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

A young member behind the deputy secretary-general subconsciously looked at the provincial government representative.

Just one glance.

The camera's red light is on.

The disciplinary inspection official stopped writing.

The provincial government representative's face instantly darkened, and he turned to glare at the young member.

Gao Yuliang placed the thermos on the table.

The voice wasn't loud, but it blocked everyone's escape route.

"Before the murder case is fully investigated, any unit or individual who contacts Team Leader Ma alone without the presence of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Procuratorate, and the Discipline Inspection Commission will be considered as interfering with witnesses."

The deputy secretary-general stood up.

"Secretary Gao, are you capable of shouldering this responsibility?"

Gao Yuliang also stood up.

"I'm here today to take responsibility."

Just one short sentence.

No one moved in the interrogation room.

Team Leader Ma looked at the cameras as if he were grasping at the last piece of driftwood, and suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

"I have one more thing to say."

Lu Yike immediately looked at the recorder. "Continue recording."

Team Leader Ma gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Director Qin gave me a piece of advice: as long as Governor Chu holds the line in Handong, Haizhou will take care of the rest."

At 4:30 p.m., the curtains in Gao Yuliang's office were half drawn.

There were three stacks of materials on the table: Team Leader Ma's confession, a disc containing the hospital's interception video, and screenshots of backups from Haizhou. Each stack had a seal pressed against its corners.

No one was drinking tea inside.

Qi Tongwei stood by the window, a patch of red seeping through the gauze on his left arm. Lu Yike sat to the side, checking the video recording numbers. Wu Chunlin stood with his hands behind his back, his face even more somber than when he had entered.

Wu Chunlin spoke first.

"The evidence can suspend Haiheng, investigate Xinheng, and also silence the joint investigation team temporarily."

He looked at Gao Yuliang and paused for a moment.

"But directly targeting Chu Pingshan isn't enough."

Qi Tongwei turned around, his leather shoes making a short scraping sound on the floor.

"Team Leader Ma has already mentioned Governor Chu."

Wu Chunlin shook his head.

"A confession isn't a knife; it will break if used alone. If Chu Pingshan simply says he was unaware and that the outsourced team violated regulations, the provincial government can immediately sever ties with him."

Lu Yike pushed a screenshot to the center of the table.

"The beneficiaries, Xinheng lines, and fake credentials in Haizhou's backup are still missing intermediate authorization. The program chain can pin down Haiheng and Xinheng, but it can't pin down the main leaders of the provincial government."

Qi Tongwei's hand pressed against the windowsill, the wooden edge creaking as he squeezed it.

Gao Yuliang remained silent.

He picked up a glasses cloth and slowly wiped the lenses.

"Chu Pingshan is a master of dissecting. He uses outsourced teams as the knife, provincial government issues as the sheath, and data reports as the shield. When the knife gets dirty, he replaces it, and he can still hold up the shield."

Qi Tongwei stared at him.

"How do we hit him?"

Gao Yuliang took off his glasses and placed them on the table.

Several people in the room looked over at the same time.

This action was even more forceful than slamming a table.

"They linked the security incident in the political and legal system to the provincial government's audit oversight failures at the same meeting."

Wu Chunlin frowned. "Are you going to admit at the provincial party committee meeting that the witness was repeatedly attacked while under the protection of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission?"

Gao Yuliang picked up the cup but didn't drink it.

"Facts are facts. The fact that someone wanted to kill the witness indicates that there are problems with the audit chain pointed to by the witness. I admit that the Political and Legal Affairs Commission failed to provide adequate protection. But Chu Pingshan also has to admit that the provincial government's audit system was breached by outsourced teams and organized crime."

Lu Yike stopped writing.

She looked up at him, a clear hesitation appearing on her face for the first time. "Secretary Gao, in this way, the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission will also bear leadership responsibility. The other side will seize on you and say that your jurisdiction is out of control."

