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

"We will handle Lu Yike's issues separately in accordance with regulations. Now, let's verify your disciplinary violations first."

Zhou Zhengming ruthlessly drew a line in the conversation, tearing away the privileged facade she was so proud of. "Back in your case-handling circle, it was an unspoken rule that acquaintances would share information, make a call, or mediate personal matters on each other's behalf. This was the tacit understanding of your older generation in the political and legal circles."

But Wu Xinyi, listen up! The central supervisory team is currently stationed in Handong, enforcing strict discipline! Your old logic of "no punishment for high-ranking officials, avoiding close acquaintances" is completely overturned in Handong!

Wu Xinyi remained silent.

She slumped down like a punctured ball.

"I admit... I made a few calls, but I really never had any intention of resisting the organization's investigation."

"Subjective intent cannot offset the consequences of objective misconduct."

Before Zhou Zhengming could finish speaking, the door to the interview room was pushed open.

Two staff members led Lu Yike in.

Wu Xinyi suddenly stood up, her eyes instantly reddening as if she had grasped at a lifeline: "Yike..."

However, Lu Yike's gaze fell on her mother, but she didn't offer a single word of comfort.

Those eyes, once filled with a sense of justice and even a touch of arrogance, now held only deep weariness and despair.

Her tone was calm, almost cruel: "Mom, how many people have you contacted during this time? Do you even know what you've been doing?"

Overwhelmed with grievance, Wu Xinyi burst into tears: "I did all this for you! Do you know how tense things are outside? If I didn't get someone to bail you out, you..."

"I told you repeatedly last night not to try to pull strings everywhere! But you wouldn't listen!"

A helpless sorrow welled up in Lu Yike's eyes, her voice trembling, "You're not saving me, you're personally laying all my problems bare before everyone!"

"I've paved the way for you for so many years, always looking out for you, afraid you'd offend people or suffer losses! And in the end, I've only ended up with all the blame?" Wu Xinyi cried out, full of resentment.

Lu Yike forced a bitter smile.

That smile concealed a long-held clarity and a belated sense of bewilderment.

"Mom, I've always thought that I was able to handle the case so smoothly because of my excellent professional skills and because I was upright and incorruptible."

Lu Yike took a deep breath, tears streaming down her face. "But only today did I realize... what kind of anti-corruption fighter am I? I'm just a VIP player with a built-in 'get-out-of-jail-free card'! Hou Liangping's convenience in accessing case files and bypassing procedures, my tacit approval of irregular operations, even the respect others showed me as 'Director Lu,' all stemmed from the network of connections you've built up over the decades, secretly providing a safety net!"

"Hou Liangping's 'imperial sword' and my 'righteousness' were nothing but castles in the air built on privilege and personal connections!"

Zhou Zhengming sat quietly to the side, holding a thermos cup, without saying a word.

The confrontation between the mother and daughter, and the brutal clash between faith and reality, was precisely the breakthrough he sought.

Lu Yike turned to face Zhou Zhengming, her expression resolute, as if she had finally taken off a heavy suit of armor: "Team Leader Zhou, I will truthfully write down all the flaws in the case handling process, the irregular handling of files back then, and the unauthorized disposal of unfiled clues. I will not conceal anything."

"You're crazy!" Wu Xinyi hurriedly stopped her, her face changing drastically. "You absolutely mustn't tell everyone everything! Once you write down all the details, your career will be completely ruined!"

Lu Yike shook her head, her tone eerily calm: "Mom, times have changed. Deliberately concealing the truth will only worsen the case; only by telling the truth can we expect leniency. We can no longer use those old-fashioned underworld rules to fool the current Party discipline and national laws."

Zhou Zhengming raised his hand at the opportune moment, interrupting the mother and daughter's argument: "Comrade Wu Xinyi, at this stage we are only investigating your disciplinary violations. Lu Yike's confession will be given by her own statement; there's no need for you, this 'veteran of law enforcement,' to plan it for her."

Lu Yike took a deep breath, bowed deeply to Zhou Zhengming, and made her final request: "Team Leader Zhou, I will fully explain all the oversights in the case and will never shirk responsibility. But my mother... she was only trying to protect her daughter and did not have any serious involvement in corruption. I implore the organization to consider this and give her only a warning. I will take full responsibility for all the mistakes."

Upon hearing this, Wu Xinyi felt a lump in her throat, covered her face, and burst into tears.

Zhou Zhengming nodded slightly in agreement and stated in a businesslike manner: "The organization will make a comprehensive judgment based on complete evidence regarding the handling plan. We will not wrong an innocent person, but we will also never let anyone who tramples on the rules go unpunished."

...

That afternoon, Lu Yike stayed alone in the interview room and wrote for four hours, handing over a written document that was twenty-one pages long.

The writing is clear and logical, and every word is written with heartfelt emotion.

