Chapter 247 The City Public Security Bureau's Mass Purge: Qi Tongwei Goes Berserk
Conference Room, Jingzhou Public Security Bureau.
The exhaust fans were humming loudly, and the normally noisy meeting room was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Qi Tongwei, dressed in a brand-new police uniform, sat imposingly in the chief's seat.
His left arm was slinged across his chest with a thick white bandage, and dark red bloodstains had seeped through the outer gauze, making it extremely conspicuous under the bright light.
Dozens of heads of various departments of the municipal bureau sat below the stage, all sitting upright and not daring to breathe loudly.
Lu Yike, dressed in a crisp anti-corruption bureau uniform, sat in the first row of the audience as a representative of the prosecution's supervisory office.
She kept glancing at Qi Tongwei's bleeding arm, her lips tightly pressed together, her hands folded on her knees.
Qi Tongwei used his uninjured right hand to open the folder in front of him, the rustling sound of the pages echoing in the spacious conference room.
"Wang Gang from the Public Security Division, Liu Ming from the Economic Crime Investigation Division, and Zhao Zhiqiang from the Equipment Division."
"You three, stand up."
The three section chiefs who were called out exchanged glances and slowly stood up from their chairs.
These three men usually acted arrogantly in the municipal bureau; they were all Zhao Donglai's trusted confidants, whom he had personally promoted.
Qi Tongwei closed the folder and leaned back in his chair.
"The case file regarding Zhao Donglai's embezzlement of 35 million yuan from the stability maintenance fund is on my desk."
"This money was transferred from the municipal bureau's account and went through layers of approval from your three departments."
"Now I'll give you five minutes to explain where this money went, who handled it, and your roles in it."
Wang Gang, the head of the public security department, tugged at the collar of his police uniform and straightened his back.
"Director Qi, the allocation of this stability maintenance fund was all approved by former Director Zhao himself."
"We subordinates are only there to execute orders; we have no right to inquire about the specific flow of funds."
Liu Ming, the head of the Economic Crime Investigation Department, chimed in.
"Yes, Director Qi, the municipal bureau's accounts have always been used for designated purposes only, and no problems have been found during the year-end audit."
"As a new official, you can't just label us veterans based on a case file that hasn't been finalized yet, can you?"
Zhao Zhiqiang, the head of the equipment department, simply passed the buck back to Zhao.
"Director Qi, our department is only in charge of equipment procurement. The funds are directly transferred from the treasury. You'll have to ask the treasury bureau about this."
The three of them were surprisingly consistent in their attitudes; they appeared respectful on the surface, but their words carried a subtle but unconvincing tone.
In their view, Qi Tongwei had just been seriously injured and had not yet established himself properly, so he would never dare to directly target them, the powerful figures, at the municipal bureau's general meeting.
After listening to this perfunctory report, Qi Tongwei didn't say a single unnecessary word.
He pulled a document bearing a bright red seal directly from the drawer with his right hand and slammed it heavily on the table.
"I didn't come here to listen to your chanting!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the conference room door was kicked open from the outside.
A team of fully armed special police officers, carrying riot guns, surged into the venue.
The SWAT team leader strode up to the three section chiefs and gave them direct instructions.
"Take it down!"
Several special police officers rushed forward and swiftly pinned the three men down on the conference table, handcuffing them with their hands behind their backs.
The harsh, metallic clicking sound filled the conference room.
Wang Gang's face was pressed hard against the table, and he struggled desperately, cursing at Qi Tongwei, who was in the main seat.
"Qi Tongwei! How dare you abuse your power!"
"This money is linked to the Zhong family's businesses in Beijing. If you mess with us, the Zhong family will absolutely not let you off!"
"If you dare arrest me today, you'll be out of here tomorrow!"
Upon seeing this, Lu Yi, who was in the audience, immediately stood up from his chair.
She strode to the conference table, preparing to take out the prosecutor's approval document from the Anti-Corruption Bureau and use proper legal procedures to suppress these arrogant remnants, so as to prevent Qi Tongwei's actions from giving others grounds for criticism.
Qi Tongwei reached out his right hand and pressed it onto Lu Yike's shoulder, forcibly pushing her back into the chair.
