Handong: Sha Li wants political achievements? I'll shut down the entire province.

"Xiao Ai! Yan Qingfeng is inhuman! He's turned the whole of Handong upside down!"

Hou Liangping clung tightly to Zhong Xiaoai's leg, his tears and snot smeared all over the expensive silk nightgown.

He howled in despair on the shards of porcelain like a wild dog whose spine had been broken.

A sour, rotten smell, like someone who hadn't showered for days, mixed with the rancid smell of instant noodles in the old green train carriage, assaulted Zhong Xiaoai's nostrils.

Zhong Xiaoai frowned, her stomach churning.

She looked down at the man on the ground, a man who had once been full of righteous indignation and high spirits.

The undisguised disgust in his eyes was as piercing as a needle.

"Get out of here!"

Zhong Xiaoai raised her right leg in disgust and kicked Hou Liangping hard in the shoulder.

Caught off guard, Hou Liangping slid back two feet on the smooth floor before hitting the sofa leg and coming to a stop.

He stared blankly at his wife, forgetting even to cry.

"Stop crying and sobbing, are you even a man?!"

Zhong Xiaoai tugged at the hem of her soiled nightgown, her voice sharp and sarcastic.

"After being stripped of their uniform, they run back to the capital to throw a tantrum?"

She walked to the wine cabinet, pulled out a tissue, and vigorously wiped the stains off her hands.

"You've completely disgraced the Chung family!"

Hou Liangping covered his face and trembled in the corner.

"Xiao Ai, it's not that I'm useless, it's just that that guy surnamed Yan is too arrogant..."

He made a hoarse, leaky sound from his throat.

"He doesn't even give the Supreme People's Procuratorate any face; he's climbing up the ladder by stepping on the heads of your Zhong family!"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Xiaoai abruptly stopped wiping her hands.

The disgust in her eyes faded, replaced by a chilling aura.

Hou Liangping is right.

You have to consider the owner before you beat a dog.

Not only did Yan Qingfeng publicly strip Hou Liangping of his epaulets, but a few days ago he also instructed Su Jianxin to freeze the Zhong family's offshore fund worth billions overseas!

That was the trump card that the Zhong family had accumulated over three generations!

Su Jianxin leaked the information to Interpol, forcing the powerful uncles and elders of the Zhong family, who used to lord it over everyone in Beijing, to not even dare to breathe loudly.

This debt had been weighing on Zhong Xiaoai's mind, causing her internal organs to bleed.

"What a fine Yan Qingfeng."

Zhong Xiaoai crumpled the tissue she had used to wipe her hands into a ball and threw it hard into the trash can.

"After ruling as a local tyrant in Handong for a few days, does he really think the entire land of China belongs to the Yan family?"

She turned around, slipped on her slippers, and walked to the red, secure landline phone in the corner of the living room.

Her overseas operations were shut down because she was careless and Su Jianxin caught her in a compliance violation.

But this is the capital city!

It's a place where power is concentrated and the powerful and wealthy roam everywhere!

What is capital here? It's nothing more than a chamber pot in the hands of those in power!

Zhong Xiaoai gritted her teeth and skillfully dialed several insider numbers known only to the core circle of the Zhong family.

"Old Chen, come to Xishan."

"Uncle Li, bring along a few of your capable men."

"Mr. Zhao, stop your meeting and come over here immediately."

After making a few phone calls, Zhong Xiaoai's expression had returned to its usual aloof and cold demeanor.

She glanced at Hou Liangping, who was still huddled on the ground trembling.

"Clean yourself up. Tonight, I'll show you just how deep the waters of the capital really are."

An hour later, on the second basement floor of the Xishan Villa.

This is a top-secret conference room converted from an early air-raid shelter.

It's so soundproofed that not even the buzzing of a fly can escape.

The industrial exhaust fans on top hummed, and the air was filled with the rich, pungent aroma of Cuban cigars.

Five men sat on either side of a long, high-class conference table.

There were two portly men with slicked-back hair who were powerful uncles in charge of transportation and land approvals.

The remaining three men, dressed in suits, were the core "white gloves" that the Chung family had cultivated in the domestic business world for many years.

Zhong Xiaoai changed into a smart black business suit, pulled out the chair in the main seat, and sat down.

Hou Liangping changed into clean clothes and, like a wronged person, huddled in the shadows of the far corner of the conference room.

"Xiao Ai, what's wrong? Why did you call everyone here in the middle of the night?"

Director Li, who was in charge of highway logistics, flicked his cigarette ash, his brow furrowing into a deep frown.

"The higher-ups are watching the Zhong family's overseas fund. Shouldn't we keep a low profile now?"

Zhong Xiaoai placed her hands on the table, her cold gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"Keep a low profile? Yan Qingfeng has already stepped in the Zhong family's ancestral grave and shit on it, how can he be low-key!"

She slammed her hand on the table with a loud thud, making the ashtray on the table jump.

"My husband was in Jingzhou today when that man surnamed Yan ordered him to strip his uniform in public!"

