When Chen Bin was taken away for investigation, Feng Lei was also summoned by the Provincial Disciplinary Inspection Commission.
The two arrived at the investigation team’s office one after the other and were immediately interrogated separately.
However, in response to Wu Liang’s confession of bribery, both of them denied it completely, claiming ignorance.
Fixing his gaze on Chen Bin, an investigator spoke sternly.
"Confess and face leniency, resist and face severity. You’d better reveal everything you know!"
Chen Bin looked utterly innocent.
"I truly don’t know anything. This must be Wu Liang framing me."
"Then why would he frame you specifically and not someone else?"
"That I have no idea either. How about you bring him here, and we confront each other face-to-face!"
Seeing that nothing worthwhile was coming from Chen Bin’s side, the investigators shifted their focus to Feng Lei.
However, the result from Feng Lei was the same.
He also requested a face-to-face confrontation with Wu Liang.
When the investigators reported the situation to Peng Shaobo, he nodded thoughtfully.
"Since they want to speak face-to-face, then arrange it."
"What about Secretary Feng?"
"He’s a key figure, of course he has to be present. I’ll personally call him about it."
After the investigators left, Peng Shaobo informed Feng Huzhou.
Upon learning that Feng Lei had been taken away, Feng Huzhou immediately understood that Peng Shaobo’s call had to be about Wu Liang.
However, he felt no guilt and was willing to cooperate fully with the investigation.
Soon after, Chen Bin, Feng Lei, Wu Liang, Feng Huzhou, and Huang Ming—the five key figures—came together for a meeting.
In a room, four chairs facing different directions were placed in the center.
This meant the four individuals seated there would not be able to see each other’s faces.
These four chairs were prepared for Chen Bin, Feng Lei, Wu Liang, and Feng Huzhou.
As for Huang Ming, he was seated in the far corner, facing the wall.
Once everything was set, the leader of the investigation team turned to Wu Liang.
"You can start talking."
Wu Liang nodded and immediately began.
"I heard that Feng Huzhou has strong relationships up top, so I wanted to connect with him. But I never had the chance. Later, I found out his daughter-in-law worked in Qingshi County, so I sent Huang Ming to ingratiate himself with her."
The team leader turned to Huang Ming, "Is that true?"
"And how did you ingratiate yourself?"
"Xu Ruoxuan doesn’t have many hobbies, so I occasionally invited her over for meals at my house. But before I could solidify the relationship, rumors about an affair between her and me spread in the county. Because of that, Xu Ruoxuan stopped interacting with me entirely."
"Then how did this matter become connected to Chen Bin?"
"Chen Bin is Xu Ruoxuan’s sworn brother, so I used the excuse of setting him up with someone to get close to him. Afterward, I asked him to help indirectly."
The team leader turned to Chen Bin, "Is this true?"
Chen Bin nodded. "It is."
"How did you respond at that time?"
Chen Bin thought for a moment before speaking.
"I remember asking Huang Ming how he wanted me to help. He just refused to say, then directly arranged for me to meet Wu Liang."
"Why would you agree to meet Wu Liang for no reason?"
"Because he’s the mayor, and I’m just a small secretary at the County Committee. Getting to meet the mayor was a huge and rare opportunity!"
The team leader nodded, finding the answer reasonable, then turned back to Wu Liang.
Wu Liang nodded and continued, "Through Huang Ming’s arrangement, after meeting Chen Bin, I told him I needed something from Xu Ruoxuan. I asked him to introduce me to Xu Ruoxuan’s husband, Feng Lei."
The team leader asked, "So you wanted to approach Feng Huzhou through Feng Lei?"
"Did you just want to meet him, or did you have other motives?"
"At the time, I heard Li Lu, the party secretary, was leaving Tianhai. I wanted to take his position, so I hoped Feng Huzhou could use his connections to help me achieve that goal."
The team leader looked at Chen Bin, "How did you respond then?"
Chen Bin answered calmly.
"At that time, I didn’t know Wu Liang’s true intentions. I thought since Feng Lei worked in the city, the two would inevitably run into each other eventually, so I decided to do a small favor."
"Wu Liang, continue."
Taking a deep breath, Wu Liang slowly resumed.
"Under Chen Bin’s arrangement, I met Feng Lei at a hotel. After sending Chen Bin away, I told Feng Lei I wanted to meet Feng Huzhou. Feng Lei said Feng Huzhou was busy with job relocations and wasn’t seeing anyone."
"Then what did you do next?"
"I had no choice but to tell Feng Lei about my desire to become the Party Secretary. I also promised that if I got the position, he would receive benefits. Feng Lei called Feng Huzhou after that, and Feng Huzhou assigned Chen Bin as the intermediary."
Before Wu Liang could finish, Feng Lei raised his hand.
The team leader nodded, "Go ahead."
Feng Lei quickly explained.
"Everything Wu Liang said earlier is true, but the last part is a lie! I immediately told him my father couldn’t handle things like that and suggested he find someone else."
Upon hearing this, Wu Liang became furious.
He turned to Feng Lei and yelled.
"You’re lying! You absolutely contacted Feng Huzhou at the time!"
The team leader promptly intervened, shouting.
"Face forward when you talk!"
Wu Liang sighed. He hunched his shoulders and turned his head back reluctantly.
The team leader looked at Feng Huzhou, "Secretary Feng, after receiving that call, how did you respond?"
Feng Huzhou said, "I didn’t know anything about this from start to finish. If you don’t believe me, you can check the call records from that day."
Nodding, the team leader signaled to someone nearby.
Clearly, they were going to retrieve the call records.
Then the leader turned back to Wu Liang, "Continue."
"My guess was that Feng Huzhou, for safety reasons, had Chen Bin—a seemingly insignificant person—act as the intermediary. To follow up, I gave Chen Bin a wristwatch and asked him to probe Feng Huzhou for his thoughts."
The team leader turned to Chen Bin, "Is that true?"
"Wu Liang did give me a wristwatch, but it was when the matter failed. He wanted me to persuade Feng Lei. Initially, I didn’t want to accept it, but he insisted, so I dared not refuse."
As he spoke, Chen Bin took off the watch on his wrist.
After inspecting it, the team leader noticed it was a foreign-brand watch.
Although its design and style looked upscale, its value appeared to be no more than a couple of thousand yuan.
Declaring Chen Bin guilty solely for accepting such a watch seemed unlikely.
He turned back to Wu Liang, "Continue your account."
Wu Liang continued, "As Li Lu’s departure neared, I still hadn’t made any progress. So I invited Chen Bin out for a meal during which he told me that thirty thousand yuan would help resolve the matter."
"Did the thirty thousand yuan come from your bank account?"
At this moment, Wu Liang suddenly seemed at a loss for words.
All his bribery and embezzled funds were stored in foreign banks. Revealing this would escalate the issue significantly.
Moreover, he had no evidence to confirm he transferred the money to Chen Bin.
Seeing Wu Liang unable to respond, Chen Bin burst into laughter.
"Mayor Wu, you really know how to make up stories. Thirty thousand yuan to buy a Provincial Party Secretary? Ridiculous!"
Wu Liang, already agitated and angry, instantly lost control upon hearing this.
Suddenly, he turned and grabbed Chen Bin’s collar, punching him in the face.
"You little bastard! You asked me for thirty thousand yuan because you were afraid this day would come, didn’t you? If you don’t start talking, do you think I won’t kill you?!"