Around the lawn behind the official residence, dozens of Special Task Force agents holding black umbrellas vigilantly watched the surroundings. The entire street was under tight control. Beside a cedar tree, Director Breen, whose face was full of anxiety, looked at the two people on the lawn. Since he was not allowed to go forward, he could only nervously tell his subordinates to be more careful.
President Pabre walked slowly on the snow-covered lawn. He wore a dark trench coat and held a black umbrella in his hand. The falling snowflakes silently landed on the umbrella and stuck to the front of his coat.
Du Shaoqing, who was silently following behind him, did not hold an umbrella. The general did not wear sunglasses today, and he wore black lambskin gloves on his hands. His dark military uniform was as straight as usual, without a single wrinkle. The snowflakes that fell on the uniform either fell or melted, dyeing it in different shades.
He looked at the dark side of the president's face and suggested in a low voice that they return to the official residence.
President Pabre shook his head and looked at the people on the other side of the lawn. He said, "Because of the appearance of those rebel soldiers, they are a little too nervous."
Du Shaoqing maintained his silence.
"To define those soldiers as rebels, in my opinion, it is a little ridiculous, even shameless."
President Pabre stopped walking and looked out from under the black umbrella, but he did not know where he was looking. He smiled bitterly and said, "The official residence has received the report from the Ministry of Defense, and I believe you should have also seen the official accusation made by Colonel Li Feng. But it was not until last night when I saw the officer in the wheelchair that I dared to believe that everything that happened on the Mo Hua planet was true."
He turned his head and looked at Du Shaoqing quietly. He said, "Now it seems that you were right to advise me not to appoint Hu Lian as the enemy's commander-in-chief. The things that he and Director Bailey have done will make the Federation government pay a great price. "
President Pabre did not know about the purge on the front line of the new 17th division and the murder of the first seven groups of soldiers.
Even after receiving the report, he was still unwilling to believe that the senior officials who were loyal to the government would do such a thing. Not only were they cold-blooded and ugly, they were also so stupid.
President Pabre thought about the attack on the sanatorium in Spring City. He thought about the accusation made by the member of Group 7 at the meeting last night. He thought about the small-eyed man who had returned to the Federation and was hiding in the darkness. He let out a deep sigh with a strong sense of self-mockery.
There were also the parents of the members of Group 7. Mr. President's expression became even colder. He had a vague feeling that some troublesome and even extremely dangerous factors were about to appear, and it was something that he could not control.
The silent Du Shaoqing finally opened his mouth to speak. He looked at Pabre and said, "Mr. President, if a lion leads a flock of docile and incompetent sheep to battle, although it is hard, it is not necessarily a failure. But if a lion leads a flock of greedy aardwolves to battle, perhaps it will collapse before defeating the enemy."
President Pabre frowned slightly and fell into silence.
"I still adhere to the views of that day. There are many people in the government and the military who are not worthy of trust and are not worthy of being relied on. Such people can only cause harm to our cause, and will not be of any help."
Du Shaoqing's face was cold and indifferent. He said firmly, "The people I am referring to include Chairman Lee Jae-do. Lieutenant General Hu Lian is his student. He is the leader of the infamous Joint Investigation Group. You should keep your distance from him."
President Pabre looked at him and said after a moment of silence, "Du Shaoqing, if you are willing to take out the patience on the battlefield and look at the history of human society, you will probably understand that Chairman Lee's willingness to sully himself is in fact a kind of sacrifice."
He waved his hand to stop Du Shaoqing from continuing to suggest. He said in a deep voice, "Those families, especially those in the back of Mochou Mountain, have been silent for too long. Now they have the best opportunity. I believe that they will not continue to be silent. Your task now is to let the army make all the preparations."
"Of course, if the situation does not enter the most difficult and complicated situation, we will try not to let the army participate in these affairs."
After saying this, the snow-covered lawn fell into silence again. After a long time, Du Shaoqing stood at attention and saluted, and then left in the snow.
Walking into the official residence, President Pabre handed the dripping black umbrella to the staff, took off his windbreaker and put it in his arms, and pushed open the heavy antique wooden door of the dining room.
After entering the door, the worry on his face disappeared without a trace. Looking at his busy wife, he laughed loudly and said, "Dear, what are we having for lunch today?"
The First Lady of the Federation turned around and took the windbreaker from his arms. She replied with a gentle smile, "Green beans and minced meat. There is hot soup on the table. Have a sip to warm your body. It seems that the snow will continue to cool down. I am afraid that it will not warm up until March."
The First Lady began to tidy up the table and prepare lunch. She put the bread basket in front of her husband, who was drinking soup. Then she turned on the TV and said casually, "Chairman Lee has been coming to the official residence to eat much less recently."
