RT Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Checkmate

Shao Chengxi pulled Shu Lin closer, patiently explaining:

“Baby, like I said, politics is like playing chess. Sometimes a seemingly retreating move is actually a killer move that puts your opponent in a dead end.”

Shu Lin listened intently, his eyes full of adoration for his Alpha.

Politics, to him, was something profound. His Alpha understood so much, it was truly amazing.

“This time, I’m making a big show of exposing the information and making the evidence public to cut off all of Wu Xun’s escape routes.”

“I want him to understand that he now only has two paths in front of him.”

“Either become a scapegoat and die, or stop being a fence-sitter and obediently choose to stand on our Shao family’s side.”

Shu Lin noticed the glint of coldness in his Alpha’s eyes and unconsciously tightened his grip on his clothes.

Shao Chengxi kissed him soothingly, his gaze immediately softening.

He had actually guessed long ago that the mastermind behind the pheromone imbalance incident was President Hong Zhengyue.

The clues Wu Xun provided also pointed to the current president.

It seemed that three years ago, Hong Zhengyue relied on the Shao family’s support to rise to power, and now he wanted to kick them away after crossing the river.

It was also the last time he and Shao Bingheng pressured him with the 47 billion Imperial currency issue that completely enraged him.

He finally couldn’t hold back and wanted to take action against the Shao family.

Hong Zhengyue’s original plan was almost perfect.

Using sonic pheromones to create a pheromone imbalance incident.

Then, with the bloody deaths of more than twenty people, he could push for an accountability mechanism, achieving the goal of severely damaging Shao Chengxi and the entire Shao family.

His choice to target these twenty-odd people was truly sinister.

The reason these people all suffered from pheromone deficiency was because they were all victims of the sonic pheromone scandal fifteen years ago.

As long as they were alive, they were constantly reminding Hong Zhengyue of this disgraceful history.

If he could take this opportunity to completely eliminate these people, he could eliminate future troubles forever.

Hong Zhengyue’s move could be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Unfortunately, he miscalculated.

He never expected that the Shao family could turn danger into safety and emerge from a desperate situation.

He knew best the power of sonic pheromones.

Hong Zhengyue didn’t believe the Shao family’s public claim of a new type of medicine.

The Shao family must be hiding some unknown secret weapon.

He couldn’t guess what it was at the moment.

Therefore, he became even more wary of the Shao family.

When one plan failed, he came up with another.

In an emergency, he pushed Wu Xun out to confront Shao Chengxi head-on.

When two tigers fight, one will surely be injured. It wouldn’t be bad to be able to reap the benefits.

However, Shao Chengxi’s unconventional tactics really gave him a headache.

Even though the public opinion against Hong Zhengyue was surging, he chose to remain unchanged in the face of all changes.

He was the president, even if Shao Chengxi discovered what he had done, he couldn’t do anything to him.

Currently, no one could do anything to him.

This was also the fundamental reason why he dared to push Wu Xun out as a scapegoat.

In a situation of being attacked from both sides, Wu Xun, this fence-sitter, had to make a choice.

Either choose to stand on his side, or go and rely on the Shao family and be with Shao Chengxi.

Now that Shao Chengxi was pressing so hard, if Wu Xun wanted to save his life, he could only turn to him.

Shao Chengxi only revealed a little about his decision to Shu Lin, and didn’t say the core parts.

Knowing too much wasn’t a good thing for him.

After the two talked about political topics for a while, they naturally turned to Shu Lin’s recent situation.

“How is your studio doing? Do you need your husband’s help?” Shao Chengxi asked.

Shu Lin immediately sat up straight.

When it came to his professional field, his eyes sparkled, and he told the story in detail:

“In the past half month, I’ve done a lot of things.”

“First, I formally signed a cooperation agreement with Wu Jie, and then asked him to contact the copyright owner and buy out the drama I had dubbed before.”

“Ah, having money makes things easy.”

