Chapter 235

After Lu Fan was "taken away" by the Discipline Inspection Commission, the people of Ningyang were full of curses. Many cadres and masses discussed that Deputy County Head Lu must have offended someone or touched someone's interests; otherwise, why would they investigate a good leader like Lu Fan instead of investigating the large number of corrupt officials?

However, public opinion is always public opinion, and most of the time it does not play any role!

Du Wenlong was a discipline inspection cadre who was very clear about the case-handling procedures; he soon realized that Brother Fan was in a dangerous situation and was burning with anxiety.

Soon, he thought of Lu Fan's previous instructions and began to seek help from the outside world.

The first person he notified was Han Xinpu. After the call connected, Du Wenlong said anxiously: "Is this Section Chief Han?"

"It is, who is this?"

"Section Chief Han, I am Lu Fan's brother, Du Wenlong. There is an urgent matter to tell you: Brother Fan was taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission yesterday noon!"

"Discipline Inspection Commission? Which Discipline Inspection Commission? What is the reason?"

"I don't know the specific situation, but Brother Fan said it was the Le family who made a move!"

"What? Those bastards! Damn them!" After cursing, Han Xinpu said: "I know about this matter; tell me if there is any situation at any time!"

Next, Du Wenlong dialed Wu Xiaohua's phone.

"Division Chief Wu, I am Lu Fan's friend, Du Wenlong."

Unexpectedly, Wu Xiaohua said directly: "I know about Lu Fan's matter; I am thinking of a way."

"Sorry to trouble you, Division Chief Wu. Brother Fan gave me instructions a while ago to notify you the first time something happened!"

"Hmm, keep in touch at all times!"

After thinking for a while, Du Wenlong took it upon himself to dial the phone of Si Daiqiang in Yinzhou. He knew that Wang Hongtao was serving as the Yinzhou Municipal Party Committee Secretary and also knew that Wang Hongtao had been Lu Fan's teacher; he didn't know if this teacher could lend a helping hand.

After the call connected, Si Daiqiang said politely: "Wenlong, is something the matter?"

"Section Chief Si, Brother Fan was taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission yesterday noon, and there has been no news until now!"

"Ah?" Si Daiqiang said in surprise: "What mistake did he make?"

Du Wenlong said decisively: "Section Chief Si, I dare to swear on my life that Brother Fan did not make any mistakes; it is someone engaging in retaliation!"

"What? Who the hell is so despicable?"

The situation was urgent, and Du Wenlong mentioned the grievances between Lu Fan and Le Xueren simply, regardless of anything else.

Si Daiqiang thought for a moment and said: "I haven't thought of any good way for the time being; let's keep in touch at all times!"

At this time, County Head Bian Jide was not idle either. After several failed communications with Hu Chengwei, Bian Jide went directly to the Municipal Party Committee to report the situation to Secretary Li Mingzhou.

He knew that Secretary Li paid special attention to Lu Fan and should not ignore it.

But when he arrived at the Municipal Party Committee, he learned that Secretary Li had gone to Ganshui County for research. Bian Jide was very anxious and, without a word, drove directly to Ganshui.

When he arrived at the Ganshui County Party Committee, Li Mingzhou was presiding over a symposium.

Bian Jide carefully called the secretary out and said to him seriously: "I have an urgent situation to report to Secretary Li!"

The secretary said: "County Head Bian, the symposium will end in another hour; why not wait?"

"It's extremely urgent, I can't wait! You go in and try to say it."

"Alright!" The secretary gently pushed open the door of the conference room, walked to Li Mingzhou's side, and whispered: "Secretary, County Head Bian from Ningyang is outside, saying he has an urgent situation to report to you!"

Li Mingzhou thought for a moment, got up, and left the conference room.

"Jide, what is it?"

Bian Jide hurriedly stepped forward, leaned close to Li Mingzhou, and whispered: "Secretary, our Deputy County Head Lu Fan was taken away by the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission yesterday noon!"

"What? Why don't I know?" Li Mingzhou was very surprised and immediately dialed the phone of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary, asking in an unkind tone: "What is going on with Lu Fan of Ningyang County?"

"Secretary, it is the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission handling the case directly; they notified me yesterday afternoon."

Li Mingzhou said angrily: "What are you doing? Why didn't you report it to me? On what grounds did the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission bypass the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission to handle the case directly? Are they still talking about procedures? You immediately investigate the matter clearly: what mistake did Lu Fan actually make? Is there any solid evidence?"

"Yes, Secretary, I will connect with them immediately."

Li Mingzhou hung up the phone directly; "new grudges and old hatreds" surged in his heart; this Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary was too politically immature!

"Jide, did Hu Chengwei know about Lu Fan's matter in advance?"

Bian Jide had nothing to worry about now and said: "Secretary Hu should have known; a while ago, the Audit Bureau audited the units where Lu Fan had worked. I knew nothing about this; now that I think about it, I'm afraid it was arranged in advance!"

"Fine, I know, you go back to work first!"

"Secretary, I guarantee with my Party spirit that Lu Fan absolutely has no problems; this time it is purely premeditated retaliation!"

Li Mingzhou furrowed his brows and said seriously: "Don't speak casually about things without factual basis! Who wants to retaliate against him? And why do they want to retaliate against him?"

However, Bian Jide seemed to have fallen into a state of obsession, completely ignoring everything else, and said excitedly: "Secretary, Lu Fan and Vice Provincial Governor Le Xueren have had irreconcilable conflicts for more than ten years!"

