992 A Scheme

Special Assistant Yang’s intention in letting Gu Nianzhi meet the three officials was to have her experience the level of difficulty involved in their work. Why else would he have shoved her into such an important assignment on her first day as an intern?

That’s why a few of the high-ranking senior secretaries from the Secretarial Office of the Senate, proficient in smoothing things over, accompanied Gu Nianzhi to the meeting.

They knew what Special Assistant Yang had in mind. While he would not go so far as to personally put Gu Nianzhi in a bind, that wouldn’t stop him from just standing by and doing nothing when trouble came to her.

That’s how it was in the workplace. When you reach the highest level, you don’t deal with tasks, you deal/mess with people. Those who weren’t observant and were unable to observe social cues would never reach a very high position.

Therefore, when the high-ranking senior secretaries saw Gu Nianzhi being persistently surrounded by the three officials, they shot each other a look and stood behind her wordlessly like they were her attendants.

Gu Nianzhi had previously interned at the United States Congress where people were far more scheming and manipulative. Furthermore, she had legal training and was also an outstanding advocate. Naturally, she was much more perceptive and sharp than others. She was also more flexible to changing circumstances of such an environment than the average person.

As such, it didn’t bother her that the high-ranking officials were just standing behind her and watching the situation unfold. It didn’t matter to her what their intentions were. She laughed in response to the three officials that were hounding her with their unreasonable requests. “Please calm down and speak one at a time. Look, let me first have your names, positions, and ranks.”

Gu Nianzhi smiled and got down to business, pen in hand. She exchanged words of bureaucratic jargon with the three officials. She had heard Huo Shaoheng use these perfunctory words in a similar situation before and had learned to do the same. She was emulating it quite well, so much so that the high-ranking senior secretaries behind her were surprised. Even the three officials from the Prime Minister’s residence were fooled.

The three of them looked at each other in dismay, then asked diffidently, “I’m sorry, you want us to do what? We’re officials from the Prime Minister’s residence, are you dealing with us without even knowing who we are? Who are you? And what’s your rank?”

Fantastic, Gu Nianzhi knew that she’d been successful at diverting their subject. She shrugged, palms up, and replied, “This is the Senate’s procedure for handling issues. I’m sure that, as officials of the Prime Minister’s residence, you’re aware of the importance of protocols. Come on, don’t worry, tell me your grievances one at a time. When you’re done, please sign in over here.”

The three officials from the Prime Minister’s residence were members of the Public Relations Department of the Office of the Prime Minister, also known as the PR Department. Their purpose for coming was to put pressure on the Senate and to hinder the Senate’s efforts in starting up the elections. The more loopholes there were, the better. This would open up opportunities for them to launch an attack.

It’d be all right even if they didn’t succeed. Their main goal was to create chaos and confusion. Without a doubt, the more trouble they created, the more they would get on their nerves. It’d be best if it resulted in a huge argument between them, or better yet, a fight.

A certain Japanese Congress on the Blue Planet had been made famous because of a fight anyway. They could learn a little something from that.

They’d even brought along Prime Minister Tan’s lovely daughter, Tan Guiren, in hopes of creating some sort of conflict. It’d be great if Miss Tan was “accidentally injured” so the entire affair would be in the headlines. If that happened, even if the elections had already started, Prime Minister Tan, who was used to gaining sympathy from others through his daughter, would surely be able to salvage much of his image in the minds of the voters.

But no one thought that this familiar-looking female staff member would send Tan Guiren out of the Senate building. This threw them into a state of confusion. They had no choice but to get personally involved in the battle and fight with the young lady.

Now, this female staff member was making them register and sign in. Was she taking them for fools? The trio from the PR Department of the Office of the Prime Minister looked at Gu Nianzhi suspiciously. “Who on earth are you? Aren’t matters like these always handled by Special Assistant Yang?”

Gu Nianzhi saw through to their objectives and refused to take the bait. She smiled pleasantly and said, “This is the Senate, not Special Assistant Yang’s place of residence. Do you only go looking for Special Assistant Yang when there’s a problem? Are you all foolish?”

