Chapter 564: Biting Back, a Power Struggle

Liu Wen's days abroad were even more miserable than everyone had imagined.

After her bank card was frozen, the pitiful cash in her pocket was quickly spent, and she tried to work illegally washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant.

For working illegally on a tourist visa.

As a result, after just a few days on the job she was caught red‑handed by the local immigration bureau, detained, interrogated, and then put straight on a deportation flight.

The process was simple and brutal, leaving no room for maneuver.

She was like an unwelcome foreign‑bred dog, swiftly expelled; who says foreign air is always fragrant? Without money in her pocket, she's unwelcome wherever she goes.

Domestic Baiyun Airport, international arrivals corridor.

As soon as Liu Wen stepped off the plane, airport public security cuffed her; her pallid face and terrified eyes betrayed a heart full of ten thousand unwillingness.

She hadn't even made out the lighting in the airport hall when several figures walked toward her.

Leading them was Chen Shaokang.

He flashed his credentials.

With a cold, hard expression he said, "Liu Wen, I'm Chen Shaokang of the Criminal Investigation Corps of the Provincial Public Security Department. You're suspected of organizing human‑organ trafficking; under the law I'm taking compulsory measures—come with us."

Seamlessly connected.

Liu Wen shuddered all over, the last trace of color draining from her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat felt blocked.

Just as the police were leading her away from the public area toward a side passage, her gaze caught a woman staring at her from beyond the cordon in the distance.

That woman was none other than Qiao Lianzhou's wife—Jiang Lin!

From afar Jiang Lin gave her an OK sign.

In a flash.

Liu Wen instantly understood Jiang Lin's meaning.

"Let me go!!!" Liu Wen struggled violently, shouting hoarsely, "It's the director of the Anti‑Corruption Bureau, Lin Dongfan—he transferred 500,000 to me! He wanted me to give false testimony to frame Qiao Lianzhou! Now that the matter's exposed he wants to arrest me to silence me! You're all in cahoots, covering for each other! What right do you have to arrest me!!!"

Her voice was sharp and piercing.

That resentful tone caused a small commotion in a corner of the airport hall; many people turned to look, and some raised their phones to film.

Chen Shaokang's face changed dramatically; he barked, "What nonsense are you spouting? Take her away!" His subordinates immediately subdued Liu Wen and took her back to the corps.

But it was too late.

The onlookers' footage clearly recorded this frantic scene.

Within a single night the news spread like a wild virus at astonishing speed online, and surely someone was fanning the flames behind the scenes.

"The director of Baiyue Province's Anti‑Corruption Bureau bribed a key witness? Holy crap! He's a piece of work, yet he dares to head the Anti‑Corruption Bureau?"

"Coaxing and threatening to procure false testimony, framing a colleague!"

"The matter's exposed, and he's trying to arrest people to silence them? Is this for real? So outrageous!"

"Probably true—the officer making the arrest, Chen Shaokang, is Lin Dongfan's lackey. He used to be just a cop at a Haishan police station; after meeting Lin Dongfan he was transferred straight to the provincial department."

…

Each item was enough to explode eyeballs.

Lv Yizhi's office.

He listened to the secretary's urgent report, watched the blurry video clip on his phone, his face showing no surprise—only a cold, sharp edge of finally having awaited the moment.

He picked up the red phone on his desk and dialed the dedicated line of Provincial Committee Secretary Wang Daochen.

His tone was grievous and angry:

"Secretary Wang, online opinion has already caused extremely serious, highly nasty social impact! Regarding Lin Dongfan's situation, I think it's necessary to take measures and give the public an explanation."

The so‑called giving the public an explanation actually meant forcing Wang Daochen to deal with Lin Dongfan.

"Before, you Wang Daochen retreated to advance, everywhere shielding Lin Dongfan! Now Liu Wen's accusations are blowing up online—I'd like to see how you protect him this time!"

Confident to the hilt, Lv Yizhi added over the phone: "Regardless of whether what Liu Wen said is true, Lin Dongfan is now a suspect. I suggest we first suspend him for investigation and set up an independent inquiry team to get to the bottom of this! Our province's judicial credibility cannot be harmed."

Lv Yizhi's words hit the mark; this time he really had Wang Daochen caught between a rock and a hard place.

At this moment…

Wang Daochen was sitting on a minibus en route to Haishan City to inspect anti‑corruption results. Before Lv Yizhi's call, he had already received a call from Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary Song Changeng.

Wang Daochen never dreamed that his departure would stir up such a huge online storm.

After deep thought.

Wang Daochen replied cautiously: "I've just spoken with Secretary Song about this. The urgent priority is to quell the online furor and stop rumors from spreading."

Hearing that, Lv Yizhi's face twitched slightly in surprise.

He never expected Wang Daochen to label the online opinion as "rumor"! At this juncture, does he still want to shield Lin Dongfan?

Lv Yizhi swallowed his anger and replied: "Secretary Wang, before the truth comes out I think we should be cautious. Online opinion certainly needs to be quelled, but suspending Lin Dongfan for investigation must also be implemented. No matter what, he's now at the eye of the public‑opinion storm."

"I understand your point. Regarding the suspension and investigation of Comrade Lin Dongfan, we'll wait until Secretary Song has talked with him before deciding. We can't just dump a senior official because someone threw mud at him; doing so would set a bad precedent that encourages frame‑ups."

"I grasp your concerns; it seems I wasn't thorough enough."

By this point in the call, Lv Yizhi's facial muscles had stiffened considerably, yet he had to feign ease, replying with a strained smile.

At this moment Lv Yizhi deeply and gloomily realized the cruel fact that what he'd thought was a sure win was, in the face of absolute power, nothing but a joke!

No one can move Lin Dongfan!

Even if negative online opinion spreads like wildfire, Lin Dongfan remains steady as an old dog! Meanwhile I haven't even gotten any dog meat, only earned myself a stink—I could fall into danger at any moment.

As he thought, the dejection on Lv Yizhi's face grew ever deeper.

He slumped, spiritless, into his chair.

After the pain, he pondered for a good while.

He then pulled out his backup phone and called Jiang Lin: "Qiao Lianzhou, is there any chance he'll wake up?"

"The hospital told me yesterday his condition has improved, his brain waves are active, and there's a chance he'll wake up," Jiang Lin replied.

Upon hearing this, Lv Yizhi seemed to hear the death god's call.

He furrowed his brows anxiously, and solemnly issued an order: "Now Liu Wen has been arrested; the truth about the illegal organ transplants will eventually come to light. To make Qiao Lianzhou bear all this responsibility, we must send him on his way."

"I know what to do; you can rest assured."

On the other end of the phone, Jiang Lin's attitude was also extremely stern; after being married to Qiao Lianzhou for so many years, she felt no husband-wife affection.

The main issue is still the child's problem.

Her son—Qiao Xu—was the teenager who had just undergone a lung transplant a few years ago; his biological father is not Qiao Lianzhou, but Qiao Lianzhou is unaware of that.