"Ahem," Wang Zhuo cleared his throat, and faced with Qin Xue's stern questioning, instead of showing nervousness or awkwardness, he grinned.

"Secretary [Shu] Qin, before I answer your question, may I first ask how the conflict between me and Yang Feng, and his apparent mental break, reached your ears?"

What kind of attitude was this?! Qin Xue could barely believe his ears. Ever since he took the position of Deputy Mayor twenty years ago, no one had ever spoken to him in that tone. And the young man before him was even younger than his own son. This gave the high-ranking Qin Xue a dizzying sense of disorientation!

Xiao Wanjun, standing nearby, was equally stunned. That was Qin Xue, the undisputed top figure in Jiangzhou, a man whose sneeze could make various sectors of society uneasy, and whose stomp could make the Financial Center building tremble! Was Wang Zhuo insane to speak to him with such an attitude?!

Answering a question with another question—it had been years since anyone dared to face Qin Xue with such an attitude!

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Qin Xue observing him with a strange expression, Wang Zhuo asked with a forced smile, "Is that question hard to answer? If it's inconvenient to say, then I won't ask."

Qin Xue was utterly speechless regarding this scoundrel. He rolled his eyes and waved his hand toward Xiao Wanjun.

"Uh... Wang Zhuo."

Receiving the signal from his superior, the second secretary finally had an opening to speak. The first secretary wasn't particularly close to Wang Zhuo, which is why he was there instead of Pi Shaochong.

Xiao Wanjun had followed Qin Xue for quite some time and deeply understood his superior's character and working style. He knew that if this situation hadn't involved the gravity of Yang Feng's matter, Wang Zhuo would have already been thrown out.

Was it so easy to tug on the beard of a tiger?

"It's like this, Wang Zhuo."

Xiao Wanjun carefully chose his words, describing the sequence of events to Wang Zhuo.

It turned out that after the first beating, Yang Feng hadn't sought help from his family. Instead, he used his own connections to suppress news of that incident within a small circle. However, the Yang family, being well-informed, did learn about it. But, in an effort to temper their young heir, they chose not to react, opting instead to observe the subsequent developments.

Around that time, Qin Xue also heard the news from Qin Siqing and had her relay a message to Wang Zhuo, advising him to stop while he was ahead and avoid further conflict with Yang Feng.

What happened later was that after several days of silence, Wang Zhuo suddenly appeared alone at the mountain resort where Yang Feng was gathered with friends, beat up and humiliated Yang Feng severely. This time, the news could not be contained; without needing Pan Shanshan to report it, the Yang family received word immediately.

While arranging treatment for Yang Feng, the Yang family sought an explanation from Qin Xue. Furthermore, the person who called Qin Xue was the Yang family's paramount figure—a man ranked even above Qin Xue, whose accumulated network far surpassed that of the Qin family.

Initially, the Yang family didn't know that Yang Feng had been urinated on and that photos had been taken, as Yang Feng himself hadn't disclosed it. Pan Shanshan hadn't seen it, and neither Wang Zhuo nor He Ye would have revealed it to others. But when Yang Feng suddenly broke down and recounted the entire sequence of events, the Yang family was aghast. Being beaten was one thing, but the opponent actually dared to take photos and urinate on Yang Feng’s face—it was an absolute disgrace!

This time, it wasn't the top figure calling; the direct communication signaled the Yang family's desire to resolve the conflict openly. The fact that they were relaying messages through intermediaries suggested the tension had reached a point where confrontation was imminent.

When Qin Xue heard that Wang Zhuo had actually doused Yang Feng's face with urine, he was momentarily stunned, followed instantly by rage. Good for you, Wang Zhuo! I sent Siqing to tell you to stop messing with Yang Feng, and you treated my words like hot air. Not only did you go to their turf and beat the man, but you did something even worse than the beating. Is your head filled with shit?!

Xiao Wanjun delicately narrated the sequence of events. The phrase "head filled with shit" certainly didn't come from his lips, but Wang Zhuo automatically filled in that thought based on the tone of the narration.

"This should count as only one side of the story, right?" Wang Zhuo chuckled after listening. "So, is it my turn to speak now?" Qin Xue snorted, swept his gaze over Wang Zhuo, conveying an attitude of say what you want to say, I don't care.

"That day, I was in the lab injecting rats when I received a call saying one of Yang Feng's lackeys had purchased some date-rape drugs and was delivering them to him."

Wang Zhuo narrated plainly, as if recounting someone else's story.

"Ordinarily, I wouldn't bother with such matters. But the person buying the drugs for Yang Feng was quite foolish. I was worried they might accidentally kill someone with the drug and then frame me for poisoning. So, I looked into it."

This statement elicited a wry smile from Xiao Wanjun and a cold stare from Qin Xue. Wang Zhuo’s justification was too flimsy; even if Yang Feng had truly poisoned someone to death, he wouldn't use such a clumsy method to frame Wang Zhuo. It was utter nonsense.

"You all know Si Yuan is very skilled with computers, right?" Wang Zhuo spread his hands with a smile. "I had her check, and just like that, I found out Yang Feng and his cronies were all at the Fuli Mountain Villa, and He Ye, our campus beauty, had been taken there by them too." At this point, the expressions of Qin Xue and Xiao Wanjun shifted slightly. Qin Siqing had occasionally mentioned He Ye when chatting with her father, and even Qin Xue knew that He Ye was pursuing Wang Zhuo, yet Wang Zhuo never gave her any opportunity.

