The Beautiful County Magistrate
Chapter 161: Bite to Death and Never Let Go!

Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Bite to Death and Never Let Go!

With a bang, the entire conference hall erupted into pandemonium, the crowd buzzing incessantly.

After all that commotion, it turned out that Li Zhu, Li Xiuhong, Li Xiuli, and Li Xiaoju had all been falsely accusing Xu Qianli.

Especially Li Zhu, enough to consign Xu Qianli to doom.

Anyone else would have been ruined by this, but facing Xu Qianli as an opponent, Li Zhu had instead ensnared himself.

Just considering the wealth he had greedily amassed was enough to have him in hot water, let alone the fact that he had falsely accused Xu Qianli, which was an even graver crime.

Now it seemed all had wrongly blamed Xu Qianli before, and no wonder Xu Qianli had remained so calm; he had already figured out his countermeasures, rendering Li Zhu and the others utterly defeated. Such tactics were truly astonishing, utterly astounding.

Zhang Kuisan’s face was extremely grim. He had thought he could easily deal with Xu Qianli using Li Zhu and the others, or at least tarnish Xu Qianli enough to render him defenseless and force him to resign from his post.

Who could have foreseen such an outcome, that Xu Qianli would so effortlessly break the difficult situation!

It was infuriating!

With the truth now revealed Ge Changhong declared, "Alright, since the matter has been clarified and Xu Qianli’s innocence restored, let’s proceed as we should. Li Zhu and the other three will be detained by the Disciplinary Committee for investigation and subsequent processing. Take them away."

The members of the Disciplinary Committee were already prepared and immediately stepped forward to escort Li Zhu, Li Xiuhong, Li Xiuli, and Li Xiaoju away.

A buzz swept through the onlookers as they whispered and discussed among themselves.

No one had expected the situation to develop to this point, where Xu Qianli was completely unharmed, while Li Zhu and the others were arrested for their false accusations.

Especially for Li Zhu, it wasn’t just about making false accusations; he would now face prison time.

Witnessing Xu Qianli’s successful resolution, Zhang Kuisan was seething with rage, feeling completely helpless and at a loss for what to do.

As Zhang Kuisan’s head was spinning, Zeng Changyun suddenly spoke up.

"Well then, even if Li Zhu and the others falsely accused Xu Qianli of impropriety and extorting women, that is one matter," he said.

"But there is still the issue with the Qinglong River, due to Xu Qianli’s mismanagement, leading to a grave error that almost caused the Qinglong Waist section of the river to breach its banks. He bears inescapable responsibility!"

"Also, I’ve heard that Xu Qianli’s ex-girlfriend’s parents have lodged a complaint against him at the City Disciplinary Inspection Committee, claiming that three years ago, he forced himself on his then-girlfriend Xu Shuman, which is why she reluctantly became his girlfriend."

"With these two issues at hand, Xu Qianli, what explanations do you have?"

As Zeng Changyun made his point, Ding Biao immediately echoed him, joining forces to further trouble Xu Qianli.

Facing Zeng Changyun’s questioning, Xu Qianli replied with a scoff, "County Magistrate Zeng, first, let’s talk about the Qinglong River incident. Have you been to the scene? Do you know the details of the specific events that occurred? Do you know what the situation was at the time? I’m afraid you know nothing at all—if you had any actual knowledge of the case, would you be making such remarks?"

Zeng Changyun retorted, "Xu Qianli, don’t beat around the bush. I am asking you about the neglect of duty while you were the head of the flood prevention team in Qingshan Town a few days ago. You must answer me directly!"

"To this question, we can answer for Director Xu!"

Suddenly, an elderly voice carried through the air.

Accompanying the voice, an old man with graying hair and beard arrived in the conference hall, surrounded by over a dozen men and women.

The elder was over eighty years old with graying hair and beard, yet his spirit was still bright.

Upon seeing him, Ge Changhong promptly stood up to greet him.