She was indeed taking them for fools!

The trio became angry. They slammed the table and yelled, “Who are you?! A moment ago, you drove Miss Gu out. You’re looking down on us, aren’t you? Let me tell you something! The prime minister is still in office! We will not tolerate this impudence!”

“Impudence? How have I been impudent? As officials of the prime minister’s residence, you are discarding both your own image as well as the image of the prime minister’s residence by creating trouble. Are you saying that this is reasonable?” Gu Nianzhi said bluntly.

Wasn’t picking a fight what they wanted?

She knew about that stuff too!

“How are you not impudent?! We’re requesting for the Cabinet votes to be voided because they’re not legitimate at all! You’re all playing deaf and mute. How dare you accuse us of causing trouble?!” The trio was good with words, regardless of whether they made sense or not. They were adept at saying a bunch of nonsense to get their way.

It appeared that sometimes in an argument, the party that speaks in a louder voice and has more people with them is the party deemed more reasonable.

Even if this was the Senate’s home ground, the three officials felt that no one would be able to hold a candle to them in a showdown. The only person speaking to them was a staff member who appeared young and inexperienced. None of the impeccably dressed, high-ranking secretaries standing behind her were saying a single word.

Great, she was handling things like Speaker Long’s Secretarial Office and Special Affairs Office would.

The three of them became even more fearless, secure in the knowledge of their backing. In order to create breaking news, they were going to go all-in. All of this was to enrage a member of the Senate and hopefully end up in a fight with them.

They’d come prepared with their pinhole video cameras, awaiting the start of the fight so that they could have it on a live broadcast. The citizens of the nation would then know who the inferior ones were and who the reasonable ones were…

If Gu Nianzhi didn’t know what they were planning after seeing the eager expressions on their faces and the high-ranking secretaries’ apathetic attitudes, then she must have mingled with He Zhichu and Huo Shaoheng for nothing.

An idea came to her quickly. She spoke, sharp-tongued, uttering biting words. “You three, may I ask in what ways are the votes illegitimate? Was the quota of voters not met? Or was there an infringement on the voting procedures? Please make it clear, cite the relevant statutory provisions and case law precedents. What’s wrong? Prime Minister Tan was allowed to stage a short film with a Japanese spy, but won’t allow others to crusade against him? Are you sure that the prime minister you serve is really a prime minister and not an emperor? Even if he’s an emperor, an emperor who betrays national interest is one that deserves to be punished by everyone!”

“Who are you saying maintained illicit relations with a foreign country and betrayed national interests?! Do you know that this is a serious accusation?! Say it once more and I’ll sue you for slander!” The three officials’ expressions soured instantly. They became aggressive.

Gu Nianzhi was not lacking in how she carried herself. She waved her hands and said, “Well, go on, sue me! Do it now! I’ll await the court summons! You’re saying that I committed slander, so are you a law student? May I ask which sentence of mine constituted slander? I suggest that you take instructions from the prime minister’s wife before you make any accusations. You don’t want to be met with a double whammy!”

“You… you said that our prime minister betrayed national interests, but do you have any evidence of that?!” Unwittingly, the officials were slowly getting derailed by Gu Nianzhi. Aside from stirring things up, what was going on no longer had anything to do with the Senate voiding the Cabinet votes.

Gu Nianzhi made two accusations, one of illicitly co-operating with a foreign country, and the other one being the betrayal of national interests. The accusation of maintaining illicit relations with a foreign country was one that even the three officials were unable to refute, hence, they avoided that particular accusation and only zeroed in on the accusation that the prime minister had betrayed national interests.

Gu Nianzhi shrugged indifferently and retorted, “Even if I do have evidence, why should I let you know about it? So that you can destroy the evidence immediately? Do you think I’m dumb?”

“You!” The three officials hadn’t expected that they would encounter someone better at stirring up trouble than they were. This was not the usual situation when dealing with Speaker Long’s subordinates!

