0134 143 Chang'e Flying to the Moon

Ling Xingzhi smiled when he heard Shen Yuhe's words, "Then you should watch carefully this time, learn a thing or two, and also give yourself a boost."

The car turned into the underground parking garage. "By the way, how's Secretary Hu doing? He was taken away right in front of me; it seems he's also involved in embezzlement and bribery?" After Hu Rui was arrested, there was a complete news blackout, not even any news reports. It wasn't that the provincial party committee was deliberately suppressing the news, but rather that Shen Yu and his side weren't releasing any information to the outside world.

Out of consideration for their relationship, Shen Yuhe would definitely say a little something so that Ling Xingzhi could know some information in advance and be prepared for any unexpected events.

“Yes, embezzlement and bribery. However, his case is far more serious than Zhou Xiye's. You'd never guess who filed a formal complaint against him,” Shen Yuhe deliberately left Ling Xingzhi with a bit of suspense. The car slowly came to a stop, and Ling Xingzhi opened the car door. “It wasn't Zhou Xiye, was it?”

Shen Yuhe laughed heartily, "That's not necessarily true, it's Li Mingzhe."

Li Mingzhe? Ling Xingzhi was taken aback, and after a moment's thought, he realized something was amiss: Li Mingzhe was Luo Yiming's subordinate, and anyone in Kunming could easily find out about the relationship between Luo Yiming and Hu Rui. It could be said that Hu Rui was Luo Yiming's biggest protector. Why would Li Mingzhe, as Luo Yiming's capable subordinate, report Hu Rui?!

It's truly a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple.

Ling Xingzhi was genuinely surprised. "How could it be him?"

"I don't know the specifics, but with all the materials, certifications, and physical evidence, Hu Rui is definitely not going to escape. It's just..."

Ling Xingzhi understood; the reason for the current information blockade was to prevent even higher-ranking officials from being implicated.

"Don't worry, no matter how big the world is, you can't escape the law... When you're done with your work, let's go out for a few drinks?"

Once inside the elevator, the two exchanged a few pleasantries about trivial matters before hanging up. After hanging up, Ling Xingzhi reviewed the news he had just received: Li Mingzhe had reported Hu Rui. He didn't quite understand the intricacies of the situation, but it was also a coincidence that after Zhou Xiye was reinstated with a clean record, Hu Rui was imprisoned.

This caused quite a stir in the stagnant political circles of the country.

The fire came suddenly and fiercely, and it's unclear when it will stop. Upon reaching their floor, the elevator doors opened, and Li Qingshan followed Ling Xingzhi into the apartment. After closing the door, Li Qingshan said, "Mayor Ling, these past few days in Beijing, your wife has been either working or going to the hospital. I wonder if there's anything wrong with her health."

Ling Xingzhi took off his clothes, took the tablet from Li Qingshan, and looked at Wei Luochen's daily schedule on the screen.

A few minutes later, Ling Xingzhi put the tablet on the coffee table, sat down on the sofa, loosened his tie, and tossed it aside. "Have Wei's parents settled in yet?"

"Alright, it's nothing serious. They're still very worried about your divorce from the Wei family."

Ling Xingzhi chuckled, "Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. It's true that I can't divorce Wei Luochen right now..." He looked up at Li Qingshan, "You still need to protect Wei Luochen's safety. You have to tell me who she meets and where she goes every day."

Li Qingshan nodded.

Ling Xingzhi rested his elbows on his lap, glanced at the clock on the wall, and said, "It's very late. You should go home now and be careful on the road."

Li Qingshan answered "okay" and was about to leave, but he hesitated for a moment, his steps faltering. Ling Xingzhi shifted to a more comfortable position, sinking back into the sofa. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm..." Li Qingshan thought for a moment, then spoke up, "Mayor Ling, your father found out about the phone call you made to the central government a few days ago to help Secretary Zhou..."

Ling Xingzhi looked up at him, narrowing his eyes. "What's wrong? What did he tell you this time?"

"No, I just think what you did wasn't right. Committee Member Ling will definitely overthink it. Although he hasn't said anything, but..." He thought of the phone call Chen Ran had made, the call asking questions, "But I think he's definitely dissatisfied. Zhou Xiye's relationship with the Ling family is ambiguous. The Ye family only helps Zhou Xiye from time to time because of Ye Rouxin, but the Ling family..."

Ling Xingzhi listened to Li Qingshan's words with a smile on his lips, nodding from time to time.

After saying these words, Li Qingshan was covered in sweat.

"My dad's looking for you? Or... are you one of his people sent to spy on me?"