"This isn’t the old Secretary Zhang, is it? It’s been many years, how are you keeping?"

"The county has organized several events for retired officials in the past, why didn’t you attend any invitations? What brings you here today?"

"Here, Old Secretary, please take a seat, take my seat; only this place is fitting for you."

Ge Changhong displayed great enthusiasm, warmly inviting the elder with a reverent attitude.

Everyone couldn’t help but wonder who this elderly man was, and why Ge Changhong showed him such respect?

It wasn’t long before some sharp-eyed individuals recognized him; he was none other than Secretary Zhang Hongguang, who had served as Jiang City County Magistrate and County Party Secretary over thirty years ago.

Speaking of this old Secretary, when he was in office he was known for his honesty and exceptional ability, having done many good deeds for the people of Jiang City.

However, after his retirement, he returned to his hometown and did not stay in the county, nor did he participate in any retired officials’ events organized by the county, which was why not many people knew him.

But no matter what, based on his past, whether it was the County Party Secretary or County Magistrate, they had to pay him due respect, as could be seen from Ge Changhong’s behavior.

Zhang Hongguang waved his hand and with a mouth missing several teeth, he said, "These days, I’m just a farmer; standing is fine. I came here specifically with the village chiefs from the eighteen villages near Qingshan Town’s Qinglong Waist section of the river to express our gratitude to Director Xu Qianli! If he hadn’t risked his life a few days ago, our eighteen villages’ farmland and houses, even people’s lives, would have been gone! At that time..."

Despite his age, Zhang Hongguang spoke clearly and unhurriedly, recounting how Xu Qianli had timely arrived at the Qinglong River section in Qingshan Town, identified the problem, immediately evacuated the villagers, directed and coordinated efforts to block the breach, and fought day and night until he risked his life to plug the gap.

Hearing this, Ge Changhong spoke rapidly, "Is this true? Why hasn’t there been any report from Qingshan Town? They only said that Xu Qianli neglected his duty, and it was his fault that Qingshan Town nearly suffered a great flood?"

"Li Zhu is full of lies. During the sudden downpour, he was in a club embracing a beauty and drinking. When he heard that Director Xu had arrived, he ran to Qinglong Waist, trying hard to prevent Director Xu’s efforts to evacuate the residents, and was hugely obstructive to Director Xu’s flood-fighting organization. When the breach at Qinglong Waist occurred, he had long since fled, yet he had the gall to blame Director Xu for neglecting his duty. He should be damned, worse than a dog..."

Zhang Hongguang angrily reprimanded Li Zhu, giving him a severe tongue-lashing.

Li Zhu stood on the side, head bowed, not daring to offer any defense.

At that moment, the screen suddenly played a video again, edited from footage recorded by the villagers who participated in the flood fight.

It began with Xu Qianli running to the Qinglong Waist section of the river, first noticing the breach, immediately ordering evacuation of the residents, and even coming into conflict with those, like Li Zhu, who came to stop him, insisting against all dissent for the villagers to evacuate.

He then valiantly remained in the rain, disregarding the injury on his arm, moving sandbags, moving rocks, and going all out. He also commanded everyone to reinforce the outside of the embankment, using trucks full of stones to block the gap.

Finally, a breach still occurred in the river, and the rushing water flowed towards the farmland and houses, nearly submerging the eighteen villages’ tens of thousands of acres of farmland and destroying the homes of thousands of families, threatening the livelihood of countless households.

The truck drivers refused to fill the breach, claiming the risk was akin to having a nine in ten chance of dying. Xu Qianli then resolutely stepped forward, driving the truck filled with a determination to die if necessary, successfully plugging the breach. As a result, he collapsed, seriously ill inside the truck, and was rescued by others, completely unconscious.

At that moment, someone presented as many as four critical condition notices; during the days Xu Qianli was unconscious and hospitalized, he had lingered near death several times!