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

Zhao Lichun got up from the armchair, walked to the desk, and pulled out a piece of paper that had been folded twice from the second drawer.

Organizational structure chart of Handong Province.

Unfolded and laid flat, his name was printed at the very top, branching downwards, densely covered with the names and positions of cadres at all levels.

Two fingers swipe down from top to bottom, skipping over a string of unimportant names, and finally stop at one spot.

Li Dakang, Secretary of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee.

Zhao Lichun tapped the name twice with his fingers.

The scene from the Standing Committee meeting resurfaced. Li Dakang jumped in at a crucial moment to deliver the finishing blow, framing Zhu Jichang and Zhou Guichun's problems as a matter of political stance, directly blocking any room for maneuver.

"Li Dakang..."

These three words were squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a chilling undertone.

Targeting Li Dakang serves two purposes: first, it establishes authority and shows everyone the consequences of betraying the Zhao family; second, it diverts the attention of the entire Handong officialdom from the Dafeng Factory.

one stone two bird.

But directly removing a deputy provincial-level official? The provincial party secretary has that power, but Li Dakang is, after all, a member of the provincial party committee standing committee. If we really go through the procedures to report it to higher levels, it will take at least a few months for the central government to process it, and by then it will be too late.

Zhao Lichun stood in front of the desk for half a minute, his right hand supporting himself on the edge of the desk, and his left hand pulling open the bottom drawer of the desk.

A black file folder, without any label, lay at the deepest part of the drawer.

Pull it out, open the seal, and several sheets of A4 paper slide out.

The heading bore a bold line of text: "Special Investigation Report on Ouyang Jing, President of Jingzhou City Bank."

Zhao Lichun turned to the first page and scanned it line by line.

Commercial loans were approved in violation of regulations, with kickbacks ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of yuan. The cases involved seven or eight projects, and each transaction was supported by internal bank statements and third-party transfer records.

This was a safety rope meant to control Li Dakang, but unexpectedly, Li Dakang became disobedient.

Then this rope is no longer for manipulation.

It is a noose.

Zhao Lichun closed the document, patted off non-existent dust from the paper, and pursed his lips.

Ouyang Jing is Li Dakang's wife; catching his wife is tantamount to slapping her husband in the face. If the news got out that the wife of a provincial standing committee member was guilty of embezzlement and bribery, Li Dakang's political career would be over.

He picked up the black cell phone on the right side of the desk and dialed a number.

It rang twice, and then the other end answered.

"Secretary Zhao?"

Qi Tongwei's voice was visibly tired, and there was the sound of papers turning in the background, probably because he was still writing that "Dafeng Factory Incident Report" that no one would ever read.

"Tongwei, something's come up. Come see me at No. 17, Cuihu Road, Chengnan immediately."

"Secretary Zhao, at this time—"

"Stop talking nonsense, come on."

The phone hangs up.

Qi Tongwei stared at his phone screen for three seconds, then pulled the half-page report he had written from the table and stuffed it into the shredder.

"Sizzle—"

The note fell out of the exit and landed on the ground.

He grabbed his coat from the back of the chair, picked up his car keys from the coffee table, went out, went downstairs, and started the engine.

The whole process took less than two minutes.

No. 17 Cuihu Road.

It's a three-story detached house with ordinary beige paint on the exterior walls. A black car with civilian license plates is parked in the yard. It looks no different from the surrounding residential buildings.

Qi Tongwei's car was parked outside the gate, and before he turned off the engine, a young man in a dark jacket came out from the side gate to greet him.

Xiaobai is Zhao Lichun's newly appointed secretary.

"Director Qi, Secretary Zhao is in the study on the second floor."

Qi Tongwei nodded and followed Xiaobai through the living room on the first floor and up the spiral staircase.

The study door was half open.

Zhao Lichun sat behind his desk, a black file folder spread out in front of him. The desk lamp only illuminated a small part of the desktop, leaving him half-hidden in the shadows.

"sit."

As soon as Qi Tongwei sat down, a document was thrown across the table and slid to his side.

"Flip it over."

Qi Tongwei picked it up, turned to the first page, scanned two lines, and then his fingers stopped moving.

Ouyang Jing. Accepted bribes.

Flipping further, there were bank statements, transfer vouchers, and signed approval forms—everything was there.

"Secretary Zhao, these things... are enough to arrest someone."

"Of course it's enough."

Zhao Lichun leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands in front of his lower abdomen.

"I want you to use the resources of the provincial department to verify this evidence and then take the person into custody."

Qi Tongwei's Adam's apple bobbed. He closed the document but didn't put it down, pressing his hands on it.

"Secretary Zhao, I have to tell you the truth—I'm just a deputy director-general, while Ouyang Jing is backed by Li Dakang, a member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee. If I were to touch his wife, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to withstand his wrath."

Are you afraid of Li Dakang?

"It's not fear, it's the procedure—"

"I'll cover for the program."

Zhao Lichun leaned forward from his chair and tapped the table twice with two fingers, each tap carrying weight.

"I'll act first and report later; I'll take the blame if anything goes wrong."

There was a pause.

"I remember your department head is already of retirement age. If this matter is resolved, I will personally nominate your name at the Standing Committee meeting."

"Once you become the Director of the Public Security Bureau, the position of Vice Governor will be yours. This is not against the rules. Can the Directors of the Public Security Bureaus in the neighboring provinces also become Vice Governors?"

These words made Qi Tongwei's facial muscles twitch involuntarily.

The gap between a deputy director and a director is not just half a rank; it's an insurmountable chasm.

Zhao Lichun saw all of this, stood up, walked around the desk to Qi Tongwei, and looked down at him.

"Tongwei, this operation must succeed; failure is not an option."

"Bring Ouyang Jing back."

"Don't worry about Li Dakang's feelings."

Qi Tongwei stood up from the chair, put the folder under his arm, and straightened his back.

"Don't worry, Secretary Zhao."