The blow of losing his position as Regiment Commander seemed too great. Lu Kaiwen first cried uncontrollably, then admitted he knew he was wrong. He began to ramble about errors he had previously refused to acknowledge, repeating the criticisms the Political Department comrades had made during previous talks, but mixing in his own varied interpretations. The huge contrast in his behavior caught the Political Department comrades somewhat off guard.

In this rambling monologue, Lu Kaiwen not only discussed his mistakes but didn't forget to mention his achievements. The Political Department comrades listened patiently; after so many talks with different people, they had developed—and were forced to have—sufficient patience.

"A few days ago, a fellow townsman of Regiment Commander Chu Deli came to see me and mentioned the troops moving into Henan. He said that if we applied together to work in the frontline troops, it might be approved. I thought at the time that I was still a regiment commander, so I didn't listen to much of it. I just heard the news that our regiment might be converted into an engineering unit..."

As Lu Kaiwen rambled on to this point, the comrade responsible for recording and cultural assistance lit up, but the comrade conducting the interview naturally placed his hand on that comrade's wrist. They had agreed on a signal beforehand; the recording comrade silently lowered his head and continued writing.

When Lu Kaiwen finished a section, the interviewer said, "Comrade Lu Kaiwen, we believe that mistakes can be corrected. previously, you only thought about your position as regiment commander and not the mistakes you made. That is why we couldn't make any progress in our talks initially. Now that you've put down the burden in your heart, although you may feel sad and disappointed, don't you feel much lighter?"

Lu Kaiwen didn't know if the Political Department comrade was mocking him or speaking sincerely. Looking at the expression on the comrade's face, it didn't seem like mockery. having lost his official post as regiment commander, how could he possibly have "put down the burden"? But at this moment, he had nothing else to say, so he could only nod repeatedly.

"For comrades with issues during the Rectification Campaign, we have arranged special study classes. Everyone will go to class first. If you have incorrect thoughts, you must understand exactly where you went wrong. Only then can you work better when you return to the troops. Let me explain first, the People's Party does not subscribe to the idea of 'merit offsetting faults.' Merit is merit, and faults are faults. When everyone returns to the troops, it will be to continue working. Don't have other concerns."

After the guard took Lu Kaiwen away, the recorder asked in a very low voice, "Group Leader, why didn't we continue to ask who exactly leaked the information?"

The interviewer sighed slightly, "No rush. Let Comrade Lu Kaiwen calm down first. There are records of everyone who visited Comrade Lu Kaiwen. Regiment Commander Chu Deli's townsman—that will be easy to check. We will report this to the Political Department immediately."

With two leads, the Political Department and the Political Security Department (which was semi-subordinate to it) formed an investigation team. Although Chen Ke did not agree to let the People's Internal Affairs Committee intervene, Chen Tianhua felt it was necessary to let the comrades from the Internal Affairs Committee have some understanding of this. So, comrades from the People's Internal Affairs Committee were invited to "audit" the meeting.

This "auditing" was by no means passive listening; the People's Internal Affairs Committee sent capable comrades to attend. The specific operation was actually not too complicated. Chu Deli's townsman, Chu Shifu, immediately stood out in the cross-reference comparison. He was the only person who had visited both Lu Kaiwen and Pang Zi recently. Although they didn't dare to make a final conclusion verbally, the comrades at the meeting all regarded Chu Shifu as the primary suspect.

The attitude displayed by many comrades being rectified in this movement made the Political Department extremely dissatisfied. "Official standard," "feudal power-sharing ideology," "mountain-stronghold mentality"—Chen Ke had raised various issues before, and the Political Department had once felt that Chen Ke was perhaps too harsh and lacked trust in the comrades.

Facts proved that Chen Ke's consistent warnings were not baseless. The Political Department, responsible for ideological and political work, had failed to see these shortcomings in the comrades at all. They held Party meetings, heart-to-heart talks, and democratic life meetings, conducting criticism and self-criticism. Most comrades spoke well enough, but once they held power, they didn't act according to their words at all.

Chen Tianhua had a naturally impatient temper. When these intertwined problems exploded simultaneously and were presented before him, he truly felt caught off guard. Various negative emotions tangled together, making him feel extremely irritable and restless; he hadn't slept well for several days. The "internal leak"—an event of the most serious nature—gave Chen Tianhua a breakthrough point for his pent-up anger. Seeing a preliminary suspect, Chen Tianhua spoke hurriedly, "We invited so many comrades here because we want to discuss this internal leak issue clearly."

Actually, the Political Department had nothing to discuss. Chen Ke had said to treat this matter as a disciplinary issue for the time being. If they wanted to handle this matter severely, they would need the "powerful department"—the People's Internal Affairs Committee—to provide different perspectives.

The representative of the Internal Affairs Committee was named Liu Yongsheng. He was young, like other People's Party comrades, but he had a gloomy coldness that didn't quite match his age. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, his lips were always pursed together as if refusing to speak. After hearing Chen Tianhua's words, Liu Yongsheng's lips closed even tighter.

Chen Tianhua waited for a while and had to ask proactively, "Comrade Liu Yongsheng, what are your views on this?"

Liu Yongsheng was silent for a good while before answering, "Leaking secrets refers to intentionally prying into information and then spreading that information. Looking at it now, even if it is a leak, it is an internal leak, which is a disciplinary issue. If a comrade summarized and concluded something based on intelligence they obtained, and even if they mentioned some news, it is only a disciplinary issue of speaking indiscreetly. Listening to the situation everyone just introduced, I can't even determine if it is a leak."

