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

At the same time.

The Governor's Office is located on the sixth floor of the Handong Provincial Government Office Building.

Liu Changchun was reviewing a draft of the province's infrastructure investment plan for the second half of the year. He circled several key figures in red pen and wrote "Too high, need further verification" next to them.

The red landline phone on the table suddenly rang.

Liu Changchun put down his pen and glanced at the caller ID.

He recognized the number.

This was a secret connection he had cultivated in Kyoto for over a decade. The person held a key position in a central government department; while not the highest-ranking, they had an extremely wide network of information, the kind of person who could "know the slightest thing immediately."

Liu Changchun rarely uses this line of communication.

If the other party calls first, there's only one possibility—something terrible has happened.

Liu Changchun answered the phone.

"Brother Changchun, I'll get straight to the point." The other person lowered their voice and spoke very quickly. "Su Zhenhai of the Supervisory Commission met with Zhao Lichun at his home this morning."

Liu Changchun's hand gripping the phone tightened suddenly.

The name Su Zhenhai exploded in his mind.

Of course he knew who Su Zhenhai was. Back then, he was just the Secretary-General of the Handong Provincial Government, while Su Zhenhai was the undisputed ruler of Handong.

Back then, Zhao Lichun didn't dare to breathe loudly in front of Su Zhenhai.

Throughout the entire cadre system of Handong, from the province to the city to the county, every screw, whether tightened or loosened, had to be approved by Su Zhenhai.

That was a former provincial party secretary who was ten times more powerful than Zhao Lichun.

Later, Su Zhenhai was promoted and went to Beijing. Before leaving, he handed over the entire territory of Handong to Zhao Lichun. To put it bluntly, the solid foundation that Zhao Lichun had built in Handong over the years was laid by Su Zhenhai back then.

"What's his purpose in seeking out Su Zhenhai?" Liu Changchun asked a pointless question.

"I don't know."

Liu Changchun already knew the answer in his heart: What was the purpose? To call for reinforcements.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the other party hung up the phone without providing any further useful information.

Liu Changchun held the receiver for a long time without putting it down.

No matter how capable Shen Zhong is in combat, he's still just a major general. Su Zhenhai has cultivated connections within the military for decades; if he could truly leverage the power of the Central Military Commission…

A chill ran down Liu Changchun's spine.

The close-fitting white shirt was soaked with sweat within seconds, sticking to my back, feeling both cool and sticky.

He and Shen Zhong had just joined forces to oust Zhao Lichun at the Standing Committee meeting. The score was six to five, it was all in black and white, and the meeting minutes were signed and stamped.

Zhao Lichun cannot possibly forget this debt.

Now, Su Zhenhai has stepped forward to support Zhao Lichun.

If Shen Zhong is transferred...

In Handong, Liu Changchun was like a tiger with its teeth pulled; Zhao Lichun could do whatever he wanted with him.

No, we must find Shen Zhong immediately.

Liu Changchun slammed the receiver back onto the landline phone with a loud thud.

He grabbed his dark gray coat from the hanger and strode towards the door. His secretary was outside, ready to brief him on the afternoon's meeting schedule.

"Governor, the special meeting at 3:30 this afternoon—"

"It's cancelled."

Liu Changchun didn't even turn his head, leaving behind two words before turning into the elevator at the end of the corridor.

……

Twenty minutes later.

The main building of the provincial military district compound.

Liu Changchun's second official car came to a stop at the gate. He got out and walked quickly towards the gate, passing two sentry posts along the way. The sentries on duty checked his provincial party committee member credentials, saluted, and let him pass.

Led by a soldier, he hurried up to the third floor, his feet barely touching the ground, and arrived at the door of Shen Zhong's office.

The door was open. When Liu Changchun knocked and went in, he saw Shen Zhong sitting on the sofa by the window, with a large-scale administrative map of Lüzhou City spread out in his hand.

Several locations were marked with a red ballpoint pen on the map, with densely packed small characters written next to them.

