Sha Ruijin was furious about the tall plant's regeneration.

"Hou Liangping, do you still want to see Governor Gao?"

"Do you still think you're the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Handong Provincial Procuratorate? You're just a criminal suspect now. I advise you to behave yourself and not make trouble for yourself!"

Cheng Du glanced sideways at Hou Liangping, took the prisoner's vest from his subordinate, and unceremoniously threw it at Hou Liangping's face. "Stop talking nonsense, put on the vest now, and come with me to the interrogation room!"

"Chengdu, how dare you speak to me like that?" Hou Liangping was utterly astonished. He was, after all, the director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Handong Provincial Procuratorate, a full-fledged deputy-department-level cadre. Chengdu was merely Qi Tongwei's henchman; how dare he speak to him like that?

"Heh..." Cheng Du sneered as he walked up to Hou Liangping, saying disdainfully, "Hou Liangping, what are you so arrogant about? Seriously, without the Zhong family, you'd have to report to me before you could even see me. You pretty boy, are you still putting on airs?"

Hou Liangping glared at Cheng Du with eyes blazing with anger. He hated it when people said he relied on the Zhong family. He threatened in a cold voice, "Cheng Du, things change. You just wait!"

Cheng Du's lips curled slightly. "Hou Liangping, if I were you, I would never threaten you right now. I would kneel down and beg for mercy. After all, it's still uncertain whether the Zhong family will help you if the contents of the body camera are leaked..."

Hou Liangping trembled and said in a panic, "Summon Governor Gao! I need to see Governor Gao! I only want to talk to Governor Gao! I have something important to tell him!"

Cheng Du waved his hand, "Take him to the interrogation room!"

In the interrogation room, Cheng Du turned on the surveillance recording, sat down in the presiding judge's seat, and said coldly, "Hou Liangping, now I'll ask you questions, and you'll answer. The Handong Provincial Public Security Bureau received a tip from the public that the Blue Moon Bar was involved in prostitution and other illegal activities. We conducted a surprise inspection and caught you red-handed. Do you admit it or not?"

"I don't agree!"

Hou Liangping shouted, "I did not engage in prostitution. I went to Su Lin to learn to play the piano. Furthermore, there was no cash transaction or transfer record between us, so there was no conflict of interest. This does not constitute the crime of prostitution!"

The juror next to Cheng Du leaned close and whispered in his ear, "Director Cheng, the forensic technicians have verified that Su Lin indeed had no cash on her, and there were no transfer records between Hou Liangping and Su Lin. The situation is true."

Cheng Du nodded, his gaze falling on Hou Liangping. "Hou Liangping, as expected of the director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Handong Provincial Procuratorate, you know how to avoid risks, but it's useless. You were caught red-handed, and the body camera recorded it all."

"We have evidence, and we also have witnesses and whistleblowers. We can convict you without any confession, without even a trial."

Cheng Du said with a contemptuous look, "I'm interrogating you just to record some footage. What you say is not important. After all, your prostitution will be on the evening news of Handong Province TV, so we still need footage of your interrogation."

As a prosecutor at the Handong Provincial Procuratorate, Hou Liangping naturally knew the situation was unfavorable to him. His face flushed red, and he strained his neck, saying, "I need to see Governor Gao! I have something extremely urgent to discuss with Governor Gao! Please contact Governor Gao for me!"

Seeing that Cheng Du remained unmoved, Hou Liangping's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "Cheng Du, help me contact Governor Gao. I want to file a report, a formal report against a certain member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee in Handong Province. I have solid evidence!"

This time, Cheng Du's expression turned serious. He stared at Hou Liangping and said solemnly, "Hou Liangping, tell me, who are you going to report?"

Cheng Du gritted his teeth and said, "What's the use of telling you? I'll only tell Governor Gao everything, as long as he lets me off this time!"

Cheng Du hesitated. Although he suspected that Hou Liangping was lying, the matter was of great importance and he dared not make a decision on his own. He instructed the jury, "Keep an eye on him. I'm going out for a bit."

