Chapter 252: Everyone Has Their Own Agenda (Part 3)

“Won’t you buy me a drink?” Cheng Yongxin blinked.

“Oh, oh, feel free. Just put it on my tab.”

Cheng Yongxin pulled the summons bell rope and ordered without turning her head, “A cup of Golden Coffee, no sugar.”

Hearing the sound of the waiter closing the door, she continued, “You must be worried about Yang Jihong.”

“That’s right,” Yang Xinwu nodded absently. Then he remembered something and asked back, “How do you know?”

“Don’t worry about how I know,” Cheng Yongxin said with a faint smile. “I’ll just ask you one question: do you love Yang Jihong?”

“Of course,” Yang Xinwu nodded. “Besides, she’s carrying my child.”

“What if she wasn’t carrying your child?” Cheng Yongxin’s smile carried a hint of sarcasm.

“I would still like her. She is my woman…”

“Let’s not talk about those chauvinistic declarations of love. Seeing your dejected look, you probably know the outcome of the case.”

Yang Xinwu sighed heavily and said nothing.

“Alright, let’s assume the truth is really as the police investigation results say. You should know what kind of punishment your Yang Jihong will face.”

Without waiting for him to speak, Cheng Yongxin answered her own question: “According to the Criminal Law compiled by the Arbitration Tribunal, I guess they will probably convict her of intentional injury leading to death. The minimum sentence for this crime is ten years in prison. I don’t think they will sentence her to the maximum.”

“I’ve been trying to find a way to reduce her sentence…”

“You can’t think of any way, can you? The Executive Committee won’t miss an opportunity to show their ‘just and great’ and almost god-like ‘wisdom.’ Yang Jihong, and you, are just small pawns in this big game. So, don’t expect the Executive Committee, the Arbitration Tribunal, or the General Office to show you any mercy. They are all people with their own agendas who want to do great things.”

Yang Xinwu looked at her with a blank expression.

“Now that she is pregnant with your child, there will definitely be two or three years of supervised residence until the end of the child’s breastfeeding period. But what about after that? The Senate probably won’t grant her a special pardon. They will probably handle it officially and send her to prison.”

She looked with satisfaction as the man opposite her showed a sad expression.

“I’m going to find the General Office, the Executive Committee, the Zhai Party, Du Wen, and Ji Xin…” He suddenly choked. He didn’t know any of these people well, and he had no idea how much of a role they could play.

“Alright, even if they are willing to show mercy and grant your Yang Jihong a special pardon or let her serve her sentence outside of prison. Indeed, she won’t have to suffer any imprisonment. But do you think that with the label of ‘murderer,’ Yang Jihong can continue to be your life secretary? Can she be the mother of a future transmigrator? You’re too naive!”

Yang Xinwu was stunned. He had never thought about this. He had originally thought about whether he could help her reduce her sentence as much as possible so that she could return to his side sooner.

“Think about it. Your child will be two or three years old, at the age when they are most attached to their mother, and then their mother will be gone.”

Cheng Yongxin deliberately paused here to let him fully grasp the meaning.

“And you, you are a healthy man, not yet thirty. It’s impossible and inhumane to ask you to be celibate for seven or eight years. Besides, the Senate has long condoned male transmigrators to practice de facto polygamy, so you will definitely buy new life secretaries, maybe more than one. What about the child of Yang Jihong, whom you value most now? Congratulations, you have found him several stepmothers. To be honest, I don’t really believe that women can be good stepmothers. Since they can’t do it well, they might as well do it badly. Besides, the newcomers will also have children for you. They will definitely be willing to have fewer competitors for their children. A child without a mother is like grass—what does the old saying go: with a stepmother comes a stepfather.”

Yang Xinwu’s head drooped in pain.

Cheng Yongxin was unmoved: “You are so busy at Fangcaodi, you probably just go home to eat and sleep every day. You won’t even ask how the child is doing. Anyway, you will have a lot of children by then. So one day, when you come home at night, one of your maids will squeeze out a few tears and tell you: Yang Jihong’s child is dead. Maybe he died of a sudden illness, maybe he drowned after falling into the water, or maybe he fell from a mountain and died. Anyway, he’s dead. By then, you’ll probably just say ‘I know’ and that’s it, right? Anyway, this child is no longer important to you.”

Yang Xinwu’s face was contorted with pain. He couldn’t help but roar, “Stop talking!!!”

“If you’re not afraid, why are you yelling at me?” Cheng Yongxin glanced at him with a sneer. “You’re very scared, because you know this is almost certain to happen.”

“Stop talking.”

Cheng Yongxin watched the man slowly collapse in front of her, filled with a sense of accomplishment: this was the effect she wanted.

“People have weaknesses. It’s better not to let these things happen than to test your own will, don’t you think?”

Yang Xinwu slowly nodded: “What should I do to save her?”

