Chapter 635: with translation of chapter title

Around ten o'clock in the evening, Lu Fan returned to the grassland.

Just as he entered the office, Du Wenlong, Lin Changping, and Sun Yu came to report work.

After entering, Lu Fan asked: "Sun Yu, what exactly happened? What are you doing?"

Hearing the leader's criticism, Sun Yu instead relaxed, his face flushed with guilt as he replied: "Secretary, this is definitely premeditated. When we were passing the Yellow River Bridge, the car happened to blow a tire; I forcibly kept Jiang Yizhong from getting out of the vehicle. Now, looking back, if we had gotten out then, Jiang Yizhong would surely have jumped off the bridge! But man proposes, heaven disposes—I never imagined that an accident would occur at the case-handling base. At that moment I was shaking hands with the base chief, and Jiang Yizhong rushed straight to the window and leapt out. The window is an anti-theft window; normally a fat person could not squeeze through it at all, so someone must have tampered with it."

Lu Fan said in a deep voice: "Changping, immediately coordinate with the public security bureau to set up a special task force, led by the Discipline Inspection Committee. Sun Yu, you are the party involved and participated in the whole process; now the investigation into you is lifted—you must pull yourself together and actively take part in cracking the case. Carefully review everything, find every clue, and root out all these 'insiders'!"

Today, Sun Yu felt like he was on a roller coaster, his emotions swinging wildly; at this moment he was actually quite despondent. Hearing the secretary's words, he instantly felt a surge of resolve to die for a true friend, and with deep gratitude he said firmly: "Please rest assured, Secretary, I will spare no effort to ferret out all those 'scum'!"

Lu Fan waved his hand and said: "All right, go get busy."

After Sun Yu withdrew respectfully, Lu Fan asked: "I think Sun Yu is fine; we employ people without suspicion, and suspect those we do not employ."

Du Wenlong nodded and said: "I watched the surveillance footage from the case-handling base; I feel Sun Yu is not problematic. After Jiang Yizhong jumped from the building, his expression did not look acted; otherwise he would be an Oscar‑level actor."

Lin Changping echoed: "Recently Sun Yu has shown great enthusiasm, his work skills are proficient; he is a promising talent, and I also believe he is not problematic."

Lu Fan asked: "Then who exactly is at fault? Who is the mastermind behind the scenes? Who is the executor? Who are the participants? Changping, you will have full responsibility for the special task force, and Deputy Director Liu Jin Zhu of the Provincial Public Security Department is assigned to cooperate with the task force; we must pick elite troops and strong generals."

"All right, Secretary, the preparations are done; I will go through the procedures shortly." Then Lin Changping boldly speculated: "I feel Jiang Yizhong's jump is inseparable from Du Hongxuan and the base chief, and they are both cadres promoted by Yun Zhangsheng."

Lu Fan said: "We need evidence! Winning hearts is paramount; you must intensify interrogation of the relevant personnel and strive to achieve a breakthrough as quickly as possible."

Moreover, closely monitor online public opinion; starting tonight, Jiang Yizhong's death from jumping will certainly become a hot topic online. Wenlong, you will personally take charge, integrating public opinion handling with incident handling, and respond promptly through online information releases, press conferences, media interviews, etc., to guide public opinion positively. You must be open and transparent, regularly report on case progress, fostering a healthy work atmosphere that faces public opinion correctly, does not avoid or shirk responsibility, properly handles incidents, and actively responds to concerns, thereby minimizing negative news as much as possible.

Du Wenlong replied: "All right, Secretary, I will handle it personally."

"You must closely monitor the internet and short‑video platforms; if necessary, I will personally liaise with those platforms." Having said that, Lu Fan paused, then said resentfully: "We must root out the insiders; otherwise the provincial Discipline Inspection Committee will forever be a loose sand, unable to form combat effectiveness, we will be unable to act, and there will be no peace! Changping, since you suspect Yun Zhangsheng, go after him and seize this opportunity to take him down completely!"

The two departed after receiving their orders, and Lu Fan went straight to Secretary Li Xingyuan's office; just now he had the secretary ask a few things, and Li's office light was still on—tonight many people probably cannot sleep!

After Lu Fan pushed the door open and entered, Li Xingyuan lifted his head and said: "You're back?"

"I can't not come back! When I reported work to Secretary Jiazhong, I received the news that Secretary Jiazhong himself ordered: we must investigate to the bottom and completely lift the lid!"

"Ah!" Li Xingyuan sighed and said: "Some things cannot be covered up and should not be; since Secretary Jiazhong has given instructions, let's quickly ascertain the truth!"

Lu Fan spoke bluntly: "All signs indicate that Jiang Yizhong's death was premeditated, and public opinion will inevitably ferment; we must respond cautiously, handling the case and related responsible parties strictly, swiftly, and severely. Sometimes an unverified 'illusory' rumor can make the public uneasy, and a single 'spark' may ignite anger. If we treat Jiang Yizhong's accidental death lightly and brush it off, we may fail to give superiors and the masses a satisfactory explanation."

"Secretary, I intend to 'move' against Yun Zhangsheng; I have already reported this idea to Secretary Jiazhong."

Li Xingyuan gave a noncommittal response and asked: "The Discipline Inspection Committee must have a strong, lawful, and comprehensive evidence consciousness; we must use evidence to reconstruct the factual truth, forming a mutually corroborating, complete and stable evidence chain."

