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

The moment Hou Liangping finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence.

Zhou Zhengming's pupils contracted slightly as he forcefully suppressed the turmoil surging within him, maintaining a calm and composed expression on his face.

He showed no sign of urgency, and calmly asked, "Where is the list?"

Hou Liangping lowered his head, looking at his hands, which once commanded the nation but now wore silver bracelets: "They're not in my hands."

"Who has it?"

"Zhong Xiaoai".

Old Liu's expression changed drastically, and he almost dropped the thermos in his hand. He shouted sternly:

"Ryohei! You can't say things like that! This involves our comrades in Kyoto; it's a serious political issue!"

Hou Liangping slowly raised his head, and a mocking smile, more painful than a cry, suddenly appeared on his haggard face:

"Director Liu, the chamber pot has already been kicked and smashed, why would I care who gets splashed with my urine? I've already been used as a pawn, what political issues are I afraid of?"

He took a deep breath, his reckless, mad-like rage completely unleashed: "That list was compiled by Xiao Ai herself before I came to Handong. At the time, she earnestly told me that Handong was a deep and complicated place, and I shouldn't rush in headfirst."

The list was originally in electronic format, but she later asked me to delete it. However, I was careful and didn't delete it completely; I secretly backed it up on an old hard drive at home.

Zhou Zhengming astutely grasped the crux of the matter: "What are the specific contents of the list?"

"Provincial-level officials, key enterprises, core liaisons in the political and legal system of Handong Province, and their corresponding risk levels."

Hou Liangping gave a bitter smile. "To put it simply, it's called a red, yellow, and green list. Red is absolutely off-limits, yellow requires careful review, and green... you can break through it at will."

Zhou Zhengming calmly pressed on, "What color is the Chen family?"

"red."

"What about the Lingang project?"

"red."

"Where is Gao Yuliang?"

Hou Liangping paused for a moment, his voice dry: "Green."

Zhou Zhengming couldn't help but sneer, "No wonder you've been like a mad dog, relentlessly attacking Gao Yuliang and Qi Tongwei ever since you arrived in Handong. It's not that you, the head of the anti-corruption bureau, have a keen sense of smell; it's that they've already laid out the meat bones for you."

Hou Liangping closed his eyes bitterly: "Yes... thinking about it now, I was ridiculously stupid."

"Where is Qi Tongwei?"

"green."

"Where is the Liang family?"

"No list."

"Was it simply not listed, or was it deliberately omitted?"

Hou Liangping thought for a moment and replied, "It's deliberately not listed. Because in the script at the top, the Liang family was packaged as 'informants who feed the fish' and 'sources of clues.' They were tools used to kill with borrowed knives, so naturally they couldn't be the subjects of the investigation."

Old Liu, listening nearby, broke out in a cold sweat and muttered under his breath, "Foolish! You're utterly foolish!"

"I'm confused."

Hou Liangping's smile was more like a grimace, his eyes filled with the despair of a collapsed faith. "You can call me stupid now, I admit defeat."

But back then, everyone fawned over me, saying I was a hero who came to Handong with an imperial sword to slay demons and monsters!

Zhou Zhengming ignored his shattered "hero's dream" and went straight to the point: "Can you confirm that Zhong Xiaoai knows the contents of that hard drive?"

"able."

Hou Liangping said with certainty, "Because the revised version of that list was typed out by her own hands."

This statement carries immense weight.

Zhong Xiaoai instantly transformed from a bystander who "sacrificed her own family for the greater good" into a core suspect who was deeply involved in interfering with the case and may have access to and concealed key evidence.

Zhou Zhengming immediately stood up, strode out of the interview room, and headed straight for Qin Yuanzhou's office to report.

After listening to the report, Qin Yuanzhou stopped playing with the fountain pen in mid-air.

The iron-fisted team leader did not speak immediately, his deep gaze fixed on the map of Handong on the table.

He knew all too well how sensitive this step was.

Zhong Xiaoai is not an ordinary cadre, and the Zhong family is not a local powerful clan.

To take action against Chung Hsiao-ai, even just to "preserve evidence," the Handong Supervisory Group is not qualified and must obtain authorization from Kyoto.

But if this "red, yellow, and green list" really exists, it would be direct and irrefutable evidence that the Chung family is remotely controlling the operation, abusing public resources for private gain, and using anti-corruption as a tool for factional purges!

This is not just an earthquake in Handong, it's a tsunami that will shake up half of the capital!

Qin Yuanzhou decisively picked up the red secure phone on the table.

"Reporting to the leader, Hou Liangping confessed that there was a 'risk guidance list' before going to Handong to handle the case."

The document, which was likely compiled with the participation of Zhong Xiaoai, clearly outlines the investigation priorities for targets such as the Chen family, Lingang, Gao Yuliang, and Qi Tongwei.

The critical storage medium, an old hard drive, is suspected to have been taken back to Chung Hsiao-ai's residence in Kyoto. We request authorization from the central government to immediately take measures to preserve evidence!

There was a deathly silence on the other end of the phone for half a minute.

Then, a dignified and deep voice rang out: "Stand by and await further instructions."

