Official statement: Tongwei is dead! You chose Ruijin, didn't you?

The resuscitation in the ICU lasted forty minutes.

Finally, as the glaring straight line on the monitor came to a complete stop, the chief physician removed his mask.

He walked up to Liang Lu, who was sitting slumped against the wall, and said wearily, "We've done our best, Mr. Liang. We're leaving now."

Liang Lu did not react, staring blankly at the floor like a sculpture whose soul had been drained.

Xiaolin stood up, nodded to the doctor, and then walked to Liang Lu's side.

"Comrade Liang Lu, please accept our condolences. The civil affairs department will send someone to coordinate with you regarding the follow-up matters. As instructed by Team Leader Zhou, Mr. Liang's funeral arrangements must be kept simple."

There will be no mourning hall, only a simple farewell hall for family members. After cremation, you can collect your ashes directly.

Liang Lu slowly raised her head, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Xiao Lin: "My dad... they won't even hold a memorial service for him?!"

"We have great respect for him."

Xiao Lin bowed slightly, his tone sincere, "Therefore, the civil affairs department will specially approve a Coaster hearse, and you will be given a private room with air conditioning in the farewell hall. This is the last bit of care the organization can provide."

Liang Lu laughed, a shrill and hollow laugh that echoed through the silent corridor, sending chills down one's spine.

She finally understood the full destructive power of Gao Yuliang's words.

To die meaningless is to become nothing more than a laughing stock for others.

Her father struggled and schemed his whole life, and even on his deathbed, he was still clinging to the pipe dream of "the law does not punish the masses" and "using the big picture to pressure people."

But when he breathed his last, he couldn't even afford a proper funeral.

Because the supervisory team had already seen through these people's true colors—

What they feared was not the dead, but the protégés and former associates promoted by Liang Qunfeng, who would use the pretext of "mourning" to gather together, huddle for warmth, and conspire to turn the tables.

Not holding a memorial service is like directly cutting off the last remaining link in the network of factionalism within the local faction in Handong!

Liang Qunfeng's death was like a stone thrown into a deep pool, creating a silent but deadly ripple in the officialdom of Handong.

Half an hour later, the message was placed on the desks of all serving members of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee through the internal channels of the Provincial Party Committee General Office in a very subtle “notice” format.

Office of the Secretary of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee.

Li Dakang was holding a red pen, making bold and sweeping annotations on a document about the land planning of the Jingzhou Development Zone.

The secretary knocked and entered, barely daring to breathe, and quietly placed a small note, about two fingers wide, on the corner of his desk.

The note contained only one sentence: "Old Liang is gone."

Li Dakang's pen slammed down heavily on the word "planning," leaving a dark ink dot.

He didn't look up, and continued reviewing the documents.

Five full minutes passed before he finally put down his pen, picked up the now-cold tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

died.

That old fox who had been entrenched in Handong for twenty years, and whom even Zhao Lichun had to treat with respect back then, died silently in the ICU of the provincial hospital.

Li Dakang felt no joy, only a chill that shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

The image of himself sitting in his Audi, coldly instructing the driver to roll up the window and drive away, flashed uncontrollably through his mind on the day Gao Yuliang jumped to his death.

Gao Yuliang didn't die; he survived by leaping into the air and even pulled Sha Ruijin off his horse, smashing the entire chessboard.

Liang Qunfeng died, completely and utterly, and along with his two good-for-nothing sons, the supervisory team also took them all down like pulling up radishes with mud.

Lu Chengzhou and Qin Yuanzhou, those living devils from the capital, are too ruthless.

They didn't come to Handong to "repair and fix" at all; they came with bulldozers to "tear down and rebuild"!

Li Dakang put down his teacup and grabbed the internal phone:

"Have Comrade Yi Xuexi come to my office immediately!"

He has to speed things up, otherwise, the next person lying in the ICU or sitting in the consultation room drinking cold water might be Li Dakang!

……

Special needs ward at the provincial hospital.

Wu Huifen pushed open the door and came in, her expression complicated: "Old Gao, the news coming from inside the hospital is that Liang Qunfeng couldn't be saved and has passed away."

Gao Yuliang was leaning against the rocking hospital bed, his body in a cast, but he was holding a copy of the "Handong Daily" steadily in his hand.

Upon hearing this, he merely hummed in response, without even lifting his eyelids.

"You don't seem surprised at all?"

Wu Huifen went over and poured him a glass of warm water.

"He was already dead when Zhao Donglai dragged his two eldest sons away."

