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

A suffocating silence echoed through the corridor of the provincial party committee guesthouse.

Just ten minutes earlier, in the next room, Chen Yanshi, who spent his entire life talking about "integrity and honesty" and who called himself the "living Hai Rui" of Handong,

He completely broke down in the face of his daughter Chen Yang's confession, and even his hand trembled as he held the pen to sign.

The political storm triggered by Gao Yuliang's suicide did not slow down in the slightest because of the tears of an old revolutionary.

It spun coldly, heading straight for its next target—Wu Xinyi, the "uncrowned empress dowager" of the Handong political and legal circle.

...

In another closed interview room, Wu Xinyi sat in the chair being interviewed, her face looking increasingly pale over the past few days, her foundation unable to conceal the fatigue and panic around her eyes.

She spent most of her life working at the provincial high court. In the past, when she sat on the bench or met with the parties in her office, she always looked down at them, watching them nervously wring their hands and sweat.

Now, fortunes have turned, and identities have been suddenly reversed. Every tick of the clock on the wall is like a small hammer, heavily striking her heart, which has been pampered for so many years.

But veteran cadres still have to maintain their dignity.

Wu Xinyi shrugged, trying to ease the tense atmosphere with a tone of "internal communication".

"Team Leader Zhou, I've been retired for several years now, and I suffer from multiple chronic illnesses, including a weak heart. Could we try to keep our conversation a bit more concise today? After all, we're all veterans..."

Zhou Zhengming sat opposite her, not even lifting his eyelids, and slammed a five-page contact list onto the table, right in front of Wu Xinyi.

"Comrade Wu Xinyi, we will try our best to control the duration, as long as you tell the truth."

Zhou Zhengming picked up his thermos cup filled with goji berries. "From last night to this morning, you have made numerous calls to current and retired cadres in the political and legal system. Among them, six had handled relevant approval files for the Shanshui Group back then."

Three people cooperated with Hou Liangping throughout the investigation in Handong; two others had explicit access to Lu Yike's unfiled handwritten case drafts. Come on, please explain your initial motivation for transforming yourself into the 'Number One Telephone Operator in Handong's Political and Legal Circle' overnight.

Wu Xinyi's back stiffened slightly, still clinging to the most universal "logic of human relationships" in officialdom in a final struggle:

"This...this is nothing more than a mother's worry for her daughter. It's understandable that I, as a mother, would be anxious to hear from my former colleagues about what happened, wouldn't it?"

"It is only natural for people to care about their children, but for a mother to be able to precisely mobilize her connections with high-ranking judicial officials across half of Handong Province overnight in order to obtain information, this is by no means a simple 'inquiry'."

Zhou Zhengming's sharp eyes pierced through the veil of pretense, revealing, "You've been asking around for favors, but your real purpose isn't to gather information. It's to use your decades-old, deeply entrenched connections to create a protective network for Lu Yike to evade investigation!"

"Team Leader Zhou, your words are too harsh! I was just asking my former colleague about the objective standards for handling cases. I absolutely did not plead for her, nor did I interfere with the investigation!" Wu Xinyi stubbornly insisted.

"You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin, huh?"

Zhou Zhengming sneered, not bothering to waste words with her, and immediately handed over a copy of Zhang Jianmin's statement, while simultaneously showing her screenshots from the activity center's surveillance footage.

"Zhang Jianmin has confessed everything. You not only gave him a handwritten draft of the unfiled funding clues to review, but also specifically instructed him: 'If the supervisory team inquires, state that you have never seen this material.' Comrade Wu Xinyi, with multiple pieces of evidence corroborating each other, is this what you call gathering information, or forming a pact of silence?"

Wu Xinyi's face turned deathly pale instantly, her lips moved repeatedly, and she couldn't utter a single word for a moment.

"I...I'm just worried that the original document might implicate Yi Ke! Old Zhang has been handling economic cases for many years; he was simply trying to help analyze the risks out of kindness. There's absolutely no malicious intent on our part to collude!"

Whether or not it constitutes collusion is determined by the organization according to regulations, and it cannot be cleared up by your words of "good intentions".

Zhou Zhengming spoke with restraint, refraining from making subjective judgments.

"Unauthorized access to and removal of classified, unfiled case-handling materials from government agencies; circulation of materials to retired personnel; and extensive contact within the political and legal circles to gather leads for investigation. Wu Xinyi, these three actions combined objectively constitute serious interference with the special investigation!"

Wu Xinyi could no longer contain her emotions and finally broke down, her voice rising slightly, tinged with grievance:

"Yike has always been a dedicated investigator of corruption cases, even neglecting her family for work. She has never sought a single penny for personal gain! You're now scrutinizing her with a magnifying glass, digging deep and nitpicking—aren't you being far too harsh?"