Twenty Seven Years

  Chapter 493 Public Opinion War (14)

   "Talk to me alone?" Piaf's eyes were deep, trying to see through Clementine's mind, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

   Clementine didn't speak.

  The comrade of the Equality Army next to him said: "Please answer Comrade Piaf's question truthfully! This will help clear up some of your suspicions!"

   Piaf raised her hand, signaling to comrades not to be so excited: "Has she been searched all over her body? Is it dangerous?"

   "I've searched everything, and I haven't hidden anything." Comrade Equality Army replied.

   "Then handcuff her, and then we all go out first." Piaf always felt that although Clementine was mysterious, this mystery was not hostile.

   Comrade Equal Army's face changed drastically: "Comrade Piaf! This is very dangerous! We can't let you be alone in the room with her!"

Piaf has seen a lot of turmoil, but she doesn't take it seriously: "She didn't hide a weapon and was handcuffed again. If this can kill me, it means that she has the ability to get rid of all of us now. "

"Can-"

"boom."

   Piaf slapped her own gun on the table.

   Now Comrade Equality Army has nothing to say.

   Clementine didn’t hide a weapon, and her actions were restricted, plus Piaf was holding a gun. If all of these are dangerous, the result would be no different if they were there or not.

   "Leave the room." The Equality Army comrades repeatedly checked whether the chains on Clementine were strong, and then exited Piaf's office.

   "Okay, now there are only two of us left, if you have anything to say, just say it." Piaf said.

"...My identity certificate is fake." Clementine said in a voice as low as possible, worried that someone was listening behind the door, "Actually, my husband is a reporter from the Laizein Daily, and his name is Capa. "

  Laizein Daily Press.

  The moment Piaf heard the name, Piaf's eyes became sharper.

  As the main force on the side of the International Equality Alliance in this public opinion war, she is very clear that the Laizein Daily is the main messenger of the provisional government's planning of public opinion.

  The reporters in the Laizein Daily are also basically responsible for filming fake "facts" and exporting this information continuously, increasing the public's prejudice against the International Equality League.

   Now such an enemy's wife disguised her identity and came to Leliste City to find herself. What would it be for?

"You may know some things, and you may not know some things. My husband is an accomplice to this public opinion, but he is forced to do nothing because the government restricts the personal freedom of me and my children, and through our coercion He, he had to make these false reports..." After a period of high mental tension, when Clementine was finally able to tell the secret, she couldn't control her emotions and choked up.

  Piave faintly realized that a turning point in the public opinion war might be coming.

"He helped the newspaper to make fakes, and while witnessing the people being bullied and shot by those government soldiers, he was also suffering in his heart, so he finally made a difficult decision, and secretly photographed two government soldiers on film at close range Photos of oppressing people." Clementine said, "Besides this, he wants to do more things. He found that the government had arrested many innocent people and identified them as members of the International Equality League, and wanted to investigate The purpose of the government's doing this. He knows that the content of those two films alone cannot help you change public opinion, so he also wants to use the convenience of his identity to collect more powerful evidence from the newspaper..."

   "He..." Piaf was surprised and delighted, but there were still many questions beyond that, "Since you and the child are under strict surveillance by the provisional government, how did you escape?"

   "It's a long story. My husband went to the editor-in-chief who has the power to decide whether we will stay or not, and lied that he had a lover..." Clementine told Piaf about the situation.

After hearing this, Piaf couldn't help admiring the resourcefulness of the couple: "In this way, you can take the film and leave Laizein logically, and we can also safely send a comrade to pretend to be your husband's lover. , together with him to investigate the truth and collect evidence.”

"Yes." Clementine wiped away tears, "My husband asked me to come here, one is to let me and the children stay in a safer place, the other is to let me hand over the evidence to you, and the third is to hope that you can Take the initiative to contact him, because he really doesn't know how to find you at the newspaper."

"I have another question. Since it is such an important matter, why didn't you find me immediately when you came to Leliste?" Clementine frequently wandered around the office building of the Propaganda Department, which finally triggered today's Everyone's suspicion, Piaf wanted to know her purpose of doing so.

"Because my husband said that there are spies in the International Equality League, and the information I have is too important to be revealed to the International Equality League. Otherwise, once intercepted by the spies, my husband will be in danger immediately. This plan to reverse public opinion It will also fall short." Clementine explained the reason.

   Piaf suddenly realized: "So you have been staying around all the time, because you want to find a chance to meet me directly?"

   "Yes, the higher the title, the less likely it is that a person is a spy. After thinking about it, I decided that I can only tell you this when I see you in person."

   "Aren't you afraid that I'm also a spy?"

   "If you, as the head of the Propaganda Department, are all spies as the leader of the public opinion war, then even if I report this information to the chairman of the International Equality League, the outcome is doomed to failure."

It is reasonable, Piaf failed to pick out the fault from the other party's series of rhetoric, but to be on the safe side, she still asked as many questions as possible: "What made your family decide to risk their lives to do such a thing?" Aren’t you afraid that if something goes wrong, the whole family will be retaliated by the provisional government?”

"I'm afraid, I'm very afraid. When my husband told me about his ideas, I firmly rejected them. I tried desperately to dispel the idea, because I know very well how risky this matter is, and I may At least I know that the situation of the International Equality League is not optimistic, what does it mean to be on the wrong team at this time." Clementine said, "But in the end, it was my husband who convinced me."

   "How did he convince you?"

"He said...he wants to give our children the greatest gift, which is to let them live in a world of freedom, equality, unity, and beauty from an early age. If he bows to the government now, it is tantamount to strangling us. child."

   Piaf was moved, and was silent for a few seconds: "...he is a great father, and so are you."

