Nominal: Who isn't a son-in-law?

That night, Zhao Lichun was wearing a coat, his face expressionless, and he kept smoking a cigarette. The ashtray on the coffee table in front of him was piled high with cigarette butts, and the room was filled with smoke.

Thinking about the phone call that afternoon, his mind was racing.

Looking back on the days of participating in the war, braving wind and rain, and navigating through a hail of bullets.

I imagined the days when I would transition to a political career, gradually rise to the top of Handong, and wield great power and influence.

I thought back to when I came here, I raised my hand and clapped, and now I'm just living one day at a time.

Zhao Lichun picked up the photo album beside him and looked at the photos of his deceased daughter-in-law and his grandson who was still an infant at the time.

This was the sin of Zhao Ruilong, and after he found out, he secretly protected the mother and child.

Zhao Xiaohui, who had been called over, looked worried.

But then Zhao Lichun suddenly asked, "Xiao Hui, tell me, how high a rank is considered high?"

Before she could answer, Zhao Lichun continued, "Let go, preserve a spark."

After saying this, Zhao Lichun seemed to have lost all his strength and slumped back on the sofa.

"I will keep Dagong calm. He will be fine. Let the little guy take your mother's surname and live a peaceful life. Let's call him Chen Ping'an."

Zhao Xiaohui nodded heavily, her eyes moist, and said, "Okay, Dad, don't worry." She paused, then hesitated before asking, "Then, what about Ruilong?"

"If it's going to rain, it'll rain; if a mother wants to remarry, she'll remarry. Let it be!"

Zhao Lichun waved his hand. From the moment he received that call, he knew he had to back down.

But he knew even more that his son couldn't escape punishment for the crimes he had committed, and he himself couldn't bring himself to say it, not even at home.

Otherwise, Zhao Dagong might also be implicated. When the fishing net is caught, someone has to retrieve something, right?

"I can't control what you do anymore. Remember, there's a limit."

Zhao Lichun said softly.

Then, she propped herself up and slowly walked towards the room.

Watching his retreating figure, Zhao Xiaohui wiped her eyes, sighed, took out her phone, and sent a message: "Reporting to Your Majesty's Golden Platform."

"Ruilong, this is all I can do."

She then went outside the house. A car was parked in the yard, and Gu Wangbei was sitting in the driver's seat smoking.

"Why did I suddenly call you here?"

Seeing her get into the car, Gu Wangbei started the engine and asked as he did so.

"Dad has let go," Zhao Xiaohui said calmly.

Gu Wangbei paused, his pupils shrinking slightly. "Why did it come to this?"

"The pressure is too much. Dad is here, but he can't support the whole family alone. My brother-in-law's father is in Yangcheng, so he can't help him from afar." After a pause, Zhao Xiaohui said in a low voice, "Let's just leave it at that. It's better for him to retire early."

Upon hearing this, Gu Wangbei remained silent, stepped on the gas, turned the steering wheel, and drove away from the yard.

In the room on the second floor of the courtyard, Zhao Lichun watched the car drive away quietly, sighed softly, and murmured, "Heaven is watching what people do. Even the Great Sage Equaling Heaven couldn't enter the Heavenly Palace back then, and was completely fooled. How can we mortals possibly turn the tide? What a joke, what a joke."

……

The next morning, at the guesthouse of the Public Security Bureau of Handong Province.

Cai Chenggong, who was fast asleep, was woken up and roughly pulled out of bed.

"What do you want?"

Cai Chenggong was flanked by two policemen, his face full of panic. This didn't look like they were going to continue interrogating him. Could it be that they were going to execute him?

That's not right either, it hasn't even gone through the court process yet.

The two policemen ignored him and dragged him outside.

Just then, a police car drove up.

One of the policemen driving Cai Chenggong looked at the car, stepped forward, frowned, and asked, "Why did you change cars?"

"My old car was low on gas and had some engine problems, so I just picked a random one. This is a new car from last year, it's definitely more prestigious than the old one, right?"

The young policeman in the driver's seat patted the steering wheel and said with a smile.

"Alright, this is it. Remember to strictly follow the route when escorting prisoners; that's the rule."

After glancing at his watch, the policeman gave instructions, then turned around and, together with another officer, escorted Cai Chenggong into the car, handcuffing him tightly to the back seat.

Aren't you coming together?

"We have other missions, just escorting them to the Anti-Corruption Bureau. It's not far, what are you afraid of? You're new here, we're giving you a chance to train, and you're not happy about it? Or should I find someone else?"

"No, no, Brother Shen, I can do it myself."

The police officer in the car quickly started the vehicle and drove off.