“It’s actually very simple,” Cheng Yongxin said with a lazy smile. “You are a transmigrator. What does the Common Program say about the power of transmigrators? There’s no time to lose.”

It was already late when he saw off the last visiting transmigrator. Xiao Zishan looked at his calendar. The things to be done today were almost finished, and the rest could be done tomorrow morning.

Just as he was about to order his car to go back to sleep, a clerk came to report: Transmigrator Yang Xinwu wanted to see him.

“He’s been waiting for a while. I told him you were in a meeting and it might be late, and asked him to come back tomorrow, but Transmigrator Yang refused and insisted on seeing you today.”

“It’s fine, please let him in.” Xiao Zishan knew that he was here for Yang Jihong again.

To be honest, Xiao Zishan didn’t think much of it at first. Without Yang Jihong, there would be Li Jihong. There were plenty of students at the maid school. The pain was temporary. A good wank, a drink, and a sleep, and after waking up, he could go to the maid school to pick a new girl with longer legs than Dong Qian and fuller breasts than Zhang Quanling, and he would soon forget about Yang Jihong’s big boobs and her baby. He didn’t expect him to be so persistent. He kept asking how to save Yang Jihong.

Yang Xinwu’s face was pale. When he entered the office, he even perfunctorily shook Xiao Zishan’s “enthusiastic handshake” and asked directly, “How is the General Office going to deal with Yang Jihong?”

“The General Office is only Yang Jihong’s management department. How this case will be judged depends on the Arbitration Tribunal.” Xiao Zishan thought to himself, this Transmigrator Yang is really sentimental. “Don’t worry too much. After all, there is a reason for this case. She won’t be sentenced to death. Besides, she’s pregnant. You can rest assured. She is now under house arrest at the second guest house, and her food and daily life are taken care of. She won’t be made to suffer.”

Yang Xinwu didn’t speak, as if he was hesitating about something. After a while, he said, “Director Xiao, I have an idea. What do you think of this?”

“I want to take the blame for the case. I am a transmigrator. Killing Lin Xiaoya is just a slap on the wrist. I have no political ambitions…”

Xiao Zishan was dumbfounded. Yang Xinwu’s action was far beyond his expectation.

For a moment, he believed in love again.

But believing in love was one thing, and the madness of Yang Xinwu’s actions was another.

That’s right, according to the provisions of the Common Program, Yang Xinwu could indeed use this loophole to protect his maid. But this would be to completely deny all the investigation results of the police headquarters so far, and would also instantly clear the chain of evidence that had been formed. Xiao Zishan was very clear about the consequences of this matter: both the police headquarters and the Arbitration Tribunal would have a strong backlash, and Yang Xinwu’s taking the blame and the Senate’s special pardon were not the same thing. The police headquarters would have to fabricate a whole new set of evidence to prove that it was indeed Transmigrator Yang who did it.

“You should sit down first.” Xiao Zishan knew that his beautiful expectation of having a good meal at Li Xiaolv’s dormitory and then rolling in the sheets was being constantly postponed. It might turn into a protracted war. “This doesn’t seem very good, does it?”

“I know it’s not good, but I can’t think of a better way.” Yang Xinwu sat down on the rattan sofa with a plop, his hands in his messy hair. “Even if you said last time that you would try to get me a suspended sentence or supervised residence, a mother with the title of ‘murderer’ probably can’t hold her head up in a crowd… I don’t want this.”

Xiao Zishan shook his head: “I know you have deep feelings for Yang Jihong, and you’ve also considered the child’s problem. But have you ever thought that if you take the blame, you will become a ‘murderer’?”

“I am a transmigrator. Killing natives and naturalized citizens is not subject to criminal prosecution. This is clearly stipulated in the Common Program. As for black materials, I don’t care: anyway, I just teach at Fangcaodi and will be a peaceful educator in the future. I don’t want to be the Minister of Education, nor a member of the Executive Committee or the Standing Committee…”

“Alright, let’s analyze the pros and cons.” Xiao Zishan had calmed down. “If Yang Jihong is convicted, only one of your children will be the ‘child of a murderer.’ If you take the blame, then all your children will be the ‘children of a murderer,’” Xiao Zishan drew out his voice. “Do you want your descendants for generations to bear the burden of having a murderer transmigrator as an ancestor?”

Xiao Zishan’s words were like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Yang Xinwu, who had been in a daze, was like having a basin of cold water poured on his head. He immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He had originally thought that his small sacrifice of a little reputation could save Yang Jihong and her child, but he had not expected it to be a poison that would harm his descendants.

“I understand. I understand.” Yang Xinwu stood up. He was almost exhausted. “I need to rest.”

“Get a carriage for Transmigrator Yang!” Xiao Zishan opened the office door and called out.

“No need, I can go back by myself.”