How could the busy City Party Secretary know minor details about the campus beauty at his daughter’s university? It was entirely possible! Even an Emperor could learn about the maids attending his princess or the companions reading alongside his Crown Prince. Back in the day, Emperor Shunzhi himself bestowed gifts upon Lord Wei Xiaobao when he served as a companion reader to the young Emperor Xuanye!

Wang Zhuo's use of the word "abducted" was very effective. The keywords—Yang Feng's lackeys going to "buy drugs," their "abduction" of a young woman, especially a "campus beauty"—combined to create a rich narrative, compelling the City Party Secretary and his secretary to hear the rest.

"Well? Did the Yang family mention anything about Yang Feng kidnapping the campus beauty?" Wang Zhuo sneered, noticing Xiao Wanjun nod slightly, before continuing: "I’m not familiar with He Ye... but when that girl, Li Mengru, was saved that day, none of the other students dared to help, only she helped me reapply the tourniquet to Li Mengru."

This time, even Qin Xue nodded slightly. Qin Siqing had described this incident in detail. Since such a significant event occurred at the university, and Wang Zhuo was one of the main figures, she was certainly happy to share the details with her father.

Wang Zhuo sighed and said, "Considering this girl wasn't inherently malicious, I felt that, out of a sense of righteousness, she shouldn't be subjected to Yang Feng's insult. So, I drove to the Fuli Mountain Villa." Qin Xue couldn't help but exchange a look with his secretary. They both implicitly thought that the campus beauty must have been violated by Yang Feng, otherwise Wang Zhuo wouldn't have erupted with such anger.

They didn't know that the campus beauty was currently hidden in Wang Zhuo’s dormitory. If she hadn't made that one phone call summoning Wang Zhuo, it was entirely possible that Wang Zhuo might have been the one assaulting her tonight...

"I won't waste breath describing what happened next," Wang Zhuo dismissively shook his head, pulling a fingernail-sized flash drive from his pocket and setting it on the table with a light clack.

"What is this?" Xiao Wanjun asked curiously.

"This," Wang Zhuo sneered, "is the collection Yang Feng enjoys keeping. It seems he likes to record things while he’s busy with his activities, as souvenirs. You can see the contents for yourselves; it’s more convincing than me bragging."

"Wanjun," Qin Xue said in a deep voice, "call Shaochong... have him bring in a computer."

Wang Zhuo immediately waved his hand: "No need. I brought my own player. You can borrow it." He handed the new model player, belonging to Xu Chu, to Xiao Wanjun, then calmly walked to the side to pour himself some water from the teapot.

Qin Xue was speechless. He had called Wang Zhuo in intending to severely reprimand him and then discuss a means of remediation. Unexpectedly, the situation had turned into this, and judging by Wang Zhuo's current demeanor, he was clearly acting without fear!

Xu Chu came from a prestigious medical family and was quite well-off, so her new player supported all mainstream video formats. After Xiao Wanjun inserted the flash drive, it was immediately recognized, and playback options popped up.

Wang Zhuo watched with feigned interest. Yang Feng's collected photos and videos were definitely hardcore stuff. He was eager to see the expressions on Qin Xue and Xiao Wanjun’s faces as the two grown men watched such material head-to-head.

But he was soon disappointed. After handing the player to Qin Xue, Xiao Wanjun stepped aside voluntarily. And Qin Xue was clearly no novice; he skillfully operated the player, quickly figured out the controls, and began browsing.

The City Party Secretary watched very intently, occasionally narrowing his eyes at the screen. However, Wang Zhuo knew the man wasn't captivated by the video content itself, but was analyzing it from a technical standpoint—whether the video was forged or had undergone special digital manipulation.

"Absolutely original, by the way. I took this card directly from Yang Feng’s BU [presumably 'body unit' or private safe]," Wang Zhuo added.

After a long while, Qin Xue finally took a deep breath, paused the playback, set the player aside, and looked up at Wang Zhuo: "Did you copy the contents of this card?"

Wang Zhuo shook his head and smirked slightly: "Why would I copy something so disgusting?"

"You're lying," Qin Xue pointed at him, his tone certain.

The stuff is what I procured; what does it matter to you if I copied it or not? Wang Zhuo grumbled inwardly, but scratched his head and said, "It's no fun; you saw right through me."

He pulled out another flash drive and tossed it onto the table, shrugging helplessly.

As for whether he had backed up a second card, of course he had! Qin Xue could anticipate this move, just as Wang Zhuo could guess that Qin Xue would ask for a backup. Whether Qin Xue suspected he might have made a second backup, however, remained to be seen.

After assigning Xiao Wanjun to examine the backup card Wang Zhuo handed over, Qin Xue fell deep into thought. As a powerful leader, he had seen countless items like this. The content of the video no longer shocked him into a rage; instead, he skipped that phase and began considering the next steps.

In the world of officialdom, trouble sometimes brings opportunity. With this card, Qin Xue knew he had positioned himself to be unbeatable in this predicament; the next step was simply determining the execution strategy. Glancing at the somewhat cavalier Wang Zhuo, Qin Xue felt a sense of relief. If he were Wang Zhuo’s age—full of vigor and blood—and faced with such a situation, he probably would have taught Yang Feng a harsh lesson too. It was a stroke of luck that the Yang family was so arrogantly demanding accountability. After Yang Feng had committed so many infuriating deeds, now that Qin Xue held concrete evidence, it was uncertain who would be demanding explanations from whom!