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

Just then, Gao Yuliang, who had been silent all along, spoke up.

He cleared his throat, his tone calm and restrained: "Judge Wu, let me say a few words of truth. If you truly want to protect Lu Yi, the only way out right now is to shut up and wait and see."

The other end of the phone suddenly went silent.

A moment later, Wu Xinyi responded coldly: "What? Now Secretary Gao is going to give this retired old woman pointers?"

"It's not about giving advice, but rather offering objective survival suggestions based on the current political situation."

Gao Yuliang remained calm and composed, dissecting the deadlock with the same method he used when analyzing cases on a lecture platform at a political science and law university.

"Hou Liangping's case involves the Zhong family and the entire gray financial chain of the Lingang project. Now, all sorts of powerful figures in Beijing and Wuhan are desperately trying to 'politically distance' themselves from him."

At this juncture, if anyone tries to use their connections with former colleagues to lobby for leniency, the supervisory team will immediately characterize it as "forming cliques and protecting each other within the old political and legal circles!"

Gao Yuliang paused for a moment, then delivered the most devastating blow:

"Lu Yike herself is at most an executor of procedural violations. But if because you go around trying to network with people, it will lead to suspicions of 'interference through personal connections and forming a network to resist censorship,' then the nature of the whole matter will be completely changed!"

Having dedicated most of your life to the judiciary, you should know better than me which of these two red lines—'procedural flaws' and 'political confrontation'—is the one that can be fatal!

On the other end of the line, Wu Xinyi's breathing became extremely heavy, as if she were engaged in a fierce internal struggle.

After a full half-minute of silence, she gritted her teeth and said, "...I understand. I will consider it carefully."

"beep--"

The phone hangs up.

Wu Huifen put away her phone, her expression still worried: "Given my sister's stubborn nature, she probably won't back down until she's faced with a fatal mistake."

"As expected."

Gao Yuliang spoke calmly.

"Since you knew you couldn't persuade them, why did you still make me make that call?" Wu Huifen asked, puzzled.

Gao Yuliang did not answer directly, but instead turned his gaze to the closed door of the ward and said nothing more.

Wu Huifen was taken aback by the other party's reaction, but then she suddenly realized what was going on.

"This phone call was our 'pledge of allegiance' to the supervisory team."

Gao Yuliang spoke calmly, revealing the survival rules in dire straits: "We proactively warned Wu Xinyi to avoid interference from personal relationships. Even if she continued to ask around for favors, the investigation team could clearly see that we did not participate in the collusion. This is not only to protect you, but also to show Qin Yuanzhou that I, Gao Yuliang, know the rules and how to conduct myself."

A bitter and sorrowful feeling welled up in Wu Huifen's heart: "Now... even with their own relatives, they have to scheme and plot so carefully to secure their own future?"

"It's not about scheming against relatives, it's about drawing clear boundaries."

Gao Yuliang looked at the ceiling, his voice not cold, but helpless, "If she listens to advice, there is still room for her to explain herself and be treated leniently; if she insists on going her own way and crashing into the limelight, we are not only powerless to pull her back, but we also cannot be swept into this abyss along with her."

Before the two finished speaking...

"Thump, thump, thump."

There were three gentle knocks on the ward door, the rhythm neither too fast nor too slow.

The door lock turned, and Xiaolin, a staff member of the joint supervision team, pushed the door open and walked in.

He held a written notice of the meeting stamped with a bright red official seal in his hand, his gaze calmly sweeping over the phone on the bedside table before finally settling on Gao Yuliang.

"Secretary Gao."

Xiao Lin spoke in a businesslike manner, "Team Leader Zhou has arranged for you to come over at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. He wants you to cooperate with the organization and provide further detailed explanations regarding the network of personal connections within the Handong political and legal system in the past, as well as the details related to the Shanshui Group's handling of the case."

Gao Yuliang and Wu Huifen quickly exchanged a glance.

They both knew perfectly well that the supervisory team was pushing forward with Lu Yike's old connections in the political and legal system even faster than they had anticipated. Gao Yuliang's phone call just now had come at the perfect time.