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

A black official car sped through the streets late at night, the neon lights of Beijing rushing past the windows, but it couldn't take away the almost solidified oppression inside the car.

No one speaks.

The subordinate driving had sweaty palms and gripped the steering wheel tightly. The other two in the back seat were even more huddled together, barely breathing.

The atmosphere inside the car was colder than freezing.

The only sound came from the passenger seat, from Hou Liangping's heavy, suppressed breathing deep in his throat.

He clutched his swollen cheek, the burning pain constantly assaulting his senses. But this physical suffering was utterly insignificant compared to the humiliation he was enduring.

shame.

An unprecedented shame!

This sense of shame, like a red-hot branding iron, was repeatedly branded on his heart, eventually turning into overwhelming resentment and hatred.

"Hou...Hou Chu..."

In the back seat, a young man finally couldn't withstand the pressure and spoke, his voice trembling. His voice was dry and filled with fear.

"This...this matter...is it just going to be left like this?"

Forget it?

These two words, like a hammer, shattered the last shred of composure that Hou Liangping had forcibly maintained.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, he slammed his fist into the bulletproof car window in front of him. The sturdy window didn't budge, but the force of the impact left his entire arm numb.

"never mind?!"

Hou Liangping whirled around, his face contorted in bruises and contorted with rage. His bloodshot eyes glared at his subordinate in the back seat, like a demon crawling out of hell.

"He hit me! He pointed a gun at me! He told me to get out!"

He roared hysterically, as if he had gone mad, every word dripping with the stench of blood.

"Even my dad has never hit me like this!"

"If this matter is just left like this, I, Hou Liangping, will write my name backwards from now on!"

"I will make him pay a thousandfold for what he did today!"

The temperature inside the car rose instead of falling because of his roar, becoming scorching and violent.

His subordinates were terrified by his appearance, and they remained silent, not daring to even lift their heads.

After the frenzied roar came heavy panting.

Hou Liangping's chest heaved violently, and the anger that had almost burned away his reason finally subsided slowly under the strain of his body.

Cold rationality has regained the upper hand.

He slumped into his seat and closed his eyes.

My mind raced with calculations.

A head-on clash?

No.

The man named Shen Zhong has an unfathomable background.

This kind of person is beyond his ability to be shaken by conventional means.

That was a mountain, a sacred mountain rooted directly in the foundation of the nation. His actions tonight were no different from an ant trying to kick away that mountain.

The result was that it was crushed to pieces.

A direct confrontation is a dead end.

So...

Hou Liangping's mind worked very quickly.

A thought, like a flash of lightning in the darkness, illuminated his heart, which was filled with resentment.

In terms of strength, I am no match for you.

In terms of status, I cannot surpass you.

But... this world is not just about force and status.

There are also rules.

And I, Hou Liangping, am the ancestor of manipulating the rules!

He suddenly opened his eyes. The previous frenzied hatred had vanished, replaced by a colder, more vicious scheming.

He wants to try a different approach.

He was no longer willing to get entangled with Shen Zhong in terms of "force" and "identity." He wanted to take the battlefield to the area where he was most proficient.

"Rules" and "public opinion".

"Turn around! Go back to the unit! Now! Immediately! Right now!"

He growled at the driver, his voice hoarse but carrying an undeniable air of command.

Without the slightest hesitation, the driver jerked the steering wheel, and the car made a sharp turn at the intersection, speeding towards the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

"Director Hou, we..."

"Shut up and listen to me!" Hou Liangping interrupted his subordinate. He spoke very quickly and his thoughts were frighteningly clear.

"Each person should write a detailed report on tonight's 'official duties'."

He deliberately emphasized the phrase "performing official duties".

"The report should describe in detail how we went to the target location to conduct an investigation in accordance with laws and regulations after receiving the report."

His fingers tapped repeatedly on his knees, making a dull thud.

"Then, focus on how, after we presented our identification and stated our identities, we were met with severe and violent resistance from the suspect's relatives!"

"You need to write down clearly how he attacked me without saying a word! He knocked me to the ground!"

"More importantly, it must be clearly stated how he summoned a squad of fully armed soldiers, armed with dozens of automatic rifles, to subject us unarmed high-ranking government officials to death threats for an entire hour!"

"As for our previous remarks... none of that matters, understand? That was necessary emotional pressure during law enforcement! Not a single word of it can be mentioned in the report!"

"He Xia's identity should also be blurred; just write 'family member of the person under investigation'! Focus all attention on Shen Zhong alone!"

The subordinates in the car were stunned.

They finally understood what Hou Liangping was trying to do.

"Captain Hou, but besides us, there are also armed police present tonight. Will they accept our report?"

One of the subordinates hurriedly spoke up.

Hou Liangping smirked and patted the man on the shoulder.

"Have you forgotten that, in order to prevent public opinion from escalating, under Zhou Weiguo's supervision, both of our body cameras were wiped clean?"

This is a complete distortion of the truth!

Once the report is submitted, Shen Zhong will go from being a harassed family member of a meritorious official to a military bully who "possesses military power, disregards national laws, and violently assaults state cadres"!

This is an open conspiracy!

It's a knife that kills without drawing blood!

Hou Liangping's lips slowly curled into a distorted arc.

"Shen Zhong, aren't you meritorious? Aren't you privileged? I'd like to see what they think when this report is placed on the desks of the entire civil service!"

"A meritorious official enjoying the highest national honors has so blatantly trampled on the law and treated law enforcers like dirt. How much public outrage will this provoke?"

"I don't need to bring you down; I just need to make everyone think that you soldiers are beasts unbound by rules! A sword hanging over the heads of all civil servants!"

"I'm going to use the contradictions within the entire system to deal with you! Even if the highest levels protect you, you'll never be able to hold your head high again!"

After doing all that, he felt it wasn't enough.

He pulled a completely different personal cell phone from another pocket.

He skillfully pressed a string of numbers and dialed it.

The phone was answered after only one ring.

"It's me," Hou Liangping said in a low voice.

A sharp and capable male voice came from the other end of the phone: "Director Hou, what are your instructions so late?"

"Do me a favor. Write a press release, you know the content, polish it a bit. Emphasize the keywords 'military background personnel,' 'arrogant and domineering,' and 'beating up anti-corruption officials.'"

"What about the standards?"

"Don't publish it in the newspapers, don't post it online." Hou Liangping's instructions were clear and precise. "Use your channels to spread this document among the bureau-level officials in various ministries in Beijing. Make sure everyone sees it, but don't leave any written evidence."

"The goal is to create an effect where everyone is talking about it privately, but no one dares to bring it up publicly. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Understood." The man on the other end of the phone immediately understood. "This is called creating public pressure; the key is the timing. Too little pressure won't have any effect, and too much pressure will easily backfire."

"Wait, don't act yet, wait for my message."

As Hou Liangping spoke, he seemed to have thought of something and hurriedly explained.

"Okay, I'm waiting for your news. As long as you give the order, I guarantee this will become the hottest topic in the industry before dawn."

hang up the phone.

Hou Liangping suppressed his excitement and dialed another number, this time to Zhong Xiaoai.

……

Half an hour later.

The heavy phone vibrated.

He took out his phone, and the screen displayed an unfamiliar Beijing number.

He answered the phone.

A woman's voice came through the receiver.

The voice was polite and clear, yet it carried an innate, condescending sense of scrutiny.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Shen Zhong?"

"I am Zhong Xiaoai."