Within the base area, the People's Internal Affairs Committee was responsible for suppressing counter-revolutionaries and investigating crimes within the system. It was a powerful department with blood on its hands. Liu Yongsheng's words were not unreasonable, but according to what he said, his judgment of the severity of the problem was not even as serious as Chen Tianhua's view. Compared to "internal leak," "speaking indiscreetly" completely fell within the scope of criticism and education. Before this meeting, Chen Tianhua had specifically communicated with the comrades of the Internal Affairs Committee, hoping to crack down severely on this leak event. The person in charge of the Internal Affairs Committee had behaved exactly like Liu Yongsheng at the time—just silence. Now, their attitude seemed very clear.

Chen Tianhua was made very uncomfortable by these unexpected words, but the People's Internal Affairs Committee was not under the jurisdiction of the Political Department at all. Even though the Party Committee played a huge role in the Internal Affairs Committee, Chen Tianhua could not directly command it. In the Party, only Chen Ke had this authority. "Then what exactly do the comrades of the Internal Affairs Committee think about this?" Chen Tianhua pressed.

The gloomy expression on Liu Yongsheng's face remained unchanged. He spoke unhurriedly, "Our Internal Affairs Committee has the authority to execute people, so we ourselves must first abide by the Party's organizational discipline and the laws of the base area. We cannot handle problems based on our personal likes, dislikes, or emotions. When judging the type of contradiction, we cannot forcibly upgrade internal contradictions to enemy-us contradictions. Enemy-us contradictions really involve killing people."

The People's Internal Affairs Committee possessed the power of execution, so Chen Tianhua had hoped this powerful department would take a stance. Hearing the Internal Affairs Committee's clear statement, Chen Tianhua felt very disappointed. The Political Department did not have the power to execute people, and Chen Ke had repeatedly emphasized that this Rectification Campaign was "killing none, arresting few." Although he wanted to take tough measures internally, Chen Tianhua could not change the authority limitations brought about by the organizational structure.

Suppressing his anger, Chen Tianhua said, "Then let's arrest Chu Shifu first."

"Arresting him directly will alert the enemy. Think of a way to control Comrade Chu Shifu first, and ask clearly about the ins and outs of the matter. Don't act so hastily," Liu Yongsheng said, his tone remaining unhurried.

If anyone else spoke so deliberately slowly, Chen Tianhua would have probably jumped up in opposition long ago. As a high-ranking cadre, Chen Tianhua was well aware of the Internal Affairs Committee's track record. In this world, if one counted who had killed the most People's Party members up to now, the People's Party Internal Affairs Committee would rank first. As for who had killed the most people among all People's Party organizations, even the army could not compare to the Internal Affairs Committee. While many suppression actions were executed by the army, the investigation and decision-making were the responsibility of the Internal Affairs Committee. Compared to the Political Department, the Internal Affairs Committee had an overwhelming advantage in experience in these areas.

Under Liu Yongsheng's suggestion, the Political Department first arranged for a commissar to lead a labor team, and halfway through, arranged for Chu Shifu to deliver something, thus isolating him. Chu Shifu had no idea he had been calculated; even when he sat in front of three Political Department interrogation cadres, he still thought he was performing a transport task and facing logistics cadres for a handover.

When he realized he was undergoing political censorship, Chu Shifu's face turned extremely stunned. He stammered, "Comrades, what do you want with me?"

"Comrade Chu Shifu, you once visited Comrade Lu Kaiwen, right?"

"Yes."

"You also went to see Comrade Pang Zi, right?"

"...Yes."

Hearing Chu Shifu admit these things, the comrades from the Political Department finally breathed a sigh of relief. They had finally found the direct intermediary for the message. This would make things much easier. Suppressing their excitement, the comrade responsible for the inquiry asked in a calm tone, "Who told you the news that we are going to attack Henan recently?"

"...It was, ...it was," Chu Shifu stammered, unable to speak. Being interviewed by the Political Department had now become the most terrifying thing in the army. Anyone who was interviewed ended up with no good results. At this moment, his brain simply didn't recall anything related to the question being asked. All of Chu Shifu's mental energy was focused on recalling what exactly he had done wrong and whom he had offended.

The Political Department comrades somewhat misunderstood Chu Shifu's thoughts. In their view, Chu Shifu's changing expression could only prove one thing: like many comrades they had seen recently, Chu Shifu was thinking about how to make up lies. The Political Department comrades had long since lost patience with such people.

Slamming the table violently, the comrade responsible for the questioning stood up. He leaned his hands on the table, looked down at Chu Shifu from above, and shouted loudly, "Comrade Chu Shifu, we are asking you to honestly confess your problems now!"

"Con... confess what problems?" Chu Shifu's mind was in chaos, completely forgetting the question he had just been asked.

"Who told you the news that we are going to attack Henan recently!" The questioning comrade asked this sentence word by word through gritted teeth, fiercely.

Chu Shifu was scared stiff by this attitude. He barely squeezed a voice out of his throat, "It was Division Commander Zhou!"

Receiving an answer that sounded quite reliable, the questioning comrade was both surprised and delighted. Fearing he had mistaken the target, he pressed, "Was it Zhou Zhentao, Division Commander Zhou?"

"Yes." Chu Shifu's face had turned white with fear.

"Are you sure it was Comrade Zhou Zhentao, Commander of the 4406 Division?" The questioning comrade wanted to be even more specific.

Chu Shifu subconsciously swallowed his saliva. His dry throat emitted a sufficiently clear sound, "It really was our division's Commander Zhou."

The comrade from the Political Department sat back down on the stool heavily. "Now, explain to us clearly exactly how this happened."