Li Qingshan opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Ling Xingzhi stood up, looking aggressive, but what he said surprised Li Qingshan: "Regardless of whether you were sent by my father or not, I believe in you. You should know about Zhou Xiye and me. We are quite close, but I don't trust her. You are the person I trust the most, so I believe that whatever choice you make is forced by the old man."

Li Qingshan looked at him, and his fingers, which were hanging at his sides, twitched.

"Mayor Ling..."

Ling Xingzhi chuckled, “I understand what you mean, but it has already happened, and you know... When I got the news that Zhou Xiye had been taken away, I immediately called the central government without saying anything, which was very impulsive…” He looked at the light spots reflected on the ground.

“…That’s fine,” Ling Xingzhi walked up to Li Qingshan, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder. “It’s late, go home and get some sleep…Hey, by the way, don’t you still not have a girlfriend? Have you ever thought about that…”

"Mayor Ling, I'll be going now. See you tomorrow."

Okay, see you tomorrow.

Ling Xingzhi smiled and closed the door. He wasn't surprised by Li Qingshan's choice. Everyone knew which official held the higher position, Committee Member Ling or Secretary Ling, and who to curry favor with. It wasn't easy for Li Qingshan to help him get to where he was now. In terms of cultivating confidants, someone like Li Qingshan was already quite good in front of Committee Member Ling.

Two flowers bloom, each representing a different branch.

Ling Xingzhi enjoyed a relatively peaceful night, but Meng Qinggong's night was anything but. He interrogated the arrested prostitution ring through the night. The ringleaders were all ordinary people with some ambition, and they answered every question. Most of them were in this line of work simply to make a living and had never considered making it a large-scale operation.

After all, prostitution is illegal, and no brothel has ever expanded into a nationwide chain. They know in their hearts that this illegal industry is something they can only do as long as they can, and if it doesn't work out, they can move on to another place. People have to live, and they have to find ways to survive.

Therefore, the members of the gang quickly revealed that their contact was a travel agency—Qihang Travel Agency.

Upon hearing this name, Meng Qinggong found it unbelievable, and his hair stood on end instinctively.

"Qihang Travel Agency, this company was even rated as one of the top ten outstanding travel agencies by the government, how could they do such a thing?!" Meng Qinggong looked at the person on the other side of the big screen, "Ask them again carefully, are they just smearing us, or do they have evidence?"

The interrogator heard Director Meng's confession through the earpiece and asked him the same question again.

"It's their company, Qihang Travel Agency. At first, several travel agencies divided up the market, but later Qihang Travel Agency became the only dominant one. They monopolized all the special services. All we had to do was compile the names of the girls and their service features into a booklet for them."

Sitting next to Meng Qinggong, Chief Prosecutor Chen raised an eyebrow. "Director Meng, I remember their travel agency has a very good relationship with your municipal bureau. When they need to maintain order, they always send people directly from the municipal bureau."

Now it was Meng Qinggong's turn to fall silent. He picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Qihang Travel Agency was even named one of the top ten outstanding travel agencies, and their boss was named one of Kunming's top ten outstanding youths and a Forbes 30 Under 30. How was I supposed to know they were involved in such shady dealings! Besides, it's perfectly normal for the police to maintain order. Your prosecutors don't usually go to the grassroots level, and our police officers have suffered a lot too!"

Chief Prosecutor Chen pursed his lips, turned to look at the screen, and held his headphones with one hand.

"Ask them again where those women who sell their bodies come from."

What started as an unintentional remark has led to these testimonies pointing the way for the investigation. Chen Hui never expected that his careless words would uncover so much more—"We were only responsible for organizing prostitution. Those women were bought from other people. Not everyone who comes from the village goes into prostitution. To say that people are forced into prostitution... that's a depraved and rotten thing to say. We buy women. If they're good-looking, it's 10,000 yuan. If they're not good-looking, it's 7,000 or 8,000 yuan. Sometimes we can buy a woman for 3,000 or 4,000 yuan... These cheap women are all disabled, without hands or feet... basically, they don't have any of their genitals."

Those inside and outside the interrogation room fell silent upon hearing what followed.

“These women were all sold from the Golden Triangle, brought over by the truckload. Secretary Zhou’s agritainment business is doing well, so we got to choose the women first. I only heard a little bit from their driver that they used to be involved in fraud in the Golden Triangle, you know K Industrial Park, right? ... If they didn’t do well, or if they were no longer needed, they were sold over.”

"There are also some women who smuggle drugs. After bringing the drugs in, they run away. They don't have ID cards or anything, so they can only work illegally... or sell themselves..."

