In name only: I will break the chess game in Handong

The question kept echoing in his ears until his breathing became heavier and heavier. Suddenly, the taut string snapped, and Pang Bo turned sinister.

"Whether you kicked me when I was down or not, Wu Qiguang, I can atone for my crimes by dragging you down with me. I don't want to spend my whole life in prison!"

After figuring it out, Pang Bo immediately got out of bed and started banging on the door with thick dark circles under his eyes.

"Secretary Hou, Secretary Hou! I have something to report. I want to expose Wu Qiguang!"

The discipline inspection staff in charge of guarding the old man exchanged glances upon seeing this scene, both finding it somewhat unbelievable. How long had it been before the old man's psychological defenses crumbled?

However, the report still needed to be submitted. A dozen minutes later, Hou Liangping returned to the detention room. But this time, instead of having a conversation in the detention room, he had several disciplinary committee staff members take Pang Bo to the interrogation room.

The cold iron chair and heavy handcuffs constantly aggravated Pang Bo's fragile heart.

"Secretary Hou! I confessed and accepted leniency, and I also reported others. Wouldn't that be considered meritorious service?"

Opposite him, Hou Liangping slowly stopped writing, then looked up and stared directly at Pang Bo.

"Pang Bo, if you confess and cooperate with our disciplinary committee's investigation, we can indeed consider giving you a lighter punishment."

However, you mentioned reporting Wu Qiguang, do you know that Wu Qiguang is a retired deputy provincial-level official?

If your report is false, it's slander, a baseless accusation. Not only will you not receive leniency, but you could face the maximum penalty. Pang Bo, think it through!

Hou Liangping's gaze was very sharp, which made Pang Bo feel uneasy.

"Secretary Hou, I'm not talking nonsense! I really want to report Wu Qiguang! When I was the director of the Municipal Land and Resources Bureau, Wu Qiguang was the director of the Provincial Land and Resources Department."

Back then, half of the money I received had to be given to him as bribes. His corruption amounted to a much larger sum than mine, I swear! I'm absolutely not lying to you!

Hou Liangping remained very calm about this; the fish had already taken the bait, and he wasn't in a hurry to reel it in.

"Whether it's true or false, our Discipline Inspection Commission will make the judgment. Now, I'll ask you questions, and I hope you can truthfully confess your violations of discipline and law."

"Alright, alright, Secretary Hou, please ask!"

"Pang Bo, do you have any objections to the conclusion of the disciplinary committee's investigation that the amount of corruption is around 600 million yuan?"

"No, no, that's definitely the number!"

"Okay, let me ask you again, what means did you use to accept the bribe? And how did others try to bribe you?"

"Secretary Hou, as you know, I am the director of the Municipal Land and Resources Bureau. Since the reform and opening up, the real estate industry has developed very rapidly. Back then, the Discipline Inspection Commission did not investigate as strictly as you do now, and everyone was accepting bribes."

Take a project bidding as an example. After a piece of land is planned and put out to tender, companies and individuals who want to participate in the bidding have to spend money to grease palms.

This is what the industry commonly calls "tea money," and I naturally took the lion's share, basically about 5% of the land's value. Of course, I also had to bribe Wu Qiguang, since he was the head of the Land and Resources Department at the time.

Later, Wu Qiguang became the vice governor, also in charge of this area of ​​work. Therefore, I absolutely did not lie to you!

Hou Liangping nodded, then sighed.

"Pang Bo, what you said may be true, but our Discipline Inspection Commission needs evidence. Without evidence, to suspect a retired deputy provincial-level cadre without cause, to be honest, puts a lot of pressure on our Discipline Inspection Commission!"

It's impossible to convict Vice Governor Wu and conduct a search and investigation based solely on your testimony.

Do you have any other evidence to corroborate the truth of your claims? If not… your report…”

"Wait, Secretary Hou! I haven't finished speaking yet!"

I have evidence! I have it!

I'm not a political novice. Every time I bribed Wu Qiguang, I would keep some evidence, just in case this guy would turn his back on me in the future. The evidence includes audio and video recordings, and they're all in my house!

If you don't believe me, you can send someone to investigate and bring back all the audio and video evidence.

Even though he was overjoyed, Hou Liangping suppressed his excitement and nodded with a serious expression.

"You said our Discipline Inspection Commission would investigate, now I'll ask you one last question!"

Ten years ago, you were in charge of the bidding process for a piece of land in the old city of Guangzhou. The land was later won by the Li family. Ten years have passed, and the land has not undergone any substantial development or construction.

Do you remember the specific details?

"Ah!? Secretary Hou, what details?"

"During the bidding process, did the Li family offer you any bribes? We hope you can truthfully confess!"

"Oh, is that all? Of course it is. Moreover, the Li family is exceptionally generous. The land was very large and in a very good location, so the competition was fierce. The Li family found me through Wu Qiguang."

The first time we met, they handed me a bank card with eight million yuan in it. Later, over time, the total amount deposited by all the other staff members in our Land and Resources Bureau came to roughly the same.

