Nominal: The pinnacle of power began in the sixth province of Handong.

Chapter 63 Approaching

After dinner, Qi Tongwei said goodbye to Gao Yuliang and went to Xia Qing's residence.

Cheng Du originally intended to see Qi Tongwei off, but Gao Yuliang suddenly asked him to stay, saying he wanted to have a chat with Cheng Du.

Cheng Du was naturally flattered and stayed. Qi Tongwei smiled and drove to find Xia Qing.

On the way, Qi Tongwei made a phone call to his secretary, Xiao Duan:

"Hello, Director Duan, this is Qi Tongwei. Is Minister Xia here? Oh, okay, I'll be right there."

Qi Tongwei hung up the phone and sped up a bit.

When they arrived at Xia Qing's residence, Xiao Duan was already waiting at the door.

Qi Tongwei repeatedly thanked Director Duan for personally greeting him at the door.

Xiao Duan led Qi Tongwei to the living room.

In the living room, Xia Qing was discussing something with Ling Jiang, the director of the audit department.

Seeing Qi Tongwei enter, Xia Qing smiled, pointed to the sofa beside her, and said:

"Director Qi is here? Please have a seat."

Qi Tongwei said "Eh" and slowly sat down. Xia Qing continued:

"I was discussing the investigation with Director Ling; these people's financial issues require auditing assistance. Coincidentally, I was just about to write to your Public Security Bureau requesting help when the Director himself arrived first. Isn't that a coincidence?"

Xia Qing laughed after she finished speaking, and Ling Jiang smiled as well.

Qi Tongwei chuckled a few times, then his smile faded, replaced by a look of guilt. He lowered his head and said:

"Minister Xia, I'm here today for two reasons, one is to report some personal matters to you..."

"Stop. Director Qi, this is a matter between you and Minister Xia, it's not convenient for me to listen. Let's talk about it after the investigation is arranged." Ling Jiang interrupted, his tone still smiling, as if he were joking.

Xia Qing was satisfied with Ling Jiang's reaction and continued the conversation:

"Yes, Director Qi, let's arrange the work first, then we can talk about other things."

Qi Tongwei then said:

"Okay. My second purpose in coming here today is to report to Minister Xia and request that the Public Security Bureau of Handong Province cooperate with the Organization Department to conduct an investigation in the form of an investigation team."

Xia Qing and Ling Jiang exchanged a glance, and Xia Qing said with relief:

"Director Qi, no, Tongwei, you've come just in time. To be honest, without your cooperation, investigating sick and corrupt officials would be manageable, but how are we supposed to investigate officials with family members abroad?"

Qi Tongwei was taken aback. From Xia Qing's words, he felt his unparalleled importance, and his eyes were full of gratitude.

Xia Qing discussed the investigation with the two men for a while. When it was almost over, Ling Jiang made an excuse to leave first, leaving Qi Tongwei and Xia Qing in the living room.

Seeing that no one was disturbing him, Qi Tongwei composed himself and told Xia Qing everything about his entanglement with Shanshui Group and Zhao Ruilong, including how he planned to rectify the situation.

Xia Qing listened attentively, pondered for a while, looked into Qi Tongwei's eyes, and said:

"Tongwei, I'll only ask you one question, and you must answer me honestly."

Qi Tongwei couldn't help but feel nervous, but he knew this was his last chance to get closer to Xia Qing. A strong desire compelled him to look back into Xia Qing's eyes and say:

"Please speak."

Xia Qing leaned forward, her deep eyes making Qi Tongwei feel a little intimidated.

"Have you ever helped Zhao Ruilong and the Shanshui Group handle any murder cases?"

Xia Qing's words made Qi Tongwei's eyes widen. He pointed to the sky with one hand and patted his chest with the other, saying:

"No, absolutely not! Minister Xia, I swear to God, this is a matter of life and death. No matter how despicable I, Qi Tongwei, am, I would never make a mistake on this issue..."

