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

The interrogation room in the office building of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Qi Tongwei was handcuffed to a chair and had not eaten for two days.

The metal ring on my wrist was tightly gripping my skin, and it rubbed painfully with the slightest movement.

My stomach churned, and acid reflux surged up my throat.

The scene in the study at No. 17 Cuihu Road kept replaying in his mind.

Secretary Zhao Lichun sat in a large chair and said to him personally, "I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. The position of Director of the Public Security Bureau is yours."

What is this? This is a promise from the leaders of Handong No. 1!

Stopping Li Dakang's car was indeed a bit reckless. But so what? Li Dakang's wife was suspected of accepting huge bribes, and as the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau, he handled the matter with special urgency and arrested the suspect.

As long as Secretary Zhao puts in the effort, this punishment won't stop him from getting promoted and making a fortune!

"That old man Tian Guofu is just going through the motions," Qi Tongwei thought to himself. The Discipline Inspection Commission emphasizes evidence in its investigations, but he was leading the arrests on official business. As long as Secretary Zhao gave the order from above, who would dare to hold a grudge?

"Tsk, that's what you call political investment. How can you get to power without taking some risks?"

Qi Tongwei muttered to himself. Did that Chen Hai kid even know what it meant to work hard? Did that rich kid Hou Liangping even know what it meant to climb the social ladder? They were born with everything, while he, Qi Tongwei, had climbed his way up from the mountains step by step!

For the sake of his future, he was willing to propose to Liang Lu, who was more than ten years older than him, even trampling on his dignity.

If he can just get through these few days, once he gets out, puts on the vice governor's badge, and wears a white shirt, it will be a completely different world.

We'll have to go to the Mountain and Water Manor to open a bottle of Romanée-Conti and have a good drink with Xiaoqin.

The family compound of the Provincial Party Committee in Handong, a two-story building.

In the study, Gao Yuliang sat behind his large desk. He hadn't slept a wink all night.

His dark gray executive jacket was stained with a bit of fallen cigarette ash. The copy of "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" on the table was open.

Teacher Wu pushed open the door and came in carrying a bowl of millet porridge and a small dish of side dishes. She placed the tray on the table.

"Old Gao, have something to eat."

Gao Yuliang waved his hand. He reached into his pocket to take out a cigarette, but then stopped.

"I have no appetite."

Teacher Wu picked up a damp towel and wiped the dust off the edge of the table.

"I heard about what happened at the Standing Committee meeting. Tongwei... he's still being held by the Discipline Inspection Commission. As his teacher, shouldn't you go and see him?"

"Go see him? Why would I go see him! This kid is incredibly audacious! He dared to mobilize dozens of armed special police officers to stop the official car of a provincial party committee member on the highway! Is this something a human would do? He's a pig-brain!"

Gao Yuliang raised his voice eight octaves and slammed his hand on the table.

"Zhao Lichun just makes empty promises, and he dares to swallow them whole! Others treat him like a knife, but he happily goes to be cannon fodder! I repeatedly told him to follow the procedures, but did he listen? He broke ties with me, thinking he'd found a stronger patron! Now look what's happened, he's dug himself into this mess!"

Teacher Wu sighed.

"Don't get angry and ruin your health. No matter what, everyone outside knows he's your student. If you go and see him now, no one can say anything."

This sentence served as a wake-up call for Gao Yuliang.

That's right. Political separation cannot remain just words; it must be put into action.

I need to go to the Discipline Inspection Commission and publicly sever ties with this traitor. Otherwise, this fire will eventually burn me.

"Prepare the car. We're going to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection." Gao Yuliang stood up and straightened his jacket collar.

The interrogation room in the Discipline Inspection Commission office building.

Clear footsteps echoed down the corridor.

The lock on the iron gate clicked, and Qi Tongwei immediately looked up, craning his neck.

People are here! It must be Secretary Zhao who sent them to bail him out! Or maybe Tian Guofu couldn't withstand the pressure and came to release him himself!

He gripped the armrests of the iron chair with both hands, his back ramrod straight.

The door to the observation room next door was pushed open.

A figure wearing a dark gray executive jacket, glasses, and carrying a thermos walked in.

Gao Yuliang!

"Teacher Gao!"

Gao Yuliang stood in the observation room, separated by a thick one-way glass partition and sturdy iron bars. He stood straight and still, without making any unnecessary movements.

The disciplinary committee staff left and closed the door behind them.

Qi Tongwei leaned forward, causing the iron chair to creak.

