Xiu Mo Ruo's face darkened as soon as he saw the proposal projects presented by the departments for the upcoming diplomatic visits next year. He barely suppressed himself from throwing the papers into the shredder while roaring at the lazy staff who did the papers.

"Redo everything.

" He merely said, slamming the papers on the table. His secretary nodded his head silently, taking the papers with him when he left his office.

Xiu Mo Ruo rubbed his aching temples as he looked at the piling amount of reports and translations he had to go through which extends to diplomat visits, international relations, and policies.

Looking at the amount of work he had to go through, and recalling how tight his schedule was for today and the next months, he silently scolded himself for putting himself under this kind of torture.

He really didn't imagine himself following in his father's footsteps as a politician back when he was still young. His parents never pressured them to follow their parents' career when they grew up, but Xiu Min and Xiu Mo Ruo had this subconscious admiration for their parents and so the two went to separate colleges, one went to the National Military University while he enrolled in Tsinghua University under the courses of Political Science and Law and International Relations.

Only their youngest sibling and the little princess of their family went on a separate path of business, which made them slightly worried.

But Xiu Mei proved to them that she could live independently even if she's not under their protective umbrella. Eventually, their hanging hearts relaxed as they continued to silently watch over her develop and stand by herself.

"Get me a cup of coffee.

" He uttered, pressing the communication line on connected to his secretary outside of the office.

Xiu Mo Ruo continued working on his papers when his phone vibrated to life. It was his personal phone that he uses to communicate with his family and friends at all times.

He opened his phone and glanced at the contents of the message. His expression darkened as he continued to read the message. It was about their current investigation in the position shuffling across different national departments.

His father used his connections to investigate all the changes that happened for the past two years. And right now, he received the report that there seemed to be some suspicious change in power in some parts of the government for the past two years.

They couldn't fully confirm it yet, but he recognized three of the names on the list that are quite notorious in their circle for using vices and women in their past time. It may have sounded quite common especially if it's an official since a lot of people have this some kind of idea that a lot of politicians aren't truly quite clean and some of them are using that power to their advantage.

This was somehow true, as per Xiu Mo Ruo's opinion. But it's not really common for people with this kind of history to be assigned into high positions like these ones on the list. Couple with the fact that their true image has been publicized before.

Their appointment for these positions should have made the news, yet the father and son who both work in the government didn't even get a wind of this news at all. Even their friends who are working in the same career weren't aware of it too.

The Deputy Speaker. Minister of Finance. Vice-President of Supreme People's Court.

Dammit. All those weren't some mere positions at all.

They are all high-profile positions that even his father should have been aware of. But he didn't. This means that they were discreetly appointed and was secretly hidden from the public's sight.

Xiu Mo Ruo typed something on his phone for his instructions to the investigation. They still need to dig more. Else, it might already be too late if they don't get a clearer picture of the whole government status right now. Who knows they might just wake up and the entire positions have been replaced without their knowledge.

Meanwhile, Yu Shi Jin was instructed by his father to monitor if there are any suspicious movements in the military. As the Colonel-General in the army, he kept eyes on people who he deemed quite suspicious and he kept his guard up on other people as well.

Army Men are loyal, but once they betray, their betrayal isn't something to be taken lightly at all. A person who can kill for the mission and for their country, why can't he kill without any reason once he turns his back to his country?

He has his sons and nephew to aid him in keeping an eye on various movements inside the military. Most especially at this critical time when the Xiu family kept being targeted by a lot of people lately.

He had to protect the country's safety, at the same time, his family's safety as well.

"What's the status?

" With a cold expression, he asked his two most trusted subordinates about the current status inside the military departments all over the country. His nephew and his friend have been assigned to check out about the status of the spies they planted in various countries.

"As per your instructions, we found no suspicious movements in relation to the army. However, we did find some people who have been getting in touch with the Public Security Bureau for the past few months. All of which do not have high positions within the military.

"

"What about their backgrounds?

"

"All of them don't have any distinguishable backgrounds at all. It's clean and plain just like any other soldier.

"

"Good. Keep an eye on them. Find out who they are contacting within the Public Security Bureau and what are the contents of their conversation.

"

"Copy that, Sir.

"

"You're dismissed.

"

Yu Shi Jin thought deeply about something for quite some time. And then he picked up his securely lined phone and immediately called a good friend of his that was working within the Public Security Bureau.

On the other hand, Xiu Mei, who is still in the dark about these events, is in the middle of her negotiation with the President who is also her husband, that she wanted to continue going to work despite her difficulties.

"You can work using your laptop.

" Lu Chen refuted to her proposal.

'I want to GO to work.' is what Xiu Mei pressed.

"You just got out of the hospital.

"

'But the doctor said I'm already fine.' Just incapable of speaking that's all, is the sentence she left off unsaid—or unwritten, if that even makes sense.

"Wife,

" Lu Chen used a coaxing tone while he reached out to hold her hand. He lightly squeezed it and continued,

"I'm not forbidding you to work at all. I just want you to take some time off, for now, a month or two, before you resume working.

"

This time, Xiu Mei paused to ponder his words. Seeing her waver, Lu Chen continued convincing her.

"Look, Lu Qiang just started his school, alright? It'll probably take some time for him to get used to going to school and being away from you for more than half a day after he stuck to your side for the past few months. Why don't you accompany him for quite a while, hm?

"

'...'

He… does have a point.

With his statement, Xiu Mei only remembered just now her previous dilemma about this with Lu Qiang. She was too busy trying to live normally like usual that she almost forgot to spend some time thinking about Lu Qiang's request to her back when they were separated when she went to City S.

Seeing Xiu Mei falling silent and not moving her hands anymore to write anything, Lu Chen knew that she was seriously contemplating right now.

Lu Chen felt slightly guilty for using his son when he reasoned with his wife right now, but he really didn't want her to quickly get back to work at all. In fact, if she could just take a complete break from work for a while without working on her laptop and all, he would be satisfied.

She had gone through a lot that she could ever take and he just wants to her have some time to truly take a break. Not a break because she was stuck in the hospital for sleeping for months, just truly a good break where she was relaxed and being idle without worrying about work at all.

Finally, Xiu Mei picked up her tablet and wrote her response.

'Okay, I'll think about it.' is what she decided for now.

For now, she's going to spend time with Lu Qiang for the next few weeks while thinking about her decision if she can somehow balance her work while spending ample time with her son. She wanted to think about it properly first because this decision will not only affect her life but also her son and husband as well.