68: Chapter 68: The exam ends, Li Qian drowns, the account book goes missing.

The first open selection exam in Jiangnan Province began as scheduled.

In the third lecture hall of the Linjiang Municipal Party Committee's Party School.

On the podium, two special invigilators from the Municipal Organization Department had solemn expressions as the backup exam papers were unsealed.

The exam papers were passed down, one by one.

Finally, one landed on Zhu Wenhao's desk.

His gaze swept over it, finally locking onto the essay question with the highest point value.

The prompt read: Discuss the balance between local infrastructure project expansion and financial risk management.

The examiner's level for this question was extremely high, directly targeting the current pain points of major cities.

In Zhu Wenhao's deep eyes, there was not a hint of a candidate's nervousness, only the calmness of someone looking down at a chessboard.

Governing a country is like cooking a small fish—when the roots are undisturbed, the branches and leaves will flourish.

The essence of local debt was no different from the ming dynasty's over-issuance of paper currency.

Both overdraw future taxes to fill current gaps in political achievements, ultimately leading to inflation and an empty national treasury.

The underlying logic had remained unchanged for thousands of years.

He put pen to paper.

The first paragraph precisely cut into the crux of interest distribution.

How local tycoons used layers of nested shell companies in the grey areas of infrastructure approval to unscrupulously intercept funds and line their own pockets.

In the second paragraph, his tone shifted as he directly prescribed a ruthless remedy.

Look-through supervision of funds, completely separating project approval authority from fund allocation authority, and establishing a normalized third-party independent auditing mechanism free from local constraints.

Writing with fluid ease, he paused his pen and wrote a concluding sentence at the end of the essay.

"The trouble of the world lies not in the lack of laws, but in the failure to enforce them."

"If rules degenerate into footnotes of power, the rule of law collapses; only by enforcing accountability with an iron fist can we clear the source and rectify the root!"

His writing flowed like dragons and snakes, completed in one breath.

When the final period was written, the entire thousand-word essay read like a red-inked imperial cabinet memorial, every word a gem.

He placed his pen on the desk. There was still some time left before the exam ended.

He did not stand up.

The bird that sticks its head out gets shot; at any time, hiding one's edge is more important than drawing one's sword.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes to rest his mind, and sat quietly waiting.

Until the harsh ring of the bell sounded.

"Everyone stand up, stop writing!"

Zhu Wenhao stood up, handed in his paper, and left with the crowd.

Walking out of the Party School gates, this exam, which he had single-handedly orchestrated, came to an end.

Meanwhile, another storm he had conjured was just beginning.

In the suburbs, on the mudflats of the lower reaches of the Qinghe River.

In the reed marshes, several waterbirds were startled, flying frantically into the lead-grey sky.

Two police cars from the Lin'an Street Police Station parked on the muddy embankment, their warning lights flashing silently.

Deputy Chief Li stumbled his way to the water's edge, the pungent fishy smell of the river making him frown.

Two police officers wearing water boots worked together to drag a female corpse from the shallow water onto the shore.

The female corpse was around thirty years old, fully clothed, with no obvious signs of struggle or torn clothing.

"Chief, we found a handbag in the grass on the shore!" An officer ran over quickly, carrying a wet leather bag in an evidence bag.

Deputy Chief Li put on white gloves, unzipped the bag, and began rummaging through its contents.

Hydrating mist, lipstick, a few water-soaked bills, and a medicine bottle.

There was also an ID card.

Li Qian.

Tucked into the inner compartment of the bag was a neatly folded diagnosis sheet.

Fluoxetine Hydrochloride tablets.

Linjiang City First People's Hospital.

Diagnosis: Moderate depression.

Deputy Chief Li flipped through these items, marveling in his heart.

Just then, an off-road vehicle with an extremely high chassis crushed the gravel, driving onto the embankment overbearingly.

The car door opened, and Deputy Captain Qiao An jumped out.

He wore a faded black leather jacket, and his hair was messy, looking as if he had just pulled back from a stakeout.

As the Deputy Captain of the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Detachment, Deputy Captain Qiao An had always had his own set of "rules" when handling cases.

He crossed the police line and walked straight over.

"Deputy Captain Qiao, you're here." Deputy Chief Li quickly went up to greet him, handing over the evidence bag.

"We received a call about a drowning. When we came over to check, our preliminary assessment was suicide. No signs of homicide were found."

Deputy Captain Qiao An took the bag, gave it a cursory glance, and walked over to the corpse.

Forensic Examiner Lao Qin was checking the deceased's pupils with a flashlight.

"Lao Qin, any findings?"

Lao Qin stood up and took off his mask: "There are no obvious defensive wounds on the body. There is typical mushroom-like froth around the mouth and nose, and mud in the fingernails, which are characteristics of drowning while alive. The time of death was roughly between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM last night."

Deputy Captain Qiao An stood up and looked around.

The footprints on the mudflats had been washed blurry by the rain.

