News of Wang Yan's assassination attempt spread like a raging gale, sweeping across the entire province and reaching newspapers in other regions that very same day.
By the next day, quite a few newspapers outside the province had published reports of Wang Yan being attacked. It was said that calls from Jingcheng had gone directly to the city to inquire about the situation.
The city reacted swiftly. Having received word at noon the previous day, it immediately formed a special task force, which arrived in Machi County before sunset.
Lin Peisheng naturally wanted to suppress the matter—or at least delay it long enough to give Feng Keqing time to erase the evidence.
But there were too many outsiders in the county, along with numerous reporters. The matter simply could not be concealed. And this time, Secretary Chen was unwilling to cooperate either. After the county held a brief meeting, it called and reported the matter to both the provincial and municipal authorities.
The province stopped there and did not continue reporting upward. Jingcheng, meanwhile, learned of the situation through the newspapers.
At the end of the day, Wang Yan himself was simply too unusual. If it had been some ordinary section-level cadre, there was no way it could have caused such a stir...
The city officials worked with great efficiency. That very night, they began interrogating Li Yongqiang and Meng Yaohui, but the two of them clenched their teeth and refused to talk.
By the following morning, they summoned Wang Yan to ask about the situation. What Wang Yan saw was an exceptionally imposing lineup. The people dispatched by the province had arrived as well, and it had already been made clear that the province would oversee this case.
"Comrade Wang Yan, please tell us about what has been going