"Teacher, has Secretary Zhao already spoken to the Discipline Inspection Commission? How are the procedures going? Can I leave now? I followed Secretary Zhao's instructions exactly last night!"

Qi Tongwei fired off a barrage of questions, impatient and eager.

Gao Yuliang placed the thermos on the table next to him. The metal bottom of the thermos tapped against the table, making a crisp clanging sound.

"Tongwei, are you still asleep?"

A few words, devoid of any warmth, came crashing down on me.

Qi Tongwei was stunned for half a second.

"Teacher, what do you mean by that? Ouyang Jing's bribery is an undeniable fact, and my arrest is perfectly justified!"

"Arrest someone? Have you arrested anyone?"

Gao Yuliang took a step forward and pressed himself against the iron railing.

"You led eight vehicles and over thirty fully armed special police officers, chasing Li Dakang on the highway for twenty-eight minutes! And what did you do in the end? You made a complete fool of yourself in front of the entire Handong district!"

Qi Tongwei's face tightened.

"This was an accident! Ouyang Jing can't escape! The evidence is overwhelming! Li Dakang can't get away with this! As long as Secretary Zhao intervenes, everything can be settled!"

Gao Yuliang shook his head, his face full of disappointment.

"You expect Zhao Lichun to protect you? You expect Zhao Lichun to make an example of Li Dakang?"

Qi Tongwei stiffened his neck and stubbornly retorted.

"Absolutely! Secretary Zhao has already promised me the position of Director of the Public Security Bureau! His word is law!"

"Utterly stupid!"

Gao Yuliang slammed his hand on the iron railing. The metal hummed loudly.

"The Standing Committee meeting this morning has already concluded. Zhao Lichun did indeed bring up Ouyang Jing's bribery case against Li Dakang."

Qi Tongwei rubbed his wrists excitedly.

"Li Dakang is completely finished this time! He's probably lost his position as the top official in Jingzhou!"

"Li Dakang is completely unharmed!"

Gao Yuliang speaks clearly, and every word is piercing.

"He produced his divorce agreement with Ouyang Jing in front of all the Standing Committee members! Moreover, Li Dakang had already reported the divorce to Governor Liu and Tian Guofu last month! It's all legal and compliant!"

Qi Tongwei's mouth gaped open. His breathing became completely erratic.

"This...how is this possible?"

Quickly reviewing the timeline of last night in my mind, I realized why Li Dakang was laughing so mockingly in the car. We'd been made a fool of!

"What about Secretary Zhao? Secretary Zhao can't just admit defeat like that! The big boss has the old secretary backing him up in Kyoto!" Qi Tongwei was still unwilling to give up.

"Zhao Lichun?"

Gao Yuliang looked at this hopeless mess.

"He was completely shut down by Liu Changchun and Tian Guofu at the Standing Committee meeting! Not a single person in the entire meeting room spoke up for him! He was so angry that he suffered a heart attack and is currently in the intensive care unit of the cadre hospital!"

Qi Tongwei's chest contracted violently, and his vision went black.

What the hell?

Gao Yuliang continued to mercilessly stab Qi Tongwei in the back, pointing his finger at Qi Tongwei's nose.

"You're nothing but a rag that Zhao Lichun threw out to divert the military's attention! Now that the rag's stained with shit, he's too busy shaking it off to care whether you live or die! What kind of mush is in your brain?!"

If it weren't for the iron chair supporting him, Qi Tongwei would have collapsed to the ground long ago.

"Impossible...this is impossible...Secretary Zhao told me himself! He'll take the blame if anything goes wrong! He even promised me the position of Director of the Public Security Bureau..."

"Resist? What can he use to resist?" Gao Yuliang put his hands behind his back.

"You illegally mobilized armed police forces, disregarded procedural justice, and intercepted the provincial party committee member's official car! Do you think Zhao Lichun would admit that he gave the order?"

Qi Tongwei felt a chill run through his body. Even his bones felt cold.

"I, Gao Yuliang, have already informed the entire province that I was completely unaware of the Public Security Bureau's actions! They weren't approved or signed off on by me! It was all your unauthorized action, Qi Tongwei! Bai Jianfeng of the court and Ji Changming of the procuratorate have both received strict orders to thoroughly investigate all acts of overstepping their authority!"

Qi Tongwei's dream of becoming the head of the Public Security Bureau and the vice governor was shattered.

He struggled frantically, and the restraint rings on his wrists bled profusely.

"Teacher! Help me!"