...

This wait lasted for a full two hours.

During those two hours, Qin Yuanzhou didn't leave his desk for even a moment, and Zhou Zhengming stood by like a guardian deity.

Liaison officer Kobayashi brought in hot water twice, but no one was in the mood to drink a drop.

They all knew that behind the silence of those two hours lay a breathtaking struggle and weighing of options among the top officials in Beijing.

At 8 p.m., the red secure phone finally rang again.

"Limited authorization for evidence preservation".

"Target: Limited to electronic media related to the Handong case in Chung Hsiao-ai's personal office and residence."

"Implementing unit: The Central Special Task Force is heading straight there."

"The Handong supervisory team must provide proper external support, strictly adhere to discipline, and absolutely must not expand the scope of the investigation without authorization!"

Qin Yuanzhou hung up the phone, let out a long sigh, and turned to look at Zhou Zhengming: "The special task force has been mobilized. The Zhong family's firewall is going to be breached tonight."

Zhou Zhengming's spirits lifted: "Team Leader Qin, what are we doing here in Handong?"

Qin Yuanzhou's eyes sharpened. "Keep the news tightly under wraps. Don't let those people from Handong use this as an opportunity to cause trouble!"

...

The Zhong family's old residence in Beijing.

After being grounded by her father, Zhong Xiaoai was sitting in the study in a daze.

When two staff members from the central task force, dressed in dark jackets, appeared silently at the door, she was taken aback at first. Then, her tense shoulders miraculously relaxed, and she let out a long sigh of relief.

"You came here for that hard drive, didn't you?" she asked calmly.

Without any unnecessary words, the team leader presented the document in a businesslike manner: "Comrade Zhong Xiaoai, please cooperate with the organization's work."

Zhong Xiaoai offered no resistance, opened the drawer, and gently placed a set of keys on the table:

"In the third cabinet on the left side of the study, there's a gray storage box containing a few old hard drives. That's where you're looking for."

The staff members exchanged glances.

They were so cooperative.

Their coordination was so good it almost seemed abnormal.

Little did they know that Zhong Xiaoai's heart had already died long after she saw through the family's cold-blooded "cutting losses" logic.

Since the family can treat Hou Liangping like a chamber pot and her like a firewall, why should she continue to guard those dirty secrets?

The evidence preservation process went exceptionally smoothly.

At 11 p.m. that night, the gray old hard drive was sent to the highest-level technical team.

...

At 2:00 AM, the data recovery was successful, and the first batch of file directories was transmitted back to the Handong Supervision Team through an encrypted channel.

The filenames are simple and crude, yet shocking:

Draft of Risk Warning for Handling Cases in ...

A Revised Edition of "A Study of Political and Business Relations in Handong"

Important Notes for Performing Duties in Handong

Handong Red, Yellow and Green List

When Zhou Zhengming opened the "red, yellow, and green list," he sat bolt upright and gasped.

The first line of the document clearly states:

[Red: Absolutely forbidden zone. Do not touch unless explicitly authorized by superiors.]

The following is a list of individuals: Chen Yanshi, Chen Yang, Lingang Old City Renovation Project, Wang Zonghui's related funding arrangements, and Zhongjia's historical assistance matters.

[Yellow: Sensitive area. Carefully verify and manage the pace.]

The following is a list of cases: Li Dakang, Jingzhou Land Reform Project, Dafeng Factory, Ji Changming, and old cases from the Economic Division of the Provincial High Court.

[Green: Safe zone. Can be used as a breakthrough point for political achievements, assisting Sha Ruijin in conducting in-depth investigations.]

The following is a list of individuals: Gao Yuliang, Qi Tongwei, Shanshui Group, Gao Xiaoqin, and Zhao Ruilong (related to peripheral industries).

After reading it, Zhou Zhengming remained silent for a full half minute.

After holding it in for a while, he couldn't help but blurt out a curse: "Good heavens! This isn't an anti-corruption case investigation in Handong!"

Is this person going to Handong to take their driver's license test? Red light means stop, green light means go, and yellow light means wait?

It seems Director Hou has been strictly enforcing traffic rules these past few months!

Qin Yuanzhou picked up the few printed pages, sneering repeatedly: "What a righteous and awe-inspiring anti-corruption vanguard! Who can be touched, who can't; who will die first as a scapegoat, and who will be investigated later to ensure their safety—it's all arranged clearly and precisely!"

Is this what you call anti-corruption? This is called targeted and precise elimination!

Xiao Lin swallowed hard beside him and said in a low voice, "Team Leader Qin, once this list comes out, the nature of Hou Liangping's case will change completely."

"It's not just that the Hou Liangping case has changed; the entire nature of the Handong case has changed!"

Qin Yuanzhou slammed the document on the table. "We originally thought Hou Liangping was just a fool who was deceived by the Liang family and used by the Zhong family. Now it seems that he is actually a professional assassin who parachuted into Handong with a 'target list'!"

Zhou Zhengming frowned: "What about Zhong Xiaoai?"

Qin Yuanzhou gazed intently out the window towards the capital city: "That depends on how much truth she can still tell."