Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 1382 Residual Poison Not Yet Eliminated

Before Steward Tan could finish speaking, another steward spoke up from the side:
"Secretary Tan, there are many things to do in the department, and each of us has important tasks to complete. It is perfectly normal to postpone the handling of matters."

Besides, compared to national security, this is a trivial matter.

Tan, the steward, looked at the man and said sternly, "Is Steward Liang referring to the Hai Village incident, where hundreds of lives are not worth mentioning?"

"I didn't mean that."

Manager Liang quickly denied it.

However, compared to the things we do every day, these kinds of cases really have to be put on the back burner.

What we need to do is investigate and eliminate security issues and hidden dangers that affect the entire country. How can we keep putting this relatively unimportant matter first?

There has to be a hierarchy of importance and urgency, right?
"Steward Tan, I know you value rules and principles, but look at your colleagues here..."

He looked around and said, "Including our Minister He, who isn't working diligently? They're busy from morning till night, some don't even have any free time. Everyone is working very hard."

“Look at Old Tang,” he said, pointing to Tang Siwu. “He just came back from the former North Road. He didn’t even go home once before coming straight here for the meeting.”

And then there's Old Yuan, who hasn't been home for days, more than a year now. His grandson might not even recognize him, so how could he possibly care about something relatively unimportant?
So let's not be so harsh, shall we?

These words resonated with the committee members present. Although some of the committee members did not hold real power, they had a lot of things to do, in fact, even more.

Moreover, due to the special nature of the affairs department, unlike other departments, they are not allowed to have implants installed or take certain strong drugs. They work very hard normally, and now they are being held accountable, so of course they are unwilling.

Tan, the steward, remained unmoved. He said, "Then I'd like to ask, if this matter is unimportant to Steward Liang, wouldn't it be too late to report it to Shen Yu? What's the meaning of setting access restrictions for reading? Are you just going to turn a blind eye to this blatant behavior?"

Liang, the steward, paused for a moment. He knew exactly what the matter was about, but who hadn't done something underhanded? Even if they didn't do it now, who knew what the future held?

And he could see that this was actually an internal struggle, and he undoubtedly had to show his clear stance.

He shook his head and said, "As I said, everyone is very busy, so this could also be a mistake."

He Shugang glanced at Ren Xinshan, then turned his gaze to Gu Yicheng, the vice minister sitting on the other side.

"Vice Minister Gu, what's your opinion?"

The vice minister, with his white hair, was over seventy years old and considered one of the senior members of the ministry. Due to his advanced age and declining energy, he had applied for retirement multiple times, but the higher authorities had consistently refused. As a result, he had hardly participated in any discussions in recent years.

Now that the question has been asked, he slightly raised his eyelids, looked around, and said, "Ask me how to handle this matter. I will listen to the minister's opinion, as well as the opinions of everyone else."

He Shugang was not impatient with his nonsense. Instead, he pretended to consider it seriously and finally looked up and said, "Well then, I see that all of you colleagues have different opinions and your own reasons and logic. So let's have an internal vote on this matter."

Chen Chuan then spoke up, saying, "There's no need for that."

As soon as he spoke, everyone's eyes inevitably turned to him, while their gazes darted back and forth between Ren Xinshan and him, and some people couldn't help but feel nervous.

He Shugang looked at him. "Hmm? Does Manager Chen have a different opinion?"

Chen Chuan said: "Yes, I know who did this, and I also have enough evidence to prove that the person behind it did indeed violate discipline and national regulations."

This evidence was provided by Song Haiying's side afterward. He either doesn't stand up, or he stands up completely. Using the implantation technique was just a superficial statement. That wasn't enough, so he handed over all the things he had left behind that were related to the affairs department to Chen Chuan.

He believed that this would make Chen Chuan understand his meaning. However, he would never be able to jump off this ship again.

Chen Chuan turned his gaze to the middle-aged man who had been sitting silently since the beginning, wearing glasses and with a somewhat stout build.

"Steward Yuan, is there anything you'd like to say?"

Yuan Siwu was taken aback by the question, seemingly puzzled as to why he was suddenly asked. He smiled and said, "Me? I have nothing to say."

Chen Chuan calmly said, "Back then, it was you, Yuan Siwu, who accepted requests from several families, including the Song and Han families, to suppress this case and enhance your access to this investigation report."

"If Shenyu hadn't kept records of every report, you probably would have simply destroyed them, right?"

Yuan Siwu glanced at him in surprise, then frowned, looking as if he didn't understand why Chen Chuan was targeting him.

"Steward Chen, can you be sure I did these things?"

