he zhichu sneered when he heard this. picking up the glass of red wine, he took a light sniff and then downed it all in one gulp.

japanese people always acted the same way, no matter where they were…

humanitarian spirit?

why didn’t they exert their humanitarian spirit towards the huaxia citizens when they invaded the huaxia empire during the war?

could time really wash away all scars? no, some mistakes could not be forgiven. some scars would never disappear.

he zhichu set down his wine glass and also changed the tv channel to the news. this time, he saw a live broadcast of the senate announcing the election results.

the newly elected prime minister, bai jiancheng, was currently giving a passionate speech to the people. he encouraged everyone to unite and fight for the revitalization of the huaxia empire!

he zhichu’s shimmery, sultry eyes flickered. he suddenly wanted to know how this highly experienced politician would react once he heard the japanese prime minister’s urge to exert his “humanitarian spirit.”

…

the senate’s conference for the interim general election had been very successful. although there was a small episode when tan dongbang jumped up to fight with speaker long, it had been resolved perfectly. tan dongbang was taken away by the special operations forces for investigation, and gu nianzhi also managed to achieve an important accomplishment in front of speaker long.

after the conference concluded, the newly elected prime minister was surrounded by a large crowd of people. these were all his colleagues from the cabinet, and they would also be going out to celebrate his victory afterwards. because the cabinet had already been dissolved, the first thing bai jiancheng needed to do was to reassemble the cabinet as soon as possible.

gu nianzhi smiled when she saw the group usher bai jiancheng outside. her gaze drifted through the throngs of people for a while, but she didn’t see any trace of huo shaoheng. of course, she didn’t see general ji, either. they had probably left already. gu nianzhi had come in huo shaoheng’s car, so how was she supposed to get back? gu nianzhi couldn’t help but feel perplexed.

speaker long specially called her over and said to her very kindly, “nianzhi, you performed very well tonight. i already spoke to special assistant zhuang. when you come to work tomorrow, we will officially appoint you as legal counsel.”

did that mean she didn’t have to take the exam?! gu nianzhi’s eyes glittered, and then she asked the question on her mind. “really? so i don’t need to take the exam?”

speaker long burst out in laughter. “you still need to take the exam, but it shouldn’t be difficult for you at all. the exam is next week. good luck to you!”

gu nianzhi shrugged her shoulders. “ok then, i’ll try my best.” she then chatted with speaker long some more before he turned to leave.

gu nianzhi was fretting over how to get home when yin shixiong’s voice could be heard in her bluetooth headset. “nianzhi, i’ll be going back to the base later. huo shao asked me to take you back. nianzhi, you really were so amazing today!” yin shixiong didn’t hesitate to compliment gu nianzhi. he had merely given her a starting point, and gu nianzhi had actually performed so well. this was truly much to his pleasant surprise.

gu nianzhi laughed. “brother xiong, you’re being superficial! do we really need to be so polite with each other?”

“of course, of course. if i wasn’t polite, then huo shao would teach brother xiong a lesson!” yin shixiong’s exaggerated tone made gu nianzhi giggle.

she quickly packed her things before walking to the senate entrance to wait for yin shixiong. gu nianzhi was secretly thinking about where huo shaoheng had gone, but she quickly felt relieved when she thought of the nature of his work.

at that moment, huo shaoheng took personnel in tow as he rushed to the terminal 3 building of the imperial capital international airport. the soldier tracking cai songyin discovered that she had purchased tickets to the united states and was heading there overnight. she and tan guiren possessed ten-year, two-way b1 american visas, so they could travel there anytime they pleased.

of course, huo shaoheng and his personnel would not allow her to go abroad.

…

in the vip lounge of terminal 3 inside the imperial capital international airport, cai songyin had just managed to grab onto tan guiren before she reached the entrance. she chided her. “silly child, you don’t need to worry about daddy and mommy’s matters. you only need to take care of yourself. what’s the use of you going back? you still don’t understand what crimes your daddy committed.”

“mommy knows, so you can tell me,” tan guiren replied calmly. “but i can’t sit idle and let daddy fend for himself.” she paused, then continued, “if mommy was the one to be arrested, then i would also run away for you.”

the words angered songyin so much she almost collapsed onto the floor. how dare this child say such things! what kind of child would curse her own mommy like that?! being arrested wasn’t a good thing. did she want to join him for fun?

for the very first time, cai songyin felt aggrieved by tan guiren’s naivety and kindness. sometimes, her naivety and kindness could truly attack people around her without any discrimination. she gently patted tan guiren and said, “don’t speak nonsense. mommy didn’t do bad things like your daddy. i won’t get arrested.”

but less than five minutes after she said that, she was slapped in the face by it. a group of men dressed in black special operations forces uniforms surrounded the vip lounge of terminal 3 inside the imperial capital international airport. the first person to arrive immediately recognized cai songyin. she was standing with her daughter near the door, and her daughter was carrying a suitcase. were they planning to go abroad? to the united states? the special operations forces soldier sneered as he slowly made his way over and regarded cai songyin. “you are cai songyin, the previous first lady?”

cai songyin nodded and answered with vigilance, “who are you people?”

the soldier displayed his identification, then said, “mrs. cai songyin, you are suspected of bribery, using your company to launder money, and colluding with hong kangquan in an attempt to steal state secrets. according to regulations, people such as you cannot go abroad. please come with me.”

cai songyin’s heart sank violently. they’d still managed to find her? she really couldn’t hide from it. she shook her head frantically and said, “you can’t threaten me with such abuse of power! i didn’t do those things, and my company is operating normally. i never did anything against the law.”

“mrs. cai, whether or not you laundered money, committed bribery, or stole state secrets has nothing to do with us. we’re merely commissioned by the court to come here and arrest the fugitive.” the special operations forces soldier responded politely and was only targeting cai songyin. they didn’t seem to want to trouble anyone else.

“the court?! how could this end up in court? it’s night time right now!” cai songyin frowned. “if you want to invite me back to assist with the investigation, please be more polite to me. your behavior is very annoying.”

the special operations forces soldier smiled. “we don’t intend for you to like us. we are a violent agency, as well as a law enforcement agency. we have the right to expose any illegal activity. mrs. cai, please come back with us.” the soldier displayed a warrant signed by the court. it wasn’t an arrest warrant but a warrant restricting travel.

cai songyin’s face was instantly devoid of any color. her hands trembled as she accepted the warrant from the soldier’s hand and flipped through it for a long time.

“please come back with us.” the special operations forces soldier displayed a shiny pair of handcuffs.

cai songyin’s vision went black, and she passed out. tan guiren lunged over and kept crying “mommy!” all the onlookers felt heartbroken to hear her and cried when they witnessed it.

the special operations forces soldier paid no attention to it. he grabbed cai songyin with one arm and got her upright before escorting her away. tan guiren covered her face as she sat on the sofa inside the vip lounge and cried like a child.