The powerful uncles exchanged glances, their expressions not looking too good.

General Manager Zhao, wearing white gloves, swallowed hard and mustered his courage to speak.

"President Zhong, Yan Qingfeng is quite the big shot at the higher-ups now."

Mr. Zhao took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"He just brought back five billion dollars in foreign exchange from Wall Street, and the higher-ups are treating him like a treasure. If we go after him, aren't we just asking for trouble?"

"A celebrity? That's only because he still has value to them!"

Zhong Xiaoai chuckled, her eyes revealing the arrogance unique to the powerful and wealthy of Beijing.

"What the higher-ups value are his foreign exchange and pharmaceutical channels. If we just avoid those two sensitive areas, won't we be fine?"

She turned around, pulled over a whiteboard, and drew a big circle on it with a marker.

"We can't touch Yan Qingfeng's business in Handong, but the Lingxiao Consortium's business isn't entirely in Handong!"

Zhong Xiaoai's pen tip pierced sharply outside the circle.

"Uncle Li, Lingxiao Energy has hundreds of heavy-duty oil tankers transporting goods across provinces every day, right? They're going through your territory, aren't they?"

Director Li squinted and took a puff of his cigar.

"That's right, that's their convoy delivering chemical raw materials to coastal cities."

"Then we'll block them!"

Zhong Xiaoai gritted her teeth, her eyes flashing with a crazed ferocity.

"Using pretexts such as 'excessive levels of hazardous chemicals' and 'safety inspections,' checkpoints are set up at all highway exits out of the province!"

"Let the traffic police and road administration enforce the law together. Without the Zhong family's approval, not a single drop of oil from Yan Qingfeng will be smuggled out of Handong province!"

Director Li stroked his chin and nodded slightly.

"That's easy to handle. It's a legitimate administrative inspection, and no one can find fault with it."

Zhong Xiaoai then turned to look at another large belly.

"Director Chen, the approval authority for those commercial land plots that Lingxiao Consortium acquired in the Yangtze River Delta last month is still in your system, right?"

Director Chen smiled knowingly and tapped his fingers on the table.

"The approval has been granted, but I can send an investigation team to conduct a follow-up inspection on the environmental aspects at any time."

"Then issue the notice tonight!"

Zhong Xiaoai snapped the marker in her hand in half.

"Just tell them the land and soil are heavily contaminated and pose a major safety hazard! Tomorrow at daybreak, put the seal on their excavators!"

Hearing this, Hou Liangping, who was sitting in the corner, had a renewed bloodthirsty red light in his lifeless eyes.

Yes! That's it!

Use power! Use administrative barriers! Block that guy surnamed Yan to death!

"And you, Old Zhao."

Zhong Xiaoai dropped the broken pen and looked at the white-gloved CEO Zhao.

"Lingxiao Technology is about to import a batch of high-end components for lithography machines from overseas. Will they be going through Tianjin Customs?"

Mr. Zhao quickly sat up straight.

"Yes, the order is pending with us, and we're preparing to use the fast track."

"What kind of green channel is this?!"

Zhong Xiaoai walked behind President Zhao, placed her hands on the back of his chair, and spoke in a cold voice.

"Notify the Customs Anti-Smuggling Bureau that this batch of components is suspected of technical misdeclaration and should be detained entirely in the bonded warehouse!"

"Until the investigation is completed, not a single screw from the Lingxiao Consortium will be allowed to be unloaded or loaded!"

After the deployment was completed, the atmosphere in the entire secret room became tense and menacing.

This is the source of confidence for the wealthy families in Beijing.

No knives or guns are needed, and it doesn't cost a penny.

Just a few official letters bearing red stamps can cut off the supply chain of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate halfway through its journey.

"Does Yan Qingfeng really think he can buy China with a few stinking coins?"

Zhong Xiaoai walked back to the head of the table, picked up the wine glass on the table, and swirled the scarlet wine inside.

"I don't care if he acts like a local tyrant in Handong, but if he touches the Zhong family, I'll make sure all his properties can't leave the provincial borders of Handong!"

The uncles and white-gloves present all pulled out their phones and began issuing death orders to their respective systems.

A tight-knit network of administrative sanctions quietly unfolded in the darkness of Beijing.

Hou Liangping was so excited that he trembled all over and suddenly stood up from the corner.

"Xiao Ai, Yan Qingfeng is doomed this time! He absolutely cannot withstand this nationwide ban!"

Zhong Xiaoai ignored her husband's sycophantic behavior.

She tilted her head back and drank the red wine in her glass in one gulp.

The scarlet wine residue on her lips made her face look even more ferocious.

She slammed the empty wine glass down on the table, a cold, sarcastic smile playing on her lips.

"Keep an eye on the people below; everything must be implemented tonight."

Zhong Xiaoai waved to General Manager Zhao, who was wearing white gloves.

"I'll paralyze the Lingxiao Consortium's supply chain overnight, making Yan Qingfeng kneel and beg me in the capital!"