Moreover, Lu Yuan had thoroughly investigated his background during the interrogation, and the other party had nodded and signed the statement. Lu Yuan's explanation was entirely reasonable.
Seeing that Lu Yuan remained silent, Minister Chen became furious, but this was an internal matter within the garrison, and he didn't intend to make a big fuss about it. So he glared at Lu Yuan and whispered, "You brat, you know you've caused trouble! I'll settle the score with you properly later!"
Lu Yuan rolled his eyes and didn't offer any further explanation in this setting.
Ying Rui stepped forward to comfort Zhang Fan and his son, and then scolded Zhang Fan, but it was all bark and no bite; he was clearly just putting on an act for Lu Yuan's benefit.
Seeing that Ying Rui had already lowered his stance considerably, and that Zhang Fan and his son were also quite remorseful, Minister Chen coughed softly, walked up to Hou Qiang, and slapped him across the face.
"Hou Qiang! Do you know how serious a crime it is for a public official to take hostages!"
Hou Qiang covered his face, lowered his head and remained silent. He had already felt hopeless when Zhang Chang arrived. He didn't know what had gotten into him, but he had actually threatened Zhang Chang with a gun. He regretted it afterward.
"However, considering that Zhang Fan made the mistake first, you'll have to write a 10,000-word self-criticism and read it aloud at the general meeting! You'll have half a year's salary deducted! You'll be demoted to a regular team member! Do you have any objections?"
Hou Qiang lowered his head and said, "Yes, Minister Chen! I know I was wrong! I'll accept half a year's salary and a demotion, but this 10,000-word self-criticism... maybe we should just forget about it!"
Minister Chen angrily shouted, "You dare to haggle! Twenty thousand words! Not a single word less!"
Upon hearing this, Hou Qiang turned ashen-faced and dared not utter another word, silently accepting the punishment.
What happened next was beyond Lu Yuan's control. After submitting Zhang Fan's incriminating evidence, he said nothing more. These were all matters for the high-level leaders to handle, and the rest was up to them to decide how to deal with the situation.
...
The crowd slowly dispersed; more than two hours had passed.
Zhang Fan was allowed to be taken home, but Zhang Chang had already signed the agreement, indicating his agreement to accept the review from above. As for how and when the review would be conducted, that was not Lu Yuan's concern.
Minister Chen walked up to Lu Yuan in an annoyed tone and shouted, "Tell the team members who are on duty to go on duty, and those who are off duty to go off duty to go off duty! You're coming to my office!"
"Oh!" Lu Yuan sighed, then gave an order before leaving get off work and followed Minister Chen to his office.
Upon arriving at the office, Minister Chen sat down at Lu Yuan's desk, staring at Lu Yuan with a gloomy expression.
After a long while, Minister Chen finally spoke.
"Lu Yuan! Do you even know what trouble you've caused?! You've only been here a few days and you've already made such a mess of things. How am I supposed to clean up your mess?!"
"Ahem! Minister, this has nothing to do with me! I'm just handling official business, everything is done according to regulations. Besides, Zhang Fan made a mistake, you can't just arbitrarily label him!"
Lu Yuan said with an innocent look on his face.
Upon hearing Lu Yuan's words, Minister Chen was immediately enraged. He slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "What kind of accusations are you making! Don't you know what kind of background the Zhang family has? No one else dares to interfere, but you come and try to stop them? Do you have a death wish?"
"What does this have to do with life and death! I've done all the necessary investigations, and Zhang Fan is the one who deserves it the most!"
"Hmph! You deserve it! Don't think I don't know if you used torture!" Minister Chen looked coldly at Lu Yuan, wanting to get angry but feeling that Lu Yuan was unyielding.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan was immediately alarmed. He had indeed beaten up Zhang Fan back then, and if he were accused of abusing his power, he really wouldn't be able to explain himself.
Minister Chen sighed and shook his head, saying, "I knew it! With Zhang Fan's personality, he's bound to have a sharp tongue. If I weren't in this position, I'd want to teach him a lesson! But we have to consider the consequences! Let's just let this matter go! I've already discussed it with Zhang Chang and Ying Rui! We'll compensate Zhang Fan according to the proper procedures! The dead can't be brought back to life, and the victim's family has no objections. We'll compensate them three times the amount they owe!"
Lu Yuan was speechless upon hearing this. Such a big case was closed just like that. It seems that in this survivor base, as long as you have money and power, you can really ignore the rules. It is true that the rules are made by the rich for the poor. Lu Yuan could only feel sorry for the families of these victims.
"You're just letting him off so easily?" Lu Yuan was still somewhat unwilling to give up and asked.
"So what do you want? To kill Zhang Fan?" Minister Chen stared intently at Lu Yuan.
"Killing them is not the answer. There are still quite a few people involved in this case. Are they going to get away with it?"
"Of course not! We can only do this in secret! That's why I called you here alone; I have a task for you!"
Lu Yuan was immediately displeased. He had just been scolded and now he was being given work to do. Was he really going to be a pushover?
"Forget it, Minister. If I offend anyone else, I can't afford the consequences!"
Minister Chen's face immediately darkened: "You brat! Trying to raise the price on the spot, are you!"
Lu Yuan quickly shook his head: "How could I dare! I almost lost my life trying to get rid of Zhang Fan, I dare not investigate this matter any further!"
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