Li Mingzhou interrupted his words without hesitation and said: "One cannot draw conclusions based solely on rumors or personal speculation! If there are any problems, the organization will naturally investigate and handle them!" His voice carried an unquestionable authority.

Seeing this, Bian Jide realized he had lost his composure, so he had to nod helplessly and turn away silently, his heart still filled with worry.

Li Mingzhou looked at Bian Jide's departing back, and a trace of doubt also arose in his heart; was it really Le Xueren who made a move? What about Duan Pengfei?

In Yinzhou, Wang Hongtao was busy in his office. Si Daiqiang came in, put down a stack of documents, and stood opposite him, showing a look of wanting to speak but hesitating.

Wang Hongtao looked up and said: "Daiqiang, is something the matter?"

"Secretary, Ningyang's Deputy County Head Lu Fan was taken away by the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission yesterday noon!"

Wang Hongtao put down his pen and asked with a solemn face: "Who told you? Why was he taken away?"

"It was Lu Fan's friend who called me; I met him last time I went to Ningyang. I don't know the specific reason, but Lu Fan's friend said it was someone deliberately retaliating!"

Wang Hongtao immediately thought of Le Xueren, signaled for Si Daiqiang to go out first, and then leaned back in his office chair to think.

Half an hour later, Wang Hongtao dialed the phone of Yingjiang Municipal Party Committee Secretary Li Mingzhou.

At this moment, Li Mingzhou had already returned to the Municipal Party Committee. After the call connected, he said with a smile: "Hongtao, how do you have time to call me today?"

Wang Hongtao laughed: "Secretary Li is criticizing me, blaming me for asking for instructions and reporting less often; I will definitely correct it in the future!"

"Speak, you wouldn't visit the temple without a reason!"

"Secretary, it's my student, Ningyang County Deputy County Head Lu Fan; I don't know why he was taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission? I have a certain understanding of this student; it's hard for me to believe that he would engage in corruption, bribery, or using power for personal gain!"

Li Mingzhou's voice carried a trace of anger, and he said: "Hongtao, I am not very clear about this matter; the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission skipped the Yingjiang Municipal Party Committee to handle the case directly! However, I have asked the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission to understand the situation."

Wang Hongtao said: "Is there still any regard for rules? Secretary, let me state my position: if Lu Fan indeed engaged in corruption, bribery, or committed crimes, I will have nothing to say about how he is handled. However, if someone is deliberately retaliating, or engaging in the practice of making things up out of thin air and pinning labels on people, I will not hesitate to take this lawsuit to the Provincial Party Committee!"

"Hongtao, Lu Fan is a cadre of my Yingjiang; one must look at the owner before beating the dog! I plan to go to the Provincial Party Committee in a while; we must get an explanation for this matter!"

"Secretary, I will go with you; there is strength in numbers!"

"Fine, then let's meet in Chang'an, and the two of us will discuss it first."

"Alright, I'll make arrangements for the evening."

In Cheng Cang City, Han Xinpu was restless and worried; in his heart, Lu Fan was the most important friend.

A friend was in trouble, and this matter was closely related to himself; Han Xinpu could not sit idly by.

After thinking it over, Han Xinpu firmly knocked on Guo Mingxiong's office door.

After entering, he said: "Secretary, I want to ask you for a favor!"

"Tell me, what is it?"

Han Xinpu's face was full of sadness, and he began to recount the grievances between his father and the Le family.

After listening, Guo Mingxiong nodded thoughtfully and said: "So that's how it is; I still have some impression. Your father did indeed mention Lu Fan's work to me back then; I didn't expect so many things to have happened!"

Han Xinpu's voice carried grief and indignation as he said: "Secretary, now that Lu Fan has been taken away by the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission, this is clearly someone deliberately trying to frame him!"

Guo Mingxiong was a kind-hearted and straightforward person by nature; he was a man of temperament. He said indignantly: "Bullying the small with the big, using power to pressure others—this is completely the behavior of a bandit! Xinpu, it is not convenient for me to intervene directly in this matter. How about this: I will communicate with Secretary Mingzhou to see if there is a way to solve it. If they really dare to act recklessly, I will report it to Provincial Party Committee Secretary Chen!"

Han Xinpu bowed deeply and said: "Secretary, I know this puts you in a difficult position! I thank you on behalf of Lu Fan! I want to ask for leave to return to Chang'an to ask my mother-in-law for help!"

Guo Mingxiong nodded and said: "That's fine, there is strength in numbers! If Governor Tang is willing to help, maybe there will be a turning point. It just so happens that I am going to the province to handle some things; let's go together."

Half an hour later, the two headed to Chang'an together.

At this time, Lu Fan had already been tortured by Wang Qing until he was exhausted and mentally drained; he was completely relying on his tenacious willpower to hold on.

Lu Fan had already seen that these people could not produce solid evidence at all; they could only try to break his defense line through means.

Therefore, facing all the questioning and interrogation, Lu Fan chose to turn a deaf ear to everything and just responded lightly: "No comment!"

However, Lu Fan had not expected that at this very moment, there were many people in the outside world who cared about him, sparing no effort to run around and maneuver for his matter, helping him get out of the predicament.

The day's interrogation ended. Wang Qing walked out of the "soft cell" helplessly, called Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission Deputy Secretary Lü Taichang, reported the situation of the case, and indicated that he had exhausted all methods but still had no breakthrough.

After a moment of silence, Lü Taichang said: "I don't believe there is a mouth that cannot be pried open? Keep roasting, speed up, as long as no one dies!"

"Secretary Lü, I will do my best!"

After hanging up the phone, Wang Qing returned to the room and sat in his chair, lost in thought.