He stood up, walked over to Wang Gang who was being held down on the table, and looked down at him.
Qi Tongwei sneered and used his uninjured right hand to rip off the police rank badge from Wang Gang's shoulder and throw it on the ground.
"In my place, the rule is that once the sword is drawn, blood is drawn."
"Don't even mention the Zhong family, which is far away. Even if the King of Heaven himself were standing here today, you lot would still spend the rest of your lives in jail."
"take away!"
The special police dragged and pulled the three still-shouting section chiefs out of the conference room.
The whole process took less than two minutes.
The meeting room was completely silent.
Qi Tongwei walked back to the main seat and sat down, his gaze sweeping over the remaining police officers below the stage.
Those section chiefs and department heads who usually slack off with Zhao Donglai all lowered their heads at this moment, not daring to even breathe loudly.
These people had a clear understanding of the situation: this new bureau chief didn't care about any unspoken rules of officialdom.
The disorganized municipal bureau was completely forged into an ironclad unit under Qi Tongwei's ruthless suppression.
Half an hour later, in the director's office.
Lu Yike walked in carrying a white medical kit and locked the door from the inside.
Qi Tongwei leaned back on the leather sofa, the bandage on his left arm completely stained red with blood, which dripped down his fingertips.
I used too much force in the meeting room just now, and the stitched wound completely reopened.
Lu Yike walked quickly to the sofa, opened the first-aid kit, and carefully cut open the blood-soaked gauze with scissors.
Dark red flesh rolled up and exposed to the air.
Lu Yike's hands were trembling as she held the hydrogen peroxide swabs, and her eyes were red-rimmed.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"With the wound so badly opened, this arm would have been useless if we'd waited any longer!"
She pressed the gauze against the wound to stop the bleeding while gritting her teeth and scolding him.
Looking at her face so close to his own and smelling the faint scent of soap on her body, Qi Tongwei's originally cold and hard facial features softened.
"Those guys at the Municipal Bureau are like wolves. If you're not tough on them, they'll turn around and bite you."
"If we can't control the situation from the start, the task assigned by Political Commissar Shen will be ruined."
Lu Yike sprinkled hemostatic powder on the wound, causing Qi Tongwei to wince in pain.
"You can't risk your life like that."
Qi Tongwei grasped Lu Yike's wrist, which was being bandaged, with his right hand.
The rough calluses from years of holding a gun rubbed against her delicate skin.
"Isn't it because you're here to cover for me?"
Lu Yike paused for a moment, her cheeks quickly flushing red.
She broke free from Qi Tongwei's hand, quickly tied a knot in the bandage, packed up the first-aid kit, and took two steps back.
The man before me, having shed his former cunning and scheming ways, now exudes a deadly allure with his pure, iron-blooded military and police spirit.
The red secure phone on the desk rang.
Qi Tongwei dropped his relaxed demeanor and walked over to pick up the receiver.
A heavy instruction came from the other end of the phone.
"Has the municipal bureau cleaned it up completely?"
Qi Tongwei stood up straight and answered firmly.
"Reporting to the commander, Zhao Donglai's remaining followers have all been captured, and our people have replaced them in all the important positions."
"The gates of Handong are locked tight; not even a fly can get out."
The phone went dead.
Meanwhile, in the capital city.
In the luxurious living room of the Zhong family villa, the floor was littered with scattered documents and broken glass.
Zhong Xiaoai sat on the carpet, wearing pajamas and with her hair disheveled.
Holding the encrypted satellite phone, she frantically redialed the long string of numbers.
All that came through the receiver was a lifeless, mechanical dial tone.
From the Yunding Club in the western suburbs of Jingzhou to those large import and export trading companies.
The seventeen core agents that the Zhong family had painstakingly cultivated in Handong for ten years all lost contact with each other within just a few hours.
The vast network of funds was abruptly severed.
Zhong Xiaoai slammed the satellite phone heavily onto the marble floor.
The expensive communication equipment was shattered into pieces, with parts scattered everywhere.
She grabbed her hair with both hands and let out a hysterical scream.
"They're insane!"
"They even dared to seize the Chung family's properties?!"