reading that he had raped dozens of women and caused over a hundred deaths through violence or abuse, Ji Xin's expression turned sorrowful. He sighed, "Our management failures harmed many innocent people."

"Without all that, how could a mere scholar like Chang Qingyun have stirred up such a storm?" Chen Baibin said.

"Did he say who the third seal belongs to?"

"No. He said nothing. Even under torture, he refused."

"Truly strange." Chen Baibin murmured, "Who is worth protecting like this? He doesn't strike me as the loyal type."

"Perhaps someone has leverage over him—or has his family," Ji Xin said. "Have you investigated his social connections?"

"Liu Youwang is an orphan, born penniless in Lingao. He drifted through the agricultural sector for years without success, served in the Fubo Army without promotion, and never married," Zheng Ergen said.

"You may go," Chen Baibin said.

"What do you think of this report?" Ji Xin asked after Zheng Ergen left.

"Except for the mysterious third seal, everything else checks out," Chen Baibin said. "Actually, there's considerable testimony damaging to Xie Erren—the opera chests Liu Youwang wanted, for instance, and his near-total neglect of oversight at the Sanhezui prisoner camp."

"Which is why I say, if anyone wants to smear him, these materials are sufficient," Ji Xin said. "That should satisfy them."

(End of Chapter)