104: Chapter 104 Luring the Snake Out of Its Hole, Laying a Hidden Pawn

Police Chief Li Jianguo's words, "I guarantee the mission will be accomplished," were resonant and forceful.

He turned around, pushed open the wooden door, and strode out.

The air in the conference room did not circulate because of this; instead, it added a layer of heavy oppression.

This was the second standing committee meeting held since Secretary Lin Weimin took over as the Secretary of the Linjiang Municipal Party Committee, and it was his first probe into the framework of this city.

Before he took office, in the office of the Provincial Party Committee Secretary, Secretary Lao Liguo's admonitions were still ringing in his ears.

"Weimin, you have mostly worked in government offices before. You must know that the vertical systems and the horizontal administrative blocks operate on completely different sets of logic."

Secretary Lao Liguo's tone was profound, "When you are in the vertical systems, everything follows a set procedure, and it is not as thorny as in the horizontal blocks. The situation in Linjiang is far more complex than you imagine. Sending you down this time is to complete this practical lesson. As for how deep the water is, think about it yourself when you go back."

Secretary Lin Weimin sat upright in the main seat, his gaze sweeping calmly across both sides of the long table.

He knew deeply that he was the first card played by Secretary Lao, and countless pairs of eyes across the province were staring fixedly at this place.

Before coming, he had probed the bottom through various channels; the key standing committee members of Linjiang City all had people standing behind them without exception.

Only this Mayor Su Changming in front of him—whose true backer was a mystery—remained a fog to this day.

The agenda of the standing committee continued to advance, moving into the daily workflow.

The standing committee members reported on their recent work line by line in an orderly manner.

Secretary Lin Weimin listened to the reports while repeatedly chewing over Secretary Zhu Tianhe's remarks from just a moment ago in his heart.

The taste was gradually becoming clear.

Mayor Su Changming proposed to let Executive Vice Mayor Han Qiming take the lead; this was a blatant attempt to force his hand and set a trap. Using high-sounding principles, he was attempting to seize the actual control of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

If he had agreed just now, Mayor Su Changming would have succeeded; if he had bluntly rejected it, the blame for failing to solve the case later would have been squarely placed on his head.

And Secretary Zhu Tianhe had stepped in at the right time, bringing out the legal principle of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission's overall coordination, pushing Secretary Jiang Huan to the forefront, not only preserving the basic foundation of the Municipal Public Security Bureau but also quietly resolving the siege for him.

This Secretary Zhu Tianhe was interesting.

Who was a true ally? Who was an enemy harboring malicious intentions?

These matters still needed time to be slowly verified.

"Comrades," after everyone finished speaking, Secretary Lin Weimin made a brief summary, "There are thousands of threads in our recent work. Everyone should guard their own responsibility fields well, and chaos that should not happen must absolutely not happen. Meeting adjourned."

Linjiang City Central Hospital, intensive care ward.

Su Qinghan felt as if she had fallen into a long and chaotic nightmare. The dream was full of blinding high beams, deafening engine roars, and the desperate sound of shattering glass.

She woke up from the nightmare with a start.

Coming into view was the face of Zhu Wenhao, which looked somewhat haggard.

He was sitting by the bedside, "Zhu Wenhao..." Su Qinghan opened her lips, "What... happened to me?"

She shifted her gaze, examining the medical equipment and infusion tubes operating around her, "Where is this?"

"Qinghan, this is the hospital." Zhu Wenhao's tone was steady, "You were injured. Do you still remember what happened?"

Su Qinghan shook her head in confusion.

She closed her eyes, trying to salvage something from the abyss of memory.

"I only remember getting off work on the weekend, wanting to drive to find you... and then on the side of the road, I met a little boy..."

She wanted to continue recalling deeper, but a tearing pain suddenly erupted in her mind.

"Uh..." She frowned in pain, her hands instinctively wanting to hold her head.

Zhu Wenhao pressed down on her shoulders, gently pulling her into his arms, stopping her from pulling at the infusion tubes.

"Doctor!" He turned his head and shouted loudly towards the door.

The medical staff waiting in the corridor filed in upon hearing the sound. The nurse gave Su Qinghan an injection, and Su Qinghan fell into a deep sleep again.

The attending physician stepped forward quickly, took out a small flashlight to check Su Qinghan's pupil reaction, and looked at the monitor by the bedside.

"All vital signs are very stable." The doctor breathed a sigh of relief, "The patient has a mild concussion, and having a headache is a normal phenomenon. There is nothing seriously wrong with her body, and she is recovering quite well."

Zhu Wenhao let go and asked, "Then what is going on with this amnesia?"

"It may be a traumatic sequela." The doctor explained, "Under the dual stimulation of the car accident and the heavy blow, the patient's brain activated a self-protection mechanism, forcibly shielding that extremely dangerous memory. The physiological damage will heal slowly, but the recovery of this memory will require the intervention of a psychologist later."

Zhu Wenhao nodded slightly.

After sending the doctor away, he looked at Su Qinghan who had fallen back into a deep sleep and turned to walk out of the ward.

Standing in front of the window in the corridor, Zhu Wenhao took out his phone.

He dialed the number, and the call was picked up quickly.

Noisy arguments came from the other end of the receiver; Police Chief Li Jianguo was holding a case analysis meeting.

Zhu Wenhao went straight to the point, "Director Li, Su Qinghan has woken up. Come over here."

Municipal Public Security Bureau building, conference room.

Police Chief Li Jianguo didn't care about the trace analysis that was being argued about on the conference table and made a prompt decision.

"Old Chen, Captain Chen Gang, you two come with me to the hospital!"

