Official excuse: I've put you on patrol in Handong, and the whole province is in a panic.

Ding Yizhen ran away?!

His mind went blank for several seconds before he came to his senses.

Qin Siyuan pushed a document on the table over to Hou Liangping, who subconsciously took it and flipped through a couple of pages. It was a briefing from the General Office of the Handong Provincial Party Committee, with everything written clearly in black and white.

After reading it, Hou Liangping slammed the document on the table with a bang, his face full of anger.

"What's going on! I personally called Chen Hai last night and told him to take action immediately! It's such a simple thing, and he can't even handle it?"

"No wonder I called Chen Hai ten times this morning and he didn't answer a single one! I was wondering why, thinking he was busy with some urgent work! Turns out he was feeling guilty and avoiding me!"

"That Chen Hai is unreliable! I entrusted him with such an important task, and this is how he handled it? A suspect at the level of a department director, he just let him slip right under my nose! How can he be the head of the anti-corruption bureau?"

As Qin Siyuan listened to Hou Liangping's incessant complaints, his expression grew increasingly subtle.

After Hou Liangping finished his tirade, Qin Siyuan slowly spoke up.

"Ryohei."

"Director Qin!"

"Are you done cursing?"

Hou Liangping was taken aback, then nodded.

Qin Siyuan leaned back in his chair and looked at Hou Liangping.

"Do you think Chen Hai is the one who should feel guilty?"

Hou Liangping didn't understand: "What do you mean?"

Qin Siyuan's expression was somewhat complicated.

"I'm asking you, shouldn't you be the one feeling guilty?"

Hou Liangping opened his mouth.

Qin Siyuan didn't give him a chance to reply, raising his voice by half an octave.

"Hou Liangping, what's the rush? Zhao Dehan's interrogation just ended last night, Ding Yizhen's leads have just surfaced, the paperwork hasn't been approved, the documents haven't been issued, and you're already calling in the middle of the night to have someone from Handong Province arrest someone? Do you have the paperwork? Do you have the approval? Do you have my signature?"

Hou Liangping was stumped by the question.

"Director Qin, I'm just afraid that things might get complicated if I delay... I might alert them—"

"Stirring up the snake in the grass?" Qin Siyuan snorted. "Now look what's happened! We didn't catch the person, but we really scared the snake away, sending it straight abroad! Liangping, think about this. If Ding Yizhen had been caught, everything would have been fine. Your advance planning showed foresight and decisiveness. But Ding Yizhen wasn't caught—and you used your private phone in the middle of the night to direct local investigations without any procedures or legal documents. What is that called? That's illegal operation! That's procedural violation! That's deliberate leaking of secrets! You've handed your own incriminating evidence over to someone else!"

Hou Liangping's anger gradually turned into awkwardness.

He frowned and offered a defense.

"Director Qin, I did all this for the sake of my job. I've done this before, and it always went smoothly. Nobody said anything. Why is it like this this time..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Qin Siyuan couldn't help but interrupt, "You've done this before—what do you mean? No one investigated you for breaking the rules before, so it's justifiable to break the rules again this time?"

Qin Siyuan's temples throbbed, and a burning sensation filled his chest, unable to subside.

He's worked at the Supreme People's Procuratorate for so many years, what storms hasn't he weathered? He manages hundreds of people under his command, and they're all completely obedient.

Only Hou Liangping.

Only this one.

It's not that Qin Siyuan can't control him, it's that he's incapable of being controlled.

Zhong Xiaoai.

Chung Cheng-kuo.

Zhong Xiaochun.

These three names were like three mountains weighing on Qin Siyuan's heart, forcing him to swallow all his grievances against Hou Liangping.

Over the years, how many good cases in the bureau had to be "handed over" to Hou Liangping halfway through?

Qin Siyuan knew better than anyone what those people who handled those cases were feeling.

There's nothing we can do about it.

Their backing is too strong.

If you don't reward him for his achievements, his wife or even his father-in-law will call to "check in" on his work.

Qin Siyuan had experienced that kind of "concern" once, and he never wanted to experience it a second time.

Therefore, the title of "the top case-handling expert of the Supreme People's Procuratorate's Anti-Corruption Bureau" was cultivated by Qin Siyuan.

