Within two days of Qin Che's efforts to reorganize Westburg, another major event occurred in the city council.
—Fu's faction was besieged by numerous factions.
As the third elder of the council, he was highly respected and powerful, but he was still subject to political infighting. Even though Fu Xian was a member of the royal family and had worked his whole life, he could not achieve a transcendent status. Faced with attacks from many elders, he chose to remain silent.
"The Awakening Department must be abolished!"
“Yes, we cannot control this mysterious organization composed of superhumans and psionicists. If we fail to manage it, how will Elder Fu take responsibility?”
"It would be best if graduates of the psionic academy were to be dispersed and hired into government departments, as their psionic abilities make them more proficient in government affairs than ordinary people in all aspects."
"Li Xin has consumed too many resources, so why do 70% of the academy's graduates choose the Awakening Department as their first choice?"
Lingbi Assembly Hall.
High ceilings, a circular, tiered corridor resembling a colosseum, and bottomless darkness—at the very center, an open-air corridor extends above the abyss, ending at a massive disc, like a miniature colosseum, yet also somewhat like the bishop's seat in the Inquisition, around which sit seven elders.
Fu Xian was among them.
Besides him, Elder No. 1 Yin Mu, Elder No. 2 Yu Linfeng, Elder No. 4 Su Pei, Elder No. 5 Liu Baicang, Elder No. 6 Zhang Kejian, and Elder No. 7 Xu Linshu were all present.
The seven-member city council's highest decision-making body is known as the 'Seven Elders'.
Symbolizing the pinnacle of power and status, three of these seven individuals are from the Western Party royal family, backed by the direct line of the royal family, and even have three princes standing behind them. They are currently the highest representatives of the royal family in Lingbi City.
The other four are from the East Party, supported by numerous tycoons and bigwigs, as well as the backing and endorsement of various minority groups, representing the so-called 'majority'.
On the outer elders' seats, there were people from different identities, different ethnic groups, and different departments, including those from the headquarters and highest institutions, decision-making bodies, ethnic elders, and representatives of chambers of commerce.
—The city council's elders' seat, which consists of two hundred people, includes Qin Cheyuan, and the position that Yuan Lin had been striving for was actually on the periphery.
"Have Advisor Qin and Minister Li arrived?"
On the outer elders' platform, Han, a scholar from the land of sages, turned his head to look at Zhao Lisu beside him and asked quietly.
Zhao Lisu shook his head: "This conference was arranged in advance by them. Yesterday, they received a message from Elder Fu saying that someone was targeting him, so they deliberately did not let Minister Li come. As for Advisor Qin... the official appointment and dismissal have not been issued yet, so he could not come in the first place."
"It's good that they didn't come. Hmph... It's most likely those two who did it, right?" Scholar Han's gaze darkened slightly as he looked towards the seats of the Seven Elders, his eyes lingering on two of them.
Zhao Lisu glanced around and said, "Keep your voice down."
Scholar Han laughed and said, "It's alright. Today's seating arrangement was specially divided into factions, and relevant people were bribed in advance. All of them are members of our Fu Party."
Zhao Lisu was taken aback. He turned to look around, his expression suddenly changing. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Do you think it was the two of them?"
As he spoke, he pointed to the seats of the second and first elders, which were located in the seven elders' seats.
—Wang Zu Yin Mu, Dong Dang Yu Lin Feng.
Han Xueshi chuckled and said, "The day before yesterday, the academy received an administrative order from the Psionic Research Institute and several education departments to postpone this graduation cycle. Some people bribed those students who were originally going to enter the Awakening Department, but they were all poached. Some went to the Psionic Research Institute, some reported to the Ministry of Education, and some were assigned to various government agencies. They said that once they entered, they could be promoted directly without even needing to take a written test."
Zhao Lisu was startled: "Isn't this against procedure?"
"Which side do you think has the most people, the education department or the psionic research institute?"
Zhao Lisu frowned and said, "Naturally it's the Yin faction. There are more people from the Dong faction at the research institute, but that doesn't prove that Yu Linfeng is in charge."
"I can't be sure about Yu Linfeng, but I'm sure about Yin Mu," Han Xueshi said calmly.
Zhao Lisu: "In recent years, the power of the Yin faction has infiltrated educational institutions. You, a Grand Secretary, have had it much harder than us."
"I don't care. I don't care about those government agencies either. As long as the top university is still ours, that's fine."
Zhao Lisu shook his head: "I'm afraid that by now... you've already lost some control over the highest institution of learning."
"What do you mean?"
“If the Yin Party cuts off the talent pool of the Awakening Department, you know better than I what the consequences will be. The academy will lose its function and become a weapon for the enemy to use against us. How many societies have been built in the highest academy in the past two months? The people in them... are a very complex mix.”
Scholar Han frowned and said, "No, I have investigated in secret. They are just some miscellaneous factions that want to have a voice in the academy. I approved the establishment of these societies. How could there be a problem?"
Zhao Lisu shook his head: "It's not that simple. The leaders and key members of those societies all had some contact with the Yin Party in the past."
"This..." Scholar Han asked in surprise, "Are you sure?"
"Old Fu told me."
"Why didn't he tell me?!"
"I didn't tell you to protect your political integrity. Professor Fu said that you academics should get less involved in parliamentary affairs."
Han Xueshi gritted his teeth, understanding Fu Xian's words. Besides overseeing the affairs of the academy, he had other important matters to attend to and did not have time to be distracted by matters in the council.
Zhao Lisu looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Do your job well. As for the council, Elder Fu will take care of things with me."
Han Xueshi rolled his eyes: "You're not the only one in Lingbi Heavy Industry, so what are you talking about? Do you think you can bypass those two old devils, Chu Qin and Lu Qingzhou, and make decisions independently?"
“We’re not on the same side. Chu Qin has been getting closer to the royal family lately. Elder Number Four, Su Pei, has extended an olive branch to him. Elder Number Five, Liu Baicang, also knows about this, but hasn’t said anything. I estimate that Elder Number Four and Elder Number Five have already reached a deal in secret. The interest groups in the industrial zone are inherently complex and hard to understand.”
"As for Elders No. 6 and No. 7, Lu Qingzhou is tightly bound to them, and they won't easily relinquish control over weapons and engineering projects to others... But these two aren't doing too well either. The new batch of weapons produced by Wall No. 10 is currently enjoying great popularity..."
Zhao Lisu clenched his fist and made an analogy: "As long as Old Fu still controls the entire pharmaceutical industry chain, the Fu Party will be fine. Number One might just be trying to annoy him, but in reality, he can't touch us."
Scholar Han frowned and said, "The Yin and Su factions have several princes backing them on Wall Number Ten. On the other hand, old man Fu has, on the surface, lost the trust of the old King Ling."
Zhao Lisu narrowed his eyes: "It takes two to tango. Although Elder Fu didn't tell us, I believe there's a reason for it."
Scholar Han was taken aback: "Could it be that you were secretly investigating this matter?"
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