"That depends on whether they were involved in this matter."
"No, they knew nothing about it." In such affairs, one more person knowing meant one more layer of danger. Deputy Minister Xu had never breathed a single word of it to his family.
"That's not for you to decide. We will investigate."
Deputy Director Wei interjected, "If they truly had no knowledge and were not involved, the worst would be re-education through labor."
"As for how many years, that depends on your attitude in confessing and any meritorious service you perform."
Hearing this, Deputy Minister Xu silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, he laid out everything in meticulous detail: when he had been turned, what information he had passed on, how many times he had met with them...
"That's all of it. I didn't have many opportunities to meet with them. Everything I could think of, everything I could confess, I have already confessed."
"Why did you do this?"
Jiang Si had originally thought that, like Ikeda Mitsuko, he was also of Sunset Country descent, which was why he willingly worked for them.
But yesterday, the Ministry of Public Security along with several other units had conducted a detailed verification.
He was a genuine Hua Nation native.
If it was simply for money, that didn't seem right either.
In fact, they were not short of money.
In this era where the average salary was only a little over thirty yuan, their entire family's combined monthly income was five to six hundred yuan.
They usually ate city-supplied grain, and their children's schooling and housing cost almost nothing.
It could be said their standard of living belonged to the very top of the pyramid.
"You also came from hard times. Those gold bars stained with human blood, did you spend them with a clear conscience?"
Facing Jiang Si's pointed questions, delivered word by word, Deputy Minister Xu never once looked up.
After a long pause, he finally spoke of that unspeakable past.
He hadn't wanted to, but he had no choice!
In his youth, to climb the ranks quickly, he had done many things in haste for quick success.
Deputy Minister Xu thought these actions were hidden, never expecting that over a decade later, they had been dug up.
Perhaps feeling this leverage alone wasn't enough,
they had also meticulously set a trap, making him wake up in a strange woman's bed.
"And Secretary Yan? You were friends for many years. Why did you frame him?"
After a pause, Jiang Si added, "Secretary Yan asked me to ask you this."
Perhaps somewhat shocked, Deputy Minister Xu looked up.
Having already spoken this much, he had nothing left to hide.
"A few months ago, that woman came to me carrying a child over two years old. She said the child was mine and demanded a large sum of money from me."
"I was terrified at the time and pulled her into the alley behind our unit."
"While we were struggling, Old Yan happened to see us. I wasn't sure how much he heard..."
"He heard nothing."
During the three days of waiting, Jiang Si had visited Secretary Yan's home.
From her, Secretary Yan learned the devastating truth.
Before this, he had imagined many possibilities.
He had even gone over everyone around him.
But he never dreamed in his worst nightmares that the one who stabbed him in the back was his old friend of many years.
He even more never imagined that, to solidify suspicion that he was the mole, they had killed Secretary Tan without batting an eye.
Secretary Tan was still so young. He shouldn't have died.
To help seek justice for him, Secretary Yan carefully recalled every interaction between him and Deputy Minister Xu over recent years.
"Secretary Yan only saw you struggling. He heard nothing."
Jiang Si said, "His left ear developed sensorineural hearing loss last year. Your conversation was so quiet, and there was a street between you. How could he possibly have heard?"
At this point, Jiang Si looked at him. "Not only did he not hear, he never once doubted your character."
But enough, saying this was useless now.
The situation was already clear. The next step was simply to compile the list.
Seeing this, Jiang Si didn't linger further and turned to leave the interrogation room.
"Xiao Jiang—" Just then, Deputy Minister Xu suddenly spoke. "How did you come to suspect me?"
He thought his behavior hadn't shown any noticeable flaws.
But Jiang Si's words that day had clearly carried a tone of testing.
Jiang Si certainly couldn't say she and Chi Heng had long since begun working together.
Moreover, the real point that made her sense something was off wasn't there.
Jiang Si said, "If you truly considered him your old friend, upon learning he was injured, your first concern should have been his condition, not asking all sorts of questions, probing for what he said."
"Furthermore, my attitude that day was very poor. I was slandering Secretary Yan the entire time."
"As a friend, even if forced to be cautious for self-preservation, your attitude shouldn't have been like that."
With those words, Jiang Si turned and left directly.
