Absolute Control of Officialdom

At thirty-five, Xu Cheng was Qing’an County’s youngest chief of the Budget Section at the Finance Bureau, with a bright future ahead of him. Then, overnight, he was accused of accepting bribes and sent to prison.

Wrongfully imprisoned, he refused to become a pawn discarded by others and never stopped thinking about clearing his name.

But after three years behind bars, his wife left him, his family fell apart, and all his old friends and relatives turned their backs on him. Once a well-connected mid-level official, he was now a penniless ex-con, shunned by everyone and unable to find work, trapped in a desperate situation.

Just as he ran out of options, Mei Lanfang, an old acquaintance, offered him a job at an accounting firm in the provincial capital. It seemed like a lifeline, but there was more to it than met the eye.

Drawing on years of experience in both government and finance, Xu Cheng soon uncovered irregularities in the company’s accounts, which led to a hidden web of deals...