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

Inside a heavily guarded courtyard house.

The sudden ringing of the red telephone shattered the tranquility of the room.

Old Xu sat behind his large rosewood desk, holding a progress report on the operations of the Handong Military Region. Hearing the phone ring, he didn't answer immediately, letting the urgent ringing continue for a full half minute before reaching out and taking off the receiver.

"Sir, I apologize for bothering you so late at night, but there is a special situation I need to discuss with you."

The person on the other end of the phone spoke with a hint of probing, using extremely smooth, bureaucratic language.

Old Xu leaned back in his chair and didn't reply.

Seeing that the other party wasn't responding, he had no choice but to continue speaking.

"Regarding the Zhong family's case, isn't the military trial center pushing things a bit too hastily? After all, Elder Zhong is a veteran with outstanding achievements, and his students and former subordinates are all over the country. The case hasn't even been determined yet, and they're already forcibly detaining him in the military region. There's already a lot of gossip going on outside."

The person paused for a moment on the phone before stating their core demand.

"What everyone thinks is that, for the sake of overall stability and to preserve some dignity for the veteran comrades, could we suggest that the military court postpone the trial? The case should be transferred back to the local discipline inspection commission for an internal investigation before being made public, thus minimizing the impact."

These words revealed a calculated weighing of pros and cons. Under the guise of maintaining the overall situation, they were actually trying to get the Zhong family out of the military's iron grip.

After listening, Old Xu slammed the report in his hand heavily on the table.

"When they sold military blueprints, they didn't leave the country any dignity."

"Now that things have been exposed, you come to me asking for decency?"

Mr. Xu answered into the microphone, word by word.

"Tell those people outside that anyone who wants to protect the Chung family should go to a military court to do so tomorrow. Don't call me behind my back."

After saying that, he immediately slammed the receiver shut, cutting off the line.

Temporary military interrogation center, underground command hall.

Shen Zhong stood in front of the huge tactical screen, holding a red and blue pencil in his hand, and quickly sketched several core evidence chains on the whiteboard in front of him.

The officers in the technical and preliminary review teams worked at high speed at their respective workstations, the sound of keyboards clicking incessantly.

"Go through all the electronic evidence again."

Shen Zhong tapped several key points on the whiteboard with the tip of his pen.

"The cash flow records of Wangbeilou, the list of employees of the Hong Kong Island cleaners, and the incomplete signatures recovered from the server of the Xishan Sanatorium. Any one of these things, taken out individually, could be easily attacked by the opposing lawyers using procedural loopholes in court."

He turned around and looked at everyone in the hall.

"What I want is an ironclad case. Every piece of electronic evidence must be supported by a paper backup retrieved from the archives; every piece of physical evidence must have a corresponding extraction number; and every key point must be supported by cross-examination of the people involved."

"Three correspondences, none of which can be missing."

"Tomorrow is the court hearing, and I don't want any part of the process to go wrong."

Zhou Weiguo stepped forward with a stack of newly printed summary reports and handed them to Shen Zhong.

"Commander, the last piece of the puzzle in Handong has been completed."

The large screen displayed changing lights and shadows, switching to an encrypted video feed from the Handong Provincial Party Committee.

Li Dakang sat at his desk, a tall stack of financial statements piled in front of him. His eyes were dark and swollen, clearly indicating that he had been working non-stop for several days and nights.

"General Shen, these are the accounts of seventeen Zhong family enterprises that were jointly seized by the Handong Discipline Inspection Commission and the Public Security Bureau."

Li Dakang pushed the stack of reports toward the camera.

"These seventeen companies, ostensibly engaged in legitimate import and export trade, were actually fronts for the Zhong family to launder money. Over the past five years, they have transferred billions of yuan to Wangbeilou through inflated project costs and overseas purchases."

At this point, Li Dakang turned to the side, giving up half of the screen.

The scene then shifts to the special care ward of the military region's general hospital.

Ouyang Jing leaned against the hospital bed, wearing a blue and white hospital gown, her face deathly pale. She raised her right hand, showing the camera her two fingers, wrapped in thick bandages and clearly broken.

"I heard clearly when those who kidnapped me used torture in the abandoned air-raid shelter."

Ouyang Jing spoke with shortness of breath, yet every word was clear.

