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

The announcement of the end of the court recess echoed in the courtroom.

The presiding judge sat down again.

He picked up the thick judgment in front of him and opened it.

The room was solemn, with only the rustling of papers turning in the air.

"After deliberation, this court hereby pronounces its first-instance judgment on the case of defendants Zhong Moumou, Zhong Xiaoai, and Hou Liangping, who are suspected of endangering national security, selling military secrets, money laundering, and intentional homicide."

The presiding judge spoke clearly and forcefully, each word carrying undeniable weight.

"It has been found that the defendant, Zhong Xiaoai, took advantage of her position to collude with foreign forces and assist in transferring a huge amount of illicit funds."

"He instructed others to kidnap the families of state officials, controlled money laundering networks, and provided funding channels for foreign intelligence agencies. His methods were extremely malicious and seriously endangered national and military security."

"The judgment is as follows."

"The defendant, Zhong Xiaoai, was sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life, and all of her personal property was confiscated."

The gavel fell heavily.

"Thump!"

Zhong Xiaoai's legs, which had been holding on tightly, completely lost their strength at this moment.

She collapsed onto the cold floor of the defendant's dock.

Her former haughty and aloof demeanor as a noble lady had vanished, leaving only disheveled hair and a disheveled state.

Two female military police officers stepped forward.

They grabbed Zhong Xiaoai's arms from both sides, forcibly dragged her up, and fixed her to the chair.

The presiding judge continued reading.

"The defendant, Hou Liangping, as a related witness and accomplice, concealed important secrets of a major case for a long time and provided cover for a money laundering network."

"His actions seriously violated the code of conduct for public officials, resulting in the destruction of several key pieces of evidence."

"Given that he voluntarily confessed after being apprehended, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and deprived of his political rights for five years."

Hou Liangping kept his head down.

He did not argue or struggle, but obediently extended his hands, allowing the military police to put on the heavy handcuffs.

He has completely lost any chance of turning his life around, and is destined to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Two military police officers escorted him toward the side passage.

At the corner of the passage, Hou Liangping collided head-on with Zhong Xiaoai, who was being dragged down.

Zhong Xiaoai's face was full of resentment and venom.

She stared intently at her former husband, her lips trembling and her teeth grinding together.

"Hou Liangping, you ungrateful wretch!"

"You think you can get away with this by betraying me?"

"You'll never amount to more than a piece of trash, forever wallowing in the mud!"

Hou Liangping stopped in his tracks.

He looked at the woman in front of him, who had once been unapproachable and treated him like a dog, and grinned.

"Zhong Xiaoai, look at yourself now."

"The Zhong family you went to so much trouble to protect now doesn't even have anyone to collect the bodies."

"Now, we're finally a good match."

Zhong Xiaoai was so angry that she trembled all over and opened her mouth to bite someone.

She was held down by the military police and forcibly dragged into another corridor.

Inside the courtroom, the sentencing was still ongoing.

The presiding judge looked at Mr. Zhong, who was standing in the center, and turned to the last page of the verdict.

"The defendant, Zhong Moumou, as a senior state official, disregarded Party discipline and state laws."

"He led and participated in the sale of core military radar data, aiding the enemy and betraying the country. The amount involved was particularly large, and the circumstances were particularly serious."

"Their actions have created a major security threat to our northwestern defense line and caused irreparable strategic losses."

"He was convicted of multiple crimes and sentenced to death, deprived of his political rights for life, and all of his personal property was confiscated."

"This verdict will be subject to review by the Supreme Military Court in accordance with the law."

death penalty.

The two words echoed in the courtroom.

Grandpa Zhong's once straight back hunched over heavily.

His legs went weak, and he knelt down in front of the defendant's dock.

His withered lips opened and closed, uttering indistinct murmurs.

"I have done a good job..."

"I shed blood for my country... I have done my part..."

In the center of the audience section, Old Xu held a thermos cup and looked down at the once powerful old fox below.

Merit is merit, and crime is crime.

"Merit can never be a get-out-of-jail-free card for treason."

Old Xu's words echoed in the empty courtroom, setting the tone for the trial.

Mr. Chung was lifted up and dragged out of the courtroom by two fully armed military police officers.

Shen Zhong stood in his seat, watching as the three members of the Zhong family were completely purged.

He did not bask in the joy of victory, but turned to give instructions to Zhou Weiguo, who was waiting behind him.

"Immediately seal all court proceedings materials, including audio and video recordings and original physical evidence."

"The 'Northern Route Project' that Old Man Zhong just mentioned in court has been separated and classified as a new case of the highest level of secrecy. No one may access it without authorization."

Zhou Weiguo gave a military salute, turned around and strode away.

Inside the underground command center.

The technical team is performing a final deep cleanup on the Zhong family's core server.

Shen Zhong strode in and went straight to the main control panel.

"Sir, we've made a new discovery."

The technical team leader's hands flew across the keyboard, retrieving a deeply hidden encrypted partition and displaying it on the large screen.

"We found a hidden module in the lowest physical sector of the hard drive that is highly related to the 'Northern Line Project'."

"The encryption method of this module is very special. It abandons the conventional numerical password and adopts a voiceprint triggering mechanism based on specific semantics."

Shen Zhong stared at the flashing password box on the screen.

He recalled the scene from the court hearing just now.

When Grandpa Zhong dropped that bombshell in a desperate situation, he said something extremely abrupt.

"Extract the last few words spoken by Old Man Zhong from the court hearing recording and import them into the recognition system."

The technical team leader immediately did as instructed.

The audio waveform jumps on the screen.

"There are plenty of people with bigger names than me, and higher positions than me."

This threatening line, after being processed by the system to reduce noise, was input into the encryption module.

The progress bar on the screen moved forward rapidly.

"drop--"

A crisp electronic notification sound rang out.

The hidden partition has been successfully unlocked.

A brand new encrypted list popped up on the big screen.

Shen Zhong stared intently at it.

The first line of the list did not include any of the Chung family's names.

That was a code name character completely obscured by a black block.

Below this code name is a line of red notes.

"The Zhong family is merely a transit point for funds on the Handong-Dong Railway."

The hall was completely silent.

The Zhong family, a behemoth with deep-rooted connections, and a top-tier elite who even dared to transfer eight billion dollars of illicit funds overseas, was actually just a transit point in this network.

The red secure phone rang again.

Shen Zhong answered the receiver.

Xu Lao's steady and powerful voice came from inside.

"I've already seen the contents of the hard drive on my end."

"The northern route project involves too many complex issues and has exceeded the authority of the Handong Military Region to handle it independently."

"From now on, I will personally take over this case."

Old Xu paused for a moment, then changed the subject.

"Your current task is to lead the team back to Handong immediately."

"Although the Zhong family has fallen, Sha Ruijin's foundation in Handong remains."

"His father-in-law has been making moves around these past few days, contacting many old acquaintances, preparing to make a fuss about local personnel matters."

"The stability of Handong is the top priority right now. Go back and take charge, and clean up the mess there completely."

Shen Zhong gripped the receiver and stood up straight.

"Understood, I will return to Handong immediately."