Chapter 2772 The Death of Qi Yaqiu

"What did you say? Comrade Qi Yaqiu also went to investigate the Lixin Hotel?" Qin Feng was somewhat surprised.

“Yes, Comrade Xinming is more familiar with the specifics than I am.” Chen Guohua glanced at Zhang Xinming sitting in the front passenger seat.

Qin Feng looked at Zhang Xinming, who quickly turned to face Qin Feng and reported: "To be precise, it wasn't Mayor Qi who took the initiative to investigate the Lixin Hotel, but rather someone sent Mayor Qi an anonymous letter."

"An anonymous letter? Have you found out who sent it? What was in the letter?" Qin Feng asked.

Zhang Xinming shook his head: "I don't know. Although I took the letter, I didn't open it beforehand. Mayor Qi tore it up after reading it. I don't know what was in the letter, and Mayor Qi didn't tell me anything about its contents."

"However, when I was cleaning up the office that day, I saw some words on the fragments. I thought they were related to Lixin International Hotel and gambling or something, but I didn't make any connection at the time and didn't take it seriously."

"You continue," Qin Feng said.

"After Mayor Qi read the letter, around 10 p.m. that night, he didn't ask me to accompany him. He called his driver and went out alone, telling me he was going to meet a friend."

“Shortly after I got home that evening, Mayor Qi called me and asked me to book the earliest flight to Beijing for the next day,” Zhang Xinming continued.

“Mayor Qi’s trip to Beijing was definitely a last-minute decision, because there was no prior arrangement, and he actually had very important work scheduled for that day,” Chen Guohua added.

“Mayor Qi also mentioned going to Beijing to me that evening. He said his priority was to get to Beijing the next morning and asked me to communicate with the then Secretary-General Peng Zhen to change the work arrangements for that day,” Chen Guohua continued.

"The very next morning, Mayor Qi's car had an accident," Zhang Xinming continued, picking up where Chen Guohua left off.

Qin Feng paused upon hearing this, and habitually reached for a cigarette.

Chen Guohua was already used to Qin Feng's habits. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, handed one to Qin Feng, and lit it for him.

Qin Feng rolled down the car window, and the driver cleverly reduced the speed at the right time.

Qin Feng took two puffs of his cigarette.

Chen Guohua and Zhang Xinming both knew that Qin Feng wasn't having a nicotine craving, but rather was thinking about something.

Qin Feng habitually lights a cigarette whenever he is seriously considering something.

"According to what you said, Qi Yaqiu received an anonymous letter that day. You don't know what the anonymous letter contained, and Comrade Qi Yaqiu also kept it a secret. But you saw the words 'Lixin Hotel' and 'gambling' on the fragment, right?"

"Yes, there's another word—River One."

"He Yi?"

"Yes, the river of the river, one two three four one."

"What does it mean?"

"I was also confused at the time. It wasn't until later, after discussing it with the secretary-general, that we deduced that it probably referred to the Shahe Bridge No. 1. When Mayor Qi tore it up, he happened to tear off the words 'He Yi' (meaning 'river one')." Zhang Xinming continued.

"Does that mean the person who wrote the anonymous letter asked Comrade Qi Yaqiu to meet at the Shahe Bridge that evening?" Qin Feng asked.

"Afterwards, Comrade Xinming and I discussed it many times. Based on our guesses, things should be as the mayor guessed. Someone sent an anonymous letter to Mayor Qi. The letter should have mentioned that there was a large underground casino in the Lixin Hotel. Perhaps this person had important information for Mayor Qi, or perhaps the other party had important evidence to give to Mayor Qi. So they asked Mayor Qi to meet on the Shahe Bridge that night."

"Moreover, the other party will definitely require Mayor Qi to go alone, and no one else can know about this."

“Mayor Qi met with this person that evening and likely obtained important evidence, which is why he was in such a hurry to go to Beijing early the next morning,” Chen Guohua continued with his analysis.

Qin Feng continued to puff on his cigarette.

“Your analysis makes some sense. Comrade Qi Yaqiu must have obtained very important evidence about the Yang family’s crimes, otherwise he wouldn’t be in such a hurry to go to Beijing.”

"Comrade Qi Yaqiu must have known that these things could not be taken to the province, and he was not at ease with the province. Moreover, he also knew that this evidence could not be kept on his person for too long, just in case. Therefore, he was in a great hurry to go to Beijing to submit the evidence first thing the next morning."

"It is obvious that something went wrong somewhere. The Yang family knew about this in advance, so they assassinated Comrade Qi Yaqiu early the next morning before he set off for Beijing."

"Although there is no direct evidence, it is likely the case," Qin Feng said while smoking a cigarette.

“Yes, that’s what Comrade Xinming and I speculated as well. We didn’t understand the connection between the Lixin Hotel and gambling before, but after you told me and Jiang Yunpeng about the large underground casino hidden inside the Lixin Hotel, I finally connected the dots,” Chen Guohua explained further.

"There are still a few questions that need to be clarified before final confirmation can be made. First, who exactly is the person who wrote the anonymous letter to Comrade Qi Yaqiu and arranged to meet with him?"

"Secondly, if Comrade Qi Yaqiu kept this matter so secret, how did the Yang family find out about it? They only had one night, yet they meticulously planned and carried out the murder of Comrade Qi Yaqiu early the next morning," Qin Feng asked.

“We don’t know these things either, but I suspect two people, because besides Comrade Xinming and me, only these two people know that Mayor Qi is going to take a plane to Xidu Airport early the next morning to transfer to a plane to Beijing,” Chen Guohua said.

"Which two?" Qin Feng took another drag of his cigarette.

"The first one is the driver. Because he needed to take the earliest flight to Xidu to transfer to Beijing, Comrade Xinming contacted the driver after booking the ticket and asked him to pick up Mayor Qi half an hour earlier than usual. He also mentioned that he was going to the airport and that Mayor Qi was going to Beijing and could not be delayed."

"Neither Comrade Xinming nor I knew about these things at the time. We only guessed it after Mayor Qi's incident. So at the time, we didn't know the importance of the matter and didn't keep Mayor Qi's trip to Beijing a secret," Chen Guohua explained.

"Who was the second person to know that Qi Yaqiu was going to Beijing?" Qin Feng continued to ask.

“As the secretary-general, Peng Zhen has the right to know Mayor Qi’s whereabouts. At the same time, since Mayor Qi does have an important meeting to attend the next day, this temporary adjustment must be arranged by Peng Zhen.”

“Originally, this matter should have been arranged by Mayor Qi himself for Peng Zhen, but because Mayor Qi and Peng Zhen have a very bad relationship, Mayor Qi always asks me to contact Peng Zhen. So after Mayor Qi called me that night, I called Peng Zhen.” Chen Guohua also lit a cigarette.