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

Back in her department, under the watchful eyes of her colleagues, Zhang Yannan went straight to Li Ping's office.

As soon as she went in, everyone stopped what they were doing and craned their necks to look.

The sound of Li Ping slamming his fist on the table and shouting could be heard from inside the office.

"Zhang Yannan, do you have a problem with me being the head of this department?"

"As a municipal government employee, what are you trying to do by being so disorganized and undisciplined, openly skipping work and not showing up for work?"

Zhang Yannan said coldly, "My mother is hospitalized, and the hospital has issued a critical condition notice. I need to stay with her and take care of her."

Li Ping sneered, "You say I'm critically ill, so why would I? Who knows if you're telling the truth? What if you're just making it up to ask for leave?"

Zhang Yannan's chest heaved as she listened, and the veins on her forehead throbbed.

Li Ping's words were clearly heard by everyone outside.

They all knew that Li Ping had always had feelings for Zhang Yannan.

Zhang Yannan was different from other women; no matter how hard he tried, he still failed.

Based on the principle of "if I can't have it, I'll destroy it", Li Ping would make things difficult for Zhang Yannan whenever he had the chance.

It's one thing to target others, but this time, their own mother is critically ill, and they still want to manipulate them. It's really too much.

Seeing that Zhang Yannan remained silent, Li Ping assumed she was scared and became even more unscrupulous, saying, "Since you're already critically ill, why don't you go back two more days later and take your bereavement leave too?"

Zhang Yannan was furious and roared, "Li Ping, you bastard!"

She grabbed the ashtray from the table, lunged at it, and began smashing it repeatedly against Li Ping's head.

Li Ping didn't expect Zhang Yannan to make a sudden move, and he was hit squarely on the head.

"You...you dare to hit someone?"

Li Ping's forehead was immediately smashed open, and blood flowed freely.

Zhang Yannan had completely lost her mind at this point and just kept smashing things.

This guy can only curse her normally, but now he dares to curse her mother?

She no longer cared about how she would be dealt with afterward; all she wanted to do was smash this guy's mouth open.

The commotion was so great that all the junior staff in the office gathered around.

Zhang Yannan was holding an ashtray and smashing it at Li Ping.

Li Ping squatted on the ground with his hands behind his head, yelling, "Are you still watching the show? Pull her away right now!"

In the end, Pan Bin, fearing someone might die, went over and pretended to stop Zhang Yannan.

"Xiao Zhang, stop hitting him."

The commotion had already alerted several departments next door, and a crowd of onlookers had gathered outside.

Lu Ming naturally heard the commotion as well, and his expression became somewhat strange.

He told Zhang Yannan not to worry about the consequences and to go ahead and do it, but in his heart he felt that she wouldn't really dare to do it.

It seems he was wrong.

Zhang Yannan not only took action, but she did so ruthlessly.

What outrageous things did Li Ping say to drive her to this point?

Luo Shuixian asked curiously, "What happened?"

Lu Ming said, "I'll go out and take a look."

Lu Ming got up and went over, and saw that the entrance to the secretariat was crowded with people. He thought to himself that this matter had really blown up.

However, the bigger the commotion, the worse Li Ping's fate will be.

He pushed through the crowd and arrived at the door of Li Ping's office. He was stunned when he saw Li Ping's head bleeding profusely.

She then looked at Pan Bin and Zhang Yannan, the latter still clutching the blood-stained ashtray tightly in her hand.

Li Ping, clutching his head, said angrily, "Zhang Yannan, you intentionally injured someone! I'm calling the police right now and having you arrested and jailed!"

Zhang Yannan wasn't afraid at all. She broke free from Pan Bin's hand, brandished the ashtray, and charged forward again.

"Li Ping, you fucking deserve to die!"

Seeing Zhang Yannan's frantic state, Li Ping was so frightened that he quickly backed away.

He knew he had gone too far with what he had just said, but words spoken are like water spilled; they can't be taken back.

Am I supposed to back down and apologize to her?

no way!

Li Ping vowed in his heart that once this matter was over, he would definitely make Zhang Yannan pay.

At this moment, Lu Ming suddenly grabbed Zhang Yannan's wrist and said, "Don't be impulsive!"

He gently comforted her as he took the ashtray into his own hands.

Then, he looked at Li Ping and asked, "Director Li, what's going on?"

Li Ping pointed at Zhang Yan and said, "Secretary Lu, she hit someone!"

Lu Ming looked at Zhang Yannan and asked, "Did you make that call?"

"yes!"

Zhang Yannan stared intently at Li Ping, her eyes filled with a look of utter hatred that seemed to want to devour him alive.

Why did you hit someone?

"He cursed my mother!"

Lu Ming was taken aback, somewhat confused: "What?"

Others were also stunned.

Then, tears streamed down Zhang Yannan's face as she cried, "My mother is critically ill and hospitalized. I asked for leave, but he wouldn't approve it."

"Later I asked Director Pan for leave, but he told me that Director Pan's words were not effective and that I should come back to work."

"If I don't go to work, that's considered absenteeism, and I should be punished."

"When I came to confront him, he started cursing my mother, saying, saying..."

At this point, Zhang Yannan was already sobbing uncontrollably.

Once she had calmed down a bit, Lu Ming asked again, "What did he say? Don't be afraid, I'll stand up for you!"

While wiping away her tears, Zhang Yannan said, "He said that since my mother is critically ill anyway, I should ask for leave a couple of days later, and then I can take bereavement leave as well."

The entire department fell silent after he said that.

Even the people outside stared wide-eyed.

These words are beyond just being ordinary.

That's absolutely outrageous!

Lu Ming looked at Li Ping and asked, "Director Li, is that what you said?"

Li Ping forced a smile and said, "I...I acted impulsively, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it..."

Lu Ming nodded, then took out his phone and dialed a number.

Li Ping didn't know who he was calling, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Logically speaking, this shouldn't be a big deal.

However, if things escalate and have a significant impact, then that's a different story.

"Hello, Director Wang, could you please come to the Secretariat? There's something I need to discuss."

Hearing that Lu Ming was calling Director Wang, Li Ping was immediately relieved.

Director Wang is my backer; when he comes, he'll at most give me a verbal reprimand.

A short while later, Wang Qiang arrived.

He looked at the crowd at the door, the messy office, and the bloodstains on the floor with a puzzled expression.

Lu Ming briefly explained the situation, and Wang Qiang's expression immediately turned serious.

"Why won't you grant Xiao Zhang leave when his mother is critically ill?"

"I...I've been quite busy lately, so..."

"Busy? Busy with what? Can being busy be more important than someone's life? That's utter nonsense!"

"Director Wang, I..."

"Shut up and apologize to Xiao Zhang right now! Also, starting today, go home and reflect on your actions!"

Li Ping was naturally extremely unwilling to apologize to Zhang Yannan in front of so many people.

But he also understood that Wang Qiang was giving him a way out, and he couldn't be ungrateful.

"Ahem, Xiao Zhang, excuse me, it's me..."

Before she could even point out the typo, Zhang Yannan's phone rang.

Upon seeing the number on the screen, Zhang Yannan's expression changed drastically.

She quickly answered the phone.

"Hello, Dr. Liu... What did you say?"

Zhang Yannan trembled and tears instantly streamed down her face.

All the strength in her body seemed to be drained away in an instant, and she slumped to the ground with a blank look in her eyes.

Pan Bin quickly helped her up and asked, "Xiao Zhang, what's wrong?"

Zhang Yannan said in a sorrowful voice, "My mother is gone..."

The office fell into a deathly silence, and everyone turned to look at Li Ping...