Chapter 1043: Catch-22, Choose an Option
It was actually Hong Kangquan who had come up with the idea for Huo Shaoheng to go to the United States to rescue Tan Guiren personally?!!
Then, Huo Shaoheng encountered an ambush in the United States and almost lost his life in the hands of the enemy!!
Wasn’t that a little too much of a coincidence?
When Huo Shaoheng had requested permission to conduct full surveillance on Hong Kangquan, he had said it was because they received a report, but the specifics regarding the matter could not be disclosed. Was it related to this matter?
Speaker Long’s eyes grew sullen. Although his face remained impassive on the surface, he secretly clenched his fists tightly.
Hong Kangquan had never imagined that Tan Guiren knew that he had secretly arranged Huo Shaoheng to be the one to go to the United States behind the scenes, not to mention that she would blurt it out at such a time!
That girl truly had no brains, and had no idea whatsoever what should or should not be said!
How could she just blurt something like that out?!!
How did Cai Songyin raise her daughter?
Didn’t he tell Cai Songyin not to tell any outsiders about that?!!
Or perhaps in Cai Songyin’s mind, her daughter wasn’t considered an outsider?
But in that case, she should have had more awareness. After all, how could she not know her own daughter and that she was likely to repeat what she had been told in secrecy?!!
Hong Kangquan was flustered and quickly glanced at Speaker Long to ensure that his facial expression hadn’t taken a turn for the worse. After looking at Speaker Long, Hong Kangquan believed that he hadn’t seemed to catch what had just happened, so he relaxed a little and tried his best to remain as calm as he could. He shifted his focus, saying, “Miss Tan, what are you talking about? When did I ever blackmail you? I have only treated you with the utmost kindness.”
“Utmost kindness?” Gu Nianzhi stepped forward and seized the opportunity to hold Hong Kangquan to his words. She focused on the main issue at hand. “Director Hong, did you volunteer General Huo to leave for the United States personally to rescue Miss Tan with the utmost kindness?”
“Of course. Huo Shaoheng is one of the best military men in the army. Who else would be more qualified to go?” Hong Kangquan replied ambivalently. He secretly cursed Gu Nianzhi for not minding her own business. He didn’t want to bring Speaker Long’s attention to what had been said.
However, Gu Nianzhi stressing it again and again made Hong Kangquan smirk and said, “I personally saw how anxious and stressed Mrs. Tan was, and knowing how deeply they loved their daughter, I merely made a suggestion. What’s wrong with that? Huo Shao had been my subordinate in the military, so no one knows his capabilities better than me. I knew he was the most qualified person for the mission.”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t miss a beat and said meaningfully, “Is that so? You know the best how capable General Huo is? So, in your eyes, only he could ensure a satisfactory outcome?!”
“Of course! And doesn’t the result prove that my intuition was right?” Hong Kangquan pointed to Tan Guiren, saying, “How does that sound? Miss Tan, am I right?”
Tan Guiren’s snow-white teeth bit onto her lower lip. She slowly nodded, then said hesitantly, “General Huo saved me, but that doesn’t mean you can take me to your execution room.”
At the moment, her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the execution room that Gu Nianzhi had mentioned, and it sounded absolutely terrifying.
Hong Kangquan couldn’t help but glare at Gu Nianzhi, and said to Tan Guiren, “Miss Tan, this is totally a misunderstanding. How could I arrest you? As you said, your mom is my wife’s best friend, and you see me as an uncle. How could I harm you? Speak from your heart, have I harmed you before? Didn’t my suggestion allow you to return safely from the hands of the kidnappers? Isn’t that enough proof?”
What he was saying all made sense to Tan Guiren, and she didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t help but look to Gu Nianzhi for help once more as if Gu Nianzhi was her savior.
Gu Nianzhi paid no attention to Tan Guiren. Her attention was focused wholly on Hong Kangquan, and she was starting to get a little excited.
That man was the person that had caused her and Huo Shaoheng to grow apart. She wouldn’t let him off the hook that easily!
Earlier, Huo Shaoheng had told her about Hong Kangquan, and she didn’t know whether Huo Shaoheng had taken any countermeasures since then. But she could not believe that he was still allowing that man to continue wreak havoc.