Gao Yuliang put the cup back on the table.

"Yes, so I'll take the blame."

Qi Tongwei took a step forward.

"teacher."

Gao Yuliang raised his hand to stop him.

"Don't rush to plead my innocence. Whether I'm innocent or not, at this level, it doesn't matter."

Wu Chunlin remained silent for a long time before sitting down on the armrest of the sofa.

"You're using yourself as ballast. If you hold it up, the ship can pass. If you don't, you'll sink first."

Gao Yuliang glanced at him.

"Old Wu, you're in charge of the organization, you know this best. Some people always have to leave an ugly scar on their resume so that the people below them won't be completely wiped out."

The office fell silent.

When the phone rang, none of them moved.

Gao Yuliang answered the call and pressed the speakerphone button.

Li Dakang's voice boomed from inside: "I heard there was an explosion in the interrogation room? Team Leader Ma called out Chu Pingshan?"

Gao Yuliang turned to the last page of a statement.

"It's been hit, but it can't be used as the main gun."

There was clearly a suppressed anger on the other end of the phone, as the pages were being turned over with a rustling sound.

"Then how am I supposed to make this tomorrow? This red bag is practically burning hot from holding it in my hands."

Gao Yuliang's tone remained steady.

"You only need to pressure down the price of assets. Jingzhou Port A-17, a 30% discount agreement, bank credit warnings, and coastal funds taking over. Don't utter a single word of criticism against Chu Pingshan."

Stop over there.

This time, Li Dakang did not immediately start cursing.

After a long pause, he finally spoke: "Are you going to take the blame for your personal safety and the audit oversight failures upon yourself?"

Gao Yuliang did not deny it.

There was another silence on the phone.

Such silence is rare in Li Dakang.

"Gao Yuliang," Li Dakang's voice turned cold, "I accept your scheming against me. But if you collapse at the meeting tomorrow, I'll keep burning this fire in Jingzhou."

Gao Yuliang smiled faintly.

"Just don't burn the meeting room down."

Qi Tongwei looked down at the video disc on the table, the veins on the back of his hand slowly relaxing.

Lu Yike pushed the prepared evidence list to Gao Yuliang. "At the provincial party committee meeting, I marked which ones can be used and which ones cannot. The hospital caregiver's testimony is not yet fully confirmed, so it cannot be directly extended to Qin's identity."

Gao Yuliang nodded.

"That's what the prosecution should be doing. Cleaning the knife for us, not cutting us a couple more times."

Lu Yike pursed her lips and didn't respond.

Qi Tongwei looked at Gao Yuliang.

"I'll continue investigating the assassination case. Dig deep into the fake seals of Xinheng, the logistics department, and the hospital—it's all part of the same investigation."

Gao Yuliang picked up his glasses again, but didn't put them on.

"An investigation is fine. But we can't use unverified speculation at the provincial party committee meeting. What you need to do tomorrow is guard the door and make sure no one loses Team Leader Ma."

Qi Tongwei's shoulders were very tense.

"Teacher, are you withdrawing?"

Gao Yuliang put the glasses into the drawer very slowly.

"I'll step back and leave you a way to walk on your own two feet."

After he said that, even the sound of the air conditioner blowing out could be clearly heard in the office.

Wu Chunlin turned his head and looked out the window.

Li Dakang didn't say anything on the other end of the phone, as if he didn't know what to say for the first time.

Lu Yike bent down to organize the materials, and the edge of the paper was pressed into a crease.

Qi Tongwei stood there, motionless for a long time.

Gao Yuliang opened the bottom drawer and took out a kraft paper envelope from under a stack of old documents.

The envelope was very thin, and the seal was already frayed.

He placed it on the table.

Wu Chunlin's expression changed when he saw those words on the cover.

Application for early retirement.

Qi Tongwei stared at the date on the cover, his pupils suddenly contracting.

The day Shen Zhong was transferred away from Handong.