I want to remind you: when gathering evidence through conversation, we must be objective, civil, and seek truth from facts; we must not jump to conclusions, engage in subjective speculation, or listen only to one side; we must respect the personality of the interviewee or witness, for the Discipline Inspection Committee's case work has ironclad discipline.

Evidence collection procedures and methods must follow discipline and law, strictly adhering to regulations such as the 'Case Inspection Work Regulations' and the 'Administrative Supervision Law.' During case handling we must not seek quick gains, nor coerce, deceive, induce, or even torture confessions, lest we cause a bad social impact and put the provincial Party Committee in a passive position.

Now there are people gossiping again, saying you use public resources for private gain and repay kindness with enmity; regardless of the facts, we must pay attention to the impact! I will be reaching retirement age next year, your future is bright and your prospects vast—you must cherish your 'feathers'!

On the grassland, without Secretary Li Xingyuan's support as the top leader, accomplishing anything would be arduous, even impossible to take a single step!

Regardless of his difficulties and concerns, Lu Fan also ought to do his best to pull him onto the right track, so he added fuel to the fire, saying: "Secretary, I know there are some rumors about me; perhaps they are right—I am indeed taking revenge! As a man, seeing my wife humiliated, I cannot remain indifferent; as a citizen, encountering illegal and disorderly conduct, I cannot turn a blind eye, and moreover, as a leading cadre of the Party, I should all the more step forward! There is another situation I want to privately tell you: when my wife received that slap, it was to prevent the slap from hitting the lady beside her; otherwise, the entire grassland would lose face, be utterly disgraced, and the consequences would be unimaginable!"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a thunderclap exploding in Li Xingyuan's ears; he was instantly startled, indeed he had not expected that behind what seemed an ordinary case lay a larger background, requiring Vice Secretary Lu Fan of the Provincial Party Committee to give full protection—what level and what kind of person could that be? He now urgently needs to investigate the matter clearly, for unknown hidden dangers are the most frightening.

If one unintentionally or indirectly offends someone, one might not even know how one would die! In this line of work, a slight misstep can plunge one into an abyss of eternal damnation.

August 6, Saturday, originally a day off, but the provincial Discipline Inspection Committee was unusually busy; within one day, 28 leading cadres were interviewed by colleagues, with a single purpose: to thoroughly investigate the incident of Jiang Yizhong's death by jumping.

But as the talks deepened, these people gradually felt something was off; they had thought that merely clearing suspicion would end the investigation, yet now it seemed to have turned into an interrogation, and the topic actually became confessing corruption problems!

Let me ask: in the whole unit, counting each person, who dares to guarantee they are spotless and pure? If we insist on investigating, having made the decision to investigate, who dares to guarantee they can 'escape'? Moreover, all those under scrutiny are the 'core troops' of Deputy Secretary Yun Zhangsheng—is such targeting really that strong?

This is Lin Changping's method: using the pretext to expand, he does not believe that so many people are utterly loyal to Yun Zhangsheng; as long as one person confesses, he has found a breakthrough.

In the afternoon, Lin Changping made another big move: the head of the Provincial Party Committee's inspection group was interviewed by the special task force, the leader of the Discipline Inspection Committee's stationed team at the Provincial Education Department was interviewed, the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Committee of the provincial capital Qingtian City was interviewed… a total of six important post leaders were interviewed, the sole reason being to cooperate with the investigation of Jiang Yizhong's death by jumping.

These people have nothing at all to do with the Jiang Yizhong case; for a moment, leaders across the provincial discipline inspection system were panic‑stricken, each fearing they might be next. Observant people already saw that the situation had expanded and the problem had become serious!

In the evening, Lu Fan came to the Integrity Education Base and personally held a talk with Du Hongxuan, chief of Supervision Room Three.

Seeing the interrogator suddenly changed to Secretary Lu, Du Hongxuan's heart shrank violently, revealing an incredulous gaze; he was so nervous he could hardly speak, his mind filled with guilt and unease.

After taking a seat, Lu Fan fixed his gaze on Du Hongxuan without uttering a word.

Soon after, fine beads of sweat began to appear on Du Hongxuan's forehead, his hands unconsciously clasped tightly together, trembling slightly. At this moment he deeply knew that his mistake could bring serious consequences to the unit, and the secretary's sharp gaze left him nowhere to hide.

After a while, Lu Fan broke the solemn atmosphere of the interrogation room, speaking with a tone of disappointment: "Du Hongxuan, you have betrayed my trust in you!"

Du Hongxuan felt ashamed beyond bearing, dared not look directly at the leader, and lowered his head without speaking.

Lu Fan continued: "I can tell you clearly, taking down Yun Zhangsheng is certain to succeed! As a veteran of discipline inspection, you should understand the principle of learning from past mistakes to prevent future ones and curing illness to save the person."

Turning back from the wrong path is not too late. What is done is done; what is wrong is wrong. Rather than worrying anxiously all day, it is better to face things positively, admit mistakes and reform. When explaining problems to the organization, one should be proactive, truthful, and thorough, achieving reverence for the organization, trust in the organization, and close reliance on the organization,

I hope you cherish the opportunity for the organization's education and redemption, and can promptly and truthfully explain the problems to the organization; I can guarantee you will receive a lighter or mitigated punishment—I say this only to you, and only once. If you deceive the organization and repeatedly miss the chance for education and redemption, you will only step further onto the road of no return.