Speaker Long was the head of both the Senate and the Lower House of Parliament. Due to his high-ranking position, his Secretarial Office and Special Affairs Office were also highly respected in the Huaxia Empire. No one had ever picked a fight with them. No one dared to.

Thus, his subordinates were typically skilled at intellectual fights and stratagems. They were seldom involved in public confrontations as there wasn’t a need for them to do so. Naturally, they hadn’t improved on handling confrontations because they’d never done it before.

Cai Songyin and Tan Dongbang had analyzed the character traits and ability of the staff members working under Speaker Long before coming up with this strategy. Know thyself, know thy enemy, and every fight can be won…

They wouldn’t dare to employ the same strategy with the Lower House of Parliament.

This was because the people at the Lower House of Parliament had climbed their way to their current positions through countless confrontations. They were all sharp-tongued. It would not be easy to go up against them, but it would be easy to be beaten down by them.

Moreover, after the Senate was dealt with, taking out the Lower House of Parliament would be a cinch. However, there was another unexpected variable at the Senate in the form of Gu Nianzhi.

“Who on earth are you? Why do we not know that you’re with Speaker Long? Are you impersonating someone? Let me tell you this, young lady, it is a serious offense to impersonate a staff member of the Senate!” The officials started trying to scare Gu Nianzhi.

Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes and flashed her tag at them. “You see this? I’m a bona fide staff member of the Senate.”

Although she was only an intern, she was favored by Speaker Long, so the work tag that he’d requested for her was the same as those worn by official staff members.

When one of the officials saw the name “Gu Nianzhi” on the work tag, he darted away immediately and contacted Cai Songyin.

When Cai Songyin, who was nursing a personal grievance, found out that Gu Nianzhi was actually working at the Senate, she found herself on the verge of tears.

“Teach her a lesson!” Cai Songyin commanded fiercely. “She has a bad temper. Provoke her. It’ll be best if you can make it seem like she was the first to strike!” By the time her lawsuit went to court again, she would fall into disrepute. Cai Songyin laughed coldly and hung up the phone.

The official understood the intentions of the Prime Minister’s wife and started implementing their scheme. He walked over to the table in front of Gu Nianzhi, took the notepad on which she required them to sign, and weighed it in his hands. Then, he leaned forward and whispered brazenly, “Little lady, are you really a staff member of the Senate? I hope that you didn’t get here through dishonest means.” As he spoke, he leered at Gu Nianzhi’s chest, scanning her breasts from side to side.

Gu Nianzhi had on well-fitting professional attire and was dressed according to professional standards, but when this person leered at her, it made her feel as though she had on nothing at all.

Gu Nianzhi frowned. “Sir, please mind how you’re presenting yourself. This is the Senate, not the Paramount.”

“Oh! You actually know about the Paramount! You’ve got a great future ahead of you!” That official who was looking for trouble leaned his head closer towards her. He said in her ear, “Miss Gu, is it? Can I buy your time and have us leave together? I’m fit…”

He was behaving revoltingly just to tip Gu Nianzhi off her tolerance threshold. He wanted to provoke her into slapping him in front of everyone…

Even though Gu Nianzhi was disgusted by him, it wasn’t enough to make her lose her cool. Furthermore, this was the Senate’s building. Did he think it was some sort of shady ballroom?

Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips and said calmly, “Excuse me, sir, your every word and action is under surveillance. With your earlier conduct, you have already committed an offense of indecency under Article 237 of the Criminal Law, punishable with up to 5 years of imprisonment or criminal detention. In cases where the crime is committed in a group, in a public place, or if there have been any aggravating circumstances, the offense is punishable with imprisonment of not less than 5 years. Given that this is the Senate’s building, a public place, and the three of you form a group together, you have committed the crime as a group in a public place. The three of you are criminally liable and are punishable with an imprisonment term of no less than 5 years.”

She sounded like she knew her stuff and had the relevant legal provisions ready at the tips of her fingers. The casual way in which she went about it added an air of inviolability.