"We don't want to be great." Clementine and Capa have lost contact for about a week. She has no idea whether her husband is safe or not. Just thinking about it, she couldn't help crying, "He thought To be a noble man who wants his children to have hope of living in a world that could be better, I think, is to wish them all the best."

   "Understood... Where is the film?" Piaf was very touched, but she didn't dare to trust Clementine so easily.

   "In the hotel I rented." Clementine sensed Piaf's caution, "You still can't believe me?"

   "You should be able to understand this." Piaf said.

After paying so much, Clementine still suffers from suspicion. Clementine felt somewhat uncomfortable, but she was told rationally that this was correct, and only by maintaining such vigilance at all times could she feel that the International League for Equality could fight the government: "Yes, then how do I prove myself? I will fully cooperate with you."

Piaf thought: "I will make three-way arrangements at the same time, send reliable comrades to the hotel you rented to get the film to confirm the content, and choose suitable comrades to pretend to be your husband's lover. Go to Laizein to cooperate with the work, contact the comrades of the Laizein wartime action team along the way, let them conduct a secret investigation on your husband, and start the docking. "

   "Can't I go back to the hotel to get the film by myself?" Clementine heard that Piaf wanted to arrange someone else to get the film, and she was a little worried that the other party was a spy of the Provisional Government.

"Your husband's analysis is correct. The International Equality Alliance has indeed been infiltrated by the provisional government, and there are a certain number of spies. Although our intelligence department has been working hard to eradicate these people, it is still difficult to guarantee absolute security within the organization. Pure, so your previous caution was correct, and I will continue your caution in the future." Piaf explained the purpose of this arrangement, "It is better to let absolutely trustworthy comrades take back the film secretly than you It's safer to hand it over in person."

   "I'm worried that the comrades you've picked out are not so absolutely trustworthy..." With her husband's safety at stake, Clementine has become very stingy in terms of trust.

   "As the head of the Propaganda Department of the International Equality Alliance, if there are not a few absolutely reliable comrades around me, do you think a lot of work can be carried out?" Piaf said with a smile.

   "...Okay, but you must choose this candidate carefully." Clementine had to obey Piaf's words.

   "Don't worry." Piaf felt better, and didn't care so much about the interim government assassin who assassinated her tonight.

  As long as what Clementine said is true, then they can reasonably send comrades into Laizein, cooperate with Capa and the action team, obtain decisive evidence, and win the public opinion war beautifully.

  If what she said is false, the action team can also find out the truth, and promptly let the comrades who have not yet arrived in Laizein return the same way to avoid losses.

  Under the situation where there is no way back, this is a path worth trying.

   "Then what should we do now?" Clementine asked Piaf.

Piaf groaned, and thought about a countermeasure: "I may have to wrong you for a while, and it shouldn't be too long. After the public opinion battle is won, your family can be reunited and live a good life in Leliste City .”

"As long as the mission is successful, I can do whatever I want." Clementine is now willing to give her all to ensure the success of the mission, because only if the mission is successful can her husband return safely, and the International Equality League will be more confident in creating Brave new world.

   "Then you can cooperate with me later." Piaf put away the gun, got up and opened the door of the office.

   Several comrades from the Propaganda Department and the Equality Army who were waiting outside the door greeted them one after another. They were relieved to see that Piaf was not in danger.

   "Comrade Piaf, what did she tell you?" Comrade Equal Army walked into the office, checked Clementine's chains again, and asked Piaf.

"You overestimated her." Piaf glanced at Clementine disdainfully, "She should indeed be not in the same group as the assassins arranged by the provisional government, but the truth is not what she said, I just wanted to come and find out The situation. I suspect that something is wrong with her mentally, send her to the hospital, and arrange special care for her two children."

  "Spiritual problem?" Comrade Equal Army became more and more curious about how crazy Clementine showed when she talked with Piaf alone.

Clementine's reaction was quick, and she immediately matched Piaf's words, pretending to be pitiful: "I don't, what I said is true, I really want to join the International League for Equality, I dream about it... "

   "Take her away and send her to the hospital to see what the doctor will say." Comrades of the Equal Army still feel that there are many suspicious things in it, but the most important thing right now is to arrest the assassins of the provisional government.

  In order to capture them in one fell swoop, the Propaganda Department held several meetings in the past few days to discuss the seduction plan in detail, but unfortunately no one expected that a crazy woman would appear at the last juncture and disrupt their deployment.

   "I'm not sick, don't take me away, I'm not sick!" Clementine struggled desperately.

   "Continue to arrest those members of the Provisional Government, and we must not let them escape." Seeing that Clementine was taken away, Piaf ordered to the Equality Army comrades.

   "Don't worry! We promise to complete the task!" The comrades left quickly.

   "Fernal." Piaf stopped a subordinate who followed him away, "Go find Ross, tell him to come to me, and say he wants to talk about the choir."

   "Yes." The comrade named Vernal nodded, and went to find Ross, a famous composer and pianist in the Propaganda Department.

   After making these arrangements, Piaf closed the door with her own hands, returned to the desk and dialed the phone: "...Hi, Chairman Keating, I'm Piaf."

   "What's wrong?" Keating's voice on the other end of the phone was very calm.

   "There is a high probability that the public opinion war will turn around..." Piaf told Keating what happened tonight and her plan.

   "If it's true, that would be great." Keating was very calm, without obvious joy.

"I will arrange for Comrade Rose to go to the rented room of Clementine to pick up the film later, confirm whether the contents are as Clementine said, and then inform Comrade Verac about this, so that Laizein's action team is investigating the reporter named Capa." Piaf's thinking was very clear, "I called you, on the one hand to report the situation, and on the other hand, I want you to contact Comrade Charles from the Intelligence Department. We will go to you for a meeting later to find someone who will pretend to be the lover of the reporter Capa."

  (end of this chapter)