I slept with my sister's classmate, and she turned out to be my boss.

After returning to the special investigation team of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, Chen Yuanda immediately dialed Hu Yuheng's mobile phone number.

"Come to my office and call Dapeng along."

"Okay, Director Chen."

A few minutes later, Hu Yuheng and Chen Dapeng arrived at Chen Yuanda's office.

He was sitting at his desk with a document in front of him.

He gestured for the two to sit down, and without much small talk, pushed the letter directly in front of Hu Yuheng: "Take a look at this first. It's written by Shen Zhengqing, He Ying's maternal grandfather."

Upon hearing this, Chen Dapeng was taken aback, but his expression remained unchanged.

Hu Yuheng took it, and Chen Dapeng sat next to her; the two of them watched it together.

The letter was short, but it was very information-dense—it contained specific times, places, people, and scenes.

When she read the name "Zhao Zhengping," Hu Yuheng's eyebrows twitched, but she didn't stop. She continued reading the entire letter, then turned back to the first page and read it again.

She put down the letter and her gaze fell on the signature at the end: "Shen Zhengqing... He Ying's maternal grandfather."

"Yes." Chen Yuanda leaned back in his chair. "His identity has been verified. The project mentioned in the letter."

He was indeed a member of the supervisory team sent by the higher-level unit at the time, which matches the description in the letter.

The photos have been verified; they were taken by him at the project site back then.

Hu Yuheng did not speak immediately.

She picked up the letter and placed it side by side with Zeng Zhiyuan's self-narrative on the table, the two documents on the left and right.

Her gaze shifted back and forth between the two documents several times before she spoke:

"The descriptions of the same event in these two documents have several points of overlap—"

The time, place, participants, and even Zeng Zhiyuan's statement "I'm in charge of this project" all have corresponding scenes in Mr. Shen's letter.

One claims it was a frame-up by Yang Xiujiang, while the other claims it was something he witnessed firsthand.

She looked up at Chen Yuanda:

"Old Master Shen's testimony directly refutes the credibility of Zeng Zhiyuan's self-reported materials."

Zeng Zhiyuan said that Yang Xiujiang harbored resentment because his job adjustment was not satisfactory, but what Mr. Shen wrote was the scene he witnessed ten years ago.

The two documents point to the same event, but their accounts are completely contradictory.

Chen Yuanda nodded: "Therefore, Old Master Shen's letter is a crucial breakthrough in the case."

Zhao Zhengping's name appeared in the letter; we need to verify what role he played in this project back then.

Hu Yuheng asked, "How do we verify this?"

"Start with the project itself."

The project mentioned in the letter should have complete records in the provincial capital.

First, check the project approval process, fund disbursement records, and list of participants to see which stages Zhao Zhengping's name appears in.

After Chen Yuanda finished speaking, he added:

"Old Master Shen's letter wouldn't have mentioned Zhao Zhengping for no reason. The fact that he included it means that he did see Zhao Zhengping present at the time."

However, he did not directly say what inappropriate behavior Zhao Zhengping had engaged in; he only wrote that Zhao was present and said one sentence, but that sentence alone is perfectly fine.

Therefore, the results of the external verification are very important, as they can help us determine whether Zhao Zhengping was merely "present" in this case, or whether he has a deeper connection.

Hu Yuheng put the letter and his self-written statement back on the table: "Start checking the project files tomorrow."

Chen Yuanda nodded and said nothing more.

Hu Yuheng stood up, and Chen Dapeng followed suit.

After leaving the meeting room, the two stood in the corridor without separating immediately.

Hu Yuheng said, "You saw Zhao Zhengping's name?"

"I saw it." Chen Dapeng nodded. "Old Master Shen didn't just write him in casually."

"Your analysis is correct; this is our breakthrough point."

After Hu Yuheng finished speaking, he turned and walked towards his office.

Chen Dapeng stood there for a while, then picked up his phone, walked to the window at the end of the corridor, and dialed He Ying's number.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

"A roc?"

"Sister Ying, your grandfather's letter has reached the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Director Chen brought it back today."

He Ying remained silent for a moment before speaking, "What did the letter say?"

Chen Dapeng roughly recounted the contents of the letter, specifically mentioning Zhao Zhengping's name:

"Your maternal grandfather mentioned him in his letter, and he was also present at the scene. Director Chen has already verified this. If the verification results match Mr. Shen's testimony, the scope of this case will be expanded."

