996 Dignity is Useless Now

Of course, these were all taken from surveillance videos. With permission from Speaker Long, all the major TV networks had been sent some dynamic screenshots of the video footage.

The surveillance footage of Gu Nianzhi being “a.s.saulted” by other personnel had been carefully selected by Yin s.h.i.+xiong before it was sent to the TV stations.

In this dynamic screenshot, Gu Nianzhi only revealed the blurry side profile of her face, but the force and aggression of the other person as he swung at her was fully displayed.

The thick arm swung down and the notebook the size of a palm whistled through the air as it slapped on the fair face of the woman standing opposite him.

Afterward, the fair and delicate face seemed to swell red with a speed nearly visible to the naked eye…

It went without saying that Yin s.h.i.+xiong was also a master of creating absolute chaos.

The dynamic screenshots he’d taken both visually and audibly displayed the aggression of the spokespeople from the Office of the Prime Minister, as well as the delicate helplessness of the newly hired female Senate personnel member…

Yin s.h.i.+xiong had only sent the dynamic screenshot of the actual a.s.sault to one news media agency… the national television station.

Cai Songyin was very well respected in the world of media and had vast connections. However, in the face of news of such magnitude, and with the typically cheerful and amicable Speaker Long so full of indignation, all the major news media outlets chose to report on this incident. Not a single one of them accepted Cai Songyin’s emergency PR request.

She requested that these media outlets forfeit reporting on this piece of news in return for many future benefits.

But as everyone knew, her husband’s position as prime minister was shaky, so those promises were basically empty.

Moreover, although the Cais held a strong position in the media world, they hadn’t reached the extent of total control.

When they saw that Tan Dongbang was about to step down from office and that the Cais and Tans could barely save themselves, all the Cais’ past compet.i.tors and enemies quickly hurried to the media realm to compete for the sphere of influence.

After some fighting, news of the spokespeople from the Office of the Prime Minister beating a female Senate personnel member at the Senate building became the major top headline. It garnered nearly as much attention as the news of the interim general elections.

…

Meanwhile, Gu Nianzhi was being accompanied by Huo Shaoheng out of the best cosmetic surgeon’s office in the Imperial Capital.

Speaker Long hadn’t gone inside, choosing to sit on the bench outside the door. He was on his phone and scrolling through the news.

He looked up and happened to see Gu Nianzhi and Huo Shaoheng coming out, so he quickly put away his phone and stood up.

Gu Nianzhi was actually a bit worried that her injury would heal completely in one night.

Luckily, Huo Shaoheng said that they also had a specialist doctor at the military base. After allowing the doctor examined her in detail, Huo Shaoheng asked him to prescribe medication for three days and then transfer the medical records to Chen Lie.

For the remaining time, she only needed Chen Lie to provide medical proof for her.

It was her face that was swollen anyway, so Huo Shaoheng prepared a face mask that could cover more than half her face. She would wear the face mask every day and not take it off for two weeks.

Everyone knew that her face had been beaten badly, so no would go to the extent of ripping her mask off to make fun of her, right?

If there really were such obnoxious people, Gu Nianzhi would surely argue with them so vehemently that they’d lose their minds.

As a result, she wasn’t worried at all. She happily put on her face mask and even complained to Huo Shaoheng, “Why didn’t you get a better-looking face mask? It’s black and white and looks like a panda when I wear it.”

Huo Shaoheng asked, “…What, pandas don’t look nice?”

“…Pandas do look nice, but it doesn’t look great on me,” Gu Nianzhi answered honestly. She then took out a small makeup mirror to take a look and frowned.

Huo Shaoheng patted her shoulders. “It’s fine, it’s only for two weeks. Don’t fuss.”

When Speaker Long saw Gu Nianzhi wearing the huge face mask, he felt great pity towards her. “Oh Nianzhi, I’m so sorry. Today was your first day at work and it ended up like this. However, I can promise you that our Senate is a very safe place. This was an exception! It’s absolutely an exception!”

No one had ever caused trouble in his territory before, so this would be the first time and very last time.

Although Speaker Long was always smiling and looked much friendlier than General Ji, no one could ignore him. If Speaker Long had been purely a nice gentleman, how could he have been the speaker of the Senate for over 20 years?!

