Chapter 152: Chapter 145: Go as far as you can
After Chen Kuian and Zhang Teng called each other, they did not just wait for news. They had too many channels to contact and the phone calls never stopped.
However, the incident happened so suddenly that at the moment in Yanjing, only Hua Muyun and Lin Zhifang knew what was going on in Jiangling. It was only after Chen Kuian and Zhang Teng made calls that the news started to spread slowly.
While Zhang Teng was a tyrant in a small place like Jiangling, he naturally had connections in Yanjing. But regardless of whether he called people from the Yanjing Bureau or government or even the Municipal Committee, including some leaders, no one knew what exactly the Yanjing Bureau was doing.
At the same time, Director Lin of the Yanjing Bureau was also inundated with calls, not only from subordinates and colleagues of the same rank but also from his superior, the Deputy Secretary of the Yanjing Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and even members of the Yanjing Municipal Committee, questioning why the special police team of the Yanjing Bureau appeared in Jiangling and detained dozens of detectives from Jiangling’s criminal investigation team.
Other callers weren’t much of a concern, even if members of the Yanjing Municipal Committee also called to inquire. The questions from his direct superior, the Deputy Secretary of the Yanjing Political and Legal Affairs Committee, however, could not be ignored. Lin Zhifang dared not speak out entirely but dared not say nothing at all. Fortunately, Lin Zhifang already had some evidence forwarded by Sun Chuanxuan about the Zhang Family, picking out a few not-too-serious yet still significant issues to address, which temporarily silenced his superior.
The two matters Lin Zhifang mentioned involved an atrocious case that occurred four years ago when the Zhang Family was developing the Jiangling Binjiang District, resulting in seven deaths and nearly thirty injuries, and an incident where the young master of the Zhang Family, Zhang Jiang, bullied a female classmate at Jiangling No.1 High School until she committed suicide by jumping from a building. Sun Chuanxuan already had solid evidence of these cases because his brother-in-law was injured and hospitalized for over three months during the Binjiang District incident. The female student’s suicide was widely known in Jiangling at the time, but due to the Zhang Family’s overpowering influence, no one dared intervene or testify. The girl’s mother died two years later from depression, while her father was forced to migrate for work.
Coincidentally, Sun Chuanxuan was a distant relative of the girl’s father, who provided considerable evidence to Sun Chuanxuan at the time, but could Sun Chuanxuan dare use it to arrest Zhang Jiang?
At 6:30 PM, while taking calls, Lin Zhifang was also receiving faxes from Sun Chuanxuan. The transfer took nearly an hour, finally sending over a stack of documents, estimated to be two to three hundred A4 pages thick, illustrating how much the Zhang Family had done in Jiangling. This was only the known part; even more was unknown.
Counting the evidence received by Lin Zhifang, the documentation alone likely exceeded three hundred A4 pages, not to mention the physical evidence. After securing these materials, Lin Zhifang personally drove to the Municipal Committee.
Hua Muyun merely browsed through the first four to five pages of the information on the Zhang Family’s crimes and immediately flew into a rage, slamming his right hand heavily onto his desk and exclaimed sternly, "This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous!" The documented accounts were all bloody and tearful events, each representing a human life. It was unimaginable to think the Zhang Family operated with such undue power in Jiangling.
Lin Zhifang stood quietly in front of Hua Muyun’s desk. Although there was a chair beside him, he did not dare to sit.
"Investigate. I want a thorough investigation, no matter who is protecting the Zhang Family. Take them all down!" Hua Muyun, truly infuriated this time, couldn’t believe such things happened in Yanjing—still within one of the eight counties and the five districts, Jiangling. No wonder Jiangling’s economy has never improved; the city’s policies always favor Jiangling, assumedly due to its poverty. However, Jiangling was impoverished not because of its terrain or inconvenient transportation but because of the Zhang Family.
The city’s policies favored Jiangling, but very few businesses or factories were willing to establish themselves there due to the Zhang Family’s presence.
Lin Zhifang stood silently with his head lowered, not daring to respond.
"Lin Zhifang, if you don’t take down the Zhang Family within twenty-four hours, consider your position as Director finished!" Hua Muyun still seemed unable to quell his anger, venomously directing his words at Lin Zhifang.
However, to Lin Zhifang’s ears, this sounded like a major blessing. Hua Muyun was angry with him and was preparing to remove him from his position. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be pleasant news, but Lin Zhifang understood that if Hua Muyun could yell at you to your face or say how he’d handle you, it meant Hua Muyun no longer regarded you as an outsider. In reverse, this implied that if he could take down the Zhang Family within twenty-four hours, his position as Director would not only be secured but might even lead to a promotion.