"You also know that he is very busy these days." President Pabre lowered his head and drank the pepper soup. His tanned face showed a satisfied expression, and he praised exaggeratedly, "The soup still tastes so good. I feel hot all over after drinking two spoonfuls."
"Pretending that the food is delicious to please me. You have been using this trick since we were dating. Don't you find it annoying?" the First Lady said with a smile.
"This trick of yours is not as good as Colonel Xu Le's. Every time he comes to eat, he doesn't need to say any words of praise, and he doesn't need to show any expression of praise. He just keeps eating with his head down and adds rice three or four times in a row …"
She suddenly remembered that she was talking about an old friend who had not eaten in the official residence for more than three years. She was talking about a prince of the empire, and she was talking about her husband's biggest enemy. She stopped talking gloomily.
President Pabre held the spoon and looked at his wife silently for a long time. Suddenly, the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes deepened. He laughed and said, "That guy is just born with a big appetite. You have been fooled by him."
The laughter gradually disappeared in the small dining room of the official residence. Nobody mentioned Xu Le anymore. President Pabre tore the bread and dipped it in the thick soup, mixed it with green beans and meat, and slowly ate it while watching the TV screen calmly.
As the President of the Federation, he rarely watched the news channel of the Federation in his private life. It was the same at this time, because even he did not like the so-called authoritative news channel that was tightly controlled by the government.
The private TV station called April Flower was broadcasting important political news. The reporter who could not hide his excitement held the microphone and said loudly:
"The Supreme Court has announced the immediate repeal of the Patriot Act by a vote of four to one. More than two hours have passed since then, but the silent parade still has not left Rabi Boulevard. Tens of thousands of people are celebrating here, and we have found that more and more citizens of the capital are joining the celebration crowd..."
President Pabre did not hear what the reporter said at the end. The voice from the light screen entered his ears and turned into fuzzy noise, making his face turn ugly.
He knew the news the moment the Supreme Court announced the immediate repeal of the Patriot Act. That was why he had been walking slowly in the snow with Du Shaoqing earlier.
Just when the major forces of the Federation thought that the Federation government he led would suffer a huge setback because of the unconstitutional review and that the President would fly into a rage, he remained calm. He could even quietly have a simple lunch with his wife in the small dining room.
President Pabre thought that he could continue to be calm, but he did not expect to see the news at the dinner table full of family love and warmth. It was a completely different feeling from hearing the news in the Oval Office.
Listening to the excited reports of the reporters and watching the ordinary people who had been passionately or silently supporting him for more than a decade, more and more people joining the opposition, he suddenly felt that the thick pepper soup had become tasteless.
A pair of warm hands gently fell on his shoulders and slowly rubbed back and forth to express their sympathy. President Pabre patted him gently.
His wife stood behind his chair and said softly, "Papa, don't forget that I was a lawyer in the past. Although I was only your assistant, I knew that there was a problem with the Patriot Act from the first day I saw it."
President Pabre was silent for a moment before he replied, "My dear, I know very well that the Patriot Act is not only problematic, but also completely evil."
He turned his head, looked at his wife, and said solemnly, "But at this moment, the Federation needs this evil law, just like a dying patient needs illegal psycho-stimulating drugs to help them survive the surgery.
"It is easy for people with a legal background to judge that once the Patriot Act enters the unconstitutional review process, it will definitely be nullified by the Supreme Court of that old judge. So, the government and I have done a lot of procedures to protect it."
He stood up, and a self-deprecating smile flashed on his tanned face. He continued, "But the government did not expect that our enemies would be so unscrupulous and start to use violent means when we, who have the most powerful violent organization, have been exercising self-discipline with great difficulty."
This sentence was referring to the attack on the sanatorium in Spring City.
"Was it done by those big families?" his wife asked worriedly.
President Pabre shook his head and said, "It was done by Xu Le. Whether or not they were behind it, those big families will never admit it, and the government cannot find any evidence. "
Hearing Xu Le's name, a hint of shock flashed on his wife's face. Then, she sighed softly and did not say anything more. She picked up the tray and left.
Pushing open the door of the bedroom on the second floor, she looked at her daughter who was playing mobile games by the window and said with a smile, "Della, it's time for dinner."
Miss Padel looked up at her mother with a sweet smile, put down the phone, and walked over. The first daughter of the Federation had now grown into a beautiful young lady, but she still seemed unwilling to talk.
Stroking her daughter's curly hair lovingly, the wife sighed and said, "It's been three years. Xu Le is indeed a citizen of the Empire. My dear, when will you forgive your father and eat at the same table with him?"
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