Gu Nianzhi had already made up her mind about teaching Hong Kangquan a hard lesson in front of Speaker Long.
“Director Hong, these are two completely different things. You had something to ask Miss Tan earlier, yet Miss Tan didn’t want to answer. But from your stance, doesn’t what you’re doing show that you mean to bring her to the execution room?”
Gu Nianzhi spoke rapidly without giving Hong Kangquan a chance to refute, then continued, “Well, you didn’t explicitly say so, but your tone and body movements reflect this. Of course, after I’ve pointed it out, you won’t admit it either way. Is it true or not?”
Hong Kangquan was on the verge of screaming no, but just as the words were on the tip of his tongue, he realized that saying no would mean admitting that he wanted to arrest Tan Guiren and take her to the execution room. He then wanted to change what he was going to say to yes, but if he said yes, then it implied that he intended to arrest Tan Guiren and take her to the execution room, but that he would not admit it!
Whether he said yes or no, he would fall directly into the trap that Gu Nianzhi had laid out!
Hong Kangquan swallowed his words and his face turned purple with rage, yet he managed to suppress it. His nostrils flared as he huffed and puffed. He could barely conceal how fury had contorted his features.
Tan Guiren only glanced at him, yet was frightened by the sheer rage on his face and instinctively hid behind Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi patted Tan Guiren’s back to reassure her, then turned her head towards Hong Kangquan and said in an amused tone, “Well, well. You are certainly terrorizing Miss Tan with the look on your face, and she is on the verge of finding a hole to hide in. Yet you insist that you won’t harm Miss Tan? I can’t tell from the way you’re acting right now. ”
“How could I harm her? It was because of my proposal that General Huo went to the United States to rescue her. I did it so that Miss Tan could return safely. Why don’t you tell us, how have I harmed her?” Hong Kangquan asked.
He was desperately declaring that he essentially saved Tan Guiren to divert everyone’s attention from what Tan Guiren had said earlier.
Gu Nianzhi certainly wouldn’t let him get his way.
She held her face in one hand and said thoughtfully, “If that’s so, what else do you have to ask? Miss Tan has returned safely, yet you still won’t let her go. If this isn’t blackmail, then what is? ”
“Blackmail?!” Hong Kangquan stared down his nose at Gu Nianzhi and barked with rage. “To think that I would need to do that! Me, of all people! You are too contemptuous!”
“Then what is the purpose of you holding on to Miss Tan?” Gu Nianzhi spread her hands out helplessly. “I can’t think of any other reason except to harm her.”
“Come to think of it, you are just an insignificant intern!” Hong Kangquan finally said, mocking Gu Nianzhi ruthlessly. “What I wanted to ask Miss Tan concerns national security interests. How could the likes of you know the importance of such matters?”
“I see.” Suddenly shifting to the side, Gu Nianzhi revealed Tan Guiren, who had been hiding behind her, and pushed her out, saying encouragingly, “Miss Tan, since it is a matter of national security, I don’t think you can refuse anymore. But don’t be afraid, Speaker Long is here, and I am here too. Director Hong will ask whatever he needs to right here, so Miss Tan can answer in front of all of us.”
Tan Guiren instinctively grasped Gu Nianzhi’s hand tightly and nodded reluctantly. “Director Hong, if you have something to ask, please do so quickly. My mom is still waiting for me to return.”
Hong Kangquan saw that at this point, he had no choice but to ask right then and there. What Tan Guiren had just said made him feel somewhat regretful as well.
He should have known that since she was slow-witted, he needed to think everything through extra carefully before manipulating her.
Now it was obvious that she had spilled the beans about everything before even being asked!
But since he had already suffered such huge losses, if he didn’t continue to ask, wouldn’t that just cause him to suffer even more?
Well, the arrow was already knocked, so he had no choice but to fire.
Hong Kangquan coughed and said calmly, “Then I will ask you, was General Huo ambushed by the US military and the CIA when he rescued you in New York?”
Tan Guiren nodded, “Yes, but-”
Hong Kangquan interrupted her and continued to ask, “Did he escape after being ambushed?”
“Yes, but-” she began again.
Hong Kangquan interrupted her once again, saying, “After he fled, did the US military and the CIA visit your home several times to inquire about his whereabouts?”