The case of Zhao Dehan is the best example.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection had thoroughly analyzed the case and presented it to Hou Liangping, who simply had to swallow it.

Is that what you call skill?

But Hou Liangping himself didn't think so.

People feel that they earned all of this through their own abilities.

Qin Siyuan took a deep breath, then another, and forcefully suppressed his anger.

"Liangping," Qin Siyuan's tone softened slightly, but still carried pressure, "Listen to me. No one said anything before because all the cases you handled before were successful. When they were successful, everything was easy to talk about. But what about this time? Ding Yizhen escaped! Escaping is a huge incident! The central inspection team is in Handong, with joint inspection and disciplinary efforts. Do you know what kind of situation they're in there? Now that someone has flown away right under their noses, what do you think they'll think?"

Hou Liangping remained silent.

Qin Siyuan continued speaking.

"This morning, news came from Handong that the central inspection team is investigating the responsibility for the leak. They have checked the communication records, and although they have not yet found a specific person who leaked the information, they have severely criticized the compliance of the entire case-handling process."

Qin Siyuan looked at Hou Liangping.

"Liangping, guess who they're criticizing?"

Hou Liangping smiled.

"Of course it's Handong! They're incompetent, they can't catch anyone! If it were me, I would have brought Ding Yizhen back long ago!"

Qin Siyuan shook his head.

He took another document from the drawer, turned to a page, and read a passage aloud.

"Hou Liangping, director of the case-handling division of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, transmitted crucial case information to local law enforcement agencies via non-confidential channels through his personal telephone without approval from higher authorities or the issuance of formal legal documents. This seriously violated case-handling procedures and confidentiality regulations, and constitutes the source of the information leak..."

Hou Liangping's expression changed completely.

"This is a notification letter issued by the inspection team to our Supreme People's Procuratorate Discipline Inspection Team, personally signed by Team Leader Xu Ming."

Qin Siyuan threw the documents onto the table.

"Liangping, you should think this through carefully. What does it mean that this report has reached the hands of the disciplinary inspection team?"

Hou Liangping stood there, stunned for a moment.

He then couldn't help but say, "Director Qin, isn't this inspection team just meddling in other people's business? What business is it of theirs to interfere in the affairs of the Supreme People's Procuratorate? Are they inspecting Handong, or are they here to inspect our Supreme People's Procuratorate? Besides, what do a bunch of people who come to collect problems know about handling cases? Let alone them, what kind of cases do those people in the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Office handle? How can they compare to the professionalism of our Anti-Corruption Bureau? How dare they point out our procedural errors here?"

Listening to Hou Liangping's words, Qin Siyuan couldn't help but say, "Liangping, your mistake is your mistake. What are you rambling on about? If you had just followed the proper procedures, would Ding Yizhen have escaped so easily? There wouldn't have been any leaks! And now you're still trying to argue!"

Hou Liangping said, "Director Qin, I'm not convinced about this matter! The biggest problem is that Handong Province didn't follow my instructions. If they had arrested Ding Yizhen immediately, how would he have had time to escape and leak information? The person most responsible for this matter should be Chen Hai, what does it have to do with me!"

"My arrest of Zhao Dehan uncovered a corruption case involving over 200 million yuan. That's such a huge achievement. You can't keep me as a section chief forever. I'm the top investigator in the Supreme People's Procuratorate's Anti-Corruption Bureau. It's not fair for me to stay in this position forever..."

Qin Siyuan's expression turned somewhat unpleasant upon hearing this.

You really have the nerve to pat yourself on the back...

Why are you so adamant about not admitting your mistake...?

He's still thinking about getting promoted!

However, Qin Siyuan had previously contacted Zhong Xiaoai privately about this matter.

Hou Liangping will definitely be mentioned...

Although Qin Siyuan was also quite annoyed with this kid, he still advised him:

"Forget it, don't rush to shirk responsibility now."

"Furthermore, your actions in arresting Zhao Dehan and leaking secrets cannot be offset against each other... But don't worry too much. The inspection team only issued a notification, which isn't very effective. The key is how the disciplinary inspection team handles it. I'll help you communicate with the disciplinary inspection team to control the impact of the matter as much as possible. As long as they don't impose any punishment, your matter will be easy to resolve!"

Hou Liangping nodded, his expression somewhat stiff.