Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

Villa No. 1, Family Compound of the Provincial Party Committee of Handong.

The study on the second floor was deathly silent.

Zhao Lichun, wearing reading glasses, sat behind a large desk.

In front of him lay a document that his secretary had just delivered, still warm from the printer.

Minutes of the Standing Committee Meeting on Adjusting the Leadership of Leaders in Lüzhou City and Jingzhou City.

The document, written in black and white in standard Song typeface, clearly records everything that happened in the conference room this morning.

Each member of the Standing Committee gave a speech.

Every time I raise my hand.

And then there was the final, humiliating vote result.

Zhao Lichun picked up a fountain pen, and the nib hovered over the paper.

He found Li Dakang's name.

Personally, I have a different opinion.

These eight short words, like a red-hot steel needle, pierced Zhao Lichun's heart.

The veins on his hand, which was holding the pen, bulged.

"Swish! Swish!"

He drew two thick black lines heavily under Li Dakang's name, so forcefully that they almost tore through the paper.

His breathing became heavy.

Next up is Wu Chunlin.

That "excellent" assessment report that appeared out of nowhere, stamped with the official red seal of the Organization Department.

This is betrayal!

This is the most shameless betrayal!

Zhao Lichun's pen tip pierced deeply into Wu Chunlin's name, leaving a dark black dot.

Finally, there's Gao Yuliang.

That old fox who's always so amiable and always playing the game of Tai Chi.

"Abstain".

What a smart choice.

He managed to avoid offending Shen Zhong and Liu Changchun, while simultaneously rubbing salt into Zhao Lichun's wounds.

Zhao Lichun drew two more black lines under Gao Yuliang's name.

He closed the meeting minutes and pushed them aside as if they were something dirty.

He took off his reading glasses, rubbed his throbbing temples, and stood up from the chair.

He walked to the French windows of the study and looked down at the long shadows of the trees in the yard cast by the streetlights.

Five votes to six votes.

Just one vote short.

The power structure of Handong, which he had managed for over a decade and thought was impregnable, was easily torn open from within by that young man named Shen Zhong.

Zhao Lichun quickly reviewed the situation in his mind.

It started when Shen Zhong was transferred to Handong.

The arrest of Zhu Jichang and the coercion of Zhou Guichun both involved using the other party's shady dealings.

The support for He Xia was presented in a seemingly legitimate yet incredibly cunning manner, using the issues of joint military-civilian construction and the resettlement of veterans.

To intimidate Li Dakang, they used military intimidation, something Li Dakang never dared to even imagine.

The key to winning over Wu Chunlin was a notebook that contained countless pieces of dirt on people.

This Shen Zhong doesn't play by the rules of officialdom at all.

He was like a bull that stormed into a china shop, charging headlong into things, yet no one could stop him.

Conventional administrative pressure was ineffective against him.

He directly crushed the obstruction from the local system with his military power.

Zhao Lichun felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

He hadn't felt this way for many years since he took the top position in Handong Province.

No.

We can't just let it go like this.

He couldn't stand by and watch everything he had built be destroyed bit by bit by that barbarian from the military in Handong.

Zhao Lichun turned around abruptly and walked quickly back to his desk.

His hand touched the red encrypted phone on the corner of the table.

This is his last trump card.

He picked up the heavy receiver and skillfully dialed a number he knew by heart.

The call was connected very quickly.

An old but strong voice came from inside.

"The Beginning of Spring."

Zhao Lichun, who had been standing straight, involuntarily bent over the moment he heard the voice.

His tone carried an barely suppressed sense of grievance and resentment.

"Old boss, something's happened in Handong..."

He didn't embellish the story; he simply recounted everything that had happened recently in the most concise language.

From the investigation of Zhu Jichang to the defeat of the Standing Committee today.

"That Shen Zhong from the military region completely disregards political rules!"

"He abused his military position to overstep his bounds in local government affairs, established his own courts, and abused his power!"

"The current Hantong Provincial Party Committee is in a state of panic, and the unity of the leadership has been severely damaged!"

"I...I'm losing control of the situation."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

Zhao Lichun gripped the microphone, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, anxiously awaiting the verdict.

After a long while, the aged voice rang out again, carrying an undeniable air of authority.

"Don't say these things on the phone."

"Prepare detailed written materials immediately."

"Tomorrow, you will come to the capital in person to report to me."

Zhao Lichun's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down.

"Yes, boss! I'll be there first thing tomorrow morning!"

He put down the phone, feeling as if all his strength had been drained away, and slumped into a chair.

But he quickly rallied.

He pressed the call button on the table.

A moment later, the secretary who lived on the first floor ran upstairs and stood panting at the door of the study.

"Secretary, you wanted to see me?"

Zhao Lichun didn't even look at him and directly issued the order.

"Book me the earliest flight to Beijing tomorrow right now."

"Hurry up."

……

At the same time.

Inside an ordinary residential building in the provincial military district's family compound.

Shen Zhong was leaning back on the sofa in the living room, watching the evening news on TV.

In the news report, the female anchor is broadcasting in standard Mandarin:

"Today, the Standing Committee of the Handong Provincial Committee of the CPC held a meeting and decided to appoint Comrade He Xia as the Secretary of the Luzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC..."

The screen of the specially made cell phone on the coffee table suddenly lit up and vibrated twice.

Shen Zhong picked up his phone and unlocked the screen.

A short message, triple-encrypted by the military region's intelligence center, was displayed on the screen.

[Target: Zhao; Booking flight CA1588 to Beijing, departing tomorrow morning at 7:40 AM.]

The message was short, but the information was clear.

After reading it carefully, Shen lightly tapped the screen with his finger and pressed the "read and destroy" button.

The entire text message, along with its sending history, vanished without a trace in an instant.

He put the phone back on the coffee table without any extra reaction on his face.

His gaze slowly shifted from the photo of He Xia, who looked so spirited, on the television screen.

Finally, it landed on the same red secure phone in the corner of the living room.

Zhao Lichun has run out of cards to play in Handong.

The purpose of going to the capital at this time is self-evident.

Call for reinforcements.

A subtle, almost imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of his heavy lips.

"Looks like they've really run out of options, so they've gone to the capital to get reinforcements?"