Chapter 70: 69 Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

69 Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

Night had fallen. In the heavily guarded military officers' family quarters, inside a small villa whose floor area was quite large but which was almost entirely undecorated.

"Yisha?"

Looking at her daughter, who was hugging a giant plush toy and sitting dazed on the sofa staring into space, the tall, slender middle-aged woman walked over worriedly. First she tested her daughter's forehead temperature with her chin, then gathered her into her arms and asked gently:

"What's wrong? Is there somewhere you're not feeling well?"

Feeling the familiar warm embrace, the policewoman came back to herself and shook her head, then reached back to wrap her arms around the woman's waist, buried her face deep in her chest, and answered in a muffled voice:

"I'm actually doing fine, it's just… just some things at work that aren't going too smoothly…"

"I see."

Hearing that her daughter wasn't ill, the middle-aged woman immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then, gently stroking her daughter's smooth long hair, asked softly:

"Is it still about the Lane family from last time? Are they still refusing to cooperate with the investigation?"

"No, this time it's something else…"

Recalling the scene she had seen at noon, as well as the results of her investigation into the man "Hearing Li Ang Lane," the policewoman lifted her head from her mother's embrace, her eyes somewhat complicated, and said:

"Mom, three months ago, Dad… the military side, didn't they stop paying out a lot of the martyrs' families' pensions early?"

"There was that matter, yes…"

Hearing her daughter's question, the middle-aged woman thought for a moment, then said with some helplessness:

"You know how it is too. The military's expenses have been too high in recent years, the kingdom's finances can barely hold up, so this year's spending was cut by a third. Your father comes home sighing every day… Yisha, what made you think to ask about this?"

"I just feel it's a bit unfair…"

Recalling the family of four in the files she had pulled up that afternoon, who had nearly been hounded to death, an unmistakable flash of pity rose in the policewoman's eyes, and her voice grew louder as she spoke.

"The military has a full forty-seven departments, and every one of them spends a pretty penny. There are so many places where spending could be cut, so why on earth did they have to touch the pensions?

Mom, do you know? A lot of the people still drawing pensions are the families of martyrs left behind from the War of National Defense six years ago—there are even orphans whose parents both died!

Many of them simply don't have the ability to support themselves; they're practically living off that little bit of pension. For the military to stop paying it early—isn't that the same as forcing them to their deaths!"

"Yisha?"

Hearing the words that came out of her daughter's mouth, the kindly-faced woman couldn't help but be slightly startled, then her expression immediately grew stern. Frowning, she said coldly:

"Tell Mom—who taught you to ask these questions?"

"No one taught me, this is what I thought of myself!"

"You've never thought about these things before! You used to always be…"

"People change!"

"But you used to… sigh! Forget it…"

Looking at her daughter, who was pressing her lips tightly together and clearly digging in her heels, the middle-aged woman couldn't help but rub her brow helplessly, then lowered her voice again to admonish:

"I don't care where you heard it from either, but you can say these things to Mom and that's fine—just never say them in front of your father…"

"Why?"

The policewoman said, her eyes full of displeasure:

"Even if he wasn't the one who proposed it, for such an outrageous decision to have been passed, at the very least he tacitly approved it! If he did it, then he should…"

"Yisha!"

After cutting off her increasingly heated daughter, the middle-aged woman scolded sternly:

"You're this old already, you should know better! So much has happened this year—do you know how much pressure your father is under? Don't take your issues and go making more trouble for him!"

"Then how do we count it when he makes trouble for me?"

Recalling the man she had seen at noon, wearing an old overcoat, his face full of happiness as he ate the pudding scattered on the table, the policewoman, her heart aching unbearably, couldn't help but speak up:

"Mom, today I ran into a man. Both his parents died in the War of National Defense six years ago, but of the pensions the military has paid out over the years, only a third ever actually reached him. It forced him, at thirteen or fourteen, to go out and support his family—hauling sacks under the summer sun, soaking in the cold water at the docks all day scrubbing cargo ships!

That already sounds outrageous, right? But you know what? After Father signed off on it, the remaining third of his pension was stopped too, and at home he still has two younger siblings, only six or seven years old! His sick little sister stopped taking her medicine on her own to save money, and nearly died in the hospital!"