“Yes, but-”
“Did you tell the US military and the CIA that the person who came to your rescue was General Huo, and not a kidnapper?” he pushed.
“No!” The question he had just asked coincided with Gu Nianzhi’s hypnotic memory reconstruction from earlier. Tan Guiren felt a sense of familiarity with the question and quickly recovered her rhythm. “I didn’t know at that time that he was General Huo, so how could I tell the Americans who he was?”
Hong Kang was stunned for a moment. He cursed Huo Shaoheng for being so cunning, hiding his identity from Tan Guiren even though he went to rescue her.
He had no choice but to try from a different angle and asked, “When the US military and the CIA visited you, did they encounter General Huo?”
Gu Nianzhi had asked the same question, but she had worded it a little differently.
Tan Guiren was like a student who had gained access to the answer key before a big test. She answered quickly and right on point, saying, “No, he was so elusive that they never caught him!” She then added what she remembered the best. “He was free to move around as he pleased, had his own residence, and he hid in the shadows to protect me!”
This sentence effectively answered all the questions Hong Kangquan had wanted to ask.
He could no longer contain his fury and roared, “How could that be?! You’re lying! The US military and the CIA are so powerful, and with so many people and such advanced weapons, how could he have possibly escaped on his own?! You’re lying! You’re lying!”
“I didn’t! I never lied!” Tan Guiren was so furious that she actually started crying. “You said you wanted to ask me questions, and I told you the truth. How dare you accuse me of lying?!”
Between the calculating Hong Kangquan and the naive Tan Guiren, no matter who had been listening, they would believe that Tan Guiren was telling the truth and that Hong Kangquan was getting worked up over not being able to trick her into saying what he wants her to say.
Gu Nianzhi took a step toward Tan Guiren protectively and said to Hong Kangquan, “Director Hong, I don’t understand you. What do you mean by that? What are you trying to prove?”
Hong Kangquan was furious and pointed at the crying Tan Guiren. “Of course I want to prove that she is lying!” he said.
“Miss Tan lied? What did she lie about? Why can’t I hear the lie?” Gu Nianzhi shrugged. She turned to the stunned Special Assistant Zhuang standing beside her and asked, “Special Assistant Zhuang, did you hear the lie?”
Special Assistant Zhuang shook his head slowly. “I’m too stupid to discern the lie in Miss Tan’s words,” he said.
“Right?” Gu Nianzhi deliberately made a contemptuous expression, then crossing her arms and looking up at the sky, she snorted, “Some people just enjoy making something out of nothing.”
“Making something out of nothing?” Hong Kang was so angry that he clenched his fists and spat out what he had to say word by word. “I know Tan Guiren lied because Huo Shaoheng couldn’t have possibly escaped from the Americans by his own accord this time! He was once captured in the United States!”
Aha!
He finally said it.
Gu Nianzhi lowered her arms and looked him up and down. Then, with her gaze landing on Hong Kangquan’s wrathful face, she said coldly, “Huh? Did I hear wrong? Who said just a moment ago that he knew General Huo’s capabilities the best, and that only he was able to settle the matter favorably?! ”
Hong Kangquan couldn’t help but take a step back with his mouth agape. He didn’t know how to respond.
Gu Nianzhi took another step forward, her eyes gleaming, and without letting up for a second, she said, “You said you knew best how competent General Huo is, and that only he could resolve the crisis by going to the front line himself! Yet, on the other hand, here you are saying that he couldn’t possibly have handled the Americans single-handedly! Director Hong, you are contradicting yourself!
“So you knew how experienced and capable General Huo was, and you knew that he could resolve the crisis favorably, yet you didn’t want him to resolve the crisis, and now you stand here slandering him?
“Or was it that you knew the limitations of General Huo’s abilities, and knew that he couldn’t possibly escape the Americans on his own, so you knowingly sent him there to his doom?”
Gu Nianzhi’s words were so potent that she blocked any chance Hong Kangquan had of arguing against what she had said by making it a catch-22 situation.
“Director Hong, are you trying to frame a highly esteemed general for treason? Or are you trying to murder this highly esteemed general? Both of those are felonies, so choose carefully!”