Chapter 652: The New Viceroy Gets Kicked: I've Become a Beggar

In a flash, two days passed.

Under the repeated urging of the new Viceroy, Patten, the Industry and Commerce Department, the Inland Revenue Department, the Fire Services Department, the ICAC, and the Commercial Crime Bureau launched a coordinated operation, splitting into multiple teams and heading straight for the major newspaper offices.

……

Oriental Daily News, Editorial Department.

At 3:15 PM, in the editorial department of the Oriental Daily News, reporters were discussing tomorrow's copy.

The editor-in-chief, cigarette in mouth, stared at the headline on his computer screen, his brow furrowed.

Suddenly,

The office door was violently pushed open, and over a dozen investigators in uniform strode in.

In a grand, imposing procession~~~

"Everyone, stop what you are doing and cooperate with the investigation!" an ICAC investigator announced loudly.

The editor-in-chief had received word half an hour ago, so he wasn't panicked, but he still had to put on a show.

He stood up abruptly, frowning: "What is going on? What are you doing?"

"Independent Commission Against Corruption!"

The ICAC investigator showed his credentials with an expressionless face: "We have received a report that your publication is suspected of commercial bribery. Please cooperate with the investigation."

"Commercial bribery?" the editor-in-chief said righteously, "We have always operated legally; where would bribery come from?"

There really wasn't any bribery; they were a newspaper, who would they bribe? The Information Services Department? There wasn't much need for that.

The ICAC investigator smiled and said: "Don't worry, the order came from above. We are just following orders, just going through the motions."

The editor-in-chief understood in a second and immediately felt relieved: "Fine, we will cooperate actively."

At the same time, personnel from the Fire Services Department had already begun inspecting the office's fire safety facilities.

Then, after checking, there were no problems.

The newspaper office was a scene of peace and prosperity.

……

Sing Tao Daily,

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and people from the Commercial Crime Bureau walked in.

"Everyone stop! Auditing accounts!" Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Huang Li Li Li Li Wenbin, who was in the lead, shouted.

The president walked up calmly: "Officer Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Huang, long time no see."

Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Huang Li Li Li Li Wenbin smiled: "President, I'm not that familiar with you, otherwise if word got out, I wouldn't be able to finish my mission."

"This time it's an order from superiors; we have to go through the motions, you understand."

The president smiled knowingly: "Understand, understand~~~~"

Then they began to audit the accounts.

o￠O

……

Ming Pao,

Ever since Boss Yu acquired Ming Pao from Mr. Cha, he began to rebel against the established order, paying little heed to Mr. Cha, and Ming Pao's style changed drastically.

Every time, he followed the steps of Brother Zu.

Boss Yu was one step away from saying: "You old fart, you're washed up; from now on, I call the shots at Ming Pao!"

Mr. Cha was so angry he nearly ended up in the hospital.

He felt he had been shrewd his whole life, only to be pecked in the eye in the end.

At this moment,

Boss Yu was chatting with the editor-in-chief about tomorrow's front-page content.

Just a moment ago, they had received notice from the Five Star Group and knew they were coming, but they weren't in a hurry because the issues that needed handling had already been dealt with.

Now, we are a legal and compliant enterprise!

At this time, the conference room door was suddenly pushed open, and investigators from the Industry and Commerce Department and the ICAC filed in.

The lead investigator flashed his credentials.

"Editor-in-chief Lin, your publication is suspected of illegal operations. Please immediately cease all editorial activities and cooperate with the investigation."

Then……

After bluffing a bit and going through the investigative process, they withdrew.

……

This operation spread rapidly in a very short time; over seventy newspaper offices were not spared, all being included in the scope of the inspection.

Investigators from various departments split into multiple teams, quickly arriving at each newspaper office to launch investigations under the names of commercial bribery, illegal operations, fire hazards, etc. ……

Then……

Most newspaper offices, after several hours of inspection, were confirmed to be legal and compliant.

Some newspaper offices were found to have minor issues and were ordered to rectify them.

By evening,

The various departments and teams returned to their respective units and began to investigate the materials they had brought back……

……

……

Government House,

6:40 PM,

The baroque clock at Government House had just chimed.

In the dining room, Patten was eating dinner, waiting and waiting for the results to arrive.

Tap, tap, tap~~~

Time ticked away……

Finally, Secretary Faiman walked quickly into Government House and arrived at the dining room.

"Boss, the inspection results from the various departments are out."

"How is it?"

Patten was filled with anticipation, along with a trace of gloom.

Faiman held a thick stack of reports, hesitated for a moment, and gritted his teeth as he reported: "Boss, starting from 9:00 AM this morning, the various departments inspected a total of 71 newspaper offices, taking 7 hours."

"As for the tax aspect, because there is a lot of data, it will take a week to get results."

"The Commercial Crime Bureau also said it will take 3 days to get results……"

"As for the other aspects, 65 are completely compliant, 6 have minor violations……"

"For example, the South China Morning Post had a few boxes of expired magazines stacked in the fire escape, and the Tin Tin Daily's printing workshop was missing a safety notice."

A flash of anger crossed Patten's face.

"Bang!"

The French dinner plate was struck by him, flipped in the air, and finally fell to the ground.

Boom~~~

It shattered everywhere, and the vegetable soup spilled all over the floor.