Chen Chuan clicked on the Lower Realm Token, and a series of evidence immediately appeared on the field screen.

"In return for your help, these companies have helped your children establish themselves abroad. One of your sons is currently studying at the University of Sinokka in the Northern Alliance of Norrland. He hasn't graduated yet, but he has already secured a mid-level management position at Bolen Company."

Your illegitimate daughter with a woman from the Norrós Church, Zverova, is currently studying at a military academy within the Abijon Straits Alliance.

You have a son who is currently on the west coast of the Linax Federation, where he has joined an institute to provide 'business advice' on matters related to the Great Shun Ocean Shipping.

There's much more below, but I won't read it all out; you can read it yourself. He said calmly, "As the clerk of the Security Affairs Department, how do you intend to explain these things?"

The crowd's gazes were complex, mixed with a hint of sympathy. The evidence on it was substantial, and Shen Yu quickly compared it with other evidence, giving each one a high degree of credibility.

Yuan Siwu remained expressionless and said, "I think I can defend myself against each of these accusations..."

Ren Xinshan then spoke up, "There's no need to argue. We found some of your communication records with those companies back then. Although you tried to erase them afterwards, you didn't erase them completely. We've had our technical experts recover them."

As he spoke, the communication records from that time appeared on the screen. Some of the evidence was not provided by the Song family, but also by several other families.

This is because the person is already dead, and they no longer need to fight against the affairs department in the long run.

Furthermore, they had previously sought help from Yuan Siwu, but he ignored them, causing the families to turn their hatred towards him instead.

Ultimately, He Shugang played a purely catalytic role in the entire incident. Although this was an action he took in cooperation with the faction behind him, from the outside perspective, it was clearly a compromise and concession to Chen Chuan and others, so they naturally knew what to choose.

After seeing the evidence, Yuan, the clerk, knew he couldn't escape. At this point, he became less flustered. He took off his glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and said, "Yes, I did it, but..."

He smiled and looked at He Shugang.

Just then, Chen Chuan suddenly felt a faint spiritual fluctuation emanating from Huang Quji.

This power was enough to create a certain mental intimidation on people. He glanced inside, and when the latter looked at him, his body involuntarily tensed up, his glasses narrowed, and that mental force disappeared at the same time.

“Minister He asked me to do these things,” Yuan, the clerk, smiled. “As the minister, I dared not refuse his orders.”

He knew he was doomed, so rather than take the blame alone, he decided to stir things up. Why should he be the one to bear the brunt?
As for his family members being implicated, he didn't care. He had so many children abroad; one or two more in China wouldn't make a difference. Besides, if he didn't speak up, problems might arise later. Speaking out might actually provide him with some security.

Tan said coldly, "Yuan, I want to warn you, if you make baseless accusations without evidence, you will be held responsible."

“I have evidence.”

Of course I have evidence.

Yuan Siwu said it with great certainty.

He took out a storage sheath and then activated the Lower Realm Token.

"The evidence is all here."

But after he uploaded all of this to the field screen and waited a while, he found that what was displayed was blank.

There was nothing in the storage sheath.

The expressions on the faces of everyone present became somewhat subtle for a moment.

Yuan Siwu frowned slightly at first, then realized something, his expression changed slightly, and then he gave a self-deprecating smile.

"Truly superior in skill."

He didn't bother to argue anymore, and instead looked at Ren Xinshan and Chen Chuan, "I'm sorry, it seems I can't produce any evidence. I admit to all the accusations you two made against me."

Chen Chuan was not surprised by the result at all.

How could He Shugang, who has served as a minister for so many years, be so easily caught red-handed?

As for the so-called evidence? Because of the agreement, the fighters couldn't possibly act against him. It's possible they used members skilled in mental manipulation to subtly influence him over a long period, creating such an effect. Of course, it could also be purely technical; even the one who initially hinted at it to Yuan Siwu might not have been He Shugang himself.

Moreover, they never planned to bring down He Shugang. Given He Shugang's position, it would be almost impossible to overthrow him from within unless he made a major political mistake.

Ren Xinshan then asked, "Minister, what is your opinion on how to handle this?"

He Shugang glanced at Yuan Siwu with regret, "Let's handle this according to national regulations."

He tapped the lower realm token, and immediately an internal affairs handling team walked in from outside and stood next to Yuan Siwu.

"Steward Yuan, please come with us."

Yuan Siwu stood up, looked around the place with lingering affection, and then followed him out.

Upon reaching the door, he suddenly turned around, smiled slightly at Minister He, and said meaningfully, "Minister, I'll be going now."

……

……

(End of this chapter)