Ling Li said, "I've looked at a bit of Yan Zifang's interrogation transcript. She mentioned a detail—she hadn't seen the fruit knife in that room during the first two visits. It was only today that she saw it. I've asked around, and there's supposedly not even any fruit in that room."

She was trying to tell Chen Fang that the fruit knife had been deliberately placed there.

How true this was remained unknown, but the trend of this matter would undoubtedly become very complicated.

Needless to say, Xue Bo must have been feeling the heat by now.

Half an hour later.

The No.1 vehicle of the Municipal Party Committee slowly drove into the compound.

Xu Jianfeng got out of the car.

He hurried into the building.

Minutes later, all the Standing Committee members and heads of relevant departments received a call for a meeting.

At seven in the morning.

The first meeting on the murder case of Meng Zheqing was convened.

Inside the meeting room.

Almost everyone was whispering.

This included both the attending Standing Committee members and the heads of other departments sitting in the corners.

Only Xue Bo was silent, looking tense.

After all, he hadn't expected the situation to turn out this way.

"Secretary Xu has arrived."

Someone shouted out loud.

At the entrance, Xu Jianfeng took quick strides into the room and murmured, "Let's begin the meeting," and the whole place fell silent instantly.

He took a deep breath.

And said, "Comrade Shanglian, please give us an update on the situation."

"Yes!"

The chief of the Public Security Bureau, Pei Shanglian, was the first to stand up. At that moment, the projector was also turned on. Pei clicked the remote, and an image of a corpse appeared on the screen. A gasp went through the room at the sight.

"Around 3 AM today, the 110 Command Center received a report of a homicide at a farmstead called Wei Bi Ju. The local police station and the criminal police team quickly arrived at the scene and confirmed that the victim was our Deputy Mayor Meng Zheqing. After three hours of rapid investigation and interrogation, the suspect Yan Zifang confessed without reservation to stabbing Comrade Meng Zheqing to death. Now, I will roughly go through the sequence of events..."

For the next while.

Pei Shanglian narrated the motive and narrative of Yan Zifang's murder.

Upon hearing this, the crowd was shocked.

The cause and effect were clear-cut—it could be said his comeuppance was well-deserved.

Suddenly, Xu Jianfeng changed the subject.

He looked at Xue Bo and said, "Mayor Xue, I heard that on the night in question, you, along with the Public Security Bureau's officers, rescued a kidnapped hostage. This person was also kidnapped under Meng Zheqing's orders, correct?"

"That's right, that happened."

Xue Bo replied.

Xu Jianfeng nodded and asked, "Who was the person Meng Zheqing kidnapped, and why did he kidnap them? Have you figured that out?"

Xue Bo had already prepared his response.

Shaking his head, he replied, "No result yet."

Xu Jianfeng slightly nodded and said, "Next, I will announce the instructions from the Wulan City Party Committee and City Government..."

As he spoke.

Everyone in the room immediately picked up pen and paper, looking quietly at Xu Jianfeng.

Xu Jianfeng spoke earnestly, "First, both the kidnapping and the murder cases will be transferred to the 124 Joint Task Force as of today. This task force will be led by the Supervisory and Judicial Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, with members jointly sent by the Wulan City Disciplinary Committee, Public Security Bureau, and the Procuratorate. Comrade Shanglian, you must preserve the evidence and complete the handover procedures without delay. The task force will arrive this morning."

No sooner had he finished speaking.

The look on Xue Bo's face grew even more tense.

He had not expected the task force to be assembled so swiftly.

The worst part was that it was led by the provincial People's Congress.

After all, the powerful entity backing Meng Zheqing was none other than Lin Duangxiong, the vice-chairman of the provincial People's Congress.

The initial concerns had finally come true.

"Secretary Xu, Comrade Meng Zheqing was a city-managed officer. It's normal procedure for the special case team to take over his murder case, but the kidnapping could be dealt with by our city bureau, couldn't it? Why does that need to be transferred as well?"

Pei Shanglian asked.

Xu Jianfeng glanced at him and said, "This is the decision of the Wulan City Committee. Director Pei, would you like to make a call and ask why?"

With those words,

Pei Shanglian was at a loss for words.

Meng Zheqing's death wasn't something stirred up by Xue Bo's faction.

So even if it was transferred, he had nothing to worry about. However, with Tian Xinran, there was the complication of a fabricated heroic act case. If Tian was transferred, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"There's also a second matter. The Economic Development Zone is to be established after the new year. With the sudden untimely demise of Comrade Meng Zheqing, the position of top leader has been vacated. The Organization Department should quickly draw up a candidate and bring it to the Standing Committee for discussion. Comrade Chen Fang, is two days enough time for you?"

Xu Jianfeng asked.

Chen Fang felt a shiver in his heart.

Two days?

That urgent?

It was just for a moment,

and Chen Fang seemed to understand something.

Since it was Lin Duangxiong's man leading the investigation, the impact on Xue Bo would be significant. As previously deduced, everyone throughout the city was well aware of the conflict between Xue Bo and Meng Zheqing; this murder would naturally first lead to suspicions pointing towards Xue Bo.

In such a situation,

it would be difficult for Xue Bo to secure the position of head of the Economic Development Zone.

If Xue Bo couldn't secure it, and with Meng Zheqing now dead, that position would naturally fall into the hands of Xu Jianfeng.

Chen Fang had always felt like the proverbial fisherman who benefits from the quarrel between the snipe and the clam.

Now it seemed, the biggest beneficiary wasn't him but Xu Jianfeng.

After pausing, he said, "Secretary Xu, I'll do it as quickly as possible."

Xu Jianfeng was very satisfied with Chen Fang's response, nodded, and said, "Alright, let's leave it at that. Comrade Chen Fang, stay behind. The rest of you are dismissed!"

With that command,

everyone got up and left in twos and threes.

Two minutes later, the conference room was left with only Chen Fang and Xu Jianfeng.

Truth be told, it had been over half a month since Chen Fang took office, and this was the first time the two of them had spoken alone.

"Comrade Chen Fang, this must be our first time being alone together, right?"

Xu Jianfeng said in a relaxed tone.

Chen Fang nodded and said, "I've wanted to visit you for a long time already, but Secretary Xu has just been too busy."

Xu Jianfeng smiled slightly and said, "With the New Year approaching, there are always more things to deal with. No worries, we'll have more chances to get to know each other in the future."

"Did Secretary Xu keep me behind for some matter?"

Chen Fang asked.

Xu Jianfeng lit a cigarette and said, "Teacher told me that you would help me in the matters concerning the Economic Development Zone. So regarding the candidate for the head of the zone, I would like to hear your opinion."

His 'teacher,' of course, referred to Zhao Yiping, who personally facilitated Chen Fang's appointment.

Unexpectedly, it all came full circle back to the beginning.

Chen Fang smiled and said, "Secretary Xu, as you know, I haven't been serving long as the head of the Organization Department, and I'm not very familiar with many people. If Secretary Xu has a suitable candidate in mind, I'll just follow your lead."

That was exactly what Xu Jianfeng wanted to hear.

And it was his reason for keeping Chen Fang behind.

Xu Jianfeng pondered for a moment and asked, "Minister Chen, what do you think of Comrade Pei Zilai?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.