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

Special needs ward at the provincial hospital.

The faint smell of disinfectant filled the quiet ward. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, falling on Gao Yuliang's body covered in polymer plaster, a cold, glaring white.

Gao Yuliang leaned back on the hospital bed, relaxed, listening to Wu Huifen softly reading the newspaper.

The front page featured an article by Li Dakang published in the Jingzhou Daily—

"With the determination of a warrior cutting off his own arm, we will win the battle to defend the economy of Jingzhou." The words are full of the decisive and ruthless attitude of the officialdom.

After listening to the entire bureaucratic speech, Gao Yuliang's lips curled into a sneer.

"A drastic measure of self-sacrifice?"

He chuckled softly, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Throughout his life, Li Dakang has always been the one cutting off other people's wrists. When Ding Yizhen got into trouble, he decisively cut ties and abandoned his pawn; when Dafeng Factory protested, he turned around and shifted the blame to Sun Liancheng, kicking him out of the game with a single sentence of laziness and incompetence. Now that he's got his hands dirty, he's looking for a new scapegoat to sacrifice himself."

"Secretary Gao, you seem to be in high spirits."

Zhou Zhengming pushed open the door and entered with light, steady steps. He casually placed a fruit basket on the bedside table and pulled up a chair to sit down.

Gao Yuliang gave Wu Huifen a wink.

Wu Huifen understood immediately, nodded gently, poured a glass of warm water, and under the pretext of going to the cafeteria to get food, quietly left the ward, closing the door behind her.

The moment the door closed, the atmosphere in the ward suddenly froze, and the air became oppressive.

"Let's not beat around the bush."

Zhou Zhengming got straight to the point, speaking frankly, "Hou Liangping has given a full confession, and the supervisory team has basically figured out the deep connections between Sha Ruijin and the Zhong family in Beijing. Right now, the breakthrough point for the overall situation in Handong is still Sun Liancheng and Li Dakang."

Gao Yuliang remained calm, showing no surprise whatsoever, and simply replied, "I guessed it."

"In Secretary Gao's opinion, how should we get involved?"

Zhou Zhengming took the opportunity to ask for advice.

"Sun Liancheng is now completely pretending to be asleep and has absolutely no desire to wake up."

Gao Yuliang slowly began, "He had long seen through the infighting in officialdom. His heart was dead, his political ambitions extinguished. He didn't care about power, position, future, honor, or disgrace. Conventional coercion, bribery, and official rhetoric had no effect on him whatsoever."

"To deal with such a person who has no desires or wants, you can't use force; you can only use covert methods."

Gao Yuliang leaned forward slightly and uttered a precise name: "Gu Changfeng, Chief Judge of the Administrative Trial Division of the Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court."

"He was one of my students. Back then, he was the presiding judge in the Dafeng Factory equity dispute and land reform case, handling all the case files. Most importantly, he was not high-ranking, kept a low profile, and remained outside the core faction, with no presence whatsoever."

"Let him go to the Children's Palace to find Sun Liancheng, to discuss the case and administrative law. It's perfectly legitimate. Li Dakang's informants will just think it's old colleagues chatting and won't be on guard at all."

Zhou Zhengming was startled.

Even in his fallen state, this old fox lying on his sickbed still holds the key to stirring up the political situation in Handong. His meticulous planning and sharp insight are astonishing.

"Sun Liancheng seems to have given up on life and withdrawn from the world, hiding in the starry sky and ignoring worldly affairs."

Gao Yuliang lowered his voice, hitting the nail on the head precisely, "But he's not stupid, he's afraid. He's tired of officialdom, but he knows how vicious it is. He thought that by hiding in the Youth Palace to look at the stars, he could escape all consequences, but he knew in his heart that he held Li Dakang's lifeline in his hands, as well as his own death warrant."

"When your supervisory team came to his door, he instinctively became wary and tried to keep quiet to protect himself; when my people went, it was to tell him that the situation was hopeless and there was no way to escape."

"Understood."

Zhou Zhengming stood up and nodded solemnly. "Thank you for your guidance, Secretary Gao. We'll wait for the results at Tingyuxuan in Chengnan tonight."

Gao Yuliang stared at the ceiling, sighed softly, his body covered in plaster casts that made him appear both forlorn and lucid.

"I'm already a cripple, half-buried in the ground, no longer qualified to play chess. I just don't want to see the endgame of Handong completely destroyed by selfish opportunists."