Shen Zhong was helping He Xia with her homework.

The situation in Lüzhou is complex, and the phrase "everything needs to be rebuilt" is no exaggeration. He Xia, parachuted in, needs to figure out beforehand what to prioritize, who to remove, who can be used, and who must be replaced. Otherwise, she risk being sidelined on her very first day in office.

Hearing the door open, Shen Zhong looked up.

After recognizing Liu Changchun as the visitor, he folded the map and placed it on the coffee table before standing up.

"Governor Liu, what brings you here in person? Please have a seat."

Liu Changchun made no polite gestures. He sat down on the sofa opposite Shen Zhong, leaned forward, and rested his hands on his knees.

"Secretary Shen, something has happened."

He recounted the contents of the phone call he had just received verbatim. Su Zhenhai met with Zhao Lichun, immediately became furious, and prepared to call the military to put pressure on them.

"Zhao Lichun went to see Su Zhenhai. You may not know much about this person." Liu Changchun's voice was a little tight. "When he was the secretary of Handong, I was just the secretary-general of the provincial government."

"The entire cadre system in Handong, from top to bottom, was built by him."

"This person has a very deep network of connections in Kyoto, especially within the military. If he really manages to extend his influence into the Central Military Commission system..."

Liu Changchun didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was already very clear.

Shen Zhong listened without any unusual reaction.

He picked up the purple clay teapot on the coffee table and refilled Liu Changchun's cup with tea. A stream of emerald green Longjing tea flowed from the spout, steam rising gently.

"Have some tea." Shen Zhong pushed the teacup in front of Liu Changchun.

"Secretary Shen!" Liu Changchun exclaimed anxiously, "I'm not here for tea! What about Su Zhenhai—"

"I'll handle Su Zhenhai's matter," Shen Zhong interrupted him, his tone flat. "You don't need to worry about that."

Liu Changchun opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"Governor Liu, the thing you should be doing right now isn't worrying about what's going on in Kyoto." Shen Zhong sat back down on the sofa and patted the map of Luzhou on the coffee table.

"He Xia's transfer order to Luzhou has been issued, and the window of opportunity is only a few days away. While Zhao Lichun is in the capital and there is no leader in Handong, we should try to take as much as we can. Stopping now would be a real loss."

Liu Changchun stared at Shen Zhong for several seconds.

"Can you really handle things in Kyoto?"

Shen Zhong picked up his teacup and blew on the tea leaves floating on the surface of the water.

"Governor Liu, let me put it this way for you: the winds from Kyoto don't reach Handong."

There was no explanation, no analysis, just this one sentence.

But Liu Changchun gleaned something from those words. It wasn't blind confidence, nor was it youthful arrogance.

It was a kind of certainty that "I have a trump card in my hand, and this trump card is bigger than Su Zhenhai's."

Liu Changchun picked up his teacup and took a sip.

The Longjing tea went down my throat, the warm water sliding down my esophagus, just the right amount of heat. The cold sweat on my back didn't seem so bad anymore.

"Okay." He put down his teacup. "Regarding the handover of Hexi District, I'll urge Wang Jian to set off as soon as I get back today."

Shen nodded and said nothing more.

……

at the same time.

Kyoto, the main conference hall on the third floor of the Military Commission office building.

An expanded meeting of the Central Military Commission is underway.

The conference hall was of extremely high caliber, with long tables lined with high-ranking military officers, their stars gleaming. On the platform, the old leader who had personally dispatched Shen Zhong to Handong sat upright, his gaze piercing, listening to the General Staff's report on combat readiness.

His hair was completely white, but he stood ramrod straight, exuding an air of authority without anger.

Just then, below the rostrum, a committee member named Liu Qigang, wearing a general's star, was taking notes when a bodyguard quickly approached and whispered in his ear:

"Sir, someone called you and said it's urgent."

"Who?"

"Director Su of the Supervisory Commission."