At the Pinnacle of Power: The Female Leader and Her Chief Advisor

Song Chuhe picked up the cigarette case from the table, took out two cigarettes, and handed one to Xu Zhipeng.

"Secretary Xu, have one with me."

Xu Zhipeng took the cigarette and was about to take out his lighter when Song Chuhe extended his lighter and lit it for him.

Xu Zhipeng chuckled and said, "It's truly an honor to have Mayor Song personally light my cigarette."

Song Chuhe ignored his sarcastic remarks, instead walking to the window, gazing outside, silently smoking, lost in thought.

Xu Zhipeng stood aside, watching Song Chuhe with great interest.

The saying "too much rigidity leads to breakage" applies perfectly to Song Chuhe.

He was too upright and inflexible, and he deserved his current fate!

The system is a big melting pot; to survive, you have to learn to go along with it.

Being unconventional and out of place—that's what happened to Song Chuhe!

After finishing his cigarette, Song Chuhe casually tossed the cigarette butt on the ground.

Then he suddenly turned around and roared at Xu Zhipeng with a ferocious expression.

"Xu Zhipeng, you have betrayed your promise!"

"We had an agreement: I would help you get rid of Secretary Qiao and promote you to a higher-ranking official, and you would keep an eye on Mayor Jiang's movements."

"I've already handed you the evidence of Secretary Qiao's illegal and disorderly conduct, but you actually turned around and cooperated with Mayor Jiang, stabbing me in the back!"

"Xu Zhipeng, you'll die a horrible death!"

Xu Zhipeng looked completely bewildered.

What's wrong with Song Chuhe?

When did I ask you to get rid of Secretary Qiao for me?

He was about to retort, but Song Chuhe didn't give him the chance, continuing to roar, "That bitch Jiang Ling, in order to seize my mayoral position, conspired with you to frame me! You won't succeed! Even if I die, I won't let you have your way!"

"Mayor Song, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Song Chuhe climbed out of the window and jumped from the sixth floor.

Song Chuhe jumped off a building!

Xu Zhipeng's mind went blank for a moment.

He only snapped out of his daze when he faintly heard a loud bang and hurriedly ran to the window to look down.

Song Chuhe lay motionless in a pool of blood!

Xu Zhipeng's eyes were filled with terror, and only one thought occupied his mind.

Ruined!

Song Chuhe is dead!

Song Chuhe isn't incapable of dying, but he can't die at this time!

He has not been questioned by the organization, has not been investigated, and has not been tried in court!

His current position is still the mayor of Songxi City!

If someone were to commit suicide at this time, all the major leaders in Songxi's officialdom would be affected!

Among them, the one most affected was this deputy secretary of the discipline inspection commission who had been placed under investigation!

This was a serious mistake on his part!

Song Chuhe's jump completely ended his career.

Whenever he has a chance for promotion in the future, his opponents will definitely use this incident to their advantage, saying that he drove a good mayor who was honest and upright to his death!

Bang!

Hearing the noise, the office door was pushed open forcefully.

Several comrades from the Discipline Inspection Commission walked in.

Chen Jianguo glanced around but didn't see Song Chuhe. Only Xu Zhipeng stood alone by the window. He frowned and asked, "Secretary Xu, where is Mayor Song?"

Xu Zhipeng slowly turned around, his face ashen, and pointed down.

Chen Jianguo's expression changed instantly. He and the others quickly walked to the window and looked down, where they saw Song Chuhe lying in a pool of blood.

The three men gasped, turning to look at Xu Zhipeng and asking, "Secretary Xu, what's going on?"

"I...he..." Xu Zhipeng swallowed hard and explained, "He jumped down on his own. It has nothing to do with me. I...I don't know why he suddenly...suddenly jumped down."

Lu Ming was the last to enter, and just then he overheard Xu Zhipeng saying that Song Chuhe had jumped down. His expression changed drastically, and he rushed to the window, his eyes instantly turning red. He then turned and ran downstairs.

After being kicked out by Song Chuhe, Li Wen did not leave.

Upon hearing the news of Song Chuhe's suicide, he was stunned.

However, she quickly recovered and showed no sadness whatsoever.

A useless old man, he's dead, that's all.

Song Chuhe's sudden jump from the building instantly attracted the attention of many people. By the time Lu Ming ran downstairs, a crowd had already gathered.

Because Song Chuhe was face down, he probably didn't know the identity of the person who jumped.

"Get out of the way!"

"Get out of my way!"

