Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 139 The Mystery of Su Taohong's Disappearance

After the task force finished searching Sang Jiaquan's treasure room, they began the inventory process.

The stacks of cash on several shelves were a challenge even for experienced bank staff.

The task force brought in multiple banknote counting machines, but under continuous high-intensity counting, three of them overheated and burned out.

The final cash count was staggering: over 38 million yuan in RMB, plus approximately 10 million yuan in foreign currencies such as US dollars and euros.

After the Treasure Pavilion was sealed off, Sang Jiaquan had already been informed.

This treasure vault is irrefutable evidence of the Sang family's years of rampant corruption, revealing the appalling extent of their greed.

On the very night the treasure pavilion was raided, Sang Jiaquan learned that the truth had come out.

In extreme fear and despair, he jumped from the 22nd floor of his building and died instantly.

He ended his life in an extreme way, sending shockwaves through the officialdom of Longcheng.

Although both Sang Jiaquan and Tao Sizhong committed suicide, their circumstances were different.

Tao Sizhong died before the case was filed and fabricated the appearance of suicide due to depression, but Sang Jiaquan committed suicide after the case was filed, which was a genuine suicide out of fear of punishment.

Although Sang Jiaquan died, his son Sang Chenglong, as a key figure and person with specific connections in the chain of interests, was quickly placed under detention.

The heavy responsibility of interrogation fell on Wu Zhiyuan's shoulders.

Wu Zhiyuan was not in a hurry to get entangled with him on economic issues. After applying psychological pressure, he went straight for Sang Chenglong's weakest point:

"Sang Chenglong, your father's matter is a matter of public opinion. Now we have another question for you—how did Su Taohong die?"

Sang Chenglong was terrified. Economic crimes usually don't carry a death sentence, but murder is a capital offense.

He forced himself to remain calm: "Su Taohong? I don't know her! What does her death have to do with me?"

Wu Zhiyuan sneered and showed Su Taohong's "suicide note," the police investigation report, and records of Sang Chenglong transferring large sums of money to accounts named Zhao Dahu and Qian Xiaojun before and after Su Taohong's disappearance.

"Don't you know her? Then explain why you transferred huge sums of money to Zhao Dahu and Qian Xiaojun's accounts before and after her disappearance?"

Why did these two people go to Southeast Asia right after Su Taohong went missing, and remain there ever since?

Sang Chenglong, do you think you can get away with this by being dead and unable to prove anything?

We now have crucial evidence. If you confess honestly, it will be considered a confession and might give you a chance to live. If you continue to resist, you will only be courting death!

The psychological qualities of those detained vary.

Most people, when subjected to a combination of coercion and persuasion, will quickly break down mentally and confess everything.

A few people initially put up a stubborn resistance, but were defeated by the fierce offensive.

Very few people can actually hold out for more than a week and still refuse to confess.

Although Sang Chenglong initially tried to put up a stubborn resistance, he was eventually routed by ample evidence and a fierce offensive.

"I did it. That bitch Su Taohong used to be with my dad, and then she got together with me."

She knew some things about my family and wanted to extort money from me. She was quite greedy and threatened me repeatedly.

I'm afraid she'll really say something reckless and ruin our family, and I also hate her insatiable greed.

They found Zhao Dahu and Qian Xiaojun in the underworld and asked them to deal with this trouble.

I tricked her into going to Tinghu Mountain Residence under the pretense of paying hush money.

That night, in the woods behind the mountain dwelling, Zhao Dahu and Qian Xiaojun lured her out. They strangled her unconscious. They originally intended to rape her, but when they discovered she was menstruating, they didn't go through with it. Instead, they found a secluded spot on a hillside near the Longshan Tea Factory, dug a pit, and buried her there...

Afterwards, as agreed, I transferred the remaining amount to them and told them to go out and lay low for a while.

They went on a trip to Southeast Asia, but later heard that the police had opened a case and found them to be prime suspects. They were scared and never dared to come back, so they went to Myanmar to engage in telecommunications fraud…

Wu Zhiyuan asked, "Where is Su Taohong's body?"

Sang Chenglong said with a mournful face: "I learned from the police that when the police searched the mountain, the police dogs found the burial site. Under the soil, they found a pair of women's high heels, a woman's thong, and a blood-stained sanitary napkin, but the body was nowhere to be found."

I'm also confused. Where did the body go? Logically speaking, the burial site is a slope, which would be difficult for even wild dogs to dig up.

Even if wild dogs ate it, they couldn't possibly eat it all.

Later, I contacted Zhao Dahu by phone. He swore he had killed Su Taohong. He also found it strange that the body hadn't been found.

Wu Zhiyuan was also surprised, but it was unlikely that Sang Chenglong was lying.

He admitted to hiring someone to kill him, so why would he need to conceal the body?

So he asked, "Are you sure Zhao Dahu and Qian Xiaojun didn't throw Su Taohong's body into the nearby reservoir?"

"No, I asked Zhao Dahu, and he said it would be safer to bury it on the mountain."

Years later, even if someone discovers it, people still assume it's an abandoned grave. But if it's found underwater, it's a different story.

Wu Zhiyuan pressed on, "Are you sure Zhao Dahu and Qian Xiaojun aren't lying? Or maybe they didn't kill anyone at all, just to swindle your money, and secretly released Su Taohong? Perhaps Su Taohong is living somewhere in some city?"

Sang Chenglong shook his head repeatedly with a mournful face: "Impossible! Director Wu, now that things have come to this, I've even admitted to the murder, what else is there to hide?"

Zhao Dahu sent me photos at the time, including photos of Su Taohong lying on the ground after being choked unconscious, and photos of burying the body.

Later, the police did indeed find her high heels and underwear in that location, confirming that she was definitely dead.

But I really don't know where the body went. Zhao Dahu also swore on the phone that he had buried it, and he also felt that this matter was strange.

Even if Zhao Dahu really didn't kill anyone, what about Su Taohong?

Where did she go for the past six months? Why didn't she report it to the police? She didn't commit any crime, why hide? Besides, she has an elderly mother at home who cares about her.

This interrogation confirmed Wu Zhiyuan's previous judgment that Su Taohong was indeed murdered by Sang Chenglong. However, one mystery remained unsolved: where was Su Taohong's body?

As the saying goes, "If he's alive, I want to see him; if he's dead, I want to see his body."

Without a body, can we confirm that Su Taohong is dead?

……

This weekend, Wu Zhiyuan went home to visit his parents.

It has been more than a month since I last went home.

Indeed, after going to the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, I was just as busy as I was in the Municipal Party Committee Office.

However, when he was almost at the aquaculture farm, he called his father and was told that his mother had been hit by an electric bicycle a few days earlier while returning to her hometown. She had sustained minor injuries, including a broken leg, and was hospitalized at the town's health center.

Because the injuries were not serious, and fearing they would affect their children's work and studies, the parents kept it a secret from their two children.

Wu Zhiyuan turned the car around and headed straight for the town's health center.

Han Tingting is a nurse at the town's health center.

When Wu Zhiyuan went to the town hospital, he inevitably ran into Han Tingting.

Wu Zhiyuan hurriedly pushed open the ward door, and what came into view was Han Tingting sitting by the hospital bed.

She was holding a bowl of steaming white porridge, gently stirring it with a small spoon to cool it down, then carefully blowing on it before bringing it to Zhang Huilan's lips.

Zhang Huilan leaned against the headboard, a satisfied smile on her face, and obediently opened her mouth to take it.