After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

"Step over my dead body first."

Gu Zheng's voice wasn't loud, but it exploded like a grenade in the quiet office.

The air froze, filled with murderous intent.

Li Jian's perpetually expressionless face twitched violently. The two officers behind him, their hands already on their holsters, stared intently at Gu Zheng, as if facing a formidable enemy.

In the entire North City Military Region, you could count on one hand the number of people who dared to speak to Li Jian like that.

The only person who would dare to risk his life to protect a "suspect" is Gu Zheng, that madman!

[Mad dog.]

Li Jian cursed inwardly, but his eyes grew even colder.

"Commander Gu, please watch your words." He took a step forward, advancing instead of retreating, his soldierly demeanor rebuking him. "It's perfectly normal for the Security Department to handle cases. Anyone who obstructs them for any reason is violating regulations! You're a soldier too; you should know the rules."

"Rules?" Gu Zheng laughed, his laughter laced with sarcasm. He tightened his grip on Ye Zhen's arm, as if asserting ownership. "Minister Li, you're talking to me about rules?"

He released Ye Zhen, leaned on his crutches, and dragged his injured leg, step by step, to Li Jian.

Even though he was limping, his imposing presence was like a mountain, making it hard for people to breathe.

"Fine, today I'll teach you what the hell rules are!"

Gu Zheng suddenly lowered his voice, a voice that only he and Li Jian could hear, yet it carried more weight than any shout.

"The person lying in the ICU is the head of the Capital Military Commission's Discipline Inspection Group. He was sent by secret orders from the leaders of the Military Commission to investigate the Beicheng Military Region's military equipment procurement and financial deficits over the past five years."

Li Jian's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints!

This information is top secret! Someone of his rank has absolutely no right to know it!

Gu Zheng's dark eyes were like two bottomless, icy pools, fixed intently on him: "His car accident was murder. Last night's assassination attempt was to silence him. Commissar Zhang's death was a frame-up."

He paused, and each word he uttered struck Li Jian's heart like a heavy hammer.

"Right now, the only survivor is Team Leader Ji. The only one who can keep him alive is the woman behind me."

"Are you taking her away now so that the Central Military Commission's envoy will die in the North City Military Region hospital?"

"Will this responsibility fall on you, Li Jian, or on the person behind you?"

"Can you shoulder this enormous burden?!"

A barrage of questions, like a series of cannon shots, left Li Jian pale and his forehead instantly covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.

He wasn't stupid; he understood instantly.

This is not a simple case of framing a murderer; it's a major upheaval within the military region! It's a political infighting that could cost you your life!

He thought he was investigating a case, but he was actually being used as a pawn and pushed out into this minefield!

Li Jian's breathing suddenly became heavy.

Just as his mind raced, weighing the pros and cons, Ye Zhen, who had been silent all along, spoke up.

Her voice was cool and calm, yet carried an undeniable professional authority.

"Minister Li."

She stepped out from behind Gu Zheng, stood beside him, and faced Li Jian's sharp gaze.

"I don't need anyone to protect me," she said calmly. "I'm just stating the facts."

She took out the notebook recording patients' vital signs from her white coat pocket and opened it.

"Patient Ji Guoxun, male, 58 years old. 36 hours after the 'damage control surgery', his vital signs are currently stable, but he is still in the pre-emergence stage of 'multiple organ dysfunction syndrome'."

"His kidney, liver, and coagulation functions are all at critical levels. Any slight stimulus, such as a minor adjustment to the medication dosage, a change in the infusion rate, or even changing to a doctor unfamiliar with his condition, could cause irreversible organ failure."

She raised her eyes, her gaze as precise and calm as a scalpel.

"In other words, he is alive now because I used the most precise dosage to establish an extremely fragile drug balance for him. This balance can only be maintained by me alone."

She closed the notebook, looked at Li Jian, and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"If you take me away, it's like you're signing his death certificate yourself."

