Chapter 135: The Last Path (First Update) Fan Chengqi and Fan Chengcai exchanged glances.
Fan Bowei lifted the lid of his teacup, holding it with two fingers, and tapped it against the rim.
The sound of porcelain scraping against porcelain was particularly noticeable in the quiet study.
Five minutes passed, and the two brothers still hadn't spoken.
Fan Bowei finally snorted and said, "You should be grateful that it was Zong Shao who came from the Special Security Bureau this time."
"He's not like those ruthless killers in the Special Security Bureau who readily implicate entire families and are completely unreasonable."
"He's gentle, kind, willing to reason, and abide by the law. Moreover, we are both Nobles, and he understands how our class behaves. Therefore, things haven't reached the point of no return."
"Now, there's still one path left, and that's the Quan Family..."
As soon as he said that, Fan Chengqi understood.
He immediately said to Fan Chengcai, "Chengcai, there's still one day left. It all depends on you."
Fan Chengcai forced a smile. "Dad, Big Brother, please don't make fun of me. There's only one day left. What can I possibly do? Matters of the heart take time and natural progression..."
At that moment, he thought of those two Su Family Noble Ladies who had shielded him from harm, and he was so angry he almost vomited blood.
Fan Bowei said coldly, "Then there's no other way. After the Quan Family Noble Lady leaves, I'll have to hand you over to the Law and Justice Department and let the Court sentence you to death."
"Dad, no!" Fan Chengcai was terrified and knelt before Fan Bowei again, almost kowtowing to him. "Dad! Save me! Save me!"
"Useless thing!" Fan Bowei kicked him away, his face twisted with anger. "How could I have given birth to such a spineless son! Such a good opportunity is right in front of you, and you don't even dare to seize it! Are you even my son!"
Fan Chengqi also said, "Second Brother, hesitation leads to trouble. In the past, when you got into trouble, the Fan Family could be your shield and protect you from punishment. But now that the Special Security Bureau has taken action, who else can you rely on? Your uncle-in-law?"
Fan Chengcai was speechless.
He said resentfully, "Isn't that possible? Doesn't our Fan Family have the authority to supervise the Governor's Office? If we want my uncle-in-law to go west, he wouldn't dare to go east!"
"Besides, the Special Security Bureau generally doesn't interfere in Cabinet affairs! My uncle-in-law is the Governor of Guiyuan Star, a powerful regional official! How dare Zong Ruoan?!"
Fan Bowei said coldly, "The Special Security Bureau generally doesn't interfere in the Cabinet, but that's just generally speaking. It's not that they can't interfere. Is the Audit and Discipline Department of the Special Security Bureau just for show?! Get your facts straight!"
"Then what do we do?!" Fan Chengcai was utterly desperate.
He held his head in his hands, slumped on the ground, his face filled with fear and unwillingness.
Fan Bowei was angered by his cowardly appearance and couldn't help but kick him again, sending him flying to the door. "Get out! If you can't save yourself this time, I'll pretend I don't have a son like you!"
He said angrily, "Anyway, I still have Big Brother! And Chengxin!"
Fan Chengcai suddenly looked up, staring at Fan Bowei with a ferocious expression, as if he couldn't believe his ears.
It was Fan Chengxin, that freeloading good-for-nothing, again! He admitted that his Big Brother was stronger than him, but Fan Chengxin... why?!
At that moment, Fan Chengcai even remembered the rumors that had circulated in the family, saying that Fan Chengxin, who had always been mixed up in their family and was very favored by Fan Bowei, was actually Fan Bowei's illegitimate son...
Was he not taking his legitimate son seriously because he had a replacement son?! Fan Chengcai slowly got up from the ground, raised his arm, and pointed in Fan Bowei's direction. "Fine, I'll remember this. As long as I can get through this, I want that bastard Fan Chengxin to die in front of me!"
Fan Bowei was stunned for a moment, then snorted. "If you can survive this, I'll personally hand him over to you to kill!"
"You said it! Big Brother is my witness!" Fan Chengcai almost wanted to give Fan Bowei a high-five to seal the deal.
Of course, Fan Bowei wasn't that bored.
He and Fan Chengqi stood in the study, watching Fan Chengcai's figure disappear into the secret door of the study, and both couldn't help but wipe away a handful of sweat.
How could they not be worried? But this was the only path left.
They could only hope that Zong Ruoan would give them a little more time so they could turn the tables against the odds.
...
Fan Chengqi followed Fan Chengcai out of the villa where Fan Bowei lived and returned to his own villa.
Fan Chengcai also had his own independent villa, but tonight he was troubled, so he followed Fan Chengqi there.