This matter has become serious.

Extremely serious.

It involves foreign forces.

Meng Qinggong immediately reported to the provincial department. What initially seemed like an unremarkable human trafficking and prostitution case turned out to be a major transnational case upon closer investigation.

After listening to Meng Qinggong's report, Bai Fengming, the director of the Provincial Public Security Department, said seriously, "What I can do now is strictly control the number of people crossing the border, or close the border. However, Comrade Meng, if we want to conduct a thorough investigation in the Golden Triangle, we need the approval of the Central Committee, and sending troops also requires the approval of the Central Military Commission. Furthermore, negotiations with the Golden Triangle will not be easy; their domestic situation is complex. We can only guarantee the safety of Chinese citizens; we cannot interfere in matters outside our borders."

Meng Qinggong had no intention of conducting a thorough investigation in the Golden Triangle; what he wanted was the promise to close the border. The two reached an agreement: close the border, and for domestic criminal gangs, regardless of nationality, those with extradition treaties would be detained and imprisoned, while those without would be repatriated.

Closing the border was no small matter. After hanging up with Meng Qinggong, Bai Fengming cut off two more numbers—simultaneously reporting to Provincial Party Secretary Liu Liangyou and the Central Committee, nipping the problem in the bud before it attracted significant attention.

The central government quickly approved the decision; Liu Liangyou was merely aware of it.

On the other hand, after listening to Meng Qinggong's report, Liu Liangyou remained silent for a few seconds and then asked, "Comrade Meng, what role did Qihang Travel Agency play in the human trafficking and prostitution case?"

"It's hard to say," Meng Qinggong replied. "Regarding Qihang Travel Agency, the Municipal Bureau has decided to interrogate the owner, Liu Yiyi, first. The upstream, midstream, and downstream have all been investigated, and we will continue to investigate Qihang Travel Agency as well. Although Qihang Travel Agency's involvement is not as serious as human trafficking or human abduction, it has still broken the law."

Liu Liangyou sighed deeply, "Well then, Comrade Meng, come to the Provincial Party Committee. There are some things I'd like to hear from you in person."

Meng Qinggong hesitated for a moment, and after a few seconds of silence, he said, "Okay."

Before heading to the provincial party committee, Meng Qinggong specifically called over Deputy Director Hao Shengchun, saying, "I'm going to the provincial party committee to report on my work. You take charge of things here for now and keep an eye on the movements of Liu Yiyi, the owner of Qihang Travel Agency. The arrest warrant hasn't been approved yet, but it should be issued this afternoon... If I haven't returned by then, you go and arrest him directly."

Hao Shengchun nodded, then chuckled and joked, "Why do you look like you're about to die a heroic death? The provincial party committee is an office, not a prison..."

Meng Qinggong sighed deeply and waved his hand, "I have a bad feeling... nothing has been easy lately... I'm leaving!"

When they arrived at the provincial party secretary's office, there were already three people sitting inside—the secretary of the discipline inspection commission, the director of the provincial public security department, and Liu Liangyou.

Meng Qinggong was the last to arrive. The three of them sat on the soft leather sofa and looked at him as if they were three great Buddhas scrutinizing him.

"Comrade Meng is here. We were just discussing the Qihang Travel Agency," Liu Liangyou said with a smile. "Qihang Travel Agency is one of the largest travel agencies in Yunnan Province and has always been a leader in the tourism industry."

Meng Qinggong nodded, understanding Liu Liangyou's meaning—how to arrest Liu Yiyi? What about social impact? Economic benefits?

“If we don’t arrest him just because he’s a leading enterprise to reduce the economic impact, I think that would be a mistake,” Bai Fengming said. “Leading enterprises should play a leading role. They should be praised for doing the right thing and punished for doing the wrong thing. This also serves as a warning to others.”

"This will shake up Yunnan's tourism industry."

"If Yunnan's tourism industry is affected by the bankruptcy of a single company, then there's something wrong with the government. I've never seen a tourism company that's too big to fail!"

Bai Fengming challenged Liu Liangyou, and the Discipline Inspection Commission secretaries Zhao Hongji and Meng Qinggong exchanged a glance. The reason Bai Fengming dared to be so arrogant and go against the provincial party secretary was because she was about to retire. People who are about to retire speak with such a tough attitude.

Liu Liangyou was also at a loss with her, as he was most afraid of retired senior cadres within the system.

Meng Qinggong sat to the side without saying a word. After all, he still wanted to be the director of the provincial public security department and couldn't afford to offend Liu Liangyou.

