Noon.
Public Security Bureau’s interrogation room.
An officer brought a lunch box for Dong Xuebing. He is considered in custody, and his phone had been taken away. After a while, Deputy Team Leader Feng and Qin Yong came. They don’t know what to say. Dong Xuebing has no reason to kill Li Hong and will not push her onto the road.
“Chief Dong, Sigh…” Feng Lei sighed.
“Have a smoke first.” Qin Yong gave Dong Xuebing a cigarette and lit it.
Dong Xuebing took a puff and said. “I am damn lucky these few days. Why do I have to be dragged into all these misfortune incidents? How is the investigation?”
Feng Lei shook his head. “That driver did not see anything and had escaped immediately after the accident. He could only see a man who pushed Li Hong, and the only evidence we got from the scene is the fingerprints on her bag. We are asking people around that area if they had witnessed anything. But the accident happened before 6 am, and it’s hard to find witnesses so early. Some people heard the accident, but no one had heard sounds of Li Hong fighting or struggling.”
Qin Yong sighed. “Brother Dong, how did your fingerprints get onto her bag?”
“Sigh… don’t talk about this.” Dong Xuebing threw the cigarette butt on the floor and stepped on it. “I should have accidentally touched her bag in the past. It’s not easy to remove prints from patent leather. Who would expect her to never touch this bag from then until now and implicated me in this? Oh, I should have touched that bag around two months ago. Can the forensic department determine the time from the fingerprints?”
Feng Lei replied. “No.”
Dong Xuebing sighed. “This means I must take the rap?”
“Not really.” Qin Yong thought for a while. “We only have evidence and no witness, and the evidence is the fingerprints on the bag. This evidence is weaker than DNA found under the nails.”
“But those are also evidence. If there are no other suspects, I will not clear my name.” Dong Xuebing is furious because he was accused of no reason. “The Public Security Bureau’s attitude is quite weird. Why did they arrange for Hu Yiguo to interrogate me? Everyone knows we have a bad relationship. Old Qin, Old Feng, what are Chief Liang or the County Government thinking? Do they also think that I am involved? Are they trying to get rid of me?”
Qin Yong is not sure. “I don’t think so.”
Deputy Team Leader Feng added. “Everyone can tell this had nothing to do with you. Why would you go over there in the middle of the night to meet Li Hong and even got into a fight with her? This is bullshit!”
Qin Yong and Feng Lei also felt the Public Security Bureau had acted too fast. They had only found Dong Xuebing’s fingerprints and immediately placed him under custody. This might be fine if it was someone else, but not Dong Xuebing. Other than Dong Xuebing is Mayor Xie’s trusted aide, and he is also a Section Chief. His rank is higher than many Public Security Bureau’s Deputy Chiefs and is the same as Executive Deputy Chief Hu Yiguo. The Bureau should think twice before bringing Dong Xuebing in.
“What did Mayor Xie say?” Dong Xuebing asked.
Feng Lei replied. “I had contacted Secretary Hu immediately, and she said Mayor Xie had gone to the City for a meeting this morning. Her handphone is off, and she might not know about this. After Secretary Hu knows you are involved, she had driven to the City.” Dong Xuebing knew Xie Huilan would be in the City for a meeting these two days yesterday.
Sister Xie is not around, and the Public Security Bureau acted so fast. Are they trying to bring him down?
Dong Xuebing is disappointed. The Public Security Bureau Chief, Liang Chengpeng, is very close with him. Dong Xuebing had arranged the hospital for his mother’s treatment in Beijing, and he should not be doing this to him. Furthermore, the Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, Huang Li, is a supporter of Xie’s faction. But now, Chief Liang and Huang Li are not doing anything to help him. This means the person behind all these is Party Secretary Xiang Daofa!
Without Xiang Daofa’s permission, Dong Xuebing will not be brought in so soon by the Public Security Bureau. Liang Chengpeng is from Xiang Daofa’s faction!
This old bastard!
Dong Xuebing remembered Xiang Daofa had just praised him last week for bringing Master Park back to the County. He still thought Xiang Daofa was sincere when praising him, but he is only interested in the credit. He was willing to put aside his grudges with Xie Huilan earlier because they are going against an outsider. With the outsider gone, the infighting starts again. This is what the government service should be.