Gao Yuliang turned a page of the newspaper, his gaze falling on the front-page speech by the newly appointed provincial party secretary Lu Chengzhou on "reconstructing the political ecology of Handong." "His last breath was a sigh of resentment, but he couldn't hold on for long."

Wu Huifen handed him the water glass and sighed, "What about Liang Lu? She's all alone now, with no one to discuss her funeral arrangements with."

"Kobayashi will help her 'discuss' it."

Gao Yuliang took a sip of water, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "What the supervisory team is most wary of right now is any more trouble from the Liang family. As long as Liang Lu doesn't try to kill herself, she's safe."

At this point, Gao Yuliang put down his newspaper and turned to Wu Huifen: "Go and prepare a more formal outfit for me, preferably the one I wore when I attended the provincial political and legal conference."

Wu Huifen froze, nearly dropping the thermos in her hand: "What are you doing?"

"Let's go see Old Liang off," Gao Yuliang said matter-of-factly.

Wu Huifen's face changed instantly, and she looked at him as if he were a madman: "Are you out of your mind?! What is your status now? If you go to his farewell ceremony, what will people think of you?"

"What others think is not important."

Gao Yuliang's eyes were deep. "The important thing is what Lu Chengzhou and Qin Yuanzhou think."

He paused, then slowly and methodically analyzed, "Liang Qunfeng was my mentor. This is a well-known fact throughout Handong. Although we later parted ways, this 'teacher-student relationship' cannot be erased from the official records."

"If I were to avoid him like the plague just because he's fallen or died, and not even attend a simple farewell ceremony, then in other people's eyes, I, Gao Yuliang, would be a truly despicable person who kicks someone when they're down and is ungrateful. Would Lu Chengzhou dare to use a mad dog who would abandon all principles to protect himself? Would Qin Yuanzhou trust him?"

"But wouldn't it be even more awkward if you went?" Wu Huifen still found it absurd.

"Awkward, that's exactly right!"

Gao Yuliang laughed, "I just want everyone to see that even though I, Gao Yuliang, was forced to jump off a building by Sha Ruijin and almost died at their hands, I still acknowledge this teacher!"

I still uphold the last vestiges of "human relationships and rules" in officialdom! I am not a hypocrite like Sha Ruijin, who uses the banner of anti-corruption to engage in factionalism and self-serving activities!

"Only by going can I appear 'tolerant,' 'magnanimous,' and 'considerate of the bigger picture.' This 'political green tea' act is for show, but even more so for Lu Chengzhou!"

I want him to feel that although I, Gao Yuliang, can be crazy and bite, I can also be disciplined and know the rules!

Wu Huifen was terrified and her back was covered in cold sweat.

She discovered that since that incredible leap, Gao Yuliang had undergone a terrifying evolution.

"Your body...can they agree to that?"

Wu Huifen swallowed.

"I won't die." Gao Yuliang stretched his stiff neck.

"If it was approved last time, it should be approved this time. Also, borrow a better, high-end wheelchair. Oh, and remember—you handle it yourself; don't let the nurses or secretaries interfere."

He looked at Wu Huifen: "If you go in person, Zhou Zhengming's informants at the hospital will know immediately. My attendance at the farewell ceremony must be discovered 'accidentally' by the supervisory team, not by me actively submitting a report. Understand?"

Wu Huifen nodded subconsciously.

……

......

Meanwhile, at the Provincial Party Committee Guesthouse, the temporary command post of the supervisory team was located.

Zhou Zhengming and Qin Yuanzhou were standing in front of a large conference table, which was covered with items that had been taken from the safe in the Liang family villa overnight.

There weren't many items, but each one was as lethal as a tactical nuclear bomb.

There are several old-fashioned miniature cassette tapes containing recordings of Liang Qunfeng and Sha Ruijin's secretary exchanging information and making private deals.

Several copies of documents detail how the authorities used their power to forcefully transfer Qi Tongwei from the University of Political Science and Law to Yantai Township. There is even a handwritten "letter of advice" from Chen Yanshi to Liang Qunfeng.

"These things, along with the peripheral evidence of money laundering, are enough to make the case of the Liang brothers and Sha Ruijin airtight."

Zhou Zhengming rubbed his throbbing temples and let out a long sigh.

Qin Yuanzhou remained silent.

His gaze was fixed on a seemingly inconspicuous yellowed kraft paper file folder.

The file folder was sealed with thick thread, and there were no official labels on it, only a date written in pen—twenty-three years ago.

Qin Yuanzhou carefully untied the thread, and what poured out wasn't a complete account book.

