Another factional struggle!
Wang Ye reached that conclusion.
Clearly, his Third Faction had been riding high recently, drawing the vigilance of both the First and Second Factions.
The First Faction was easier to deal with.
He had fairly good relations with the Kremlin, Gryzlov, and the others. Even if they guarded against him, as long as their relationship had not deteriorated, they would at least not strike at him ruthlessly.
But the Second Faction was different.
The Second Faction had always been in an awkward position, neither high nor low.
The First Faction loomed over them like a mountain, while the Third Faction chased close behind.
In next year's election, they might even lose to the Third Faction led by Wang Ye, switching positions so that the original second became third...
And the relationship between the two sides had never been particularly good.
Though there had been no open confrontations, they had crossed swords plenty of times in secret!
Wang Ye's assassination attempt and the later struggle over the oil pipeline both had the Second Faction—or certain bigwigs within it—behind them.
Wang Ye had merely pretended not to know. He dealt only with those pushed into the spotlight and did not pursue the matter further.
But precisely because Wang Ye had not dug to the bottom of it, their relationship had not deteriorated too badly. At least on the surface, they remained polite toward one another.
Even Kolov, the leader of the Second Faction and deputy speaker of the Duma, always greeted Wang Ye with a smile. Anyone unaware of the truth might have thought the two were close friends.
But as the election situation grew tense, all of this began to slowly intensify.
Wang Ye's Third Faction and the new faction founded by Khovchenko were both flush with funds,