670: Chapter 67 A Plan to Break the Stalemate

Hearing the General Commander's merciless scolding, the minister trembled all over, instantly regaining much of his senses. He slumped back into his chair, the last trace of color completely vanishing from his face.

Clutching his head in his hands, his voice was filled with despair and self-abandonment as he muttered, nearly breaking down.

"Then what else can we do? The whistleblowers are being safely picked up by the Inspection Team batch after batch. We've tried the soft approach—gifts, bribery, hush money—none of it worked. We don't dare use force, and even if we did, we can't... Are we just supposed to sit here and wait for the Inspection Team to take us away for investigation? Are we just waiting to die?"

His words accurately struck the most fearful pain point of everyone present.

At this moment, they were like trapped beasts in an iron cage, with dead ends in every direction.

The soft approach didn't work, and they didn't dare use the hard approach. The evidence was mounting, the net was tightening, and even though doomsday was approaching, they didn't have even a sliver of room to struggle.

The meeting room fell into a deathly silence once more, leaving only the sound of heavy, desperate breathing. The panic of being at the end of their rope was written on everyone's face.

Just then, the Vice Speaker, who had been sitting beside the Speaker in silence, suddenly rose slowly from his seat.

His gaze calmly swept across the panicked faces. His voice was steady and slow, like a tiny glimmer of light suddenly appearing in the darkness.

"Everyone, I think... all of us have unconsciously stepped into a fatal misunderstanding."

This sentence instantly drew everyone's attention. The previously dejected high-level officials raised their heads one after another, looking at the Vice Speaker with surprise and confusion. A faint glimmer of hope was rekindled in their eyes as they gestured for him to continue.

The Vice Speaker paused slightly and analyzed in a calm tone.

"We have been obsessing over the fact that there are too many whistleblowers and too much evidence, and that we can't stop or block them. But think carefully—those civilians, merchants, and small business owners who are reporting us, what is the highest level of person they can reach in the entire chain of interests? Do they really have the ability or opportunity to directly contact any of us sitting here?"

These words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the meeting room.

Everyone was stunned at first, and then expressions of sudden realization appeared on their faces. Their previously lifeless eyes instantly lit up.

Seeing this, the Vice Speaker continued methodically.

"During this period, we have cleared all core data, accounts, communication records, and signed documents overnight. Almost all direct evidence that could be directly linked to you has been destroyed.

With the Materials the Inspection Team is currently getting from the whistleblowers, they can at most convict those clerks, Section Chiefs, department directors, and Grassroots Supervisors below us. It won't implicate us at all."

To put it bluntly, those whistleblowers usually dealt with low-level officials from various departments and the Administrative Center; they couldn't even see the faces of the high-level officials, let alone possess hard evidence of corruption at the Speaker or Minister level.

The ones they could report were just small characters who ran errands, took money, and solicited bribes.

And this was their only way out.

The Vice Speaker's meaning was very clear.

Decisively abandon all grassroots personnel involved in the cases and push all the blame onto them. Characterize the entire incident as 'grassroots personnel acting on their own to violate discipline and line their own pockets,' having nothing to do with the top-level leadership.

As long as they could suppress the people below and ensure those minor officials wouldn't talk or implicate those above them, no matter how powerful the Inspection Team was, they would have no direct way to deal with the top tier.

Even if they were temporarily detained or questioned, they could rely on the lack of hard evidence to stubbornly drag things out.

Furthermore, although the Inspection Team applied to extend their inspection time, the Empire's inspections ultimately have a time limit. They couldn't stay in the Xiapu Star Cluster forever.

As long as they could hold out until the Inspection Team withdrew, they would still have a chance to turn things around.

Once they understood this point, the previously desperate and oppressive atmosphere in the meeting room was swept away.

This move of sacrificing the pawns to save the king, though ruthless, became the only life-saving straw this group of high-ranking officials could grasp.

As soon as the Vice Speaker's poisonous scheme was revealed, light exploded in the meeting room. The people who had been dejected just moments ago immediately perked up and nodded in agreement.

"Good idea! It's truly finding life in a dead end!"

A minister slapped his thigh hard, his voice trembling with excitement.

"The Inspection Team really doesn't have any hard evidence that can directly convict us right now! As long as we can firmly suppress the people below and make them shoulder all the blame, the Inspection Team won't be able to touch us for now! If we can just stubbornly drag it out until the end of the inspection period, they'll have to withdraw, and we'll be temporarily safe!"

But even so, everyone present was an old fox in officialdom and knew better than anyone.

At best, this was just a stalling tactic, not a true way to escape.

Once targeted by the Inspection Team, it was like being locked onto by a predator. You might hide today, but you couldn't hide tomorrow. Being uprooted and brought to justice was only a matter of time.

But even just delaying for a while was crucial to them.

Taking advantage of this final breathing space, they could still frantically transfer assets, settle their families, destroy deeper evidence, and even prepare a way out for themselves—grabbing what they could and saving what they could.

Just as everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief, the General Commander of the Guard Division frowned and spoke slowly, his words pulling everyone back to reality.

"That being said, our biggest problem now is how to completely silence so many people below."

His tone was heavy, hitting the nail on the head.

During the last Empire crackdown, they were of one mind internally, and since even Discipline Inspection and Supervision were their people, they could easily suppress things by pushing out a few minor characters as scapegoats.

But this time was different. The involvement was extremely deep. To stabilize the situation, they would have to sacrifice at least dozens or even hundreds of people. Moreover, they weren't ordinary officials; they were Section Chiefs, directors, department supervisors, and grassroots leaders who held real power and had access to core interests.

One could only imagine the difficulty of making so many people willing to shut their mouths.

Among these people, many faced crimes severe enough for the death penalty. Once faced with the threat of death, no one could guarantee they wouldn't directly expose the Speaker, Ministers, and General Commander—the top-level big shots—to save their own lives or get a reduced sentence.

When that time came, their plan to sacrifice the pawns to save the king would turn into a total loss.

The hearts that had just relaxed a bit were suspended once again.

While everyone was hesitating and full of concerns, the Speaker at the head of the table slammed the desk hard, the dull bang intimidating the entire room.

His face was ashen, and his eyes held the ruthlessness of a final gamble as he made the final decision on the spot.

"Don't worry about so much! This is the only path we can take right now; otherwise, we're all dead! No matter how difficult it is, execute the plan! As for how to control the people below and how to shut their mouths, leave that to me and the General Commander of the Guard Division!"

"Coercion, bribery, appeasement, threats... we have plenty of ways. As long as we can hold out until the Inspection Team leaves, we've won for now!"

As his voice fell, no one in the meeting room hesitated anymore. The madness of a final stand was rekindled in their eyes.