Then let the witch offer her loyalty

At best, they'll be re-evaluated; at worst, they'll be removed from the civil service altogether.

For a fleeting moment, Chen Wenzhe genuinely considered whether he should "put righteousness before family" and report Chen Moxin to get rid of her job, forcing her to obediently return and become a spendthrift.

But then I thought about it...

"No, no... absolutely not..."

"If you do this, how are you any different from those scumbag parents who secretly tamper with their children's college application choices?"

Old Chen never considered himself particularly upright, but that didn't mean he could do something so shameless.

"Sigh, maybe my son really has grown up... Oh well, let it be..."

In the end, he could only accept the status quo and collapsed onto the sofa, sighing.

...

People's joys and sorrows are not the same.

Some people are worried because their sons have been successfully promoted to permanent positions.

Some people were furious because their sons failed to get a permanent position.

At Wu Xuan's home.

The family was looking at the "List of Candidates for Regular Employment" on the computer.

Wu Xuan's face was filled with shock: "Dad! What happened?!"

"Didn't you say you had all the connections covered, and that even if I beat up the examiner on the spot, I could still get a permanent position?"

"I did so well in my interview the other day, why am I not on the list?!"

Wu Yueping clenched his fists, his expression so gloomy it seemed as if water was about to drip from them.

Today was the day the results were in, and they had all set up a table at home to celebrate.

But to everyone's surprise, his son's name wasn't on the list!

Seeing that the two men were in low spirits, Wu Yueping's wife whispered soothingly, "Why don't you eat first? You didn't eat much for lunch..."

"What the hell are you eating!" Wu Yueping roared in fury, overturning the tea set on the table, shattering various porcelain pieces all over the floor.

"I'm going to call that guy surnamed Cao right now and ask him why he took the money but didn't do the job!"

He picked up his phone and dialed Cao Jiande's number.

After the call connected, Wu Yueping, mindful of his position, suppressed the urge to curse directly, but his voice had already become unfriendly: "Director Cao, the list is out, and my Wu Xuan's name is not on it."

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate? If you couldn't do it, you should have told me then and I would have gone to someone else."

"Now you've taken the goods, but you haven't done anything. You can't just bully us ordinary folks like this!"

From Cao Jiande's tone on the other end of the phone, it was clear that he was also surprised by the result.

"Boss Wu, calm down. I guarantee with my integrity that I have taken care of this matter, and it should be done."

"Then tell me, what exactly happened? Why wasn't my son selected?!"

"Hey, don't be so hasty, I'm just... go to hell!"

Upon hearing the other person swear, Wu Yueping was stunned: "You're swearing?!"

Cao Jiande quickly explained, "No, no, I just saw a bug crawling on the wall, I don't know where it went..."

"Boss Wu, let me be frank with you. You're not the only one who asked me for a favor this time. There are several others who were asked by higher-ups, and they're all on the list. Only Wu Xuan ran into trouble."

"I will carefully verify this matter and see where the problem lies."

"If things don't work out in the end, don't worry. I know the rules and I'm not the kind of person who takes money and doesn't do the job. I'll return the gold you gave me."

Hearing that the other party's attitude was fairly sincere, Wu Yueping's anger subsided a bit: "Director Cao, I won't say anything else, I only have one request now - this matter must be settled smoothly."

"We're in this together. If it gets out that I gave you gold, we're both doomed. Please, please don't let anything go wrong!"

Chapter 39 Please start your performance

As the sun sets, smoke curls from the canteen of the Administration Bureau, as the off-duty staff go to eat.

Luo Lingyou was in his office looking at his computer screen, which displayed the "List of Candidates for Regular Employment" that the Administration Bureau had just released that day.

She rested her chin on her palm, her eyes slightly narrowed, and absentmindedly hovered the mouse over Chen Moxin's portrait.

"Interesting, how did you do that?"

Luo Lingyou's first reaction was that Chen Moxin had spent money to pull strings.

After all, he's a rich second-generation heir, and his family is well-off. As long as he finds the right connections, getting a permanent position won't be difficult.

But her intuition told her that this wasn't the case.

Chen Moxin reminded her of a beautifully decorated book that exuded an eerie aura.

It seemed to be filled with all sorts of dangerous and taboo content, tempting people to look through it.

If Chen Moxin's actions this time are really just about spending money to pull strings—such a vulgar approach—then it's truly disappointing.

Luo Lingyou subjectively believes that there must be something more complicated behind this.

Just as she was pondering this, a judge walked in and said, "Xiao Luo, your package."

"Hmm?" Luo Lingyou turned around and glanced back.

pack?

She couldn't recall buying anything online recently.

Who sent it?

"I don't know, it was an anonymous package. The security checkpoint scanned it and found no dangerous items."

Luo Lingyou took the package and picked up the utility knife on the table to cut it open.

There was only one USB drive inside.

Considering the possibility that the sender had ill intentions, Luo Lingyou did not rashly insert it into her office computer.

She found the person on duty in the logistics department, asked for an outdated laptop, and plugged in the USB drive in offline mode.

The USB drive was clean, with no strange viruses, only some video and audio files.

She clicked on one of the videos and saw a figure on the screen answering a phone call.

"Boss Wu, please calm down. I guarantee with my integrity that I've taken care of this matter, and I believe it's resolved..."

...

