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

At 3 a.m. in the Beijing Detention Center, a cold wind seeped in through the cracks in the iron bars of the windows.

The air was damp and musty, mixed with the pungent smell of cheap disinfectant.

"Clang!"

The heavy iron door of the visiting room was pushed open from the outside.

Hou Liangping, wearing cold handcuffs, dragged his heavy steps in.

His well-tailored shirt had long since gone bad, and his chin was covered in messy, bluish stubble.

As soon as he entered the room, his lifeless eyes suddenly lit up.

Across the bulletproof glass sat a woman wearing a black mask, her face looking haggard.

"Xiao Ai! You're finally here!"

Hou Liangping grabbed onto a piece of driftwood like a drowning man and lunged at the glass.

The handcuffs slammed onto the stainless steel tabletop with a crisp "clang".

"I knew the Zhong family wouldn't abandon me! What did my uncles say? When can they get me released?"

His eyes gleamed with ecstatic joy, his face pressed tightly against the cold glass.

"I held my ground! They interrogated me for a whole day and night, and I didn't confess to anything!"

Zhong Xiaoai watched him quietly through the thick explosion-proof glass.

There wasn't a trace of pity in his eyes; they were as cold as if he were looking at a dead person.

She took off her mask, revealing her bloodless face.

Without saying a word, he took out a folded A4 sheet of paper from his bag.

Following the narrow transfer channel below, Zhong Xiaoai pushed the paper through.

Stop dreaming. Sign it.

Hou Liangping was stunned for a moment, and the smile on his lips froze.

With trembling hands, he pulled the document out of the slot.

He glanced at the title and felt as if he had been struck by a high-voltage electric shock, causing him to recoil violently.

"Resignation and Statement of Guilt"

Hou Liangping swallowed hard, his eyes scanning the black and white text on the paper.

The more he looked, the more rapid his breathing became, and his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

"Admitting to using the guise of justice to exploit one's privileges and leech off others..."

He stared at the words on the paper, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Would you voluntarily take off your uniform and never hold public office again?"

"Snapped!"

Hou Liangping slammed the paper onto the stainless steel table, his eyes instantly turning red.

"Xiao Ai! Are you crazy?! What kind of rubbish is this?!"

He roared hysterically into the microphone, spitting on the glass.

"I am the director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Supreme People's Procuratorate! This uniform is my life!"

Hou Liangping pointed to his chest, his chest heaving violently.

"If I sign this, my life will be ruined! I'll become a national laughingstock!"

"Do you think you're not a joke anymore?"

Zhong Xiaoai sneered, a cruel smile curving her lips.

She leaned closer to the microphone, her voice like a poisoned blade.

"The Chung family went bankrupt and owes hundreds of billions. Those uncles and elders won't even answer my calls now."

Hou Liangping stared wide-eyed, as if he had heard something utterly unbelievable.

"Bankrupt...bankruptcy? How is that possible! The Zhong family is a powerful force in the capital..."

"Yan Qingfeng only took three days to turn our family's stock into worthless paper."

Zhong Xiaoai interrupted him, her words cutting to the bone.

"I am standing here now because I just came back from Handong, begging Yan Qingfeng to spare our lives."

Hou Liangping's mind went blank.

Yan Qingfeng won? He even crushed the Zhong family, a family with a deep-rooted history?

"So you're using me as a bargaining chip? Using my faith to curry favor with that capitalist?!"

Hou Liangping grabbed his hair and screamed in despair.

"I won't sign! I'd rather die than sign! I have ideals, and I represent the dignity of the law!"

"Shut up!"

Zhong Xiaoai slammed her hand on the table, her eyes as venomous as a cobra's.

"Hou Liangping, even at a time like this, what are you still pretending to be, playing the role of Hai Rui?"

She pointed at her husband across the glass and ruthlessly tore away his hypocritical facade.

"Do you really think you earned your uniform through your own abilities?"

Zhong Xiaoai sneered repeatedly, her face full of disdain.

"Your smooth sailing life, your promotions and wealth, are all thanks to the Zhong family's hard-earned money and connections!"

Hou Liangping felt like his lungs had been punctured, and his face instantly turned a deep liver color.

"You're talking nonsense! I solve cases based on my abilities! I'm completely incorruptible!"

"Gentle breeze my ass!"

Zhong Xiaoai was too lazy to save him any face.

"You live in a big villa in Beijing, drive a nice car, and smoke specially supplied cigarettes. Do you think you can afford that with your meager salary?"

Her words were utterly scathing, crushing Hou Liangping's self-esteem into the mud.

"Your so-called idealism is nothing more than sucking the blood of the Chung family to maintain your ridiculous sense of superiority!"

"The Zhong family is doomed now; Master Yan has spoken."

Zhong Xiaoai stared at him coldly, her eyes resolute.

"You must take off this skin and throw your face on the ground before he will spare the Zhong family's life."

Hou Liangping slumped in his chair, his whole body trembling like a leaf falling in the autumn wind.

His long-held sense of justice was shattered by his wife's words.

It turns out that in other people's eyes, he was not a righteous and upright official at all.

He's just a dog that uses the Zhong family's power to bite people indiscriminately.

"Xiao Ai...you can't do this to me."

Hou Liangping cried, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"If I take off these clothes, I'm not even as good as an ordinary citizen. How am I supposed to live?"

He lay on the barrier, pleading like a cowardly cripple.

"Let's get a divorce! You can pin all the blame on me, I'll go to jail, but I absolutely cannot sign this!"

"Go to jail? You think you can just go to jail whenever you want?"

Zhong Xiaoai threw a black pen into the pass box, and it slid to Hou Liangping's side.

"If you don't sign, Yan Qingfeng will make sure the Zhong family is wiped out tomorrow."

Zhong Xiaoai stood up and straightened her old trench coat with frayed edges.

"If you don't want to sign, that's fine too. I'll unilaterally file for divorce right now."

She looked down at the man behind the iron bars, her voice devoid of any warmth.

"Even if you spend the rest of your life in jail, the Zhong family will not deposit a single penny of food money for you in the detention center."

Hou Liangping froze.

He stared at the black pen as if it were a deadly serpent.

If he doesn't sign, he'll spend the rest of his life in this dark and hopeless prison cell.

Without special privileges or the protection of the Zhong family, those he had wronged would be tortured to death here.

Fear, a fear that came from the depths of his soul, finally triumphed over his ridiculous faith.

"ah--!"

Hou Liangping suddenly raised his head and let out a desperate howl like a dying wild beast.

He burst into tears as he shakily grabbed the pen.

The pen tip landed heavily on the white paper, almost tearing the surface.

"Hou... Liang... Ping."

The three characters were written crookedly.

The dark blue ink spread, marking the complete end of his political career.

After signing the last piece of paper, Hou Liangping relaxed his grip.

The pen fell to the ground with a "thud," and he slumped into the chair as if all his strength had been drained.

Those eyes, which once shone with arrogance, have completely dimmed, losing all their luster.

Zhong Xiaoai quickly pulled the file back from the transfer slot.

She glanced at the signature above and breathed a long sigh of relief.

She stuffed the resignation letter, which had cost her husband his dignity, into her bag.

Without leaving a single word of comfort, he turned and walked toward the door of the visiting room.

Just as the door was about to close.

Zhong Xiaoai suddenly stopped, turned her head slightly, and uttered a cold remark.

"Pack your things. Master Yan has ordered you to go back to Handong to complete the formalities."