At the beginning of summer, the lawsuit between Shennong and Chenchen Hospital reached an impasse where further negotiation wasn’t possible. The judge scheduled the case to proceed into the courtroom. The civil court wasn’t as dynamic as criminal court cases and the outcome was dependent on the presiding judge.
Governor Ning and Mr. Bai’s fallout led to a large portion of the judges around the province to be placed on probation. An inexperienced judge was assigned to the Shennong-Chenchen case. Although the judge was known to be fair, medical cases were complex and required many expert witnesses and testimonies. Even a good judge would have a difficult time understanding the nature of the case.
Li Yun couldn’t rely entirely on winning the case. He would rather make the hospital submit and since they had refused to back down, he could only strike back. On Chenchen’s hospital server, an email circulated to the press and law enforcement officers. The hospital staff watched in horror as their dirty laundry aired over the internet. The local netizens vocalized their displeasure and called for all the top hospital administers to resign. The local authority intervened to investigate multiple reports of briberies and sex scandals.
The Chenchen Hospital was in panic mode with everyone scrambling to prevent their reputation from further deterioration. The head administrator and director fired many scapegoats to contain the situation, but it made the situation worse when everyone turned on each other. There was no possible route to escape from the situation. If they wait, Shennong could release more dirty laundry.
“Could we still settle with Shennong?” The director asked the administrator..
“You think the Galba Group will allow that to happen?”
“Damn it! What am I supposed to do?” The director raised his hands to pressure his head. “My wife is already requesting a divorce.”
“Well, you already saw that coming, just divorce her already,” the administrator replied. There were ledgers that had revealed his embezzling schemes from the hospital, but he could easily deny it. Even with written evidence, he could say it was forged or pin it on one of the auditing staff. “Shennong is desperate if they are pulling this sort of stunt.”
The administrator and director were not aware that this wasn’t a desperate measure, but a verdict issued by Li Yun. The lawsuit was no longer important. After dealing with the Horsemen and running the Abyss, Li Yun learned that the law only kept order for people who believed in it. For corrupt businessmen and politicians, the law couldn't reach them.
The Chenchen administrator was hopeful that the Galba Group could generate a smear report against Shennong. Unfortunately for the administrator and director, an email from the hospital board announced their termination for illegal dealings. There was evidence and recordings attached. The administrator and director both knew the mole as soon as they saw the audio.
"What's going on?" The director didn't think there would be recordings of their conversation. "Was it our conversation with Dr. Xuan?"
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The administrator and director immediately called him up to question him. “Dr. Xuan, what is the meaning of this!?” The Chenchen’s administrator called up the doctor angrily. “I thought we have agreed to keep this between just!?”
“It was only agreed between you two,” said Dr. Xuan. “I don’t care if my involvement or affair is brought to light, but I don’t want to dig my grave deeper. You don’t know who you’re messing with, but Dr. Li isn’t a simple person. Give up soon, the lawyers at Galba Group aren’t doing too well either, you should start reading international news.”
The administrator and director were both confused about what had happened to the Galba Group. They quickly searched for the news on their phone. They had been too caught up with their own mess to realize that a bigger mess was happening in Imperial City and around the country. During the raid against the Horsemen, the netizens applauded the swift handling of the cases by the national government in Imperial City. It set off a series of anti-corruption campaigns against major political players led by the Chairman himself. They were political moves that Li Yun did not participate in or anticipated. It indirectly affected the managing partners at Galba Group where half the employees were disbarred.
The political maneuvering in the background was something beyond Li Yun’s scope of influence. He should be glad his organization didn’t function in Imperial City, but it was only a matter of time before it became his business. From the living room, Li Yun watched the news reporting on the continuing anti-corruption purge, but it was likely a fraction of what was really happening.
"How much of this is Song Taiji's doing?" Li Yun asked Rouxi.
"Not much actually," Rouxi responded as she grabbed the remote to switch on an online video website. "Song Taiji isn't bound to a political ally. He keeps his role as an advisor and everything he does is for the sake of the country's development. Whether he keeps his alliance with an old chairman or new chairman is dependent on who he sees has the bigger potential to move the nation forward. A lot of elders in the party look to him for direction because they know of his insights and ability. It look like he has aligned with the new chairman in this scenario. The Xia couldn't completely cut ties with the old chairman and they lost some assets. So although the main family is fine, some of their shell companies and connections like the Galba group are broken. They lost a limb, but it's better than being destroyed completely."
For the five clans to survive the purge, it was an evidence of their hidden strength. Political schemes were dangerous and it would be something Rouxi would be pulled into if she took on the Song's family mantle.
"Are you aware that Song Taiji might name you as his successor?" Li Yun curiously saked.
"He's just toying with the idea, he won't really do it until after his other two grandkids have completed their test," said Rouxi. She had never met Song Ahi or Mugen, so she wasn't able to assess their potential. "I haven't met them, so it's possible for them to still be in the running."
"But have you thought about it?"
"I have, but I don't know... It doesn't seem interesting to me," Rouxi turned away to look at the new email pop up on her phone. “Yun, Sister Suah said you should check your email."
Li Yun had been so busy that he hadn’t checked his email for a few days. “What is it?”
“They are going to air the first episode of the Great Chef soon!” Rouxi giddily announced; she had been waiting for a while to see her husband-to-be on the small screen.
Li Yun looked at the air date. The show was going to air in two different stations in the span of three weeks on the weekends. As there were only twelve episodes, two episodes on Saturday and two on Sunday. TV show programming in China was very sporadic since almost everything could be streamed through the internet.