Walking to the door of the conference room, he met Executive Deputy Director Liu Qing who was just about to enter, and Police Chief Li Jianguo stopped his steps.

"Old Liu, Su Qinghan has woken up. I will personally take people over to ask for clues about the suspect. You organize everyone at home to continue the case discussion and go over the blind spots of the surveillance on the Riverside Avenue again."

After giving the instructions, Police Chief Li Jianguo left the conference room with big strides.

Executive Deputy Director Liu Qing watched Police Chief Li Jianguo's back disappear at the end of the corridor.

He did not go to the conference room to preside over the case discussion as instructed.

Instead, he walked into the innermost cubicle of the men's restroom and locked the door.

Executive Deputy Director Liu Qing took out a SIM card without real-name registration and skillfully edited a message.

"Su Qinghan has woken up, Director Li is on his way to the hospital."

After sending it, he pulled out the SIM card, snapped it directly, and threw it into the toilet, pressing the flush button.

Linjiang City First People's Hospital.

Police Chief Li Jianguo arrived in a hurry with his men.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he saw Zhu Wenhao standing at the end of the corridor, talking on the phone with someone.

Seeing their group arrive, Zhu Wenhao put away his phone and greeted them.

"Zhu Wenhao, how is Su Qinghan's condition?"

"Apart from a bit of amnesia, everything else is fine."

When Police Chief Li Jianguo heard the word "amnesia," he slapped his thigh in anxiety on the spot.

"What can we do!" His brows twisted into a dead knot, "The scene was burned to the ground, and no physical evidence was left. I was counting on her to wake up so the sketch artist could provide a sketch of the killer!"

Zhu Wenhao understood Police Chief Li Jianguo's anxiety; if the case couldn't be solved, he was afraid this police uniform would be stripped off.

"Director Li, let her rest first. You have your men go in and ask, just go through the routine procedure."

Police Chief Li Jianguo waved his hand and dismissed his two subordinates into the ward.

Only he and Zhu Wenhao were left in the corridor.

Zhu Wenhao pulled Police Chief Li Jianguo to a corner.

"Director Li, as the Art of War says, 'When weak, appear strong; when strong, appear weak.' Since we have no clues, let's create one out of thin air."

Police Chief Li Jianguo looked up: "How to create it?"

"I have a way here." Zhu Wenhao lowered his voice, "After you go back, spread a rumor among the core layer of the bureau. Just say that Su Qinghan has woken up. Not only that, but her car that was burned down had a dashcam installed, which has a real-time cloud transmission function."

"The images of the people who were chasing her at the time, as well as the scene of blocking the car to commit the crime, were all synchronized and uploaded to the cloud server."

Police Chief Li Jianguo gasped.

"Don't worry, this net needs to be woven tighter."

"You also have to tell them that the developer of this dashcam is abroad. Because Su Qinghan has temporary amnesia, she can't remember the password for the cloud account."

"More importantly, the security mechanism of this overseas server is extremely strict. As soon as the account password is entered incorrectly five times, the entire account will be permanently locked, and the data inside will be completely destroyed."

"Now, we are just waiting for Su Qinghan to slowly recover her memory and remember that password."

"Luring the snake out of its hole!" Police Chief Li Jianguo blurted out.

Zhu Wenhao pointed out the key point: "Yes. Zheng Jianguo's fall to death and Li Qian's suicide were done so perfectly, it's hard to guarantee that there aren't their people inside the Municipal Public Security Bureau. You release this news, and then secretly monitor those people under you."

"Facing a cloud video that might be recovered at any time, those who are colluding with the underworld forces will definitely not be able to sit still. They will definitely tip off others, or even take the next step."

"As long as they move, this case will come alive."

Police Chief Li Jianguo nodded heavily, "Good! I will go back and prepare now, and lay this net in the Technical Investigation Section and the Cyber Security Brigade!"

Without a word of nonsense, Police Chief Li Jianguo turned and strode away.

Watching Police Chief Li Jianguo's back disappear behind the elevator door.

Zhu Wenhao turned and walked towards a quiet place on the other side of the corridor.

He took out his phone again and dialed the number of Captain Xiao Zhan of the Provincial Public Security Department.

Three seconds later, the call was established.

"Captain Xiao, I have already told Director Li. The false news will soon spread within the Linjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau." Zhu Wenhao's tone was calm, "You can conduct comprehensive monitoring of them."

"Received."

"Yes, that's right. You must keep an eye on every abnormal communication signal."

Hanging up the phone, Zhu Wenhao stood by the window, overlooking the city surging in the undercurrent.

Grass snakes and gray lines, the hidden pulse stretches for a thousand miles.

As early as last night, Deputy Captain of the Criminal Investigation Corps of the Jiangnan Provincial Public Security Department, Deputy Captain Zhang Lin, had already led several experienced criminal investigation experts, together with the fully armed special police of the First Squadron of the Provincial Department, to secretly sneak into Linjiang City.

This surprise force hidden in the dark was also a request that Zhu Wenhao had made to Director Qi Shan.

For Director Qi Shan, this was also repaying the favor of Zhu Wenhao helping him take down the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission and Deputy Director of the Anti-Gang Office.

The deeper meaning lies in the fact that this is a warning issued by Zhu Wenhao to the various forces in Linjiang City.

He is declaring to everyone: The Zhu family does not just have a place in Linjiang; in the Provincial Party Committee Compound, they also possess the ability to deploy troops and generals.

This is also the first time since Zhu Wenhao came to this era that he has cast aside the shelter of his elders in front of Elder Li and, as a chess player, issued his own thunderous voice.