She meticulously listed all of Hou Liangping's irregularities in the cases involving Shanshui Group and Lingang: accessing external leads without approval, obtaining evidence before completing formalities, and failing to formally archive multiple core related materials; she detailed how Sha Ruijin verbally instructed her to relax the standards for handling cases; she frankly admitted how she cooperated with the entire process out of a sense of duty as a colleague and the will of her superiors, and even clearly marked the contact person and time point for each instance of irregular access to case files.

At the end of the material, she included a very insightful self-analysis:

"I have long prioritized personal relationships and verbal instructions from higher-ups over legal procedures. My mother used her connections in the political and legal system to influence people's personal relationships, and I failed to stop her in time, which objectively interfered with the special investigation."

I once thought justice could disregard trivialities, but now I realize that justice without procedural constraints is nothing more than the private punishment of those in power. I voluntarily accept all disciplinary action taken by the organization.

As evening fell, this weighty and complete confession was delivered to Qin Yuanzhou's makeshift desk.

After Qin Yuanzhou finished reading through the document page by page, he put it down and looked at Zhou Zhengming beside him with a meaningful look in his eyes.

"Lu Yike has a proper attitude and is not involved in economic corruption, so detention measures can be temporarily suspended. However, the job adjustment and disciplinary action must be implemented immediately."

"Team Leader Qin, how should we handle this situation?" Zhou Zhengming asked for instructions.

Qin Yuanzhou laid out the treatment plan in a clear and organized manner, much like a skilled surgeon cutting out a malignant tumor:

"First, Lu Yike has been suspended from all investigative powers of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, transferred from her frontline investigation post, and is under special organizational review; second, Wu Xinyi was found guilty of illegally leaking case files and extensively interfering with investigations, and has been transferred to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection for disciplinary investigation, receiving a severe warning within the Party; third, Lu Yike's father has also been given a warning talk!"

At this point, Qin Yuanzhou tapped his fingers heavily twice on the table: "The Lu family's hidden network of relationships maintained for many years through connections within the political and legal circles must be dealt with simultaneously! We can't just punish the younger generation and let the root cause remain unchecked. We must pull out the radish and bring out the mud!"

"This approach demonstrates a good sense of proportion and knows when to advance and when to retreat."

Zhou Zhengming strongly agreed, saying, "It will not cause widespread panic in the Handong political and legal system, and it can clearly define the red lines of discipline, which can be described as a precise strike."

Qin Yuanzhou spoke calmly, his gaze profound: "Maintaining a proper sense of propriety is secondary; the key is to make all the political and legal cadres in Handong understand the bottom line! Lu Yike may not have engaged in corruption or personal gain, but she relied on her connections within her circle to circumvent case-handling rules, and she will still bear the consequences. I want to use the Lu family to tell everyone—the political and legal system in Handong is by no means a private backyard for veteran cadres to exchange favors!"

...

The following morning, a special internal notice from the Provincial Procuratorate was officially issued.

The entire office area was deathly silent. Everyone was silently browsing the reports on their computer screens. In the large open space, the only sound was the scrolling of the mouse wheel; no one dared to utter a single word.

Lu Yike carried a cardboard box back to the anti-corruption office to pack her personal belongings.

Colleagues who bumped into her in the hallway all ducked and avoided her, as if they had seen some kind of highly radioactive object.

No one would casually and enthusiastically call her "Director Lu" or "Sister Lu" anymore. If they couldn't avoid it, they would just dryly call her "Comrade Lu Yike".

The distance between people, the coldness of friendship, is immediately apparent in the way they address each other.

Lu Yike remained calm as she opened the drawer of her desk.

An old fountain pen lay quietly inside.

That was a gift from her mother, Wu Xinyi, when she joined the procuratorate.

At that moment, Wu Xinyi held her hand and earnestly told her, "When handling cases with a pen, you must uphold the bottom line of innocence."

Looking at the pen now, Lu Yike only feels incredibly ironic.

The so-called bottom line of innocence has always been trampled underfoot by one's own privileges.

She pressed the pen into the bottom of the cardboard box, picked up the storage box, and slowly walked out of the office.

Throughout the corridor, all the doors and windows of other departments were tightly closed, and no one came out to see them off.

She didn't feel wronged, nor did she ever look back.

This is the reality of officialdom: when the filter of privilege shatters, all that remains are the cold, hard rules.

Just as I reached the top of the stairs, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

She held the cardboard box in one hand and took out her phone. A text message notification from Zhou Zhengming popped up on the screen:

"The meeting will continue at 3 PM at the Provincial Party Committee Guesthouse. The focus will be on verifying the complete details of Sha Ruijin's tacit approval of Hou Liangping's unconventional handling of the case and the various procedural maneuvers. Please arrive on time."

Lu Yike lightly touched the screen with her fingertip and replied with a brief two-word response without the slightest hesitation:

"receive."

She put her phone back in her pocket and walked down the stairs step by step.

In the past, she held case files in her hands, charged ahead, and was convinced that she was a lone hero representing justice.

Only now did she truly see that the convenience she had relied on for handling cases over the years was all a gray gap woven from personal connections.

Next, she will personally lay out the "compromise for the big picture" approach she once believed in, one by one, and expose it completely to the light of the organization.