Huo Tingzhou was leaning against the corridor corner, clearly having waited for a while.
Seeing her, he immediately approached.
"You finished the interrogation so quickly?" Jiang Si was quite surprised. "How much did he confess?"
Huo Tingzhou shook his head, his expression complicated. "After Takeda entered the interrogation room, he didn't say a word. Later, when the interrogators weren't paying attention, he rammed his head into the wall."
Jiang Si showed little reaction upon hearing this. People from Sunset Country were all like this; she was long used to it.
"Is he dead?"
"No, he just put a bloody hole in his forehead. He was just taken to the hospital."
Jiang Si wasn't very concerned about whether he lived or died anyway. Deputy Minister Xu had already confessed.
Although they didn't get the specific list, following this lead should yield significant results.
After some discussion, the arrest operation was set for two days later.
Firstly, because this involved quite a few high-level individuals, those above had to be cautious.
Secondly, they still didn't have the specific list in hand.
Arresting people rashly like this could easily cause panic.
Of course, verification still depended on Chi Heng's side.
And so,
That very night, Chi Heng made a call to Chi's mother as planned.
"It's so late, why are you calling?" Chi's mother sounded somewhat surprised.
Considering the time difference between the two countries, it should be around 9 PM in Capital City. Moreover, there had never been a situation before of calling twice in one day.
Chi Heng kept his voice very low. "Mr. Takeda might be in trouble."
"Explain clearly."
"He went out this afternoon and still hasn't returned just now."
Hearing this, Chi's mother also sensed something was wrong. "Did you send people to look for him?"
"No." Chi Heng said. "The others were already sent out by Mr. Takeda this afternoon. I don't know where they went specifically."
Those few people only took orders from Takeda. No one but Takeda could command them.
Chi's mother knew this.
Moreover, she understood clearly that Takeda was a cautious man. It was impossible for him not to return so late.
Eliminating all wrong answers, only one possibility remained.
He was in trouble!
She knew Takeda well.
Even if he were truly captured, he wouldn't reveal anything of value.
But the tricky part now is that if anything really happened to Takeda, she wouldn't be able to find a capable and useful replacement anytime soon.
Amidst her thoughts, Chi's mother suddenly realized something. "Where are you right now?"
Knowing her suspicious nature, Chi Heng didn't explain but instead called for Chris.
"Hello, Auntie," Chris said sweetly.
Chi's mother was clearly surprised, not expecting the two of them to still be together so late at night.
Of course, this was something she was happy to see, so she said with a smile, "Chris, has our Ah Heng been bullying you or making you angry during this time?"
"No," Chris pretended to be shy. "Auntie, he's been very good. He hasn't bullied me, and my father likes him very much too."
"That's good."
After they exchanged a few more pleasantries, Chris handed the receiver back to Chi Heng. "Chi, don't go back tonight," she said.
Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for Chi's mother to hear.
Chi's mother was quite pleased upon hearing this and, for once, praised him over the phone. "You've done well."
She had originally been worried that Chi Heng would ignore her words.
But judging by Chris's reaction, his performance during this period must have been quite satisfactory.
Whether it was genuine or pretence, as long as it didn't affect the alliance marriage between the two families, she could turn a blind eye to other matters.
Thinking of this, Chi's mother gave an address over the phone. "Tomorrow morning at eight, go find this person. He will handle Takeda's matter."
Chi Heng had already lived in Capital City for several months and was relatively familiar with it.
Someone living at that address was certainly no ordinary person.
Chi Heng agreed immediately. "Alright."
Just as he thought Chi's mother was about to hang up, she suddenly spoke again.
"You're at the age to start a family and a career. Listen to me and marry Chris as soon as possible. Don't disappoint your grandparents."
She didn't say the rest, but Chi Heng understood.
The prerequisite for getting the list was that he had to agree to the arranged marriage.
Sure enough, Chi's mother said, "Takeda's matter isn't that simple. If he can be extradited back to the country, that's best. If not, the follow-up matters will have to be left to you."
What followed was a long silence.
So long that Chi's mother thought he wouldn't reply.
Chi Heng said, "Alright, I will get married as soon as possible."
After a pause, he added, "But, I have a condition—"
