Chapter 466

"Secretary Zhou, County Magistrate Zhou, Secretary Fang, hello," Cui Mingjiu stood up to greet.

"I was working in the township today, and I don't know why comrades from the Discipline Inspection Commission brought me here. I must first say that, in my work, I have absolutely no violations of organizational principles."

"At most, I simply failed to manage the township staff properly, my work style was somewhat lax, even going out to eat during work hours, and so on."

"Furthermore, in our poverty‑alleviation work I did not do my utmost, I did not fulfill the tasks that should have been done; the people who should have been helped were not cared for, while those well‑connected families took real benefits. I need to reflect on this."

Seeing this stance, Cui Mingjiu simply adopted a retreat‑as‑advance move, listing all the supposedly unimportant matters he thought of, almost down to the point of mentioning that he owed the boss's wife over five thousand yuan for meals.

As for the rest, he had no intention of explaining them at all; perhaps by not speaking, he still had a chance to argue.

Fang Jingwen gave Cui Mingjiu a cold look and said, "Township Chief Cui really has a silver tongue. If these were the only issues, do you think we would have summoned you here for questioning?"

"You're already here with us, yet you're still showing off that little cleverness. Do you think we're stupid, or are you overconfident in yourself?"

"We're all busy, so I'll ask you a few simple questions; you'd better answer truthfully. First question: why did you order the villagers to attack the poverty‑alleviation officials, and even to the point of killing them? What did they ever do to offend you?"

"Do you know what the consequences are for a cadre who, behind the scenes, directs others to assault state officials?"

"There is still a staff member from our Poverty Alleviation Office currently in ICU rescue at the hospital. If something happens to him, do you think you can bear that responsibility? This is no longer just a work‑style issue."

"What you did is murder, homicide—do you understand that?"

This was the most critical question; Fang Jingwen went straight for the crux as soon as she came up.

In fact, Wei Xiaohai had already been rescued from danger, but Fang Jingwen still spoke of it gravely, intending to exert huge psychological pressure on Cui Mingjiu.

Cui Mingjiu was a bit stunned; this was something he never expected—coming at him without any courtesy, leaving no room for a response.

He could only grit his teeth and say, "Secretary Fang, I'm being wronged here. I had no idea what happened; by the time I learned of it, the incident had already occurred. I rushed to the scene at once and fully evacuated the crowd…"

"I tried to minimize the impact of the incident, and I also contacted comrades at the health institute, hoping they would transport the injured to the Xian Yiyuan immediately, but the feedback I received was that our Poverty Alleviation Office leaders had already taken a private car to send the patient to the Xian Yiyuan."

"My question is why you ordered the villagers to assault our state officials. If you refuse to speak, I can have someone willing to speak on your behalf, but you should be fully aware of the consequences then."

"Regarding the situation in Xiushui Xiang, you know full well that aside from Lu Kai, everyone else looks to you. These people, like you, are not clean; a simple investigation would reveal all sorts of problems. Gao Hai and Bai Yutang have already reported that you were behind directing Ma Ergui and a group of villagers to attack the Poverty Alleviation Office officials."

"And you promised each of them a bag of white flour; as for Ma Ergui, you gave him fifty yuan."

Fang Jingwen stopped there. After all these days of the Discipline Inspection Commission, they have not come away empty‑handed; they already have a grasp on many matters and are waiting for a command to cast the net.

The detail about giving Ma Ergui fifty yuan was only learned by her on the way here.

No measures have yet been taken against Gao Hai and Bai Yutang, but if necessary they can be brought here at any time.

When Cui Mingjiu heard about the fifty yuan, his heart gave a sudden thud; this case must involve no more than five people, which shows the Discipline Inspection Commission truly has the situation under control.

Yet he still wore an innocent expression and argued, "Secretary Fang, you really have wronged me. I truly didn't know about this, and I have no enmity with Director Su. Why would I have people commit murder? If something happens, what benefit does it bring me?"

"Although my work has been unsatisfactory and I haven't achieved much, I would never commit such a deranged act, and I have no motive at all."

"Moreover, Ma Ergui has never been a compliant person; you can't trust the nonsense he says."

"And those people like Bai Yutang must have been swayed by Lu Kai's scheming, which is why they falsely blamed me…"

At this point Zhou Ruohan could no longer bear it and said coldly, "What a clever but deceitful speech. The Discipline Inspection Commission is investigating you, and you already knew that it was Deputy Director of the Poverty Alleviation Office Su Yang who reported you."

"Thus, you resorted to this extreme measure, trying to push the Discipline Inspection Commission away while also forcing Director Su to leave Xiushui Xiang."

"And you had another motive for this act: Su Yang has been visiting previous poverty‑alleviation targets and conducting household surveys, uncovering many truly needy poor and five‑guarantee households that have not received proper care or policies, while families with good conditions and your relatives and friends have obtained those policies."

"Moreover, in recent years you have been siphoning poverty subsidies and exploiting loopholes in state aid for personal gain."

"You feared that Su Yang would expose this completely, so when Su Yang was visiting Liu Da and Liu Er, you deliberately arranged for these two mentally unbalanced individuals to attack the two female officials of the Poverty Alleviation Office."

"Your aim then was to scare away the poverty‑alleviation staff; of course, if you could also eliminate Su Yang, that would be ideal. However, the plan backfired—Su Yang managed to save himself at the crucial moment, which led to your subsequent arrangement."

"You refuse to reflect on yourself and instead interpret your report against Su Yang as retaliation…"

"Ma Ergui has already given his statement; you'd better confess everything now, perhaps your punishment can be lighter. Otherwise, once the case is transferred to the procuratorate, the final consequences are obvious without me having to tell you."

Zhou Ruohan was extremely furious; had Su Yang been involved this time, she would not have been here for interrogation but would have presented all the evidence against Cui Mingjiu, sending him to where he belongs.

Zhou Hongtao slapped the table and said, "Cui Mingjiu, you're downright lawless. How could you think you're so clever? Trying to shift the blame onto Lu Kai? I tell you, stop the futile struggle; everything has already been uncovered…"

Compared with Fang Jingwen and Zhou Ruohan, Zhou Hongtao didn't really understand the details of the case, but after hearing their accounts, he thought it was roughly the same and went along with the conversation.

Cui Mingjiu's expression kept shifting; he truly hadn't expected that all his scheming had been seen through so clearly.

If it were only this, and he refused to admit it, others would have no way to act against him; after all, he is a cadre, not a suspect, so they couldn't force him to speak, but the Ma Ergui side presented a huge loophole.

If Ma Ergui confesses, and with Bai Yutang and the high‑school students' statements added, he will have nowhere to hide.

As sweat formed on his forehead while he contemplated how to downplay the matter, Fang Jingwen's phone rang.