But this old bastard changed too fast.
I had just turned the Investment Promotion Agency around, and you are trying to get rid of me immediately? You are trying to use me against Xie Huilan?! You are inhuman!
Dong Xuebing hates people like Xiang Daofa. Much earlier, Dong Xuebing had gotten the evidence to bring the former Party Secretary down and allowed Xiang Daofa to move up. But when Dong Xuebing expressed his interest in joining Xiang Daofa’s faction, he chose to ignore him. This resulted in them falling out, and he tried to bring him down again, this time! I had brought credits for you, and you still want to get rid of me instead of thanking me?!
Dong Xuebing could guess what Xiang Daofa is up to.
The Investment Promotion Agency is doing well now, and Xiang Daofa is jealous. He is not willing to let the Investment Promotion Agency falls under Xie Huilan. Once he got rid of Dong Xuebing, he can arrange for his men to take over the Agency to claim the credit. He could not do so in the past because he could not do anything to Dong Xuebing. But he can bring down Dong Xuebing quickly with this incident as an excuse now.
Xiang Daofa will not spare Dong Xuebing and might accuse him of murder or manslaughter. Xie Huilan’s trusted aide had killed someone?! This will greatly affect Xie Huilan’s reputation! But Dong Xuebing felt Xiang Daofa might not go to this extent as it will affect himself too. After all, he is the County’s head, and it will not look good on him too.
This case will probably be settled quickly and quietly, but Dong Xuebing’s career will be gone. The best outcome is he will be transferred to a position without any authority and will never be used for important roles again. This will affect Xie Huilan’s authority and let Xiang Daofa appoints his man to take over the Agency. This will also not affect the County’s reputation.
Dong Xuebing knew this should be what Xiang Daofa is thinking!
But there is nothing Dong Xuebing can do. He could not explain why his fingerprints are on the bag. Even if he could explain, Xiang Daofa will still use it to accuse him!
This is it?!
Am I going to lose my job and status?
Dong Xuebing had gotten implicated in this mess because someone is purposely trying to get rid of him. What’s worse is he cannot prove himself innocent. This feeling sucks.
“Old Qin, Old Feng, I think this is the end of me.” Dong Xuebing said.
Qin Yong frowned. “Don’t say this. The investigation is not over yet.”
Dong Xuebing knew what is going on. “Someone is trying to bring me down. Even if all the evidence is in my favor, they will still go after me. This is damn disgusting!” Xiang Daofa! I am not going to let you off! Wait for me! I will be going after you after this is settled!
Qin Yong and Feng Lei left after a while as they cannot remain in the interrogation room for too long.
Dong Xuebing looks at his watch. 12.30 pm. He cannot leave and can only wait for the investigation results. He hopes the police can catch the real suspect who killed Li Hong soon as that will be his only lifeline.
Ten minutes…
Half an hour…
One hour…
News of Dong Xuebing being brought into custody for manslaughter spreads within the County.
The God of Plague is in trouble again!
Many people are speechless!
Yan Tai County is not a big county, and people can count the number of major incidents in a year with one hand. But when they think about all the incidents this year… more than half of the incidents are started by Dong Xuebing. Da Feng County’s incident had just happened last week, and Dong Xuebing is involved in something new again!
But most people don’t believe Dong Xuebing had killed someone.
Although Chief Dong has a bad reputation, people know about his character. Furthermore, he does not need to struggle with Li Hong and push her onto the road. Struggle? How is it possible? With Chief Dong’s combat skills, does he even need to struggle against a woman like Li Hong? He can even knock her out with a finger! The fingerprints are even more ridiculous! Chief Dong had worked in State Security and Public Security. If he wants to kill someone, he will clean all his prints. The driver had also said no one around, and Dong Xuebing has all the time to clear his fingerprints.
But this is the fact.
The only evidence is Dong Xuebing’s fingerprints on that handbag.
Some people could sense Secretary Xiang is behind this. The Public Security Bureau had acted differently this time. They can tell this is another attack against his political rivals. If there are no other breakthroughs, in this case, Chief Dong will be the sacrifice!
Is the God of Plague going to be brought down this time?
Many people are guessing as they are used to Dong Xuebing surviving unharmed every time he was brought down.
