Chapter 173: Rejected One by One
Chapter 173: Chapter 173: Rejected One by One
’How ridiculous.’
Lin Jingjing watched him, still smiling, and then reminded him, "Well then, Minister Kuo, after today, you’d better get on with that review."
Kulundi chuckled but didn’t respond to Lin Jingjing’s comment.
’He was going to keep holding up this review anyway. How dare she mess with the Young Master’s business? She’ll just have to wait and see.’
’He wasn’t going to let Lin Jingjing off the hook.’
The group took their seats, and Mo Xuan and Lin Jingjing started chatting idly.
"I wonder what Captain Li has been up to lately. We haven’t seen him come visit us at all," Mo Xuan said, propping his head on his hand.
’We’ve been so busy lately. Isn’t Captain Li going to come check on us?’
"I’m craving the noodles Captain Li made."
Mo Xuan was still thinking about the noodles Captain Li had made for them that day; they were delicious and savory.
Just as the two were missing Captain Li, he walked over in his uniform and sat down beside them.
Lin Jingjing glanced at the person sitting next to her, and her eyes lit up.
"Captain Li, you’re here for the meeting too?" Lin Jingjing asked, clearly surprised.
"That’s right," Captain Li said with a cheerful laugh. "Have you missed us?"
"We have," the two said, nodding earnestly. "We’re craving the noodles you make, Captain Li."
Captain Li was speechless.
’So *that’s* how they missed him?’
"I’m busy. Make them yourselves," Captain Li replied.
After a brief chat, they fell silent, because Yun Yiyou had already taken the center seat.
Yun Yiyou spoke briefly, then had everyone report on their recent work. When it was Kulundi’s turn, he pointed directly at Lin Jingjing and said, "Your Majesty, this Director Lin has violated discipline right after taking office. She arrested people without submitting a formal request beforehand. Not only that, she arrested and detained a large number of people."
"She isn’t serving the people; she’s harming them."
Lin Jingjing and Mo Xuan stared at him, speechless. ’Is this guy nuts?’
"Is this guy sick in the head?" Mo Xuan whispered with a frown. "He can report someone for *that*?"
"Maybe he really is," Lin Jingjing said, exasperated.
Yun Yiyou remained silent. He knew everything that had happened recently.
He had always been aware of the Huanle Group’s activities, but the influential figures on the Capital Star were all interconnected.
The roots of the major officials were tangled and complex, which was why Yun Yiyou hadn’t ordered them to excise this cancer.
Because Yun Yiyou knew that even if he had those people do the cleaning, they would never do a thorough job.
That was why, after seeing the capabilities of Lin Jingjing and her team, he had brought them directly to the Capital Star.
Their only connection was Captain Li, and Captain Li’s entire family was loyal only to him.
Therefore, Yun Yiyou trusted them completely.
"This is contempt for our authority and contempt for Your Majesty’s dignity!" Kulundi declared self-righteously, as if Lin Jingjing and her team had committed some heinous act of treason.
Yun Yiyou didn’t speak, simply turning his gaze to Lin Jingjing. "You may speak first."
Lin Jingjing stood up and projected the evidence she had prepared, one piece after another, onto the large screen in the hall.
The crystal-clear evidence exposed the Group’s activities. Then, she listed out everything Kulundi had done, one by one.
There was the interrogation video of the company’s chairman and a list of the illegal and criminal acts committed by Kulundi’s subordinates.
She showed the latest model of laser guns found within the Group’s premises. As the Empire’s Minister of Armaments, Kulundi was the only one who could acquire these weapons so quickly.
Lin Jingjing said, "The above is everything Minister Kuo has done. Compared to me arresting people without prior authorization, I believe his crimes are far greater than mine."
As she spoke, Lin Jingjing’s gaze fell on Kulundi, who was seated two spots away. "Minister Kuo is certainly quick when it comes to providing weapons to his subordinate groups. Meanwhile, when we at the Monster Investigation Bureau request weapons, we have to wait a week for review."
"I suppose there’s no comparison," Lin Jingjing said with a sigh.
Kulundi’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He never expected this woman to present all this evidence in public.
’Is she openly challenging me?’
"Furthermore, because of Minister Kuo’s company, over a million ordinary people have suffered."
"Many of them died on the production lines for the Recovery Potions," Lin Jingjing said in a regretful tone. Not only that, but she also deliberately emphasized the phrase "over a million ordinary people."
Seeing that no one in the room was reacting, Lin Jingjing started to put on a show.
Her eyes widened as she looked at the assembly with a shocked expression. "So, over a million ordinary people don’t even count as human in your eyes."
"If the public were to find out about this, they would only become more disillusioned with the Empire, wouldn’t they?"
Mo Xuan chimed in at this moment, "Of course they don’t care. After all, they come from powerful families."
"To them, ordinary people are just ants."
"Then why are they even sitting in these positions?" Lin Jingjing retorted.
"Maybe... uh..." Just as Mo Xuan was about to speak, Captain Li, who was next to him, gave a soft cough. "Quiet."
Mo Xuan nodded and made a zipping-the-lips gesture, indicating he wouldn’t say any more.
Lin Jingjing did the same. She washed her hands of it and sat back down.
’She was leaving the stage to Yun Yiyou, to see what decision he would make.’
’If his decision was a good one, she would continue to work hard.’
As expected, Yun Yiyou’s face darkened. And it wasn’t just him; the faces of everyone present had darkened.
’They couldn’t believe these two people, with no power, no influence, and no background, dared to say anything and everything.’
’Did they have a death wish?’
"Minister Kuo, do you admit your guilt?" Yun Yiyou asked. The pressure he released was more than Kulundi could bear, and he was instantly forced to his knees on the ground.
’It seemed the King had no intention of letting Kulundi go.’
Every time Kulundi tried to proclaim his innocence, Lin Jingjing would chime in with another piece of evidence.
After all, the one thing she wasn’t short on right now was evidence.
In the end, Kulundi could only glare at Lin Jingjing with a face full of rage and concede.
"This subject pleads guilty."
Yun Yiyou’s eyes narrowed, and his spiritual pressure slammed the man flat to the floor.
"Take him away," Yun Yiyou commanded. Two robots came forward, hauled Kulundi off the floor, and fitted a spiritual power suppression collar around his neck.
The others who had intended to speak in his defense gave up the idea. They realized that the King, who had always been easy to fool, was no longer playing along.
It seemed he was planning to clean out every last one of them who had done wrong.
Now that one had been dealt with, Lin Jingjing continued.
She named several more people one by one, then played the evidence of their crimes.
When those individuals saw their misdeeds being so openly exposed, they began to make excuses.
But Lin Jingjing was here today to tear the whole house down; otherwise, she wouldn’t have even bothered attending this meeting.
"You claim you didn’t do it, but these things happened at businesses under your families’ banners."
"If it happened at one establishment, you could claim it was rogue employees acting on their own. But that’s not the case. It’s happening in all of your stores," Lin Jingjing countered, rejecting their defense.
Before leaving, Lin Jingjing had already given Lu Shaoyu his orders: as soon as the meeting ended, his teams were to storm in and make the arrests.
And right now, Lu Shaoyu already had people stationed outside each of those establishments, waiting.