Cheng Rushan thanked him, sat down, and got straight to the point.

He briefly explained He Liang’s situation: “Since He Liang is an active-duty soldier and their injuries are severe, I went to the military district to report to Commander Han, asking him to personally arrange for their return and provide the best possible care. I hope Director Yu will understand.”

If Director Yu were a cooperative person, Cheng Rushan would naturally report to him first and then go to the military district.

Unfortunately, Director Yu was not easy to deal with.

He appeared friendly on the surface but could turn cold and unfriendly behind the scenes.

Without external pressure, it would take a year or more for a case involving Lv Hang and He Liang to make any progress.

With the military district involved, and He Liang being a military theory lecturer at the provincial university, the case had to be resolved quickly and dealt with severely due to its severe impact.

Cheng Rushan estimated that the case should be resolved within ten days to a month.

If not, he didn’t mind taking matters into his own hands.

In Cheng Rushan’s view, this type of case didn’t require much technical skill; it was purely a matter of whether or not one was willing to take action.

Since Director Yu had received a call from Commander Han, he naturally would not refuse or make things difficult for Cheng Rushan at this time.

Instead, he was very polite, “I will urge Director Liu to handle the case with full force.”

“Thank you, Director Yu. If we can eliminate the road pirates and clean up the security, the public security agencies will be seen as protectors in the eyes of the people.” Cheng Rushan hoped that Director Yu would take this opportunity to address the rural security issues and launch a crackdown to benefit the people.

Director Yu smiled, “We are just humble servants, dedicated to serving the people. How can we dare to claim to be protectors?”

Cheng Rushan immediately understood his meaning.

It seemed he didn’t want to take responsibility.

He stood up to say goodbye and went to find Director Liu.

Director Liu of the Provincial Public Security Department’s Criminal Investigation Team was a former military officer who had transferred from a deputy regiment level.

He had some connections with Captain Cen, or rather, he had once been thoroughly defeated by Captain Cen.

Captain Cen was protective of his own.

Although Cheng Rushan was not under his command, Captain Cen regarded him as part of his team by default.

Moreover, two of Cheng Rushan’s close brothers were team leaders under Captain Cen, and Fang Chengguang was his proud protege.

As a result, Cheng Rushan, now working in the Discipline Inspection Commission, needed to interact with public security and court agencies.

Captain Cen had quietly informed several key figures about Cheng Rushan, including Director Liu.

No one knew about this, not even Fang Chengguang, and Director Liu certainly wouldn’t mention it to anyone.

However, as long as Cheng Rushan’s needs did not involve abusing his power for personal gain, Director Liu would cooperate willingly.

Thus, Director Liu had a good attitude towards Cheng Rushan and invited him to participate in the 523 case.

Cheng Rushan, anticipating that Director Yu might intentionally create complications, discreetly directed Captain Gao Yan from Liu’s team to quickly propose an effective plan.

Gao Yan, also from the military district, had worked with Cheng Rushan before and held him in high regard.

Naturally, he was more than willing to assist.

Gao Yan personally led He Changjiang, Zhao Quanyou, and a few others to negotiate with the police station in the neighboring province.

They coordinated a joint investigation with the criminal investigation team of the neighboring province, along with local county and township police stations, to cast a wide net and gather information.

Experienced investigators knew that every area had its share of troublemakers, well known to the locals and the police.

These individuals often had connections, but when the provincial department got involved, no one would risk offending authorities for a few small-time thugs.

Within five days, all five culprits were apprehended, along with a few accomplices.

Following Cheng Rushan’s instructions, Gao Yan had He Changjiang and his team conduct immediate interrogations to prevent the suspects from concocting stories if they were taken back to the main office.

During the interrogation, they discovered that a key figure named Wang Houzi had escaped.

Bie Dongshan soon received this information and reported to Cheng Rushan, “Director Cheng, Captain Gao and He Changjiang found out that Wang Houzi is from Gu County in our province.”

“Our province?” Cheng Rushan raised an eyebrow. “For a group of small-time robbers to operate across provinces, we must investigate thoroughly!”

Gao Yan, He Changjiang, and their team returned from the neighboring province, bringing back Lu Hang’s car, and then personally led a team to Gu County’s Baishi Town to capture Wang Houzi.

Being from the provincial department, the city and county police didn’t dare slack off and ordered the town police station to fully cooperate in apprehending Wang Houzi.

Bie Dongshan, having received the information, also went along.

With Bie Dongshan involved, it was clear they would investigate not only Wang Houzi but also his associates, ensuring no other road gangs were hidden in the area causing trouble.

Soon, they discovered that Wang Houzi was the brother-in-law of a local town official.

A group of people in Baishi Town had collectively taken out loans to open a mechanized brick kiln.

Wang Houzi served as their head of security, maintaining order within the factory and keeping a group of enforcers to handle the migrant workers employed there.

They withheld wages, extorted protection fees for private brick kilns, and suppressed competitors.

Anyone who dared to resist was beaten.

They had even caused deaths, which the city and county police had investigated, but the incidents were downplayed as private disputes resolved with compensation.