After this, Hua Muyun called Jiang Yibo, the Secretary of the Yanjing Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and Sun Haomin, the Director of the Yanjing Bureau. Even though Sun Haomin was hospitalized due to health issues, he had to come over at this time.
Once both men arrived, they classified the Jiangling Zhang Family as a mafia-like family group. Lin Zhifang, Deputy Director of the Yanjing Bureau, would lead a task force of over two hundred special police officers to Jiangling to arrest everyone in the Zhang Family.
After Lin Zhifang, Jiang Yibo, and Sun Haomin left, Hua Muyun rubbed his temples before picking up the phone to call Elder Chen.
This Elder Chen was none other than Elder Chen of the Yanjing Chen Family, who had been residing in Yanjing for retirement in recent years, with his granddaughter Chen Siye managing the family group. His other children were engaged in business or officialdom or had joined the military in other provinces or cities of Huaxia.
Hua Muyun was quite familiar with Elder Chen’s temperament. A principled old man, he might disagree with Hua Muyun’s father over political views, but he was still respectable.
Of course, someone of Elder Chen’s stature had never even heard of the Jiangling Zhang Family. Even Chen Yufeng only had a vague idea that they were a collateral branch or the third generation of the Chen Family?
Upon discreetly discussing the Zhang Family’s actions in Jiangling, Elder Chen was furious and immediately stated, "Don’t even mention a collateral branch of the Chen Family; even if Chen Yuqiang made a mistake, we must face the consequences as per the law!" Chen Yuqiang was indeed a leading second-generation figure in the Chen Family, Governor of a major northeastern province, and an alternate central committee member, just half a rank below Hua Muyun. And, he was even younger than Hua Muyun.
With Elder Chen’s assurance, Hua Muyun was finally relieved. Although technically it wasn’t anyone from the Chen Family, it would have made Hua Muyun seem quite inconsiderate if he hadn’t informed them.
Following the commands from Yanjing, the Yanjing Bureau fully mobilized, with nearly thirty vehicles heading towards Jiangling.
At this time, even the Zhang Family, and Chen Kuian far in the Northwestern Province, only heard about the few-year-old Binjiang District case with seven deaths and over thirty injuries, and the incident of a female student committing suicide by jumping from a building at Jiangling No.1 High School. There was no mention of anything else, nor did it refer to today’s main figure, Chen Yufeng, let alone the Xia Family.
As a result, Zhang Teng and Chen Kuian grew increasingly anxious. The unknown opponents were the most terrifying. If this matter was orchestrated by the Xia Family, they wouldn’t even be afraid; they might even disdain them. Why? Because even though the Xia Family had entered Yanjing’s high society, they had too little influence in Yanjing’s officialdom, almost negligible to them.
When Zhang Teng and Chen Kuian called the leaders within the Political and Legal Affairs system again, they either reached switched-off phones or were told they were busy in meetings or dining with their superiors, leaving them unable to step away. This further heightened Zhang Teng and Chen Kuian’s unease.
"Dad, shouldn’t you inquire with the elder?" Zhang Teng was somewhat panicked. If Elder Chen intervened, even Yanjing Municipal Committee Secretary Hua Muyun would have to respect him.
Chen Kuian wouldn’t listen to Zhang Teng’s suggestion and directly refused, "To bother the elder with such matters, where would that leave my dignity as your father-in-law? Besides, maybe this incident isn’t all bad. It’ll give Yufeng a lesson, preventing him from being too arrogant. You’ve caused too much trouble in Jiangling over the years!" Although Chen Kuian sensed something amiss, he never thought their adversary sought to annihilate the entire Zhang Family, not merely to discipline Chen Yufeng.
"Okay then!" Zhang Teng tried to say more, but the thought quickly vanished from his mind. Glancing at the time, it was already 7:30 PM. Uncertain of County Party Secretary Chen Yongming’s progress at the traffic police brigade, and too anxious to eat, he immediately called Chen Yongming.
The phone had just dialed out when a servant came in to report, "Mr. Zhang, County Party Secretary Chen is here!"
"Hmm, quickly invite him in!" Zhang Teng was taken aback, not expecting Chen Yongming to visit personally. Speaking as he went, he walked down to the living room on the first floor.
Upon seeing Zhang Teng, Chen Yongming immediately said, "Brother-in-law, I think you should pack up and leave as far as you can as soon as possible. It’s not too late to come back once things settle down!"
"Ah, Yongming, what on earth happened? Why should I leave Jiangling?" Zhang Teng couldn’t help but ask in shock.
"A hunch!" Chen Yongming said emphatically.
"Yongming, what happened when you went to the traffic police brigade just now? Is the situation so severe?" Zhang Teng asked incredulously.
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