"Only a blind man wouldn't see it's a trap!"
"And to think she fell for it! Is Ai Li's brain made out of tofu? Or is she just over her head with this case again!"
Hearing Huang Shangzong's words, the secretary felt awkward for a couple of seconds before advising, "Speaker, please calm down... I think Director Ai Li might also have been schemed against by Qiu Tu."
"Qiu Tu, as you know... is most skilled at deducing and manipulating people's hearts."
"Director Ai Li likely was momentarily careless and fell victim to his schemes."
Hearing the secretary's persuasion, Huang Shangzong's face eased just a bit.
He snorted heavily! Two streams of air flew away like white ropes.
Then, with his hands on his broad hips, he paced back and forth in the room a couple of times before darkly saying, "Qiu Tu has gone too far this time!"
"For his own personal gain, to suppress a political opponent, he disregarded the interests of the Sanctuary, disregarded the interests of all humanity! He let the Evil God escape!"
"A person like that must be punished severely!"
Hearing Huang Shangzong's words, the secretary standing before him weighed a few sentences before finally speaking up, "Speaker..."
"I know what you're going to say," Huang Shangzong interrupted, waving his hand as the secretary began to speak.
"Right now, all the evidence, all the witness testimonies point to Ai Li, not Qiu Tu."
"I can't outright assume Qiu Tu is the mastermind behind the scenes and take action against him."
Perhaps because he was still furious, Huang Shangzong looked like an active volcano, exuding an intense sense of oppression.
His thick eyebrows crossed above his forehead, making him appear both fierce and profound.
He looked intently at his secretary with sharp eyes, then said, "Of course, I'm not planning to directly target Qiu Tu."
"I am an official, not a bandit."
His eyebrows narrowed coldly before he spoke, "I just find Qiu Tu very suspicious."
"So, I'm thinking of sending someone to investigate thoroughly."
"Of course, to make this investigation reliable and believable, I think... we can temporarily transfer Qiu Tu from Xinjie City to the state."
"That way, send someone down after."
"With him not in Xinjie City, it will definitely be easier to break his confidants and subordinates."
"Then, we might be able to uncover the true nature of this event."
Huang Shangzong's method was indeed not bad, thus the secretary quickly chuckled and flattered, "Speaker Gao Ming! I hadn't thought of such a method."
Hearing the secretary's flattery, Huang Shangzong had no reaction.
His gaze deep and intense, he looked at the office door as if contemplating something...
'However... shifting a deputy director, especially a powerful one with significant achievements, isn't that easy.'
'At the least, it has to go through a Speaker's meeting...'
'As the Speaker, although I can dictate decisions, if... too many deputy speakers oppose, it would also look incredibly bad.'
'Especially if half of the deputy speakers oppose, it would greatly undermine my authority...'
'But... can Qiu Tu influence more than half of the deputy speakers?'
Though somewhat concerned, Huang Shangzong carefully calculated the likely votes and felt he might just be worrying over nothing.
Thus, he finally made up his mind...
Meanwhile, at the same time.
Xinjie City, Investigation Bureau, 12th floor, Qiu Tu's office.
Qiu Tu was discussing the situation at Dongye State with Tang Feifei.
He laid six coins on his desk and analyzed, "Originally Dongye State had one chairman and four vice-chairmen, five in total."
"Those are Chairman Huang Shangzong."
"Deputy Chairman, responsible for City Hall administration, from 'The Liberal Democratic Faction,' Li Tingdong."
"Deputy Chairman, responsible for The military system, 'Iron-Blood Faction,' General Ye Mingfeng."
"Deputy Chairman, responsible for the Investigation Bureau system, 'Reformist Faction,' Liu Xiongyuan."
"Deputy Chairman level, responsible for supernatural affairs, Director of Security Bureau, Dai Yukang."
After introducing the five chairpersons, Qiu Tu then pointed to Tang Feifei, saying, "And you, the new Deputy Chair ahead of this region."
Qiu Tu arranged the six coins in sequence.
Then he said, "Although the Sanctuary operates under the Chairman's responsibility, where the chairman can independently decide on all matters large and small in the state... the deputy chairs also hold significant say."
"If more than half of the deputy chairs oppose, it would make the chairman look bad and disgraceful, seriously losing credibility."
"Not only would it lower his evaluation at the Sanctuary, but it could also further impact his prestige throughout all of Dongye State, and even... render his orders ineffective outside the State Council."
"Now that Dongye State has just been set up, Huang Shangzong would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen."
"So what we need to do is to tell him... that we have the capability to turn all of this into reality."
"That way, we can check him and achieve our desired outcome."
Saying this, Qiu Tu pushed the last coin forward, then said, "This is you."
Following that, he pushed the fourth coin forward, "This is Liu Xiongyuan."
Qiu Tu commented, "You two are my solid votes, our base in the State Council."
Then Qiu Tu placed the first coin on the other side, "This is Huang Shangzong."
Next, he moved the third coin toward Huang Shangzong's side, "This is the military's Ye Mingfeng."
"As core members of the 'Iron-Blood Faction,' they are the foundation that keeps everything stable."
"Unless major issues arise, they will either stand with the chairman or remain neutral."
Once done, only the coins representing "Li Tingdong" and "Dai Yukang" were left on the table.
Qiu Tu said, "So... these two are our key points of focus."
"Getting support from one of them would put Huang Shangzong in a very passive position."