In his mind flashed last night's phone call and the extra hundreds of thousands of yuan at home.

And what that man named Li Kai had promised: as long as the matter was handled cleanly, the woman he pined for, Sun Li, would appear in his bed tonight.

Sun Li, a girl from a certain business KTV, was his "white moonlight." He had pursued her for three years, spending thirty to fifty thousand yuan, but she hadn't even spared him a proper glance.

The more perfect the chain of evidence, the more flaws it had.

A person preparing to die goes out in the middle of the night and still remembers to bring a complete set of documents proving they have a mental illness?

Ridiculous.

Deputy Captain Qiao An threw the evidence bag back to Deputy Chief Li, yawned, and stretched.

"That's it then. Let's head back."

"Deputy Captain Qiao, we're not expanding the scope of the investigation?" Deputy Chief Li asked tentatively.

"Investigate my foot! The forensic examiner already said it's drowning, and the medical records and medicine bottle are right here. What more do you want?"

"Take her back, have Lao Qin issue the autopsy report quickly, and if there are no other issues, close the case as a suicide! The bureau has plenty of cases lately, let's wrap this up early!"

Deputy Captain Qiao An waved his hand impatiently and turned to walk toward the off-road vehicle.

He sat in the driver's seat and closed the door.

The cynical, casual look on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, hard expression.

Li Qian.

Zheng Jianguo's underground mistress.

He took out another phone and drafted an encrypted message.

"The scene has been processed. Confirmed as suicide."

Clicked send.

Recipient: Li Kai.

The engine roared, and the off-road vehicle sped away, leaving a deep black tire track on the muddy embankment.

...

The Municipal Government Office Building.

Mayor Su Changming sat behind his desk, while his chief secretary, Secretary Li Changgeng, reported in a lowered voice.

"Mayor, news came back from the Public Security Bureau. Li Qian's body was found in the Qinghe River on the outskirts of the city."

Mayor Su Changming picked up his teacup, his movements not pausing for a second.

"How did the police classify it?"

"Deputy Captain Qiao An from the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Detachment went to inspect the scene. The physical evidence was complete, and the forensic examiner's preliminary assessment was drowning while alive. Qiao An made the call on the spot to close the case as a suicide once the autopsy report is out."

Mayor Su Changming took a sip of tea; the water temperature was just right.

"Good, handle it according to the rules."

Wang Juan indeed handled things cleanly and efficiently.

Pushing the person into the water to drown, fabricating the illusion of drowning while alive, and pairing it with perfect medical records and a bribed detective.

This line to Zheng Jianguo was now completely severed.

The only pity was that the ledger containing the earth-shattering secret was not found at Li Qian's residence.

"Is the exam over at the Organization Department?" Mayor Su Changming set down his teacup.

"It just ended. Everything went smoothly, without any trouble."

"What about Division Chief Liu Haiping of the Provincial Government? Any movement?"

"Division Chief Liu Haiping went to the Provincial Party Committee family compound once, then returned to the Provincial Government and hasn't come out since. However, I heard that Executive Deputy Minister Liao Changxing of the Provincial Organization Department has been suspended."

Secretary Li Changgeng only stated the facts without making any conjectures.

Mayor Su Changming stood up and walked over to the massive French window.

When two tigers fight, one is bound to be injured.

This was exactly what he wanted.

For a spot in the Young Cadre Training Class, Secretary Zhu Tianhe did not hesitate to use the Li family's power to clash head-on with Liu Family. Such reckless enemy-making is a major taboo in politics.

It looks like a win now, but in the future, it will surely backfire.

...

Donghuwan Apartment.

Zhu Wenhao pushed open the door and entered. Su Qinghan was curled up on the sofa reading a book.

"How did the exam go?" She put down her book and came over to greet him.

"I performed as usual." Zhu Wenhao took off his coat. "Once the results are out and the interview is secured, it'll basically be a done deal."

Su Qinghan poured him a cup of warm water.

"By the way, the director called a meeting today. He said there will be a comprehensive quantitative assessment in a couple of days, and those who fail will have their positions adjusted. From what I can tell, they intend to implement this across all departments of the Municipal Government."

"Mayor Su Changming is about to make his move."

Having secured his position as mayor, his next step would be to drastically purge the old subordinates left behind by Former Mayor Xiao Tianyou and replace them with his own confidants.

Su Qinghan frowned slightly. "Replacing people on such a large scale, isn't he afraid of causing panic and backlash?"

"No," Zhu Wenhao said with certainty. "He will only use the most compliant methods, like boiling a frog in warm water. By the time anyone senses something is wrong, it will be too late to turn back."

"What's our next step then?" Su Qinghan asked.

"Wait."

Zhu Wenhao leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"Wait for the butcher's knife of the Provincial Party Committee's Secretary Lao to fall."

"Wait for the leader of the Linjiang Municipal Party Committee to be replaced."