301 Face Off
Shi Lang sat inside a ward, where Cara was being treated. Even if the hospital was located in a small city, the facilities were good enough to deal with the fatigued and malnourished girl. It had only taken a few minutes for the treatment to show results.
The young general gave up the anxiety and leaned back in his chair. He was not resting, he was thinking. To deal with the left minister, he needed a plan. So, after a thought, he called over all the press reporters standing outside the hospital for a meeting. He wanted to negotiate a few things with them.
The process lasted thirty minutes before he finally convinced the people to agree with him, and after taking a picture of the empress lying inside the medical cabin, they left. Shi Lang did not need to wait for too long when the door was knocked on twice. He leaned back and said, “Come in.”
The door was pushed open and a man wearing a black suit walked in. The man looked at the surroundings with his black glass-covered eyes. Then he turned to check out Shi Lang, who said, “I do not like men.”
The face of the person turned dark as he walked out of the room. A few minutes later, an old man walked inside. Well, Shi Lang did not know there were turtles who could walk on their two hind legs and last so long to move on their own. Looking at the sophisticated attire, and majestic air around the person, Shi Lang decided that this person was none other that the left minister.
However, he did not rush to start the conversation. If he did, the other party will get a chance to hold the momentum and his plan would not work. So Shi Lang asked, “Who are you?”
The old turtle let out a deep chuckle and said, “Your grace might not know my humble self, allow me to introduce myself. I am called Kito, and my job is to serve Her Excellency as her left hand, or as you may officially call it, the left minister.”
Shi Lang heard the monologue and he almost wanted to laugh out loud. He calmed himself, and asked, “What brings the left minister, here?”
The turtle replied, “I came here to check on Her Excellency, and also to bring her back to her home, the imperial palace.”
Shi Lang nodded and then asked, “Why must you bring her over? Did she ask you as such?”
The turtle was surprised and did not expect this young human in front of him to be so overbearing. Still, he did not lose his composure and said, “Is it not obvious? She is the empress, her home is the imperial palace. She should stay there to recover.”
Shi Lang shook his head, and said, “She is the Empress, this whole planet is her home. Who dares to deny that? Also, this medical cabin is at the same level as that you have in the top hospital in your capital. So what is the big deal?”
The turtle was known for his quick reasoning, despite being witty, he was stumped by the question of this young human. The boy did give him a chance to even put forward any logic, and directly closed all his routes. Thinking that he was not left with a way out to deal with this thing, the turtle said, “Since it has come to this, let me ask you a question.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Yes, why not?”
“What do you think will happen if I went out and tell the citizens of Arcadia, that you, the former special advisor of the empress had assassinated her?”, said the old turtle.
Shi Lang smiled and said, “What if you and your dogs fail to walk out of this place?”
His tone was calm and indifferent. This combination of emotions displayed by him was unsettling the old man. He did not understand why this young man was so confident and if he was so confident, then he must have a card up his sleeves. Kito decided that this man was unknown to him. After all, he was not ignorant and knew that it was Shi Lang who devastated the military back then and made Cara sit on the throne.
He decided to take another route. Kito chuckled and asked, “Why do you care about the Empress so much? are you worried that the alliance with the federation will suffer if the person on the throne is changed? In that case, I give you my word, that the alliance will continue without any hiccups. What do you think? Let me take this girl away.”
Shi Lang pretended to be thinking deeply and he sat down on the chair. He closed his eyes as his fingers tapped on the armrest of the chair. He did not give a quick answer and asked, “What do you intend to do with her? Just so you know, a lot of special teams were dispatched here on your demand, if the teams failed to find an answer, they will be punished. I cannot let the best of my civilization suffer for your cause.”
He then stood up and strode toward the medical cabin, and looked at the girl behind the glass screen. His expression was that of hesitation. Kito thought that the fish was trying to stop itself from taking the bait and said, “I understand your concern but do not worry, I have a man in place and those teams have been taken into custody. They will just say what you ask them to say.”
Shi Lang shook his head, “Do you think that the terrans are so easy to fool? If they did not know better, then it would not be our turn to send investigation teams here. We have thousands of methods to determine the credibility of a person’s statement and stuff. Also, even if this works, do you want me to do such a big favor for you for free? Dream on.”
Shi Lang’s words shook the left minister, he did not expect the young man to be so cunning, he was actually using his team members as an excuse to get more favors. It may be shameless, but this was what Kito hoped for. He said with a faint smile, “What do you want? Beauties, money, power?”
Shi Lang tilted his head and asked, “I am not as mundane as you may think of me. What I want is the information. Why are you doing this to her? Has she ever done you wrong?”
Kito’s eyes suddenly turned sharp, and he said, “Why do you wish to know? What difference does it make?”
Shi Lang sighed and said, “Your intention will tell me if we are like-minded people and this alliance will not break halfway. I do not wish to see things getting complicated. I will get an idea of how you work, and then it will be all settled. What do you think? Am I reasonable enough for you?”
Kito thought for a moment and nodded, then he said, “This woman used her power to kill my only great-granddaughter and her husband’s family.”
Shi Lang was surprised, he asked, “What did that happen?”
“When you left, a lot of people started rising against her, and to gain a foothold she conducted an inquiry and found proof of treachery. Then she ordered all of the people found guilty to be killed through three generations. Tell me, is that a genuine solution to any problem?”, said the turtle.
Shi Lang nodded and said, “She was indeed a fool. Well, let me get her out of the box, and you can drag her away.”
Then the young man decisively placed his hand on the medical cabin switch and pulled open the lid, and then he carried out the empress in style. Cara happened to be awake by now and she was just playing possum to find out everything that was going on. Turns out that the turtle was not doing this for greed, but simple revenge.
However, too bad. Suddenly, Shi Lang stopped in his actions and said, “Your Excellency, it is time you wake up. People are really taking you for a corpse.”
Cara let out a sigh and under the shocked gaze of the turtle, she opened her eyes, and said, “Lang, you dare to put me down and see when I meet sister-in-law. I will ask her to kick your ass.”
Shi Lang smiled and said, “Fine, deal with this guy first.”
Cara patted his shoulder and enjoyed the princess carry as she cast a gaze at the turtle and said, “Left Minister Kito, you have greatly disappointed me. Not by the fact that you did all these feral actions, but that you fell for his pathetic acting and said it all. Do you know this statement of yours calls for a death sentence?”
Kito was shocked, but then he quickly regained his composure and said, “What proof do you have? What proof do you have to sentence me to death? Give up your hallucinations. You and this bastard human will perish in some gutter on Arcadia.”
He was enraged, but suddenly, Shi Lang chuckled and said, “You do not have to worry about the proof, please access your communicator and check the news highlights.”