"Brother, I accept that the Special Security Bureau is looking for me. But who put a bounty on my head on the Hunted List? Was it the Dark Night Hunter?" Fan Chengcai frowned, feeling particularly unlucky, with one problem after another.
Fan Chengqi thought that if the Dark Night Hunter was only offering a reward on the Hunted List, that would be better. Because that would mean they were only targeting Fan Chengcai, and the Fan Family wouldn't be without an heir...
However, this was just a fleeting thought, and he quickly dismissed it.
Fan Chengqi said, "Those Dark Night Hunter people are the real lunatics. They just haven't made a move yet, but if they really want to retaliate against you, they'll definitely aim to wipe out the Fan Family's bloodline."
The implication was that they wouldn't bother with petty things like posting a reward on the Hunted List, especially when the bounty was only a measly two million.
Fan Chengcai was taken aback, and said sullenly, "Whatever, the Alliance of the Spirits of Light has already sent me two bodyguards, and they are indeed Rank A peak Mental Strength experts."
Fan Chengqi looked outside. "Those two at the door?"
"Yeah, what do you think?"
"Not bad, quite discreet. If you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have known they were sent by the Alliance of the Spirits of Light." Fan Chengqi glanced at the doorway and pondered silently.
After he finished his drink, he said to Fan Chengcai, "You need to seize the opportunity. After tomorrow, it will be difficult for you to see Quan Caiwei again..."
Fan Chengcai understood, took a deep breath, and said, "Don't worry, big brother, I'm determined to get this marriage."
...
At this moment, in Huo Yushen's Bat-style Fighter Jet above the Fan Family's territory, Hu Meihang, the governor of Guiyuan Star, was standing before him, drenched in sweat.
"Inspector Huo... how... how did you come..." Hu Meihang's legs were trembling, and he was about to kneel before Huo Yushen.
When Zong Ruoan came, he made a high-profile entrance, and most of the high-level officials and powerful families on Guiyuan Star probably knew he was here.
But no one expected that, besides Zong Ruoan, there was also Special Security Bureau Inspector Huo Yushen, this completely unreasonable, ruthless devil, who had also quietly arrived in Da Fu Prefecture.
As the governor of Guiyuan Star, Hu Meihang's current mood was that he wanted to die, especially wanted to die.
Huo Yushen rested his hands on the armrests of the seat, crossed his legs, and said coldly, "Hu Meihang, you're quite capable. The empire appointed you as the governor of Guiyuan Star to check and balance the Fan Family and supervise each other, but you've become a slave to the Fan Family."
"Inspector Huo! Heaven can bear witness! I have absolutely not become a slave to the Fan Family!" Hu Meihang said anxiously.
Even if he was a slave to the Fan Family, he absolutely couldn't admit it at this moment.
Moreover, he wasn't originally a slave to the Fan Family, but only favored the Fan Family a little bit because of their in-law relationship...
Huo Yushen didn't waste any time with him and directly pulled up a virtual display screen, showing the list of Fan Family personnel in the Guiyuan Star Disciplinary Department, from top to bottom.
"Look for yourself, who else is in the Disciplinary Department besides the Fan Family, from top to bottom?"
Hu Meihang stared blankly at the list, forcing himself to remain calm, and said, "...The Fan Family only occupies the middle and upper levels, there are other people below..."
Seeing that he was incorrigible, Huo Yushen didn't say anything more.
He closed the virtual display screen and said concisely, "I'll give you two choices. One, cleanse the Disciplinary Department. Two, cleanse the Governor's Office. Which do you choose?"
Hu Meihang couldn't choose, and screamed, "Ah," holding his head, "Inspector Huo! You can't do this!"
Cleansing the Disciplinary Department meant not only driving all the Fan Family's forces out of the Disciplinary Department, but also punishing those who had committed crimes in the Disciplinary Department. It wasn't just a matter of driving them out.
And the Fan Family in the Disciplinary Department was actually Hu Meihang's sphere of influence.
Without the support of the Fan Family, how could an ordinary person like him, who rose from a commoner to a citizen, sit firmly in the position of governor of Guiyuan Star?! Removing the Fan Family was also removing Hu Meihang's claws and teeth!
As for cleansing the Governor's Office, Hu Meihang was even more unwilling.
Since he was forced to this point by Huo Yushen, Hu Meihang hardened his heart, stood up straight, and stared at Huo Yushen, saying, "Inspector Huo, do you have to make things difficult for our remote Guiyuan Star?!"
"We have nothing here, why are you staring at us? Why not stare at those luxurious and wealthy planets?!"
Huo Yushen said coldly, "...Are you teaching me how to do my job?"
Hu Meihang: "..."
