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

The air in the study grew cold.

Qi Tongwei was stunned for two or three seconds, then stood up from his chair.

He walked to the desk, picked up the peaked cap, held it upright with both hands, and placed it securely on his head.

The shadow of the hat brim covered half of his face.

"Secretary Gao, you are getting on in years and prefer to act cautiously, which I understand."

He took two steps back towards the door and placed his hand on the doorknob.

"Then I will gladly take the credit for capturing Ouyang Jing this time."

"I really want to improve!"

The study door was slammed shut from the outside with considerable force, causing the door frame to vibrate and hum twice.

The sound of leather shoes stomping on the floor echoed down the corridor, the rhythm quick and each step carrying an air of "I'm the best in the world."

Teacher Wu poked half her body out of the kitchen carrying a plate of freshly sliced ​​braised beef.

"Tongwei, why are you leaving already? The braised pork isn't even ready yet—"

"Teacher Wu, there's an urgent matter in the hall, so we'll have to cancel today. Thank you for your trouble."

Before he could finish speaking, he had already reached the entrance. In the time it took to change his shoes, without even turning his head, the front door opened and closed, and he was gone.

Teacher Wu stood in the corridor with a plate in her hand and glanced towards the study.

"Teacher Gao, what's wrong with Tongwei?"

No one answered.

In the study, Gao Yuliang sat on the sofa, holding a teacup in his hand, the lid of which was placed aside, the tea already cold.

Gao Yuliang got up from the sofa, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth along the two-meter-long aisle between the desk and the windowsill.

One step, two steps, three steps, turn back.

Qi Tongwei's words were still swirling in my mind.

This is the first time in Handong that someone has directly taken action against a family member of a provincial party committee member.

Seven years ago, Li Weimin, the deputy mayor of Lincheng, was investigated. At that time, the secretary of the Lincheng Municipal Party Committee was Li Dakang. The assessment from above was that "the leadership team was unstable and the main leader lacked the ability to manage the team." Li Dakang's nomination for the Standing Committee, which was a sure thing, was suppressed for two years.

He himself, the steady and pragmatic Party Secretary of Lüzhou City, was the first to be admitted to the Standing Committee.

By targeting Ouyang Jing and discrediting Li Dakang, Zhao Lichun will also make those above him think that this person cannot control his own backyard.

But Li Dakang was just a secretary of a prefecture-level city seven years ago; now he is a member of the provincial party committee standing committee, which has a much worse impact.

When the news reached Kyoto, the first thing the higher-ups thought of wasn't whether Li Dakang could control the backyard.

What's wrong with Handong? Is the leadership about to fall apart? Does Zhao Lichun, as the top leader, still have any control?

They dug a hole to bury others, and ended up loosening the entire foundation.

What kind of game is this? This is terrible.

I started walking again and went back and forth two more times.

Zhao Lichun couldn't possibly be unaware of this, unless he had been driven to the point of disregarding everything.

Dafeng Factory was taken over by the military, and more than 200 thugs were sent to the military detention center. Once Chang Chenghu opened his mouth, Shanshui Group would be next.

If Shanshui Group moves upwards, Zhao Ruilong won't be able to escape.

After Zhao Ruilong's incident, Zhao Lichun's retirement life was no longer about fishing and gardening, but about eating instant noodles behind bars.

So he got anxious.

When things get desperate, they'll try to drag others down with them, distract them from the attack, or drag them down with them.

Qi Tongwei thought he was a chosen general, but in reality he was just a human shield pushed out to take the bullets.

Gao Yuliang stood by the window and looked down at the neatly trimmed black pine bonsai.

The branch that was just cut off is still draped over the newspaper, its cut clean and the sap dried.

I cut off the branches that I had nurtured for three years without a second thought, without feeling any remorse.

A person is not a bonsai.

A twenty-year teacher-student relationship cannot be severed with a single snip of a pair of scissors.

He picked up the gardening shears from the windowsill with his right hand and shoved the broken branch off the newspaper into the trash can.

Then he turned around, walked to the desk, and picked up the internal phone.

The first number was dialed and rang three times.

"Dean Bai, I am Gao Yuliang."

The sound of a chair being moved came from the other end of the phone; Bai Jianfeng was clearly getting ready to leave.

"Secretary Gao, what are your instructions?"

"It's not really an instruction, just letting you know in advance."

