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

Hearing the cold, electronic voice coming from the receiver, Hou Liangping felt a chill run down his spine.

Shut down.

His strongest supporter shut down at this crucial moment.

He refused to believe it and dialed again with trembling fingers.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently switched off."

That same cold female voice, like a verdict, plunged him into an abyss.

"How could this be... how could this happen?"

He slumped onto the sofa, looking utterly lost, muttering to himself.

He couldn't figure out which part of the process had gone wrong.

That report was flawless.

That public opinion campaign successfully ignited the anger of the entire civil service system towards the military's privileges.

Even if Shen Zhong has an immense background, he should be overwhelmed by this wave.

Why... why was I the one who received the call from the disciplinary inspection team in the end?

He frantically picked up his phone and started calling everyone he knew.

Colleagues from the Anti-Corruption Bureau, friends from other ministries, and even some high-ranking media figures with whom I usually call brothers.

However, the reactions on the other end of the phone were surprisingly consistent.

"Hey, Director Hou... Oh dear, I'm in a meeting right now, it's not convenient. Let's talk later, let's talk later!"

"Liangping? What brings you here? Me? My signal is bad, hey? Hello?"

"Old Hou, it's not that I don't want to help you, but this matter... is too complicated. Good luck to you."

One phone call after another, then hanging up again and again.

Those who used to greet him with smiles and treat him like royalty now avoided him like the plague.

He finally understood what it meant to experience the coldness and warmth of human relationships.

Just when he was about to despair, one of his closest subordinates took a huge risk and sent him a text message.

The message was very short, consisting of only one sentence.

"Director Hou, be careful. A video of the incident that is extremely damaging to you has been delivered directly to the desk of the top official in the institute."

video!

These two words struck him like a bolt from the blue.

With a "plop".

Hou Liangping slid off the sofa and collapsed onto the carpet.

All his pride and confidence were utterly crushed at this moment.

His prized political maneuvering and the rules he held dear seemed so naive and laughable in the face of that man's absolute power and godlike strategic vision.

He lost.

They suffered a complete and utter defeat.

When Zhong Xiaoai got home from get off work and opened the door, this was the scene she saw.

Her husband lay sprawled on the ground, utterly dejected, his eyes lifeless, his face filled with a despair and death she had never seen before.

"Ryohei? What's wrong?"

Her heart tightened, and she quickly went over to help him up.

Hou Liangping, as if grasping at the last straw, grabbed her hand, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Xiao Ai, it's over...it's all over..."

He spoke incoherently, recounting everything about the phone call and video call with the disciplinary inspection team.

After hearing this, Zhong Xiaoai's usually calm and rational face became extremely solemn.

She knew that the situation was so serious that it was beyond their control.

Unlike Hou Liangping, she didn't break down. Instead, she immediately sat on the sofa and took out her phone.

She began to use her connections within the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in an attempt to uncover deeper details.

Her network of relationships was more sophisticated and more secretive than Hou Liangping's.

Soon, some scattered but crucial information came back.

"Xiao Ai, you shouldn't get involved in this. The other side's power is beyond your imagination."

"This time, I've really messed up."

Each response was vague yet full of warnings.

She got it.

Conventional game theory methods have become completely ineffective.

Any attempt to reason or mediate through rules is futile in the face of the other party's unreasonable and absolute power.

She has to play her last card.

She pondered for a long time before finally making up her mind.

She found a long-forgotten number and dialed her father's number.

On the other end of the phone was my father's dignified and steady voice.

"What is it?"

"Dad, I need you to help me contact someone." Zhong Xiaoai's voice was a little hoarse. "Old Wang from the political and legal system, Wang Taishan. I need him to speak with the military."

Although he has retired to the second line, he remains a towering figure in the entire political and legal system, with students and old friends all over the world.

This was the only path she could think of that could lead to heaven.

She hoped that through this relationship, the other party would be lenient and leave Hou Liangping a way out.

Even if he takes off these clothes, as long as he is safe, he will have a chance to make a comeback.

the next day.

Hou Liangping still arrived at the Supreme People's Procuratorate building.

However, he didn't go to his own office, but to the disciplinary inspection team's interview room number three.

A room without any windows, a table, and two chairs.

Two disciplinary inspectors sat opposite him, their faces expressionless.

There were no small talk, no formalities.

They opened the laptop in front of them and turned the screen towards him.

"Comrade Hou Liangping, please take a look at this first."

On the screen, the video he would never forget began to play.

In the dimly lit stairwell, his arrogant face and his foul language were clearly audible.

"He Xia! Let me tell you, don't push your luck!"

"Take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror to see what kind of background you have!"

"To tell you the truth, someone has been eyeing the position of district head of Hexi District for a long time!"

Every image, every word, was like a resounding slap across his face.

His cheeks burned, and he wished he could disappear into the ground.

The video has finished playing.

The room was quiet.

"Comrade Hou Liangping, do you have anything to explain regarding the content of the video?" one of the discipline inspection personnel asked.

"I...I...that was an investigative strategy!" Hou Liangping tried to explain, but his voice was dry and weak. "I was trying to put emotional pressure on the suspect to get her to confess!"

"Emotional pressure?" Another disciplinary officer sneered, throwing a copy of his report onto the table. "Then how do you explain this report? The whole thing is about how you were violently resisted and threatened by the military. Why didn't you mention a single word about these 'investigation strategies' in the video?"

Hou Liangping was speechless.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, any explanation he offered seemed so weak and ridiculous.

The next few hours were the most agonizing time of his life.

He was like a criminal stripped naked, allowing the disciplinary inspectors to tear away his lies and pretense layer by layer, exposing them to the air.

The conversation ended.

The head of the discipline inspection team walked in and announced the disciplinary decision on the spot.

"After investigation and deliberation by the organization, it has been decided that, effective immediately, Comrade Hou Liangping is suspended from all his duties as Director of the Investigation Division of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and shall move out of his office and await further processing at home."

Suspended from duty.

Awaiting processing.

These eight words sealed the fate of his political career.

Hou Liangping walked out of the interview room in a daze, and out of the office building he had once been so proud of.

In the corridor, his former colleagues, who used to fawn over him and smile obsequiously, now looked at him as if he were a plague god.

Some lowered their heads and pretended to look at documents, while others simply turned around and walked into the office next door.

Only one young man whom he had once promoted hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and whispered, "Director Hou, take care."

Then, they left in a hurry.

The wall fell and everyone pushed.

People leave, and the tea grows cold.

Today, he truly experienced the cruel rules of officialdom.

Standing on the steps of the Supreme People's Procuratorate's main gate, looking at the bustling world before him, he felt dizzy and utterly despondent.

Just then, his phone rang.

He answered the phone blankly; it was his wife, Zhong Xiaoai.

On the other end of the phone, Zhong Xiaoai's voice carried a hint of suppressed exhaustion, yet also a glimmer of hope.

"Ryohei, don't give up! There's still a chance!"

"My dad has already contacted Old Wang, and Old Wang... personally called Shen Zhong's former leader!"