Lu Ming roared and ran through the crowd to Song Chuhe's side.

Looking at Song Chuhe's corpse, Lu Ming's fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

His face was extremely gloomy, and his eyes were filled with a fierce look!

"Xu Zhipeng, Li Wen, you deserve to die a horrible death!"

Xu Zhipeng and his group quickly came down, dispersed the onlookers, and warned them not to spread rumors!

Looking at the corpse on the ground, Xu Zhipeng was like a headless fly, not knowing what to do.

It was only after Chen Jianguo reminded him that he hurriedly called an ambulance.

Although she knew that Song Chuhe was dead, she still had to put on an act.

While waiting for the ambulance, Xu Zhipeng immediately reported the situation to Lin Zhengguang, a city official.

Upon learning of Song Chuhe's suicide, the top official of Songxi City was extremely angry!

"How is Mayor Song doing now?!"

"An ambulance has been contacted, but the specific details are still unknown."

Although Song Chuhe is dead, he cannot speak of it.

This news can only be announced by the hospital!

Lin Zhengguang angrily cursed, "Useless trash! A bunch of good-for-nothings!"

Xu Zhipeng's face turned pale and then red as he was scolded, but he dared not utter a word of rebuttal.

After all, a routine two-regulation case has now resulted in a death, and he cannot escape responsibility for this!

The ambulance arrived quickly.

The group followed the ambulance to the hospital.

During the rescue, several members of the Standing Committee, including municipal officials Lin Zhengguang, executive vice mayor Jiang Ling, and discipline inspection official Qiao Shoujing, came to the scene.

Outside the emergency room, they questioned Xu Zhipeng about what had happened.

Just then, the door to the emergency room opened, and Lu Ming rushed forward to ask, "Doctor, how is the patient?"

The doctor shook his head and said, "Please accept my condolences. We have done our best."

Although he knew the chances were slim, Lu Ming still found it hard to accept when he actually heard the news of Song Chuhe's death from the doctor.

This morning there was a perfectly healthy person, and now they're just gone?

Secretary Lin's face also instantly turned ugly!

With Song Chuhe's death, they were put on the defensive!

"Go back to the meeting!"

After saying that, Secretary Lin turned and left.

Xu Zhipeng hurriedly caught up and asked, "Secretary Lin, what should we do with Mayor Song's secretary now?"

Secretary Lin didn't stop, glanced back at the distraught Lu Ming, and said, "Detain him for now!"

"Yes."

Xu Zhipeng walked up to Lu Ming and said, "Lu Ming, come with me!"

Lu Ming looked up at Xu Zhipeng, his expression calm, neither happy nor sad.

But it was this calm attitude that made Xu Zhipeng feel a chill run down his spine for no apparent reason.

Forty minutes later, Lu Ming was taken back to the disciplinary committee's detention room by Xu Zhipeng.

There's a bed and a table here, with paper and a pen on the table, so Lu Ming can explain himself.

Since he was only detained, no one questioned Lu Ming.

Moreover, because Song Chuhe had just committed suicide by jumping off a building, Xu Zhipeng was afraid that Lu Ming would do the same, so he specially had a room cleared out in the courtyard.

Lu Ming sat at the table, saying nothing, just smoking one cigarette after another.

Soon, the ground around the chair was covered with cigarette butts.

At this moment, Lu Ming's mind was exceptionally clear, and he regained his usual rationality.

"I'll pave the way for you to break this deadlock!"

At the time, he didn't understand what Mayor Song meant by those words.

But now, he understands.

Mayor Song risked his life to carve out a path for him.

The city leaders only wanted to remove this upright and incorruptible mayor from office, not to force him to his death.

Now that Mayor Song is dead, the municipal leaders will definitely close the case quickly in order to minimize the impact.

Therefore, Lu Ming will not be in any trouble in the short term, nor can he be in any trouble!

Because if he gets into trouble again, the impact of this case will be uncontrollable.

If the case escalates, it is very likely to attract the attention of the provincial authorities, leading to the establishment of a special task force to re-examine the case.

They absolutely do not want to bear that kind of cost.

Therefore, Lu Ming will be fine.

Lu Ming took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, saying, "Xu Zhipeng!"

He didn't know who was trying to harm Mayor Song.

But he knew that Xu Zhipeng was partly responsible for harming Mayor Song!

That bitch Li Wen deserves some credit too!

Mayor Song lost control of his emotions after talking with Li Wen.

"Once I find Mayor Song's surveillance footage, I'll know exactly what that bitch said to him!"