Gao Yuliang switched the phone to his other hand and rested it on the edge of the table.

"In recent cases involving the family members of provincial-level officials, your court must strictly review the procedures and ensure that no step is taken lightly."

Bai Jianfeng paused for a moment on the other end.

"Secretary Gao, is there any specific case involved—"

"I can't go into specifics, just do as I say."

Bai Jianfeng was a smart man; he had heard enough from what he had said.

"Secretary Gao, rest assured, procedural justice is the bottom line, and I will personally oversee it."

"Um."

The phone hangs up.

The second number was dialed immediately afterward.

This time it rang five times before he answered, and Ji Changming's voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't had enough rest.

"Secretary Gao."

"Old Ji, there's something I need to tell you."

"Withdraw all the personnel from your institute who were sent to the Public Security Bureau to assist in the case."

There was a two-second silence on Ji Changming's end.

"Secretary Gao, the joint operation by several task forces is still underway—"

"Withdraw everything."

There is no room for negotiation.

"Furthermore, from now on, without a written document from the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Provincial Procuratorate shall not issue any arrest warrants involving family members of provincial-level cadres."

Not even one.

"Whoever signs it is responsible."

Ji Changming remained silent for a long time on the other end of the line, the sound of his pen scratching on the paper faintly audible, clearly he was taking notes.

"Secretary Gao, I've got it."

Put the phone back.

Gao Yuliang stood in front of the table, his hands supporting him on the surface, his head bowed, maintaining this posture for about ten seconds.

Two orders were issued: one to shut down the courts, and the other to block the procuratorate.

Even if Qi Tongwei rushed in front of Ouyang Jing with Zhao Lichun's imperial sword, what could he do without the cooperation of the court and the arrest warrant from the procuratorate?

Are you using handcuffs as decorations?

I glanced up at the clock on the wall; it was a little past ten in the morning.

He tapped his fingers twice on the table, then picked up the internal phone and dialed his secretary's extension.

"Xiao He, come here and give me a little nudge."

A dozen minutes later, the door opened, and Secretary Xiao He strode in.

"Secretary Gao."

"The entire schedule for this afternoon has been changed to a field research trip."

The secretary flipped through the notebook in her hand.

"You have a symposium for the political and legal system at 2 PM, scheduled for 3:30 PM—"

"Cancel everything. I'm going to Luzhou to inspect the grassroots development of the political and legal system."

Xiao He was stunned for a moment, then quickly lowered his head to take notes.

"Get the car ready within half an hour. You can just get the research materials from the archives; don't worry about being too particular."

"Okay, Secretary."

Xiao He turned and left.

Gao Yuliang took a plain gray jacket off the hanger, changed out of his meticulously ironed Zhongshan suit, and hung it back up.

He lifted the briefcase from the table; inside were two things—a briefing on political and legal work and a copy of "Fifteen Years of Wanli" that he had read several times.

That's enough. Going to Luzhou isn't like going to war.

I paused for a moment when I reached the door of the study.

I glanced back at the black pine bonsai.

Three years of hard work have resulted in a lush and beautifully shaped plant.

No matter how beautiful a bonsai is, it still needs to be moved indoors during a storm.

Let those who think they are towering trees bear the storms outside.

The chauffeured car was waiting at the entrance of the provincial party committee compound; it was a black Audi with dark tinted windows.

The secretary opened the back door, and Gao Yuliang bent down and crawled inside.

"Let's go."

The car smoothly drove out of the provincial party committee compound's gate and merged into the traffic flow in Jingzhou.

The street outside the window flashed by, and Gao Yuliang leaned back in the leather seat of the back seat, one arm resting on the window armrest.

Qi Tongwei's smug face flashed through my mind.

"Too eager to improve"—these five words are a death knell.

The downfall of the Zhao family gang did not begin at the Standing Committee meeting, nor did it begin at Dafeng Factory.

It started from the moment people like Qi Tongwei began to get arrogant.

The view of Jingzhou outside the car window gradually receded into the distance; buildings turned into fields, and the median strip of the highway rushed past.

"Xiao He".

The secretary in the front row immediately turned her head.

"Pass down this message: in the next few days, anyone who tries to interfere in the Public Security Bureau's cases under the guise of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission—"

"Immediately suspended from duty pending investigation."

No one shall be exempt.