Siheyuan came through and sent Jia Zhang to prison

Chapter 655 Interrogation of Jiang Hu

He Feng carefully organized the documents, clipped them into a folder, and tapped the cover lightly with his fingertips, as if giving himself a final push for this tough battle. Just as he stepped out of the office, he saw Ma Xin waiting in the corridor with Xiao Wang from the technical department. Xiao Wang was carrying black recording equipment, his face showing the tension and seriousness typical of young people.

"Let's go." He Feng said succinctly, taking the lead towards the detention room. The corridor lights were stark white, casting long shadows of the three men on the wall. Their footsteps were particularly clear in the silence, each step leading towards the room where the key figure was being held.

The iron door to the detention cell creaked open with a jarring sound when the guard pulled it open. Jiang Hu was dozing on the hard bed, his head tilted to one side, a suspicious trickle of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth, clearly not yet fully shaken off his drowsiness. After figuring things out last night, he felt relieved and slept soundly, though not peacefully, and had no idea the interrogation would start so early.

"Jiang Hu, get up." The guard's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a stone thrown into water, startling Jiang Hu so much that he jolted awake, his eyes still glazed with sleep, his gaze blank.

It wasn't until two police officers were leading him out that he slowly snapped out of his daze, yawned, and said with the impatience of someone just waking up, "What time is it? There are rules for interrogating cases too..." Before he could finish speaking, he caught sight of He Feng and Ma Xin standing at the door, especially the bulging folder in He Feng's hand. His eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly, and the laziness on his face instantly faded, replaced by a hint of barely perceptible vigilance.

Ma Xin stepped forward and spread the transcript on the table in the interrogation room. Xiao Wang quickly connected the recording equipment and pressed the start button; the red indicator light flashed coldly in the morning light. He Feng didn't say anything more, simply placing the folder on the table with a soft "thud," a sound that seemed to strike Jiang Hu's heart.

"Jiang Hu, do you know why we've come to see you today?" He Feng pulled out a chair and sat down, his gaze sharp as he stared directly at the person opposite him. "We'll get straight to the point and tell you everything you and Zhang Jie have done at the mine over the years."

Jiang Hu was handcuffed to an iron chair in the interrogation room, his wrists marked with red welts. His face wore a forced innocence, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling as he looked at He Feng and Ma Xin opposite him. His voice held a deliberately feigned timidity: "Director He, Officer Ma, why...why are you arresting me? Even though I hold the title of Director of the Coal Mine Bureau, I'm just a figurehead, a puppet! All the decisions in the bureau are made by the higher-ups; I'm just a signatory, I don't know anything about it."

He Feng tapped rhythmically on the table with his fingertips, making a soft "tap-tap" sound, as if tapping on Jiang Hu's heart. His gaze was sharp as a knife, piercing straight into the other man's evasive eyes: "Director Jiang, you are now the de facto head of the coal mining bureau. The documents you have signed and sealed over the years could pile up to your knees. You're telling me you're a puppet? If this got to the miners' ears, I'm afraid no one would believe it."

Jiang Hu stiffened his neck, as if a sore spot had been touched, and his voice suddenly rose a little, but his eyes unconsciously glanced at the corner of the wall: "I really don't know! Those project approvals and fund allocations are all done by the people below who prepare the documents for me to sign. I'm just going through the motions. How would I know what the shady dealings are? Asking me won't do any good."

He Feng sneered, pulled a thick stack of documents from the folder, and slammed them on the table with a "thud," the papers clinking together. "The evidence is all here—the three illegal mining reports you personally signed and approved, which led to the landslide last rainy season; this detailed breakdown of the miners' wages deducted, the 'safety fund' deducted from their wages each month, all ending up in your personal account; not to mention the sudden extra 500,000 yuan in remittances to your personal account, the recipient being the supplier of your substandard safety equipment. The evidence is irrefutable, and you still want to argue?"

To everyone's surprise, Jiang Hu's innocent expression vanished instantly after hearing this. He suddenly shut his mouth, pressing his lips into a straight line, refusing to say another word. He knew perfectly well that saying too much would lead to trouble, and that even a single extra word could be used against him. So he decided to play dumb—after all, as long as he didn't give in, even if they had evidence, they might not be able to convict him.

Seeing Jiang Hu's unyielding attitude, Ma Xin frowned deeply. She turned to He Feng and lowered her voice, "He Feng, we've been interrogating him for most of the day, and he's still like this, making no progress at all. What should we do? If we keep dragging this out, I'm afraid..."

He Feng remained calm, his fingertips lightly tracing circles on the table, a faint smile playing on his lips: "Don't rush, he'll leave traces when he does something, like a nail hammered into a wall; even if you pull it out, it'll still leave a hole. As long as he's truly not clean, there's no need to worry about him escaping."

Ma Xin was still a little worried, so she leaned closer and lowered her voice even further: "But you know, Jiang Hu has powerful connections. I just received news that his family is pulling strings and trying to get him out of trouble. Although we have a lot of accounts, he has already cleared himself of all wrongdoing. Many of the transactions were done through his distant nephew. It won't be so easy to convict him."

He Feng nodded, tapping heavily on the remittance record with his fingertip: "You're right, these accounts are indeed no problem for him. But he forgot, there's one more thing that's enough to keep him from getting away."

Ma Xin looked puzzled, unable to guess what other tricks He Feng might have up his sleeve, since almost all the evidence they could find was laid out on the table.

He Feng looked up at Jiang Hu, his tone calm but carrying an undeniable pressure: "Director Jiang, let's put aside the account book matter for now, since you can always find an excuse. But you can't say you don't know about your mining bureau's 'partner'—Zhang Jie, can you?"

Jiang Hu's eyes narrowed sharply, his pupils constricting as if pricked by a needle, and his hands on his knees clenched involuntarily. But he quickly masked his reaction, forcing a smile and feigning composure: "What did you say, Zhang Jie? I've never heard of him, I really don't know him." He then pressed his lips tightly shut, but inwardly, a storm raged—Zhang Jie was his accomplice in his clandestine coal smuggling operation, a highly secretive affair. How could they possibly know?

Seeing Zhang Jie's instantly frozen expression, He Feng already knew what was going on—this Zhang Jie was indeed Jiang Hu's weakness. He stood up, straightened his clothes, and said calmly, "Alright, since you don't want to talk about it, then go back and think it over carefully. Once you've figured it out, feel free to come find me anytime."

After saying that, he gestured with his chin toward the police officer at the door: "Take him away."