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

"Two hundred and thirty-nine million nine hundred and fifty-four hundred yuan."

Zhao Dehan's voice was hoarse. He grabbed a wad of banknotes and held them under his nose, inhaling them greedily. "Ever since the first time, I've been unable to stop."

"These past four years have felt like a dream. I've been in a daze all the time. I love this feeling! Looking at this money is like looking at a harvest that's about to come."

Zhao Dehan threw the banknotes down and collapsed to the ground. "I didn't really think it was good; I just liked the smell. Now I'm awake from this dream."

Zhong Xiaoai completely ignored the corrupt official who was weeping on the ground. Only one thought occupied her mind: the account book.

Zhong Xiaoai raised her voice, pointing to the demolished wall and the cash scattered on the floor. "Find it now! Hidden compartments, secret compartments, floor cracks—look everywhere that can be hidden! I need that bribery ledger!"

The officers sprang into action immediately. A dozen or so men, wearing white gloves, began rummaging through the sea of ​​red money. Bundles of banknotes were moved aside. Beams of flashlights swept across every corner.

The team leader walked to the giant storage shelf. He tapped the bottom wooden shelf with his gloved hand. The sound was somewhat hollow. He immediately grabbed a small crowbar and pressed down hard on the edge of the shelf.

With a creak, the wooden plank warped.

Below was a flat, concealed metal compartment. The section chief reached in and pulled out a rusty iron box. The box wasn't locked. He simply lifted the lid. Inside lay a yellowed, private ledger.

Hearing the noise, Zhong Xiaoai immediately strode over. Her high heels clicked rapidly on the floor.

"What are you staring at! Is this a serious bribery record?!" Zhong Xiaoai questioned loudly.

"Director," the section chief said in a low voice, his voice filled with disbelief and astonishment. "This ledger contains nearly a hundred records of corruption. They are all kickbacks from project approvals handled by Zhao Dehan."

"But..." the section chief paused, "there are no solemn names on this."

These words hit Zhong Xiaoai hard. Her mind went blank.

"Impossible!" Zhong Xiaoai snatched the ledger from the director's hand.

She kept her head down, staring intently at the yellowed paper. The handwritten lines of blue-black ink were remarkably clear.

She flipped through the pages quickly, searching for records related to the Dafeng Factory and the Guangmingfeng project. She found it. Right in the middle of the ledger.

Date: [Date in a specific month of a specific year]. Project: Preliminary assessment of the second phase of the Guangmingfeng project, redevelopment of the Dafeng Factory site.

Amount: Five million yuan.

Zhong Xiaoai's breathing became increasingly rapid. Her chest heaved violently. The amount, time, and location of this dispute matched Cai Chenggong's report perfectly!

Cai Chenggong did not lie. This sum of illicit funds did indeed exist.

Zhong Xiaoai's finger slid down the line of text, stopping at the name of the bribe-giver at the end.

It's not written as "heavy" there.

The three characters were clearly written: Ding Yizhen.

The entire ledger, every single entry involving the illicit profits from the restructuring and asset reorganization of large private enterprises in Handong, the middleman who handled the transactions, the person who delivered tens or hundreds of millions of yuan to Zhao Dehan—all of them were Ding Yizhen, the vice mayor of Jingzhou City!

From beginning to end, there was no trace of heaviness. There was no record of any military funding flowing in.

Zhong Xiaoai's hands trembled more and more violently. The account books rattled in her hands.

A sudden explosion went through her mind. Reason, which had been clouded by anger, returned completely at that moment.

Cai Chenggong stopped a car in the middle of the night. There was that impeccable report. The evidence of corruption was so detailed, it even included passwords to overseas accounts.

Gao Yuliang's evasive maneuvering in the Political and Legal Affairs Commission office. That old fox had long seen through the flaws in the document. That's why Gao Yuliang absolutely refused to mobilize police forces to cooperate. Gao Yuliang knew this was a trap!

The Handong Military Region withdrew all its visible and hidden sentries overnight.

Shen Zhong wasn't afraid at all. He was deliberately feigning weakness, intentionally leaving the door wide open, and adopting a posture of destroying evidence and having a guilty conscience. He was trying to lure Zhong Xiaoai and her task force into attacking him like mad dogs.

When she realized the military's defenses were impenetrable, she turned back to Beijing to arrest the source, Zhao Dehan. Then, an anonymous email suddenly appeared on her encrypted phone. And that tracking path—without an IP address and automatically tripped.

All of these are meticulously crafted works!

Zhong Xiaoai clenched her teeth tightly, making a grinding sound.

She, the dignified deputy director of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and the eldest daughter of the Zhong family, was treated by Shen Zhong from beginning to end as a ruthless tool and hunting dog.

Shen Zhong accurately grasped her psychology. Knowing that Hou Liangping had been arrested, she was eager for revenge.

So he used himself as bait.

Then, through her, they ruthlessly broke through the heart defenses of the Handong Zhao Lichun Group!

A wave of extreme humiliation surged through Zhong Xiaoai's mind. Her face flushed crimson, and even the veins on her neck bulged.

She was manipulated. Used as a pawn. She thought she had struck with lightning speed, that she had grasped Shen Zhong's Achilles' heel. But in the end, she made the most crucial, fatal move on the chessboard Shen Zhong had laid out!

She wished she could lead her men back to Handong right now and tear that bastard Shen Zhong to pieces.

But she couldn't do it.

Her instincts and sense of discipline as a discipline inspection cadre left her no room for backing down or concealing anything. If she were to suppress the account books now, it would be a serious dereliction of duty. Even the Zhong family couldn't protect her.

Even if you know you're being used as a pawn, you have to bite the bullet and keep investigating! This is an open conspiracy!

Seeing Zhong Xiaoai's ashen face, the section chief tentatively asked, "Director, the signatures on these ledgers are all Ding Yizhen. Is there a serious problem with the report we received earlier?"

"Shut up!" Zhong Xiaoai interrupted sharply.

The section chief was startled and quickly shut his mouth.

Zhong Xiaoai paced back and forth in the empty living room, carrying an account book. The clatter of her high heels was irritating.

A dozen minutes later, Zhong Xiaoai slammed the account book heavily onto the marble coffee table.

She forced herself to swallow the humiliation she felt. She took out her phone and dialed a number.

The call was connected.

"Quarterly inspection. This is Zhong Xiaoai from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection." Zhong Xiaoai's voice was icy cold.

Ji Changming on the other end of the phone was clearly still awake. "Director Zhong, what are your instructions?"

"We've made a major breakthrough in Beijing. We've obtained crucial physical evidence," Zhong Xiaoai said rapidly. "Now, in the name of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, we've issued an order for assistance to the Handong Provincial Procuratorate."

"Immediately arrest Ding Yizhen, the vice mayor of Jingzhou City!"