11: The flood washed away the Dragon King Temple

"Zhang Chong, is this your nephew?"

Ren Jing heard Zhang Hao call Zhang Chong his 'uncle', and a few things became clear to her. A cold, meaningful smile played on her lips as she stared sharply at Deputy Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

"This... yes."

Zhang Chong felt a little guilty under Ren Jing's gaze. A fine layer of sweat beaded on his forehead. After a moment of hesitation, he steeled himself and nodded.

"Hmph! Zhang Chong, what an impressive display! Your wonderful nephew openly harassed a woman right outside the police station. He even boasted that 'the police station belongs to his family.' What a bold claim! Zhang Chong, I'd like to ask you, does the police station in this City really belong to your Zhang family?"

Ren Jing's tone suddenly became severe, every word sharp and precise.

Zhang Chong shivered in fright upon hearing this, his face instantly turning as pale as paper. He never imagined that Zhang Hao, that good-for-nothing, would actually harass the Mayor!

"Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you speak to my uncle like that?"

The oblivious Zhang Hao still hadn't grasped the situation and started yelling again.

"Slap!"

Another crisp, loud slap echoed. Zhang Hao had taken so many slaps in a row that he barely had any good teeth left. Now, they were all gone.

"You... Uncle, it was clearly this slut who hit me first. I just... I just made a joke with her. Why... why did you hit me?"

A bewildered Zhang Hao clutched his swollen cheek, speaking indistinctly. He still hadn't figured out who he had provoked to make his usually doting uncle so angry.

"You blind dog, I've been too lenient with you all this time."

At this moment, Deputy Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau felt like killing Zhang Hao. Such a stupid nephew, completely lacking in common sense; it would be better not to have him.

"Jiang Fei, lock this unteachable fellow up. Public harassment of a woman, fifteen days detention."

His only thought now was to quickly get rid of this oblivious nephew, lest he lose his official position over such an idiot. Zhang Chong knew very well that despite Mayor Ren being a woman, her methods were swift and decisive, and she was very formidable. Most importantly, her family background was also extraordinary, not someone a small deputy director like him could afford to offend.

Jiang Fei immediately understood. He called a few colleagues, grabbed Zhang Hao, and headed towards the detention center. Zhang Hao, still confused, continued to yell relentlessly.

Seeing that Zhang Hao had been taken away, the farce on the scene finally came to a temporary halt. Zhang Chong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, turned around, put on a fawning smile, and looked at Mayor Ren with a flattering expression, bowing and saying:

"Hehe, um... Mayor Ren, I'm truly sorry. It's all because of my lax discipline that this good-for-nothing nephew offended you. I'm truly sorry, truly sorry."

"I didn't know you would honor us with your presence today, Mayor Ren. Is there something you need at our police station? Anything I can help with, please just say the word, and I'll do my utmost!"

"Have Wang Mingrui come out to see me."

Ren Jing's tone was calm, but her words carried an undeniable authority.

"So you're here to see Director Wang. I'll take you over right away."

Zhang Chong dared not delay, quickly nodded and bowed, and made a move to personally escort Ren Jing to the director's office.

"No need, I'll wait for him here."

Ren Jing waved her hand, then walked to the side, found a random chair, and sat down gracefully, her expression serene.

Since Ren Jing had spoken, Zhang Chong naturally dared not say anything more. He could only smile awkwardly, then scurried off to the director's office to find Wang Mingrui.

His heart was pounding, unsure why Ren Jing had suddenly come to the police station, but he vaguely felt it might be related to what had just happened, which made him even more anxious.

A moment later, a slightly corpulent, pot-bellied middle-aged man rushed out of the office. It was Wang Mingrui, the Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

As he walked, he straightened his police uniform, his face full of smiles, clearly having received Zhang Chong's report and knowing that the visitor was Mayor Ren Jing.

"Oh my, I didn't realize Mayor Ren would grace us with her presence. What an oversight, I apologize for not greeting you sooner! My sincerest apologies!"

Wang Mingrui ran up to Ren Jing, immediately put on a fawning smile, clasped his hands repeatedly in greeting, his attitude respectful.

"Don't bother with these pleasantries, Wang Mingrui. I ask you, did your police station arrest someone named Qin Shou today?"

"Qin Shou?"

Wang Mingrui paused slightly at the name. He turned to look at Zhang Chong beside him, his eyes questioning.

Zhang Chong, standing nearby, heard Ren Jing ask about Qin Shou and his heart immediately sank. His face instantly turned paler than if his parents had died, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Nobody knows?"

Ren Jing looked at Wang Mingrui with a puzzled expression, then glanced at Zhang Chong's face, already guessing most of it.

"Zhang Chong, did anyone named that get arrested today? Quickly, explain yourself clearly."

Wang Mingrui was also an old hand in officialdom. He immediately saw that Zhang Chong had something to hide, and his tone instantly became stern.

"Ahem, um, Director Wang, you know, the City Bureau is very busy with official duties. So many criminals come and go every day, how could I remember so clearly?"

Zhang Chong cleared his throat twice, feigning ignorance, intending to muddle through for now.

"Good, then I'll wait here. If I don't find this person today, I'm not leaving."

Ren Jing sneered, dragged a chair over, leaned against the wall, and sat down with her legs crossed.

"This—!"

Wang Mingrui looked troubled, and said to Zhang Chong in an unfriendly tone, "Why aren't you going to check right away if there's such a person?"

"No need, I know this person!"

Before Zhang Chong could move, a clear, pleasant voice suddenly rang out. Xue Min was seen jogging over. She was just wondering how to help Qin Shou out of trouble. With Ren Jing's sudden appearance, she naturally couldn't miss this opportunity.

Seeing the sudden appearance of Xue Min, Zhang Chong's face instantly turned ashen. He kept winking at Xue Min, hoping she would be sensible and shut up, not to meddle.

"Oh! Little girl, tell me about it."

Ren Jing looked at Xue Min with interest.

"It's like this..."

A moment later, Xue Min had already explained Qin Shou's situation in detail, not forgetting to vividly describe how Jiang Fei had planned to extract a confession through torture, adding fuel to the fire.

"Zhang Chong, tell me, is this true?"

Wang Mingrui's face was ashen.

"This! I wouldn't know! This, I suspect, Jiang Fei did on his own initiative to curry favor with me. I absolutely had no involvement."

Zhang Chong, being an old fox in officialdom, immediately thought of sacrificing a pawn to save the king, first throwing his subordinate under the bus.

"Director Zhang, that's not what you told me before! I've been at your beck and call, and this is how you treat me."

Zhang Chong never expected that as soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Fei, who had just taken Zhang Hao away, returned and immediately heard Zhang Chong planning to betray him.