Pushing open the door to the interrogation room, Cheng Du walked out and bumped right into Hong Liang, the acting director of the Public Security Bureau, and Zhao Donglai, the deputy director, who had just arrived.

Hong Liang has a square face and is also a graduate of the Department of Political Science and Law at Handong University. He is two years older than Qi Tongwei and is one of the earliest students taught by Gao Yuliang.

Zhao Donglai looked anxious and spoke up to defend Hou Liangping, saying, "I just examined the physical evidence and participated in the interrogation of Su Lin. There was no transaction involved, so it doesn't meet the criteria for prostitution at all!"

Hong Liang completely ignored Zhao Donglai and looked at Cheng Du, asking, "Director Cheng, has Hou Liangping confessed his crimes?"

Cheng Du said, "Director, although Hou Liangping has not confessed, we have witnesses and body camera footage as evidence. We can convict him without a confession. However, there is an unexpected situation now."

Hong Liang frowned slightly, and asked in surprise, "What unexpected situation?"

"Here's the thing, Hou Liangping wants to file a formal complaint against a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee of Handong Province, and he insists on meeting Governor Gao before he'll speak. This is a serious matter. Should we report this to Governor Gao and let him make the decision?"

"No need to contact Governor Gao anymore, he's on his way to the provincial government."

Hong Liangping took a deep breath and said in a solemn tone, "And it's not just Governor Gao who's coming; Secretary Sha of the Provincial Party Committee, Secretary Lu of the Provincial Party Committee, Secretary Tian of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Minister Wu of the Organization Department of the Provincial Party Committee, Secretary Li of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee, Secretary-General Xia of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Governor Wang of the Provincial Government, Vice Governor Qi of the Provincial Government, and Chief Prosecutor Ji of the Handong Provincial Procuratorate are all arriving soon."

Cheng Du was terrified. Of the twelve members of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee of Handong Province, eight had come directly, along with Vice Governor Qi, who was in charge of security and stability, and Chief Prosecutor Ji, who was in charge of the procuratorate, making a total of ten people!

This is absolutely outrageous!

Cheng Du knew that arresting Hou Liangping would cause a huge uproar, since Hou Liangping was a representative figure of the Provincial Party Secretary Sha Ruijin and the Provincial Procuratorate. If the scandal of Hou Liangping, the director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, engaging in prostitution was exposed, the Provincial Party Secretary and the Procuratorate would lose face big time!

But no one expected their commotion to be so big, with so many high-ranking officials coming straight to the Public Security Bureau of Handong Province!

Cheng Du hesitated and asked, "Director, should we still try Hou Liangping?"

Zhao Donglai immediately said, "It's definitely not going to be tried. So many leaders have come, and there's still no conclusion on whether the provincial department or the procuratorate is in charge of Hou Liangping's case."

Hong Liang gave Zhao Donglai a cold look and said domineeringly, "Continue the interrogation! The person was arrested by our provincial department. Before there is a conclusion from above, we will conduct the interrogation according to the law. No one has the right to interfere with the judicial process of the provincial department!"

……

The first to arrive at the provincial department were Ji Changming, the chief prosecutor of the provincial procuratorate, and Lu Zhenguo, the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee. Lu Zhenguo looked at Ji Changming with an extremely solemn expression. "Old Ji, immediately report to the Supreme People's Procuratorate and request that the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the provincial government negotiate to transfer the power to handle cases to the procuratorate."

"Hou Liangping's appointment as the Director of the Anti-Corruption and Bribery Bureau of the Handong Provincial Procuratorate was a special mission agreed upon by Secretary Sha and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. If he is exposed for engaging in prostitution, it will not only be a slap in the face to the Handong Provincial Procuratorate, but also to the Handong Provincial Party Committee, Secretary Sha, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate!"

"Furthermore, you should understand that Hou Liangping's wife's surname is Zhong, and you also need to consider the Zhong family's reputation, and the reputation of Old Master Zhong..."

"Therefore, the Handong Provincial Procuratorate must obtain the authority to handle Hou Liangping's case; it is imperative!"

"I'm warning you, it's mandatory!"

"We can't afford to make even the slightest mistake!"