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

The tea room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The water in the purple clay teapot had long since boiled away, and white smoke was rising with a "sizzling" sound.

Sha Ruijin slumped on a low stool without a backrest, panting heavily.

He felt completely drained after signing the "contract of servitude" with Guangming Peak.

But Yan Qingfeng's butcher's knife was clearly not finished yet.

The second kraft paper bag that Lin Yubing pushed over lay quietly on the rosewood tea table.

The paper bag was thin, but it felt like a red-hot branding iron, making Sha Ruijin's eyelids twitch.

"President Yan, what... what is this now?"

Sha Ruijin swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with difficulty.

Yan Qingfeng didn't respond.

He leaned back in the large armchair, his slender fingers toying with a Hetian jade pendant.

"Open it and take a look. Secretary Sha, this is a folded document I wrote especially for you."

Yan Qingfeng smiled, but his eyes were as cold as ice-cold knives.

With trembling hands, Sha Ruijin untied the white thread on the paper bag as if he had touched a bomb.

Two thin sheets of A4 paper were pulled out.

At the very top were glaringly large, red-headed lettering:

Decision on Disciplinary Action Against Hou Liangping, Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Jingzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate.

Sha Ruijin's pupils suddenly contracted, and he abruptly raised his head.

"Hou Liangping? President Yan, what brings you here...?"

"That clown has been jumping around on my turf for far too long."

Yan Qingfeng casually tossed the Hetian jade onto the tea table with a crisp "thud".

"They wave the banner of justice, spouting righteousness and morality, but their hearts are full of wickedness and depravity."

Yan Qingfeng's tone revealed undisguised disgust.

"Doesn't he like to wield power recklessly? Doesn't he like to scrutinize the accounts of my Lingxiao Consortium?"

Yan Qingfeng leaned forward, his hands crossed and supporting his chin.

"I want you, Sha Ruijin, to personally peel off his skin."

Sha Ruijin quickly lowered his head and scanned the contents of the resolution word by word.

The more I looked, the thicker the white sweat on his back became.

This isn't a punishment; this is practically kicking someone into the deepest abyss!

The resolution clearly states in black and white:

Dereliction of duty, interference with local economic development, serious misconduct, and abuse of power.

If this series of accusations were to be pinned on one's head...

Hou Liangping will never be able to turn his life around; he's become a public enemy!

"President Yan, this...this is unacceptable!"

In his haste, Sha Ruijin slid off the low stool and knelt on one knee on the expensive Persian carpet.

He clutched the two pages of paper, slapping his thigh in frustration.

"Hou Liangping is a cadre parachuted in from the Supreme People's Procuratorate! He came with an imperial edict!"

Sha Ruijin's eyes turned red with rage, and he spat as he spoke.

"If our provincial party committee were to convict him of such a severe crime, I wouldn't be able to explain it to the people in Beijing!"

Yan Qingfeng looked at Sha Ruijin on the ground and sneered.

"Confess? Secretary Sha, your information is far too limited."

He picked up his teacup and blew away any non-existent foam.

"What do you think gives Hou Liangping the right to act so arrogantly in Handong? Is it his uprightness and incorruptibility?"

Yan Qingfeng scoffed dismissively.

"He relied on the Zhong family in Beijing and the resources his wife, Zhong Xiaoai, had."

Sha Ruijin froze, staring blankly at Yan Qingfeng.

Lin Yubing took a step forward at the opportune moment, her high heels making a crisp echo.

"Secretary Sha, the Zhong family's three offshore trust funds overseas have been completely frozen by us."

Lin Yubing pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone as calm as if he were talking about today's weather.

"Our CEO Su casually leaked the details to Interpol. The Zhong family is now in dire straits."

She bent down and handed a pen with its cap removed to Sha Ruijin.

"Hou Liangping is now like a stray dog ​​without its master."

Sha Ruijin's head was buzzing.

The Zhong family has fallen? The once arrogant Zhong family in the capital was wiped out by Yan Qingfeng without bloodshed?

He gasped sharply, looking at Yan Qingfeng as if he were a man-eating monster.

This man can overturn the very foundation of the capital city; crushing me is as simple as squeezing an ant!

"I kept Sha Ruijin around because I couldn't be bothered with him before."

Yan Qingfeng stood up, walked to the tea table, and looked down at him.

"But he disgusted me. He brought people to sabotage my business and acted like a big shot in front of my workers at Dafeng Factory."

Yan Qingfeng's voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a hammer blow.

"My rule is that if anyone makes me unhappy, I'll make sure they never have an easy time for the rest of their life."

Yan Qingfeng pointed to the disciplinary decision.

"Signature. Stamp. Issue a province-wide notice tomorrow."

Sha Ruijin's hands and feet were ice-cold, as if all his last bit of strength had been drained away.

He stared at the several charges in the agreement that were enough to ruin Hou Liangping's reputation, his teeth grinding together.

Hou Liangping cannot die, but he must be destroyed.

Not only should his uniform be stripped off, but his proud political beliefs and reputation should also be destroyed.

Yan Qingfeng is trying to kill him by destroying his spirit!

"What if we don't sign?"

Sha Ruijin, unwilling to give up, squeezed out half a sentence through gritted teeth.

"Not signing?"

Yan Qingfeng laughed, a laugh that sent chills down one's spine.

"If you don't sign, the sun will rise in Handong Province as usual tomorrow morning."

Yan Qingfeng patted Sha Ruijin's shoulder with such force that it made his bones ache.

"But the person sitting in the position of Secretary of the Handong Provincial Party Committee will have to be replaced by someone more obedient."

Yan Qingfeng's threat was simple and brutal, yet it precisely grasped Sha Ruijin's lifeline.

The struggle in Sha Ruijin's eyes completely died out.

Offending the Supreme People's Procuratorate? That's a matter for later.

If he doesn't go along with this Master Yan's demands, he'll be packing his bags and getting kicked out of Handong tonight!

He snatched the pen from Lin Yubing's hand.

He didn't even dare to glance at the document again, and quickly signed his name at the bottom.

The pen tip tore through the paper, and Sha Ruijin's heart bled along with it.

Thus, Hou Liangping's political life in Handong came to an end.

Lin Yubing deftly took the document and put it back into the top-secret file bag.

His technique was so skillful that there wasn't a single moment of hesitation.

"It's all taken care of, Master Yan." Lin Yubing respectfully stepped aside.

Yan Qingfeng nodded and turned to walk towards the huge panoramic floor-to-ceiling window of the tea room.

Outside the window, a cold drizzle was falling from the dark night sky.

Sha Ruijin, holding onto the edge of the tea table, struggled to his feet.

He couldn't even bring himself to say goodbye; he turned around and wanted to escape from the suffocating room.

Just as his hand touched the brass doorknob.

Yan Qingfeng's voice suddenly drifted over from behind.

"Attorney Lin, inform Zhao Donglai."

Yan Qingfeng looked at Sha Ruijin's back reflected in the windowpane, a playful smile curving his lips.

"Tomorrow morning, I want all the media outlets in Handong to bring their cameras to the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Tell me, how boring would it be to do something as important as stripping off uniforms without a live audience?"