"What a waste of such a good car."

Brother Shen looked at the police cars merging into the traffic and said regretfully.

……

Inside the police car, Tsai Cheng-cheng was tightly handcuffed to the back seat, writhing violently. "No, why are you taking me to the anti-corruption bureau?"

"How would I know?"

The police officer driving the car didn't look back into the tunnel. When he reached an intersection, he glanced at the route map, turned, and drove onto a wide avenue where there were very few cars.

Cai Chenggong looked out the car window at the road outside, feeling a little panicked. He frowned and said, "Officer, why are you taking such a long detour? There are fewer cars here, but the road is far."

"Nonsense, of course I know it's a long way, but we have fixed routes for escorting and transferring prisoners. Just shut up." The policeman was getting annoyed by the noise.

After more than ten minutes, the police car slowed down after passing a large roundabout.

There's construction going on nearby, and there are a lot of dump trucks.

"We're almost there, stop whining."

Cai Chenggong in the back seat kept groaning and complaining like a chicken, which only made him more and more annoyed.

"Try being handcuffed like that!"

"You've gone too far! How can you treat a suspect like this? I'm not a criminal, the court hasn't convicted me!" Cai Chenggong shouted with a bitter face. Just then, he caught a glimpse of a large truck slowly approaching from the side and quickly yelled, "Turn left! There's a car next to us!"

The policeman glanced at the rearview mirror, frowned, and said, "How is this person driving?" He then tapped the accelerator to speed up.

Beside him, in the red truck, a slovenly-dressed driver watched the police car speed up, but didn't press the accelerator, just trailing far behind. Then he picked up the Xifeng liquor he had bought from Qin Province and took a few big gulps.

Inside the carriage, dozens of bags of cement were piled up, neatly arranged on one side, while the other side was empty.

He followed the truck to a bend in the road, and when the police car in front stopped at a red light, he floored the accelerator. The truck's speed increased rapidly, and when it reached him, he turned the steering wheel all the way to the floor.

Instantly, one side of the truck lifted up, then it completely left the ground, flipped over, landed on the police car, and slid forward for a distance.

"Mist Grass"

"Call the police! Call the police!"

"Call an ambulance immediately!"

Passersby on the surrounding streets who witnessed this scene quickly took out their mobile phones.

On the rooftop of an unfinished building not far away, a man in black lay prone on the ground, a sniper rifle set up in front of him. After carefully examining the area through the scope, he grinned crookedly, thinking that he didn't need to be the top assassin; he could still get the money.

Immediately, they packed up their equipment, got up, and left.

A dozen minutes later, police cars and ambulances arrived at the scene simultaneously.

A crane was brought in from a nearby construction site to lift the large truck to the side.

The police car's frame was revealed to be crushed underneath.

"The deceased—no, the injured—can still be saved!"

The doctor leaned closer and took a look; the policeman in the driver's seat was huddled underneath, unconscious.

Cai Chenggong, sitting in the back seat, was in a much worse state. His head was bleeding profusely, and his wrists were completely ripped off by the handcuffs, leaving his skin hanging loose and bleeding profusely.

The doctor reached out and checked, and found a faint breath.

"Quick, pull it out."

"Stay away to prevent the car from exploding."

Soon, with everyone's help, the two were carefully placed on stretchers and carried into the ambulance.

"Luckily, your comrade was driving a new car, and it had been structurally reinforced, so it's sturdy, otherwise..."

The doctor glanced at the police car, shook his head, and said something.

Upon hearing this, Brother Shen squinted at the police car and said calmly, "Please treat him as soon as possible. To be honest, he was new last year, and this is his first time escorting a prisoner."

"Don't worry, we'll use the best medicine!"

……

Hou Liangping, Chen Hai, and others from the Anti-Corruption Bureau were preparing to go to the Procuratorate to get approvals when Lu Yike ran off the bus.

"The car that was transporting Cai Chenggong just had an accident. The news came from the provincial department that it was run over by a drunk truck."

"What?" Hou Liangping's eyes widened, and he quickly asked, "How is he?"

"He's been taken to the hospital for emergency treatment, but we don't know the specifics yet," Lu Yike said, shaking her head.

*Slap*

Hou Liangping slammed his fist on the steering wheel.

"I knew it! There must be something wrong with them not letting us pick them up! Large trucks aren't allowed on the way from the provincial department; they must have taken a detour."

"No, we have to arrest Liu Xinjian right away," Hou Liangping said as he hailed the taxi. "You guys go and keep watch over Cai Chenggong immediately, and request the Municipal Public Security Bureau to send people to assist with his protection."