Once, I wanted to be a good person

Everyone present was shrewd, and the moment his words were spoken, the meeting room was instantly filled with silent turbulence as they began to ponder the deeper meaning behind Jiang Cheng's statement.

A moment later, the full-time commissioner ranked fourth slowly began to speak, "Commissioner Jiang does have a point."

"The main purpose of this committee meeting was to welcome Commissioner Fang Ze, yet unexpectedly, he turned out to be so late."

No sooner had he finished than Director Peng from the Investigation Bureau couldn't help coughing before adding, "Yes. I think his tardiness is, in fact, somewhat disrespectful to us all."

Upon hearing the words of Jiang Cheng and the two others, the room fell quiet for a time.

After about ten seconds, the full-time commissioner ranked third chuckled and slowly continued, "Perhaps Commissioner Fang Ze is just a bit busy?"

With that, he gave a wry smile as he glanced at Commissioner Wang across from him before adding, "After all, I've heard that Commissioner Wang's son was taken away by the Security Bureau again yesterday."

"At this point, nobody knows the situation."

His words sounded nonchalant, but they actually managed to both provoke friction between Fang Ze and Commissioner Wang and to embarrass Commissioner Wang in front of all the commissioners; it was a classic case of killing two birds with one stone.

Sure enough, although the commissioners in attendance kept a straight face, their glances involuntarily turned towards Commissioner Wang.

Seeing that the heat had shifted to him, Commissioner Wang humphed and said, "What situation, what not!"

"For so many years now, the Security Bureau has acted like they're out of their minds, always targeting my son."

"Every time there's a new director or deputy director, they investigate my son!"

"But over all these years, have they found any problems?"

"No!"

"They've found nothing for ten years, and yet with a new director taking office, they still start by investigating my son!"

"Isn't their intention clear?"

"It's nothing more than aiming to target me, Wang Xie!"

"They think I've been a commissioner for too long and want to use me to showcase their power!"

"But if they have the guts, why not come at me directly! Why do they keep investigating my son?!"

Hearing Commissioner Wang's words, the representative from Qingshan City, Commissioner Liu, immediately responded with a smile, "Commissioner Wang has a point."

"They've investigated for ten years and found nothing; that's the greatest commendation for Commissioner Wang and Mr. Wang."

"The Security Bureau really did go too far this time."

After he spoke, the representative from Greenwater City chimed in lightly, "The former head of the Security Bureau has already publicly apologized and reflected upon wronging Mr. Wang."

"That had already proven that this case has nothing to do with Mr. Wang."

"Yet, unexpectedly, barely two years later, Commissioner Fang Ze has brought up the case again."

"I'm very curious; if it once again proves that Mr. Wang is innocent, I wonder how Commissioner Fang Ze plans to wrap this up—continue to apologize?"

Once he had finished speaking, the meeting room gradually became quiet. The various commissioners drank water, bowed their heads, and quietly contemplated the political situation of this meeting.

From the conversation that had just occurred, it was apparent that the two bigwigs of Emerald City were Jiang Cheng and Commissioner Wang.

Among the twelve commissioners besides Fang Ze, the representative from Flower Sprout City and the father from Zhixi had low status and typically had little say.

The head of the Defense Team had a special standing and generally remained silent.

The full-time commissioner ranked third stood apart on his own.

Among the other nine commissioners, Jiang Cheng, the commissioner ranked fourth, and Director Peng from the Investigation Bureau were aligned.

Commissioner Wang was aligned with the representatives from Greenwater City and Qingshan City.

The other three commissioners who had not spoken were relatively neutral with no particularly fixed positions, swaying more so according to interests.

In previous committee meetings, this had typically been the situation.

But... this time was a little different.

Because Jiang Cheng and Commissioner Wang had unexpectedly joined forces, with six commissioners collectively applying pressure on Fang Ze, which was quite alarming.

Consequently, the other commissioners dared not speak, each concealing their thoughts while quietly awaiting developments.

And just as the meeting room had fallen into an eerie silence,

suddenly the half-open door was knocked on several times from outside.

Along with the knocking, a voice that couldn't help but engender goodwill said, "Has everyone arrived? I'm really sorry, I've just taken over the office and there were quite a few things that held me up."

Hearing that voice, the commissioners present all involuntarily looked over.

The moment they saw who it was, their first impression was: young, far too young.

Fang Ze was in his early twenties and men generally don't show their age, making him look even younger.

Beyond his youthfulness, the commissioners' second impression was that he was pleasant to look at.

The young man before them was handsome and upstanding, with a sunshine smile that naturally engendered goodwill. Even Jiang Cheng, who was hostile toward Fang Ze, had to admit that Fang Ze's "marketability" was exceptionally good.

Therefore, the previously subdued atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly grew lively again.

The full-time commissioner ranked third said with a smile, "It's fine. Everyone understands. And..."

He glanced at the time and continued, "You're not late, we're just early."

As for the other neutral commissioners, even though they were wary of the current tensions and didn't rush to speak, they nodded at Fang Ze with a smile, showing their goodwill.

Fang Ze smiled and nodded his head, acknowledging each commissioner who had responded to him, before finally taking his seat.