"Alright, that's all the questions. You can go back and rest now. As for your report against Wu Qiguang, we'll have to wait until our Discipline Inspection Commission brings back the evidence and verifies it before you can be considered to have redeemed yourself."

"Okay, okay! By the way, Secretary Hou, the audio and video evidence is in a hidden compartment behind the calligraphy of 'Heaven rewards diligence' in my study."

"Well, I see."

Stepping out of the interrogation room, Hou Liangping slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, rubbed his slightly sore eyes, and still managed to report the interrogation situation to Jia Renli.

Jia Renli's instructions were simple: just hand over the information to the working group, and Hou Liangping would cooperate with the working group's investigation.

After taking a short break in his office for about an hour, Hou Liangping's office door was knocked on.

"Secretary Hou, the work team has arrived!"

Hou Liangping, who was slowly waking up, yawned, took out a wet tissue and wiped his face. The cool touch instantly dispelled his sleepiness.

Hou Liangping stood up, straightened his collar, and walked out of his office.

Upon arriving in the lobby, he found the working group members waiting. From a distance, he recognized Zhong Xiaoai.

"Comrade Liangping, you look like you didn't sleep well."

Zhong Xiaoai greeted him with a smile, to which Hou Liangping shook his head with a smile: "I stayed up all night interrogating people last night, so my energy is indeed a bit low. You look much younger, Xiaoai."

Chapter 433 The energy is astonishing!

Zhong Xiaoai rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"What do you mean 'young'? She's already forty-seven. In remote mountainous areas, someone that age would be a grandmother."

Hou Liangping did not continue to praise him.

Instead, he inquired about other family matters.

"How is Haoran?"

When Zhong Haoran is mentioned, Zhong Xiaoai looks very proud.

"Haoran is in high school now, his grades are very good, and he's very well-behaved, so you don't need to worry about him."

"Okay, good. By the way, where's Shanshan?"

Shanshan, also known as Zhong Xiaoai, later became pregnant and gave birth to a girl named Zhong Shanshan.

As for whether Zhong Shanshan is Hou Liangping's, Chen Hai's, or someone else's, to be honest, Zhong Xiaoai doesn't care, and neither does the Zhong family. Who it is doesn't matter at all; the surname Zhong is enough.

"She's at that age where everyone hates her, but my mom takes care of her. Older people like children, so it's a good match."

"By the way, let's get down to business. Our team has been investigating Wu Qiguang for two days now, and we feel that the situation is not good. According to Pang Bo's confession, Wu Qiguang should have embezzled more money than him."

In reality, Wu Qiguang's retirement life was very simple; he lived in a cadre nursing home.

Their food, clothing, and daily necessities weren't extravagant; it didn't seem like the lifestyle of a corrupt official.

Upon hearing this, Hou Liangping frowned.

“There must be something fishy going on. I could tell from Pang Bo’s interrogation that he wasn’t lying. Corruption was definitely involved, but Wu Qiguang’s vigilance was exceptionally strong!”

For now, it seems best to go to Pang Bo's house and obtain the audio and video evidence.

"Alright, let's go!"

Half an hour later, when Hou Liangping and his group arrived at Pang Bo's villa, they found that the door was open!

And judging from the marks, it just happened!

"Oh no! Go in and check it out!"

Hou Liangping was almost the first to rush in. The entire villa was ransacked, and even the artificial hill was smashed and dented. Such a meticulous search was clearly not just for money.

Without time to think about anything else, Hou Liangping quickly entered the house and went straight to the study. The study was also in a mess, with scattered books on the floor and even the bookshelves had been moved.

And that calligraphy, "Heaven rewards diligence," also disappeared.

The hidden compartment was opened, so where is the audio or video evidence?

Zhong Xiaoai and the other members of the work group who followed her into the study stared wide-eyed. This was too unusual!

Hou Liangping stood there, stunned, his breathing becoming heavy.

"It's really interesting. Just an hour and a half ago, Pang Bo revealed the location of the audio and video evidence, and now his secrets have been completely exposed."

"What a brilliant tactic!"

Zhong Xiaoai, standing behind him, also frowned. The fact that something like this had happened in such a short time indicated that there was a mole within the Discipline Inspection Commission who had tipped them off.

"Ryoping, the trail has gone cold..."

He Liangping took a deep breath and shook his head.

"We underestimated Wu Qiguang, but since he wants to have a contest of magic, let's give it a try!"

"Provoking our Discipline Inspection Commission? Do they really think they're some kind of emperor?!"

There was no point in staying any longer, so Hou Liangping took out his phone and called Zhao Donglai.

"Hey, Donglai!"

"Oh, Secretary Hou, what brings you to call me?"

"Donglai, there's something I need to ask you!"

Our provincial discipline inspection commission just uncovered a lead on a corrupt official, but someone beat me to it. I've sent you the address; your police should investigate the surveillance footage and arrest whoever came here!

Hearing this, Zhao Donglai rubbed his temples.

"The other party has a powerful background?"

"Starting at the sub-provincial level!"

After that one sentence, Zhao Donglai fell silent.

"Okay, I'll send some people from the Criminal Investigation Department to take a look."

"Thank you for your help, Donglai!"