Huo Yushen's words were like a needle, piercing the courage he had just accumulated.
Hu Meihang knelt down before Huo Yushen with a thud.
"Inspector Huo! Inspector Huo! The Fan Family is the only Noble Family on Guiyuan Star! We can't do without them!"
Huo Yushen smiled faintly, "Can't do without them? Then what do I need you, the governor, for?"
Huo Yushen's secretary, Kang Shanxing, stood beside Huo Yushen with his hands behind his back, and said in a deep voice, "Governor Hu, why is the Fan Family the only Noble Family on Guiyuan Star? You're not pretending to be blind, are you?!"
"The Fan Family, as a Lowly People Noble, a Baron of three-thousandth rank, why can they exist on Guiyuan Star? You don't understand, do you?"
Hu Meihang's whole body trembled. "...I'm... I'm not pretending to be blind... I understand... I understand..."
"You understand? Why did you still let Guiyuan Star become the Fan Family's possession!" Kang Shanxing questioned sternly.
"More than five hundred years ago, a constitutional monarchy was established, and the spheres of influence of the empire's five major planets were delineated. Only Guiyuan Star was consistently approved by the Cabinet, the military, the Senate, and the Royal Family as a planet specifically for accommodating humanoid Lowly People and humanoid Slaves!"
"Therefore, according to the constitution, it is jointly managed by the Cabinet, the military, and the Royal Family, and no Noble's hand is allowed to reach here."
"The Fan Family's ancestor was a senator in the Senate at the time, and also came from Guiyuan Star. He was allowed by all four forces to establish himself on Guiyuan Star, supervise the Governor's authority, and form a check and balance with the Governor's Office."
"Later, the Fan Family got the opportunity to be promoted to Baron, but because of the agreement back then, and the strong position of that ancestor of the Fan Family in the Senate, they were not required to leave Guiyuan Star, and still existed as a check and balance."
"Five hundred years, and now they've become too big to control!"
"As the Governor of Guiyuan Star, you should have supervised the actions of the Fan Family, but you colluded with them!"
"When the Fan Family controlled the entire Disciplinary Department and treated human lives like dirt."
"When the Fan Family kept humanoid Lowly People and attacked normal humans."
"When the Fan Family seized property by force and disrupted the normal commercial order of Guiyuan Star."
"When the Fan Family harbored ulterior motives, attempting to extend their reach to the entire judicial system of Guiyuan Star, and then turn the entire Guiyuan Star into the Fan Family's sphere of influence."
"Governor Hu, do you still think that Guiyuan Star can't function without the Fan Family?"
"Apart from the Four Great Noble Families, which Noble Family in the Beichen Empire dares to say that the empire can't function without them?"
Huo Yushen then added, "...So the Fan Family is cooperating with you, planning to aim for the position of the Four Great Noble Families?"
Hu Meihang was questioned by Huo Yushen and Kang Shanxing to the point where he couldn't say a word, and could only kowtow to them repeatedly.
It wasn't that he didn't know what the Fan Family had done, but the problem was, he was one with the Fan Family! If the Fan Family fell, his position as Governor would also come to an end! Therefore, he still stubbornly insisted and refused to let go, unwilling to take the initiative to deal with the Fan Family.
Huo Yushen coldly looked at him for a while, raised his eyes to look into the distance, and said calmly, "Since that's the case, then let's start by cleansing the Governor's Office."
Hu Meihang suddenly raised his head, glared at Huo Yushen, and blurted out, "You can't! You can't do this! What right do you have to cleanse a star Governor just like that?!"
Huo Yushen propped his head with one hand, leaned back on the single sofa, still indifferent: "It seems that our Special Security Bureau's Audit and Discipline Department is being treated as a decoration by you."
As soon as he finished speaking, an extremely cold and stunningly tall woman stood up and said, "Chief, Jiang Yuanshu, the newly appointed Director of the Audit and Discipline Department, is applying to you for this year's last action plan. - The Guiyuan Star Governor's Office Cleansing Plan."
Huo Yushen's voice was extremely cold: "Our Special Security Bureau is only responsible to His Majesty the Emperor. The Audit and Discipline Department must carry out the cleansing plan according to the responsibilities and rights granted to it by His Majesty the Emperor. You must follow through on everything His Majesty the Emperor permits. Leave no hidden dangers and eradicate the biggest cancer for Guiyuan Star."
"Yes, Chief!" Jiang Yuanshu gave him a military salute.
The second update is at 1 PM.
PS: This humble author is only responsible for writing, and all of you treasured readers are responsible for discussing. All opinions are welcome, let a hundred flowers bloom, and argue with each other (,,,,,`
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