"Secretary Zhao, you're the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission. Tell me, if this continues, how will social morality be affected? More private enterprises will become arrogant. We live in a society governed by law. Is there anything that is more powerful than the law?!"

Bai Fengming suddenly pointed at Zhao Hongji, catching him off guard. He didn't seem to recognize Bai Fengming at all. Bai Fengming would never have been this assertive before; although she must have exceptional abilities to reach her position, he had never seen her so reckless.

“I think Director Bai is right, we should investigate thoroughly…”

The three of them started tugging at each other again, and Meng Qinggong sat to the side, unable to get a word in edgewise. Just then, his phone rang. He made an apologetic gesture and went outside to answer it.

"Director Meng, it seems Liu Yiyi has received a message. According to her phone's location, she's on her way to the airport. Should we arrest her or not?"

Meng Qinggong hesitated for a moment. The matter of arresting Liu Yiyi had not yet been decided. How did he know about it? "Wait a minute, I'll go ask him."

He took his phone and went back into his office. "Um... Liu Yiyi is trying to escape. Should we arrest her now...?"

"Grasp!"

"Don't arrest them!"

Bai Fengming looked at Liu Liangyou in confusion, "What do you mean by this!"

"Kunming's economy is already in a downturn because of the tourism industry. If you arrest the owner of a well-known travel agency in the province so recklessly, will you, Comrade Bai Fengming, bear the economic losses afterwards?"

"Liu Liangyou, you don't have any business dealings with this travel agency, do you?"

The two started arguing again, and Zhao Hongji shook his head at Meng Qinggong, expressing his helplessness.

Hao Shengchun waited at the station for the arrest warrant, waiting for Meng Qinggong's order. Seeing the red dot on the map heading straight for the airport, she grew anxious. The argument on the phone was still going on; Meng Qinggong was such a coward.

Seeing the red dot approaching the airport, Hao Shengchun waved his hand, "Never mind, call the people from the procuratorate and arrest them!"

Police cars with flashing red and blue lights drove out of the police station and headed towards the airport with great fanfare.

But we were still a step too late.

The plane carrying Liu Yiyi was already speeding down the runway, about to disappear into the deep night.

"Ring—ring—ring—"

The phone rang in Ling Xingzhi's study. He put down the documents in his hand and answered the phone.

"Old Ling, can you intercept a plane?"

Shen Yuhe's voice was serious and urgent.

Stopping a plane?!

“We spoke with Liu Yiyi, the owner of Qihang Travel Agency, last week… Ugh, it was urgent, so I didn’t tell you. It concerns Zhou Xiye’s abuse of power in approving land. When we questioned him, he said it didn’t happen and he had no evidence. That’s why I’m telling you that Zhou Xiye has been reinstated… But the land was indeed approved for them at a price below market value. We still want to find out who approved the land for them. Well, before we could ask, we just received news from the Municipal Bureau that he’s fled tonight.”

Ling Xingzhi's mind hadn't caught on.

"Old Ling!"

Ling Xingzhi suddenly realized what was going on. Shen Yuhe had never mentioned Liu Yiyi to him, nor had he mentioned Zhou Xiye and Liu Yiyi. Ling Xingzhi didn't know the level of secrecy surrounding this matter, but Shen Yuhe had clearly been keeping it a secret, probably to prevent Ling Xingzhi from causing trouble. But... now that something had happened, the person was about to escape, and they needed Ling Xingzhi's help, why had Shen Yuhe revealed it instead?

Ling Xingzhi relaxed his brow and said slowly, "Stop a plane? You want me to fly up into the sky and stop it for you?"

When Meng Qinggong learned of Hao Shengchun's arrest of Liu Yiyi, he reported it on the spot. The secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission looked puzzled, Bai Fengming was furious, and Liu Liangyou also frowned.

"How could you arrest someone without a warrant! Acting first and reporting later will result in disciplinary action!"

Zhao Hongji reprimanded Meng Qinggong.

But Meng Qinggong shook his head, "It wasn't my order for Deputy Director Hao to sit here..."

In the office, everyone was silent. After a while, Liu Liangyou sighed, picked up his water glass, took a sip of tea, and said, "Since that's the case, then arrest the second-in-command of Qihang Travel Agency. This matter can't remain unresolved..."

Before he could finish speaking, Meng Qinggong's phone rang again.

He answered the call, and the next second, Meng Qinggong jumped up—"What!? They caught him!"

The others were taken aback.

Liu Liangyou almost dropped his teacup.

Hao Shengchun's voice came through the phone's speaker—

"We've caught him! Secretary Zhou dispatched a military fighter jet to intercept the plane, and the man has been taken away by the army!"