Xiao Liang’s sudden attack on Du Xuebing startled everyone present. Fortunately, many people were standing nearby; several reacted quickly and rushed forward to grab him.

“Xiao Liang!” The past two days had already been more than enough for Wang Xingmin. He pointed at Xiao Liang and barked sharply, “You were brought here to help solve the problem, not to go crazy!”

“That bastard Du Xuebing dragged me into drinking, got me drunk, and dumped me at that bitch He Hong’s house. And now he claims he had nothing to do with framing me? Who the hell would believe that!”

If he didn’t explode now, when would he—next New Year?

An opportunity like this—if he didn’t bare his fangs now, was he supposed to wait until later to lose his mind?

Faced with Wang Xingmin’s furious rebuke, Xiao Liang showed no intention of backing down.

Taking advantage of a moment’s lapse in the grip of those restraining him, he lunged forward again and kicked Du Xuebing hard in the lower abdomen.

Du Xuebing staggered backward from the blow, doubling over like a shrimp as he dropped to his knees, his face contorted with pain.

Seeing this, Sui Jing had no choice but to step forward and block Xiao Liang.

Xiao Liang, still burning with rage, shouted his grievance toward Wang Xingmin:

“Secretary Wang, those sons of bitches set me up so badly! If you hadn’t stepped forward to investigate Xiao Yujun, my life would’ve been ruined—I’d have been finished by those bastards! Tell me, Secretary Wang, how the hell am I supposed to swallow that?”

“Alright, alright,” Wang Xingmin said, clearly shaken by the ferocity on Xiao Liang’s face. Rubbing his temples, he continued, “I know you’ve been wronged. Anyone would be angry in your place. But whether Du Xuebing is involved or not is something the Public Security Bureau will investigate, and the town won’t ignore it either. If he’s guilty, no one will shield him.”

He paused, then added sternly:

“But right now the urgent matter isn’t your feud with Du Xuebing, nor is it investigating him. As a cadre of Yunshe Town, you need to put the bigger picture first. Don’t act impulsively.”

“Fine. I trust you, Secretary Wang.”

Xiao Liang raised both hands, signaling that he wouldn’t lash out again.

“I won’t settle accounts with this dog Du Xuebing for now. But I suggest he be removed from here first. We can’t rule out the possibility that he conspired with Xiao Yujun and He Hong to frame me. If he stays here, I’ll suspect he might deliberately provoke Lin Xuetong into doing something harmful to Xiao Yujun and He Hong.”

“What Xiao Liang says makes some sense,” Zhao Zhishan stepped forward with a dark expression and said to Wang Xingmin. “Du Xuebing should step aside for now.”

Wang Xingmin waved his hand impatiently, clearly disgusted, ordering Du Xuebing to stand farther away and stop being an eyesore.

Watching Du Xuebing slink away like a beaten dog, Xiao Liang drew in a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Then he spoke to Wang Xingmin with apparent sincerity.

“Secretary Wang, I want to make a self-criticism to you. Yesterday, when Captain Yuan escorted me back to the county Public Security Bureau, I thought Lin Xuetong might already know about Xiao Yujun and He Hong’s relationship. If that could be confirmed, it would weaken their accusations against me from another angle. So I asked Captain Yuan and Officer Sui to stop by and check this lead on the way back to the county. I never expected it would provoke Lin Xuetong like this.”

He paused before adding:

“If I go into the yard now and talk to Lin Xuetong, he should at least listen to a few words from me.”

Earlier that morning, Zhao Zhishan and Wang Xingmin had spoken several times on the phone. Wang Xingmin already knew Xiao Liang had secretly met Lin Xuetong the previous day while under Yuan Wenhai and Sui Jing’s supervision.

In fact, the reason they had urgently summoned Xiao Liang from the county bureau—without even completing the paperwork to cancel the case against him—was precisely because they hoped he could calm Lin Xuetong down.

But after seeing Xiao Liang arrive and immediately explode at Du Xuebing, Wang Xingmin felt a flicker of doubt.

What if Xiao Liang deliberately provoked Lin Xuetong into setting Xiao Yujun and He Hong on fire?

A town official had been framed, yet the town government had failed to actively clear his name and had even organized a large-scale manhunt for him. Meanwhile, the Nanting Juice Factory corruption scandal had erupted.

If today—under the gaze of hundreds of onlookers—the central figures of both cases were burned alive…

Even if Fan Chunjiang bore most of the blame, as the town’s Party Secretary, wouldn’t the county conclude that Wang Xingmin was incapable of controlling the situation?

If that happened, his political career would be finished.

“Secretary Wang, you can rest assured,” Xiao Liang said earnestly. “Even though I hate the people who framed me, what I want even more is to see them brought to justice. I won’t do anything reckless, and I won’t gamble with my own future.”

“Let Xiao Liang go in and try,” Fan Chunjiang said grimly.

Xiao Liang glanced at the composed expression on Fan Chunjiang’s face.

The old fox really was calm—and calculating.

If Xiao Liang provoked Lin Xuetong into setting Xiao Yujun and He Hong on fire, that would conveniently silence them forever.

And if Xiao Liang managed to persuade Lin Xuetong to calm down, Xiao Yujun might still refuse to implicate Fan Chunjiang.

What a crafty old dog.

Xiao Liang also cast a quiet glance at Zhou Jianqi, still uncertain how deeply he was entangled with Xiao Yujun.

Wang Xingmin lowered his voice and discussed the matter briefly with Zhou Jianqi and Zhao Zhishan. In the end, they agreed to let Xiao Liang go in and try.

Xiao Liang didn’t rush into the yard immediately. Instead, he called Qian Haiyun over and asked:

“Lin Xuetong still hasn’t budged at all. What exactly have Xiao Yujun and He Hong confessed so far?”

Qian Haiyun, a veteran local policeman of Yunshe, had a reputation for being fair and steady. He wasn’t close to Chen Shen and rarely involved himself with Xiao Yujun’s affairs.

People like him rarely had any political prospects. After half a lifetime of diligent service at the Yunshe police station, he would eventually retire as a deputy station chief.

This time, as the station’s only officially staffed officer, Qian Haiyun had simply followed procedure when organizing the search for Xiao Liang. At the same time, he hadn’t interfered with Sui Jing’s investigation into the suspicious aspects of the case when she arrived in Yunshe.

Even that much was already rare.

Qian Haiyun knew a little more about the situation than most people, but when speaking to Xiao Liang he remained neither warm nor cold.

“Xiao Yujun’s been tied up but hasn’t said much,” he said. “It’s mainly He Hong begging for mercy, trying to persuade Lin Xuetong not to do anything stupid. Besides admitting she framed you under Xiao Yujun’s orders, she also said Xiao Yujun had been making inappropriate advances toward her daughter, Lin Xi.”

He continued:

“Later, Mayor Fan and Deputy Secretary Zhou rushed over when they heard about it. To avoid provoking Lin Xuetong further, they organized people to keep the crowd outside. Since then, it’s been a stalemate until you all arrived.”

Xiao Liang nodded.

It seemed his earlier judgment hadn’t been wrong when he’d spoken with Lin Xi a few days ago.

Most likely, when Lin Xuetong returned to Sucheng Town the previous night, he hadn’t asked about the details carefully.

For a father—especially one who already knew he was terminally ill—to suddenly learn that his daughter had been mistreated…

Reacting with blind fury and grabbing a knife before asking for the full story was, in truth, entirely understandable.