He Ying's voice was a little lower than before: "The current governor is Zhao Zhengping."

"right."

He Ying didn't speak again, and after a few seconds she finally spoke:

"I never expected my grandfather to include him in his writing."

When my grandfather told me about it, he didn't mention Zhao Zhengping's name, he only said that someone was present.

I thought it was just Zeng Zhiyuan; I didn't expect Zhao Zhengping to be involved as well.

Chen Dapeng was silent for a moment: "Do you think your maternal grandfather knew Zhao Zhengping's identity at the time?"

He Ying thought for a moment: "He should know. Since he wrote it, it means he was aware of it at the time."

He didn't mention Zhao Zhengping when he told me about that incident, probably because he hadn't decided whether to include him. But he did include him in the end, which means he's made up his mind.

Chen Dapeng didn't respond, waiting for her to continue.

He Ying's voice carried an indescribable, complex emotion: "This case has been investigated to this point, and it's no longer what it was at the beginning."

Chen Dapeng agreed, saying, "But we still need to investigate."

He Ying did not answer, but she also did not refute.

After a while, she spoke up: "Dapeng, if Zhao Zhengping is really involved in this matter, then the course of this case will be completely different from before."

Chen Dapeng paused for a moment: "Then let's see the verification results first. Once the files are cleared up, we'll naturally know Zhao Zhengping's place in this matter."

He Ying didn't say anything more, and after a moment of silence, she said, "Okay. Let me know when you find out."

"Okay. I'm hanging up."

……

The next morning.

Hu Yuheng took Chen Dapeng to the relevant departments in the provincial capital to retrieve the files of the project mentioned in Old Master Shen's letter.

The retrieval process went smoothly, and the project files were preserved relatively intact.

Approval documents, fund disbursement records, meeting minutes, and acceptance reports.

They were bound together year by year, forming a thick stack.

Hu Yuheng did not move everything; he only retrieved the parts directly related to the contents of the letter.

She sat at the table in the archives, flipping through the documents one by one.

Chen Dapeng sat opposite her, sorting the materials he had been flipping through by category.

The records show that the project did exist, and the approval timeline matches the timeframe mentioned in Mr. Shen's letter.

In the approval process, Zeng Zhiyuan's name was written in the signature column on one page. The handwriting was clear and the seal was intact.

There were also several lines of handwritten annotations next to it, listing the things to pay attention to during the project's progress—

The content itself is not problematic, but the handwriting, after comparison, does match Zeng Zhiyuan's signature in other documents.

The part about fund disbursement records.

The destinations of some payments were not clearly marked, but the amounts and times matched the scene described by Mr. Shen.

Although the accounting records are incomplete, the few existing records overlap with the funding milestones mentioned in Mr. Shen's letter.

Hu Yuheng paused when he turned to the last page.

That page contains the list of participants in the project acceptance process.

The list included more than a dozen people. Zhao Zhengping's name was written in the "Members of the Acceptance Team" column, and his position was listed as "Director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission".

Hu Yuheng stared at that line for a while, then pulled that page out separately and put it aside.

She closed the folder and said to Chen Dapeng, "Every detail that Grandpa Shen mentioned can be found in the archives."

Chen Dapeng nodded: "Then it's not that he remembered it wrong."

The two made copies of the materials they needed to take, put them in a file bag, and left the archives.

Back at the task force, Hu Yuheng placed a photocopy of the page containing Zhao Zhengping's name and Old Master Shen's letter together, along with the timetable, on Chen Yuanda's desk.

She stood in front of the table and said a few words: "The project files have been checked, and they match the description in Mr. Shen's letter. Zeng Zhiyuan's signature and the flow of funds also match. Zhao Zhengping's name appears on the list of members of the acceptance team."

Chen Yuanda flipped through the materials but did not immediately express his opinion.

He put down the folder, leaned back in his chair, and remained silent for a moment before speaking: "Let's prepare for the next step."

He didn't specify what the next step would be, but Hu Yuheng understood what he meant—enough materials had been verified, and now it was time to go through more formal procedures.

Zhao Zhengping is the current provincial governor. At this level, every step must be carried out according to procedure, without any ambiguity.

She nodded: "Understood."

Then, he turned and left Chen Yuanda's office.

Chen Dapeng was waiting for her in the corridor. When he saw Hu Yuheng come out, he went up to her and asked, "What did Director Chen say?"

Hu Yuheng's expression was very serious:

"Prepare for the next step."