Once the police left, the victims were coerced into investing the compensation money into the brick kiln, essentially losing it, with no chance of getting it back.

Thus, the ordinary people dare to be angry but cannot speak out.

Although he had previously remained unharmed, now that he had injured someone from the provincial military district, no matter how high the officials protecting him were, he was doomed.

Following Cheng Rushan’s instructions, Bie Dongshan investigated the local area discreetly, collecting as much evidence as possible to try to eliminate the corrupt officials exploiting their power, to prevent them from continuing to exploit the common people.

The investigation uncovered shocking results.

Almost all local brick kilns, cement factories, paper mills, and similar businesses that had received loans were affiliated with influential connections, with no genuine private individuals running them.

The local credit cooperatives, initially set up to encourage individual enterprises by providing loans, had now been monopolized by a select few, using their power for personal gain.

The entire town, even the whole county, was operating this way.

Bie Dongshan called Cheng Rushan to report, “Director Cheng, could this involve too many people?”

Cheng Rushan replied, “No matter how widespread the connections, we must investigate and deal with every crime. This is what we do. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

With Cheng Rushan assuming responsibility, Bie Dongshan, He Changjiang, and others proceeded with their investigation.

Although they uncovered many issues, the evidence was limited to Baishi Town, proving only the illegal activities there.

It was clear that someone had arranged things in advance.

Bie Dongshan and He Changjiang cooperated well and managed to uncover one piece of information.

Bie Dongshan reported to Cheng Rushan, “Director Cheng, we have an unexpected discovery.”

“Go ahead.”

“We found that Section Chief Bian and a local official from the old county have had opaque dealings.”

Opaque dealings meant that their interactions were not clean, involving transactions that were well-hidden, making it hard to pin down direct evidence.

For example, buying a painting for ten thousand yuan, the other party could claim it was worth that amount without anyone being able to prove it was a bribe.

Cheng Rushan said, “Investigate this thoroughly and avoid alarming them.”

He stood up. “Take me to see Wang Houzi.”

He wanted to ask a few questions personally.

Wang Houzi confessed that he was addicted to gambling and, due to owing large debts, his family had stopped indulging him.

Desperate for money, he decided to go out and make some cash.

He initially roamed near the national highway, robbing a few vehicles and found it profitable.

By chance, he met several thugs from the neighboring province, and they teamed up to rob drivers.

Those who could afford cars were either wealthy or transporting goods, making them profitable targets.

They only intended to smash cars and rob valuables, not to kill.

However, when He Liang, who had not lost consciousness, attacked them, they had to fight back.

“To think he’s an active-duty soldier!”

The information Wang Houzi provided matched exactly with what the other thugs had said.

Cheng Rushan and Gao Yan interrogated Wang Houzi, who repeated his previous statements.

“I really didn’t know he was a People’s Liberation Army soldier, I didn’t recognize him at all. He just attacked us without saying a word! Even if we had a thousand guts, we wouldn’t dare!” Wang Houzi pleaded for a lighter sentence.

Cheng Rushan’s expression remained icy, showing no sign of leniency. He asked coldly, “The highway had no streetlights at night. How did you manage to see?”

“We, we had lanterns and, um, the car’s headlights were on,” Wang Houzi stammered nervously.

Cheng Rushan’s voice grew sharper. “Since you could see, why did you attack an active-duty soldier in uniform and still claim you didn’t dare?”

“No, no!” Wang Houzi denied vehemently, “We couldn’t see clearly; it was too dark. Besides, many people wear old military uniforms, and we…”

Cheng Rushan snorted disdainfully. “He Liang’s uniform had insignia and badges; it wasn’t something an old uniform could compare with.” His piercing gaze seemed to penetrate Wang Houzi’s very soul.

Wang Houzi, frightened and visibly shaken, heard Cheng Rushan’s cold voice declare, “You clearly intended to kill and silence, even hijacking the car!”

At that moment, a Santana worth around 20,000 yuan—despite being used—could still be sold for 30,000 to 40,000 yuan.

30,000 to 40,000 yuan was a substantial sum.

Workers’ wages had increased in recent years, but most still earned around 50 yuan a day.

A few days ago, He Liang had woken up and recounted the events to Cheng Rushan.

When they were ambushed, Lu Hang was driving.

He Liang was struck in the head by a rock, causing him to fall unconscious, which led to the car crashing into the mountain wall.

He Liang was cut by the glass and performed emergency first aid himself before he saw several people with weapons approaching.

He attempted to open the door to block them and reveal his military identity, but they attacked him without hesitation.

Their intent was clearly to kill.

Wang Houzi’s fabrication that He Liang didn’t identify himself and attacked first was merely an attempt to escape responsibility, but Cheng Rushan would not let him get away with it.

“No, no…” Wang Houzi’s face went pale, and he babbled incoherently, “We didn’t, we never… We just wanted to rob and make some money, we never intended to kill anyone!”

Robbery and assault could lead to imprisonment, but robbery with intent to kill would certainly result in the death penalty!

Cheng Rushan stood up and looked at Wang Houzi with the gaze of one might give to a corpse. “You’re as good as dead.”