"Alright, alright, Tongwei, that's good." Xia Qing quickly calmed down the somewhat overly excited Qi Tongwei and said gently:

"I'm glad you told me all this today. As long as you take the initiative to rectify the situation, my attitude will still be mainly one of criticism and education. In the future, don't make the same mistake again, and be mindful of your behavior."

Qi Tongwei nodded vigorously, large beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

Seeing that he had given enough of a warning, Xia Qing changed the subject and said:

"Secretary Yuliang values ​​you highly, so you must perform well in this special operation involving the political and legal teams. Please also take care of the investigation on my end. Remember, doing your job well is helping Secretary Yuliang. Helping him is helping me."

"If you have proven work performance, I'll be more likely to speak up for you at the Standing Committee meeting... You understand?"

Even the most slow-witted person could understand the meaning of these words, let alone Qi Tongwei.

He jumped to his feet, saluted, and said:

"Please rest assured, Minister, Tongwei guarantees the mission will be accomplished!"

Xia Qing smiled and said:

"Okay, go ahead."

After seeing Qi Tongwei off, Xia Qing looked at the draft for soliciting opinions on the special work of investigating officials, bureaucrats, and embarrassments sent by the department office on the table and began to think about it.

After a long while, he dialed a familiar number:

"Chief Prosecutor Ji, are you busy?"

Upon seeing that the caller ID showed Xia Qing, Ji Changming on the other end of the phone didn't dare to delay and quickly answered the phone, saying:

"Minister Xia, this is Ji Changming."

Ji Changming never expected that Xia Qing would take the initiative to call him.

After all, Hou Liangping had already offended Xia Qing twice.

I'm only able to continue as the chief prosecutor because Xia Qing didn't pursue the matter.

Therefore, Ji Changming really wanted to repair his relationship with Xia Qing.

Putting everything else aside, with retirement approaching, I still have to go through the procedures with the Organization Department.

Xia Qing didn't beat around the bush and said directly:

"The Ministry's special investigation into officials is imminent. The Economic Crime Investigation Division of the Public Security Bureau has no authority to investigate officials' economic issues and needs the assistance of your Procuratorate."

Ji Changming readily agreed:

"Of course, of course! On the procuratorate side, the Anti-Corruption Bureau is responsible for investigating economic crimes committed by officials. Minister Xia, shall I arrange for Lü Liang to report to you?"

"No need. Lü Liang is the acting director; he needs to maintain morale. I've thought about it. You can transfer five or six people from the Anti-Corruption Bureau to the investigation team, and the ministry will assign them tasks directly," Xia Qing said, feigning thought.

"Got it. Call Chen Hai over. He'll be the deputy team leader."

Chen Hai?

Ji Changming was stunned; he hadn't expected Xia Qing to specifically ask for Chen Hai.

Or was this the plan from the beginning?

Ji Changming had no idea what was going on; all he knew was that this was Chen Hai's best chance!

Therefore, Ji Changming immediately stated:

"Understood, Minister Xia. I'll make the arrangements right away. When should I report to you?"

Xia Qing narrowed her eyes slightly and said:

"Come to the ministry's main conference room the day after tomorrow. That's the mobilization meeting for the special campaign to investigate officials, bureaucrats, and embezzlers!"

……

After Qi Tongwei finished his report, Cheng Du also bid farewell to Gao Yuliang.

Cheng Du felt that his future had changed, but little did he know that Gao Yuliang was standing by the window, watching his back with a serious expression.

Then, Gao Yuliang made the phone call he had hesitated to make for several nights.

After three calls, a slightly aged yet gentle voice rang out from the other end:

"Feed? Yu Liang, huh?"

"Old leader, the situation is not optimistic." Gao Yuliang carefully chose his words and said in a low voice:

"The food court situation isn't that simple. Sha Ruijin is using the food court as bait... Yes, I'd also like to ask you to persuade Ruilong..."

The voice on the other end of the phone hesitated for a long time before offering words of comfort:

"Don't worry, Yu-liang. I'll explain the situation to Rui-long. I'm sorry for causing you trouble all this time."

"In that case, thank you, former leader," Gao Yuliang said in a deep voice, and then hung up the phone.