"Sigh…"

Seeing the faint redness gathering at the rims of her daughter's eyes, the middle-aged woman, who knew the military's situation, sighed and said with guilt in her eyes:

"Your father is also… also truly out of options… Yisha, how is that family doing now? Mom still has some money on hand—why don't you first…"

"No need, he shouldn't be short on money anymore now."

The policewoman took a deep breath and turned her head away, her eyes complicated as she said softly:

"He joined the rebels, and now he's an informant who's infiltrated the police department. This morning he just disrupted our arrest operation and rescued a rebel who had taken part in the assassination attempt on the princess."

"…"

"So now it's not me giving Father trouble, it's him giving me trouble, isn't that right?"

Glancing at her mother, who had been rendered speechless by the question, the policewoman gave a cold laugh and sat back down on the sofa, her two eyes still fixed on the doorway.

"This time I should be able to ask, right? Right now I just want to know—what kind of feelings did he have in his heart when he signed off on such a rotten, conscienceless proposal!"

"…"

Looking at her daughter, who was clearly hugging a soft plush toy but looked just like a hedgehog with its spines raised, all ready to prick someone, the middle-aged woman could only coax gently:

"Yisha, be good, you first…"

"Don't try to talk me out of it!"

The policewoman, her heart aching unbearably, turned her head away and said stubbornly:

"What one does oneself, one should have the courage to bear—that's what he taught me!"

"But he also taught you that there are always some responsibilities that are destined to stand above everything else."

Patting her daughter on the back, the middle-aged woman said, her eyes dimming:

"The ones who fell in the War of National Defense weren't only other people's families. Your brother and your two uncles all died six years ago too. In fact, this pension cut started with our own family's payments being stopped…

Stop! Don't you start arguing back yet!

"I know our family doesn't need to live off the pension, but Mom brings this up just to say: please, never think too badly of your father. To keep the Military Department from collapsing, he really is doing his utmost."

Looking up at the empty room on the second floor, and recalling the eldest son who sacrificed himself six years ago, the middle-aged woman, her eyes brimming with tears, said:

"At the beginning of this year, after the previous person in charge of the Military Department was executed for going too far, countless holes were left that needed filling, and it just so happened that expenses were slashed drastically.

At that time, everyone clearly knew this hole could not be filled; whoever took over would at the very least be punished for incompetence. Several people qualified to take the post, yet none were willing to take on this hot potato. Only your father stepped forward..."

Recalling her husband, who had grown increasingly silent over the past year, whose figure had become increasingly thin, and whose back had slowly begun to hunch, the middle-aged woman grabbed the female police officer's hand and said, her voice trembling slightly:

"The War of National Defense six years ago is your father's eternal pain. And now the problems within the Military Department are truly too great. If we let them continue unchecked or if an incompetent successor takes over, what happened six years ago will sooner or later happen Once Again Heavy. He really cannot let go.

Mom knows that stopping the pension payments early is very excessive, but have you noticed? From the moment he took up this burden until now, it has been only a little over half a year, yet your father's hair has already turned half white; he is almost completely drained by the affairs of the Military Department."

"But couldn't he just..."

"Miss Yisha, your father really is doing his best."

After cutting off her daughter's words, the middle-aged woman sighed softly and said:

"This year, I saw with my own eyes that he has done everything possible. Yet in the end, the holes still could not be filled, so he reluctantly agreed to cut some expenses in this area.

Moreover, your father issued a strict order: before a Comfort Officer decides to stop pension payments, they must visit at least three times within two months to confirm that the recipient can still maintain their livelihood after the payments cease.

But he ultimately has only two eyes and cannot watch everyone. So even with all the preparations made, such incidents are still unavoidable...

Sigh, Miss Yisha, please, as your mother, I beg you, go back to your room. Really, don't let him worry any more, okay?"

"..."

"Okay?"

"Alright..."

The female police officer, whose temper was exceptionally stubborn, ultimately succumbed to her mother's gentle pleading and was dragged away from the sofa, her eyes full of unwillingness.

After being pushed back into her own room and lying on the soft mattress while hugging her doll, she, already extremely exhausted, did not fall asleep peacefully as usual, but instead stared blankly at the chandelier on the ceiling.

Father, who desperately maintained the Military Department, was not wrong... I, who arrested the chaotic factions attacking and destroying everywhere, was not wrong... And he, who was forced to join the chaotic factions after his pension was withheld, was even more not wrong...

Then who exactly is wrong?