Instead, it was a torn page of a project termination report with worn edges, and a copy of a personnel transfer letter.

Project Name: Phase I of the Handong Province Port Industrial Zone (Preparatory) Project.

Project Leader: [Zhao Yuan]

The personnel transfer letter clearly stated that a person named "Wang Zonghui" had been temporarily "borrowed" from a ministry in Beijing to the preparatory group for the Handong Port project, serving as a financial advisor.

After the project was terminated, the person quickly returned to the capital.

"Wang Zonghui?"

Zhou Zhengming leaned closer for a look, his brows furrowing sharply. "This name... Zhong Xiaoai's cousin? He worked in the financial system for many years, then went into business, and is now the behind-the-scenes boss of a large trust company in Beijing?"

"That's right."

Qin Yuanzhou's voice was so deep it seemed to drip water.

Zhou Zhengming's heart skipped a beat: "How could a financial bureaucrat from Beijing have ended up in Handong twenty-three years ago and gotten involved with the Zhao family?"

"That's not the worst part."

Qin Yuanzhou put on gloves and pointed to the bottom of the tattered page.

There was a very inconspicuous pencil note there, the handwriting was a little blurry, but it could still be vaguely made out:

The project had a huge funding gap. After coordination with "Old Xu," the central government allocated a special fund to cover the shortfall, balancing the accounts.

"Xu*?!"

Zhou Zhengming's pupils dilated in shock, his mind racing. "Sha Ruijin's adoptive father?!"

Both of them fell silent.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

If this document were complete evidence of a crime, Liang Qunfeng would have used it to claim credit or blackmail others long ago.

But it was just a tattered page!

Liang Qunfeng locked it in the deepest part of the safe, which means that this thing is a "talisman" that he dares not use easily, or rather, a "trigger" that even he himself only knows one side of!

In an instant, countless fragmented pieces of information collided and recombine wildly in Qin Yuanzhou and Zhou Zhengming's minds.

Twenty-three years ago, Zhao Lichun started a major project in Handong. Halfway through the project, an irreparable financial hole appeared.

Wang Zonghui, a relative of the Zhong family in Beijing, is the financial advisor for this project.

Finally, it was Sha Ruijin's adoptive father who stepped in and used central government funds to secretly fill the hole.

Then, the project was dropped, and all those involved landed safely.

Twenty-three years later, Sha Ruijin was parachuted into Handong to serve as the provincial party secretary.

Immediately afterwards, Hou Liangping, the son-in-law of the Zhong family, arrived in Handong with an air of menace, carrying the imperial sword and acting in the name of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, to investigate a corruption case.

The first piece of this game was actually laid out more than 20 years ago!

"Old Qin..."

Zhou Zhengming gasped, feeling a chill run down his spine. "Did Sha Ruijin and Hou Liangping come to Handong really just for the sake of fighting corruption?"

"Anti-corruption? They're probably here for 'archaeological digging'!"

Qin Yuanzhou's eyes sharpened, revealing a chilling glint. "Or rather, they've come to retrieve what was buried in that hole back then! Zhao Lichun and the Liang family were merely the gatekeepers guarding that hole for them. And Gao Yuliang was just a nail they wanted to pull out when they were taking down the guard dogs!"

Zhou Zhengming gritted his teeth:

"Hou Liangping kept saying that he was doing it for justice and to investigate the case."

If he's even aware of this 23-year-old debt his father-in-law's family owes in Handong... then this "sharp sword" is far too dirty!

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Kobayashi walked in with a strange expression, holding a briefing in his hand.

"Team Leader Qin, Team Leader Zhou, we just received this information from the Provincial Hospital."

Xiao Lin cleared his throat, his expression somewhat complicated. "Wu Huifen just went to see Director Du of the emergency department herself, saying that Gao Yuliang is going to attend Liang Qunfeng's farewell ceremony. She asked Director Du to prepare a large dose of strong painkillers and also to borrow a top-of-the-line wheelchair..."

Zhou Zhengming and Qin Yuanzhou exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of shock and absurdity in each other's eyes.

"That old fox, he's broken his bones, and he still wants to act?"

Zhou Zhengming laughed in anger.

Qin Yuanzhou stared at the tattered page from twenty-three years ago on the table, his eyes slowly narrowing.

"He wasn't there to act."

Qin Yuanzhou sneered, "He's afraid we're not determined enough to investigate, so he's deliberately putting himself in the spotlight, forcing us, and the new Party Secretary Lu Chengzhou, to dig this well in Handong to the very bottom!"