The maid not far away: "…………"

Internally %#*）￥%#…… cursing Patten to high heaven.

You little drama queen!

How many have you broken in these few days?

Just because you don't have to pay for hiring us, you just work us to the bone, right!

The Viceroy's wife was nearby, eating dinner quietly with her son and daughter.

"What I wanted was to kill the chicken to scare the monkey! Not a community street office inspection!"

Patten's face was twisted,

"Three days ago they said they were short-handed! Now they are inspecting one by one so quickly and cleanly?"

"If I'm not mistaken, in two days, the tax and commercial crime investigation departments will all say the newspaper offices have no illegal activities!"

Secretary Faiman lowered his head, not daring to answer.

Just at this moment,

On the television, the ATV International Channel began switching programs, changing to the evening news.

ATV anchor Wen Wen Huixin: "Good evening, citizens of Hong Kong……"

"Let's see what news there is today……"

"This morning, the Industry and Commerce Department, the Inland Revenue Department, the Fire Services Department, the ICAC, the Commercial Crime Bureau, and other departments formed a joint operation to conduct surprise inspections on 71 newspaper offices in Hong Kong……"

"This kind of large-scale joint inspection operation is the first of its kind in Hong Kong."

"According to information obtained by ATV reporters from various departments, the order for this operation came from Government House."

Faiman: "???"

Realizing something, he wanted to turn off the TV.

Patten's face turned black: "No need! I want to see what she says!"

Wen Wen Huixin: "As an unprecedented large-scale multi-department investigation operation in Hong Kong, it is obviously a bit unreasonable…… Combined with the fact that all newspapers in Hong Kong have been reporting on our new Viceroy's office romance, we have reason to suspect that he is retaliating……"

"If it really is retaliation, we at ATV must say a few words of justice for our media colleagues in Hong Kong:"

"First of all, freedom of the press is the sacred right of the citizens of Xiangdao and the cornerstone of social progress; it must not be infringed upon."

Ashdown: "???"

What the hell kind of freedom of the press and "must not be infringed upon"!

How do you Five Stars treat the media?

Those media outlets don't even dare to report any negative news about Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu; is this what you call freedom of the press?

Now that I've made a move, you're all getting on your high horses and talking about freedom of the press.

How can people be so hypocritical!

It's too bullying!

Wen Wen Huixin hadn't finished yet: "Secondly, in the UK, the office affair involving Governor Ashdown has already been widely reported by the British media."

"Why can the British press do it, but the Xiangdao press cannot?"

"You can't just say: Mr. Ashdown, what a great display of official authority!"

Hearing this,

Ashdown was so angry that he kicked over the television and collapsed onto the floor.

The servant gritted their teeth!

Little drama queen!

Ashdown cursed loudly!

"How dare she?"

"How dare she!"

Ashdown was currently furious.

"Arika!"

"Boss!"

Ashdown walked quickly to his office, and the young and beautiful Arika followed him.

Clang~~~~

The office door closed.

"Slap~~~"

The Viceroy's Lady was so angry that she slapped her chopsticks directly onto the table. She could already feel the sympathetic, pitying, and gossip-hungry gazes of the servants around her.

The Viceroy's Lady's mind began to echo with the words of Fatty Peng:

"A person must roast a few chickens!"

4 minutes later...

Ashdown walked out from the office.

His temper wasn't as fiery anymore.

His eyes had also become rational again.

"Feynman!"

"Boss~"

"Call the lawyers over immediately; the report from ATV just now has crossed the line into slandering me."

Slander?

The Lady, the servants, and Feynman subconsciously looked down at Ashdown's crotch.

Where was the slander, hey!

Ashdown said angrily: "I'm talking about ATV saying I'm 'retaliating against the media'; does that count as slander?"

Oh~~~

So it wasn't about slandering your office affair...

Feynman nodded: "Understood!"

Soon,

The lead lawyer arrived.

After the lead lawyer understood the situation, he shook his head and said: "I'm sorry, Mr. Governor... ATV's news report clearly did not slander you."

Ashdown looked coldly at the lead lawyer: "Have you also colluded with Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu?"

The lead lawyer was very calm and composed: "ATV has its own legal team; they are careful with their wording in news reports, so there generally won't be any major loopholes."

"Now, let's carefully analyze the wording of the host, Wen Wen Huixin. She said: 'there is reason to suspect' and 'if'... she did not definitively state that you are retaliating, which is not illegal under the law."

Ashdown was dissatisfied: "You mean... I can't do anything about her?"

The lead lawyer nodded: "At least from a legal standpoint, yes."

Ashdown: "…………"

It's like this again!

It's like this again!

He closed his eyes in despair... his soul felt as if it had been drained away.

The media, he couldn't teach them a lesson!

Government departments, they just go through the motions!

Even a mere television host, he couldn't teach her a lesson either!

As a Viceroy, having traveled thousands of miles to get here, I can't even take down a few small fries.

Does this mean that from now on, as Viceroy, I have to look at Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu's face?

Wouldn't that make me a damn beggar?

"No!"

"I still have a chance to turn things around!"

Ashdown opened his eyes, and they regained their sharp glint.

The Parasite Project!

"Feynman..."

"I feel like there aren't enough people in that project; increase it for me!"

"Ah?"

"Yes, yes."

……

……

(End of chapter)