"According to regulations, Minister Li knows better than I what crime it is to destroy key evidence and witnesses in a major case."

"So, it's not that Commander Gu won't let you take me with you, it's the 'rules' that prevent you from taking me with you."

【pretty!】

Gu Zheng looked at the woman beside him, his eyes almost overflowing with admiration.

One uses power to oppress people, the other uses expertise to block the way.

Double strangulation, flawless!

Li Jian's face had turned from deathly pale to ashen.

He was caught in a dilemma, with no way out.

Take Ye Zhen away? He dared not gamble with Team Leader Ji's life, much less bear the charge of treason.

Not take them with him? He, the newly appointed head of the task force, was immediately refuted by a commander and a junior doctor. Where would he put his face? How could he lead the team in the future?

The office was deathly silent.

After a long pause, Li Jian took a deep breath, as if he had made a difficult decision.

He waved his hand, signaling his two tense subordinates to leave first.

After the door closed, he looked at Gu Zheng, his voice hoarse: "Commander Gu, I need a guarantee."

"explain."

"First, from now on, Comrade Ye Zhen is not allowed to leave this office and ICU ward even for a moment. She will be under my surveillance 24 hours a day. This is called 'residential surveillance,' which is in accordance with regulations."

"Secondly, during the investigation, you will need to cooperate unconditionally with all my inquiries."

"Third," Li Jian's gaze turned to Ye Zhen, a hint of complexity in his eyes, "If the patient... I mean if, the condition relapses, you must notify me immediately, without concealing anything."

This is a compromise, and also his way of saving face.

Gu Zheng twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't say anything, which was taken as tacit consent.

"Okay." Li Jian nodded, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and turned to leave.

As he reached the door, he suddenly stopped, without turning around, and simply left a sentence behind his back to the two of them.

"On the penicillin bottle in Political Commissar Zhang's office, there was no one else's fingerprint besides his."

After saying that, he opened the door and strode out as if a raging flood was behind him.

Silence returned to the office.

Gu Zheng watched Li Jian's disappearing figure, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes.

This guy isn't completely incompetent.

The absence of a second person's fingerprints suggests that the scene was staged.

Li Jian was indirectly reminding them that he believed it, and that he was going to start investigating.

Gu Zheng withdrew his gaze and looked down at Ye Zhen. The sharpness and domineering aura he had just exuded vanished instantly, leaving only a hint of fatigue.

"Are you scared?" he asked the same question again.

Ye Zhen shook her head, walked to the table, poured herself a glass of water, and drank it all in one gulp.

"I just feel that your status as my 'fiancée' is a bit too hot to handle." She put down her cup and laughed self-deprecatingly.

Gu Zheng chuckled softly, the vibration in his chest carrying a strange, comforting power.

Just as he was about to say something, Xiao Wang walked in quickly with a serious expression, holding an encrypted phone.

"Boss, this is the Gu family's private line in the capital, the old man's."

Gu Zheng's expression changed instantly.

He took the phone, and after listening for only a second, a truly serious expression appeared on his face, which always carried a hint of arrogance.

He didn't speak, he just listened, but his back unconsciously straightened up, as if he were receiving a military order.

A full minute later, he replied in a deep voice, "Yes, I understand."

The atmosphere in the entire office changed after I hung up the phone.

If Gu Zheng was a wolf poised to pounce just now, then now he is a tiger locked in a cage, exuding a suppressed rage.

Ye Zhen looked at him, and her heart sank inexplicably.

"What's wrong?"

Gu Zheng raised his head, his deep, dark eyes swirling with emotions as complex as the sea before a storm.

He stared at her, as if trying to see right through her.

After a long while, he slowly spoke, his voice hoarse and carrying a sense of powerlessness that he himself was unaware of.

"Someone from above has arrived."

"A special investigation team has been dispatched from Beijing to take over the cases of Team Leader Ji and Political Commissar Zhang."