“I didn’t even dare to think about these things before. Now I realize that if the money is in place, these are all small cases.”

“Gu Xiao is very willing to join my studio. We’ve been choosing scripts these days.”

“After we choose the script, the next step is to find a director and then form a dubbing team…”

Shao Chengxi looked at his radiant appearance and couldn’t help but hug him back and kiss him hard on the sofa.

He loved Shu Lin in this state.

His whole body was glowing.

One month later.

In the faint morning light, Shao Chengxi stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the Ministry of Defense office, lightly tapping the glass with his fingers.

Outside the window, the morning mist in the Imperial Capital hadn’t dissipated yet, like the political maze at this moment.

“Announce it to the media.” He said to Assistant Cheng behind him, “In a week, the pheromone imbalance case will be formally transferred to the Anti-Corruption Bureau to initiate judicial proceedings.”

Assistant Cheng: “Yes, Minister Shao.”

Assistant Cheng left.

Shao Chengxi turned around, a cold arc appearing at the corner of his mouth.

After a month of back-and-forth pulling, Wu Xun still hadn’t made a decision, seemingly trying to buy time to seek a turnaround.

Hmph, it was time to give this fence-sitter a final ultimatum.

The previous public opinion campaigns were all just warm-ups. Everyone knew that once this matter entered judicial proceedings, the nature of the matter would change.

This news was like a thunderclap in the Imperial political arena.

*Imperial Daily* front-page headline: “Judicial Sword Drawn! Pheromone Case to Enter Criminal Investigation”

*Political and Economic Observer* exclusive analysis: “Is Wu Xun’s Political Career Entering Countdown?”

Social media hot searches exploded: #WuXunSevenDayLifeline#

At this time, in Wu Xun’s mansion.

“Bastard!” Wu Xun smashed the teacup in his hand, his forehead veins bulging, “Shao Chengxi is forcing me to take a stand!”

Lin Zhengyang’s face was deep, handing the tablet to him:

“Vice President Wu, public opinion monitoring shows that 87% of the public supports a thorough investigation of this case. If you don’t take a stand, Shao Chengxi is probably going to get real. You…”

Wu Xun stared at the rolling comments on the screen, his face tense.

He knew that there was no turning back.

Once this case entered judicial proceedings, he would fall into endless trouble. Even if he cleared his name in the end, things would be different.

Seven days, he only had seven days to consider and maneuver.

Shu Lin also saw this news through official channels.

He had been following this matter closely recently, wanting to know if what he thought and what Shao Chengxi was doing was the same.

At the time, he was washing up in the bathroom, preparing to sleep.

Shao Chengxi was in the study, working overtime to review documents.

Seeing this news, Shu Lin’s pupils shook, and he ran barefoot to the study.

“Brother.” He threw himself on Alpha’s back, shaking the phone screen, “Are you going to deal a death blow to Wu Xun?”

Shao Chengxi reached back and pulled him onto his lap, kissing his surprised open lips: “Not dealing a death blow, but pointing him in the right direction.”

“But what if he’s cornered and jumps over the wall…”

“Baby, don’t worry.” Shao Chengxi played with Omega’s fingers, “I have something more interesting than sonic pheromones in my hand. If Wu Xun is smart, he should know how to choose.”

Shu Lin suddenly understood: “Oh, so brother had already set up the game, right?”

“Shh…” Alpha’s fingertip pressed against his lips, “In this game of politics, you have to look ten steps ahead for every step you take. Now, it’s time for me to checkmate.”

Shu Lin nodded, “Oh… I understand.”

After speaking, he made a gesture to get up, but Alpha pinched his waist and hugged him to sit on the desk.

Then, Shao Chengxi fixed the back of his head with one hand and kissed him, “Baby, brother wants to checkmate you here…”

“No…” Shu Lin struggled in vain, “Your documents…”

His voice was swallowed by Shao Chengxi’s kiss.

The study was in chaos.

When it comes to checkmate, who cares about the documents?