However, he’d never imagined that Gu Nianzhi, one of his favorite successors, would become this “first incident.”

Gu Nianzhi didn’t speak. Huo Shaoheng stood by her side and replied coolly to Speaker Long, “Speaker Long, I raised Nianzhi. No one has ever lifted a hand to her in all these years.”

Speaker Long was a bit embarra.s.sed but still tried hard to persuade Huo Shaoheng. “Shaoheng, I already said that today was an exception. I never imagined that Tan Dongbang would be a person to use such a scheme. I really underestimated his level of shamelessness.”

Gu Nianzhi smiled. It seemed like Speaker Long was still glossing over Special a.s.sistant Yang’s behavior…

Though pus.h.i.+ng all the blame for the incident onto the Senate made sense to a certain extent, doing so wasn’t completely correct.

The trio of troublemakers from the Office of the Prime Minister had already caused trouble at the Senate for the past two days. In these past two days, Special a.s.sistant Yang had freely allowed them to cause trouble and hadn’t presented any concrete measures to stop it. In the end, he’d even sent her, an intern who had just begun working at the Senate, to handle the matter. Shouldn’t this behavior be investigated? It was either malfeasance or incompetence, he could take his pick.

She glanced bitterly at Huo Shaoheng and wanted nothing more but to speak ill of Special a.s.sistant Yang in front of Speaker long.

Huo Shaoheng’s harsh gaze stopped her.

Gu Nianzhi pouted and hung her head. She stared at the little paper bag she carried in her hand. Inside was the medication prescribed by the kindly cosmetic doctor just now.

Huo Shaoheng finally said to Speaker Long, “Speaker Long was still very far-sighted and wise to ask General Ji for help. That prepares you for the future.”

Speaker Long chuckled. “Shaoheng, I didn’t think you knew how to flatter others!”

“I never flatter others. I am someone who always says things as they are,” Huo Shaoheng said with justice and conviction in his voice. Even Gu Nainzhi was nearly stunned by it.

Speaker Long was no exception. He lifted his hand and patted hard on Huo Shaoheng’s shoulders. “Shaoheng, luckily you came this time. Otherwise, Old Long would be the one being bombarded by the news!”

Thinking about it brought s.h.i.+vers to his heart. If they had continued to deal with problems as per usual, their Senate would have been the ones being crucified by the media…

If things weren’t taken care of properly, the Cabinet wouldn’t be the first to dissolve. Instead, their Senate would be the first to dissolve and have to hold their own Senate interim elections.

Speaker Long could feel his back growing wet with cold sweat.

“Speaker Long, you’re still here? The National Television Station would like to do a live online interview with you. Please hurry back to the Senate!” Special a.s.sistant Yang ran over with a huff to escort Speaker Long back to the Senate building.

Speaker Long nodded gravely, then turned around to say to Gu Nianzhi, “Nianzhi, how about I give you a few days of vacation so you can recuperate from the injury?”

Special a.s.sistant Yang also began apologizing profusely. “Nianzhi, I’m very sorry about what happened today and how you were injured in the process. You being a.s.saulted in the Senate is considered a work injury, so we can reimburse your medical fees. Just give the receipts to me.”

Gu Nianzhi shook her head. “Don’t I have medical insurance of my own? I used my insurance for the doctor today.” She then told Speaker Long, “Speaker Long, my injury is healing fine. I’ll go back home to rest for half a day and return to work normally tomorrow. Is that okay?”

“Of course that’s okay, it’s more than I can ask for.” Speaker Long was very happy and waved at her. “Then I’ll have to trouble Shaoheng to take you home, is that okay? We’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Okay! See you tomorrow, Speaker Long!” Gu Nianzhi also waved goodbye with a smile.

“Oh… right, you have medical insurance. I almost forgot.” Special a.s.sistant Yang laughed awkwardly and then nodded at Huo Shaoheng as he escorted Speaker Long away from the hospital.

Gu Nianzhi watched their backs disappear into the elevator before looking up at Huo Shaoheng to ask, “Why didn’t you let me speak earlier?”

“What did you want to say? Tell on him?” Huo Shaoheng walked towards the elevator at an even pace. “No matter how bad Special a.s.sistant Yang is, he’s worked at the Senate for nearly 10 years. You can’t possibly think you’ll drag him down with only one incident?”