"The leader received a phone call, and after hanging up, he told his subordinates, 'Director Zhong instructed that we need survivors, not dead people.'"

"Save my life so I can blackmail Secretary Dakang into signing off on all the mess in Handong."

After the video finished playing, the screen switched back to Li Dakang's office.

Li Dakang stared intently at his wife's haggard face on the screen, his cheek muscles twitching violently. His eyes reddened, and his hands gripped the edge of the table tightly, his knuckles turning white, as he forcefully suppressed his emotions that were about to spiral out of control.

"I stake my life on this testimony."

Li Dakang spoke to the camera with a firm and resounding voice.

"I must personally witness the sins committed by the Zhong family in Handong."

Shen Zhong looked at Li Dakang on the screen and nodded.

"Secretary Li, rest assured, this matter will be settled clearly in court tomorrow."

The other end of the video call switched to the temporary command center of the Jingzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Qi Tongwei's left arm was in a sling, and he held a stack of newly compiled statements in his right hand. Lu Yike stood beside him, checking the information page by page.

"Zhao Donglai's secrets have been completely exposed."

Qi Tongwei flipped open the file with one hand and pointed to several red circles on it.

"Three department heads within the Jingzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau had been receiving financial infiltration from the Zhong family for a long time, and we arrested them overnight. Zhao Donglai, in order to find a more secure backer than Li Dakang, secretly handled a lot of dirty work for the Zhong family."

"From obstructing Yunxiaoge's investigation to secretly tipping off Wangbeilou, their testimonies and the transfer records of those overseas accounts match up perfectly."

Lu Yike took the thick document, turned to the last page, picked up a pen, and prepared to sign and confirm.

She paused for a moment as the pen tip touched the paper.

As she looked at the horrifying details Zhao Donglai had revealed, her fingers, gripping the pen, went stiff. The dogmas and beliefs she had once held dear seemed incredibly fragile in the face of this bloody confession.

Qi Tongwei noticed her unusual behavior, extended his uninjured right hand, and placed it firmly on the edge of the document.

"It's all in the past; this malignant tumor in Jingzhou has been removed."

Lu Yike looked up, and the two briefly looked at each other across the desk.

Having survived the life-or-death struggle at Yunxiao Pavilion, the prejudices and wariness that once stood between them had long since vanished. Lu Yike didn't say much, but with a flick of her wrist, she signed her name heavily at the end of the document before handing the file to Qi Tongwei.

"Pass it on. I wish General Shen all the best tomorrow."

The military interrogation center was deep in the night.

The presiding judge of the military tribunal, dressed in civilian clothes and holding a trial procedure sheet, walked up to Shen Zhong.

"General Shen, although the chain of evidence has been solidified, we still need to be cautious about the trial tomorrow."

The presiding judge pointed to several evidence presentation steps on the procedure sheet.

"Old Zhong has been in that position for decades, with a deep and extensive network of connections. He is an expert at muddying the waters. He will likely throw out some vague claims in court about higher-level involvement, attempting to twist this criminal and treason case into a political purge."

Shen Zhong took the process sheet, glanced at it casually, folded it up, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"I will thoroughly investigate the facts of this case and the subsequent extended investigations."

"He's trying to implicate others to buy time, but the court won't give him that chance. As long as the chain of evidence is closed, no off-court tactics can save him."

Shen Zhong turned and left the command hall, walked through the long metal corridor, and arrived at the special-grade detention area.

Outside the iron gate, two fully armed guards stood tall and saluted Shen Zhong.

Shen Zhong looked into the room through the observation window on the door.

Old Master Zhong sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling steadily. Facing the impending trial of the century, this old fox still maintained the demeanor of someone long accustomed to power, seemingly convinced that he would never fall here.

Shen Zhong pushed open the door, his military boots making a dull thud on the floor.

The old man opened his eyes, looked at Shen Zhong who had walked in, and began to speak.

"Young man, leave yourself some leeway in your actions, so you can meet again in the future."

"You've driven me to this dead end today, but who knows who might send you to the guillotine tomorrow? The waters here run deep."

Shen Zhong stood in front of the bed, looking down at the once powerful old man.

"You people think you can act with impunity just because you've built up your past achievements? Let's see if your achievements will save your life tomorrow!"