...

...

Yan Yong is a senior judge in the Twin Cities Tribunal, a position he has held for over a decade, weathering many storms along the way.

The role of Judge sounds cool; you can make rulings on the case-handling procedures of the Bureau's agents, and even judge those powerful witch hunters.

But in reality, the work of the judges is far from as easy as imagined, because the Witch Administration Bureau and the Tribunal for Judgment are essentially twin entities.

As the official anti-psychic agency, the Bureau and the Tribunal have highly overlapping functions and intertwined personnel.

You are in me, and I am in you; this is probably the most troublesome thing in the world.

For a judge, fulfilling the responsibilities entrusted to them by the state without being tripped up by tangled roots is a true test of skill.

Tonight, Yan Yong had planned to go home after finishing organizing the documents when he suddenly received a call from his subordinate.

This subordinate is named Luo Lingyou. Although she is called a subordinate, she is actually just here to gain experience at the grassroots level. Everyone knows that her mother is the chief judge of the Rose Empire's Tribunal.

For Yan Yong, it was a great fortune that the son of such an important figure could come to serve under him, so he always took good care of this young man.

At this moment, Yan Yong and Luo Lingyou were sitting across from each other at the office, with video and audio clips playing on their computers.

After reading all the content, Yan Yong gently rubbed his temples with one hand on his forehead, lost in thought.

All of this points to a person named "Cao Jiande," who is the office director of the personnel department of the Twin Cities Witch Administration.

The content shows that Cao Jiande illegally accepted money and property and is suspected of providing convenience to others in the annual assessment for conversion from non-permanent staff to permanent staff.

The practice of using back channels is something everyone knows exists, and it exists everywhere.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.

Where in this world is there no human touch or social niceties?

The problem is, some things can only be hidden in the dark, unable to see the light.

Once it's exposed and brought to the forefront, that's a different story.

Cao Jiande was clearly not careful enough; not only was so much evidence recorded, but it even fell into the hands of the judges.

Yan Yong pondered for a moment, then asked in a deep voice, "Who sent you this?"

Luo Lingyou shook his head: "I don't know. It was an anonymous package. I had someone trace it back to the courier company. It was sent from the border region."

"But the way they receive packages is not standardized, the real-name system is not properly implemented, and it seems to have changed hands several times in the middle, so it is impossible to tell where the source is."

Yan Yong didn't say anything more, he just stared at the computer screen silently.

The office fell silent.

After a while, Luo Lingyou's voice rang out, containing only two simple words: "Should we arrest him?"

Yan Yong muttered, "This Cao Jiande's background..."

Luo Lingyou handed over a document from his pocket: "I've checked. He's 64 years old, has 37 years of service, and has been the director of the personnel office for 12 years. He's just a low-level leader who worked his way up from the bottom. He doesn't have any powerful connections in the bureau or the city council."

Yan Yong was not surprised by Luo Lingyou's extremely high efficiency.

There are many types of second-generation rich kids with connections.

Some are simply born into a good family; they are useless people who can't do anything, yet they manage to hold important positions because of their family connections.

Some second-generation rich kids not only have powerful backgrounds, but their abilities are also incredibly strong; they're just blessed with natural talent.

The person in front of you is the latter.

Seeing that Yan Yong had not given a reply, Luo Miaoyou asked, "Do you have any concerns?"

Yan Yong played back the video on his computer, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table. He frowned and said, "It's not that I have any concerns about Cao Jiande. He's just a small office director. They can arrest him without hesitation... It's just that this matter is very strange."

"The audio is very clear, clearly from professional eavesdropping equipment. And these videos, the angles are obviously from being filmed secretly."

"This is clearly someone deliberately and intentionally targeting Cao Jiande."

At this point, Yan Yong seemed to remember something and asked, "Speaking of which, this package was sent directly to you... Why would this person specifically send it to you instead of reporting it through normal channels?"

"Xiao Luo, have you been in contact with anyone recently who might be connected to this package?"

The office was dimly lit, with only the desk lamp on the table shining. Luo Lingyou's figure seemed to blend into the shadows, making it impossible to see the details of his face. Only his rose-red eyes reflected the faint light, appearing deep and eerie.

“I don’t know,” she said.

Yan Yong nodded and didn't press further, but sighed, "Hey, Director Cao, he's almost retired, and he still can't behave himself. He just keeps making things difficult for himself."

"The evidence has been delivered to us, so there's nothing we can do but get to work."

"I will go and talk to the leaders of the Administration Bureau. After all, they are the ones who arrested them, so we should at least give them a heads-up."

"As for the arrest, Xiao Luo, you take your men and do it. This is a rare opportunity, so you should gain more experience."

Luo Lingyou nodded to Yan Yong and stood up.

As she turned around, the corners of her lips curled up slightly, revealing an enigmatic, wicked smile.

Chapter 40 The Art of Death

Cao Jiande sat on the sofa at home, pondering the matter of his recent assessment for conversion from a temporary to a permanent position, completely baffled.

Everything was clearly done, so how could something go wrong?

This isn't the first time I've taken money from others to do things; I've always done it this way. So why did something go wrong this time?

What's even stranger is that those who were asked to be favored by their superiors all made it onto the list of officially promoted employees this time, after passing through his hands.

The only problem was that the "private job" that the Wu family had taken on went wrong.