Chapter 1458 - Hidden Agendas (Part 8)
After returning from the teahouse, Ji Xin found the whole affair suspicious. Ever since he had started his "Native Protection Association," he had become a pariah among transmigrators—a "weirdo" to be avoided. Except for the Jurisprudence Society members who occasionally invited him to meetings on professional grounds, he had become a man with almost no social activities or personal dealings. This isolation actually suited him; he could act freely without worrying about anyone's feelings.
Yet recently, three people he had never been close to had approached him one after another, asking him to defend Yang Jihong. Apart from Yang Xinwu, the other two were complete outsiders. Even Ji Xin—the ultimate soy sauce transmigrator who paid little attention to worldly affairs—could tell something was going on.
Still, he took the case. In his view, regardless of their motives, since providing a defense attorney was a procedure stipulated in the Arbitration Court's Draft Criminal Appeals Law, someone had to do it. Rather than handing it to some half-hearted Jurisprudence Society member just going through the motions, he might as well do it himself—at least he would give it his full effort.
Ji Xin didn't live in the transmigrator residential quarters but in a single-person dormitory tucked away in a secluded corner of the Fragrant Fields educational campus. It was hard for most people to find. He lived a solitary existence here, without even a maidservant, eating his meals directly at the cafeteria. The Administrative Office had hired a part-time maidservant who came once a day to clean, do his laundry, and change his sheets.
Opening the door, he was met by icy cold. The room wasn't large—a single bed, plain board bookshelves against the wall, and a standard-issue iron safe that all transmigrator residences and offices had. A desk sat by the window; apart from a picture frame, it was buried under piles of books and documents.
Most of the materials on the desk were related to the Lin Xiaoya case. The transferred legal documents included not only all the investigative materials from the National Police but also minutes from several Jurisprudence Society meetings, internal Arbitration Court memos from key Jurisprudence Society members expressing their views and arguments, and various legal texts—not just old-era Chinese law, but also American, German, Japanese, and Taiwanese legal texts. Naturally, there were also Grand Library publications: parallel Ancient Chinese and vernacular editions of the Great Ming Code, the Great Proclamation, and related research papers and monographs.
Ji Xin opened the window and poured the overnight tea from the cup on his desk outside. His gaze swept across the desktop, and he froze: someone had been in his room.
Given the room's spartan simplicity, there was normally no way to tell if anyone had entered. But his desk, though seemingly chaotic, actually had a particular order to its stacking. Now there were obvious signs of disturbance. And the picture frame on his desk had been moved—as if someone had picked it up to examine it.
The room had a locally manufactured padlock. When he had opened the door just now, he hadn't noticed any damage to the lock. Besides himself, both the Fragrant Fields Security Section and his part-time maidservant had keys and could enter at any time. However, the Security Section's key was a backup that wouldn't normally be used; and the part-time maidservant knew his requirements—when cleaning the room, she never touched anything on the desk.
There was nothing particularly important in this room anyway—just bedding and a few changes of clothes, books published by the Grand Library. Valuable or important personal items were either kept in his quarters in the transmigrator residential area or stored in the Administrative Office's deposit vault.
As for documents rated confidential, those were routinely locked in the safe—the Political Security Bureau and Administrative Office regularly organized surprise inspections. Violators of the Confidentiality Regulations would have their ID photos posted on the internal BBS as a "public shaming" and be named in Venus magazine.
The materials on the desk, though related to old-era documents, were all things that had been edited and republished through the Truth Office. Even if a native saw them, it wouldn't matter much.
Who, why, and how had they entered his room?
One Lin Xiaoya dead, one Yang Jihong arrested—it seems more than just Yang Xinwu is running around in a panic.
Just as Ji Xin was pondering, the PHS phone in his drawer suddenly rang—a rare event. His PHS was seldom called; sometimes one or two months would pass without anyone dialing in.
"Is this Mr. Ji?" A coquettish female voice came through the phone. The intentionally affected tone immediately told him who it was.
"You are—"
"That's right, you have good ears. I'm Cheng Yongxin." Giggles came through the phone. "Do you have time lately, Mr. Ji?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"If it's convenient, come to the Grand Library tomorrow for tea. I'll sweep the flowers and await you."
"Is this still about Yang Jihong's case?"
"Come now, is the Yang Jihong case all we have to talk about? I'll also introduce you to a new friend. I think you'll find the trip worthwhile."
Ji Xin's curiosity was piqued. What game are these people playing? He decided to go see. As for the break-in, he chose not to report it for now—he would first observe how things developed.
"Cheng-Cheng darling, do you really think this is appropriate?" Panpan asked in Cheng Yongxin's office.
Panpan's friendship with Cheng Yongxin had been heating up these past days, entering the clingy stage—when it came to being besties, it seemed there was no cultural divide. Though Panpan had moved back to her own quarters, she increasingly began not coming home at night, often spending the night at Cheng Yongxin's place. The two would drink wine and talk until dawn. Ding Ding was helpless about this—Panpan had started to become "difficult." The American girl who had once attracted him with her frank, easygoing, generous, and joyful personality was turning sharp-tongued and full of complaints. They had even begun having communication problems. Though they still had sex frequently, those lovely nights spent under the stars talking about life, ideals, and art had become a thing of the past.
"Why wouldn't it be appropriate?" Cheng Yongxin countered.
"This is a personal insult to Yang Jihong, to the dead Lin Xiaoya, and to all those maidservants. It completely denies their personhood."
"It's not me who denies their personhood—it's the ever-glorious, ever-great, ever-correct Senate." Cheng Yongxin sneered. "These death-contracts, the maidservant system, the slave trade—all are policies instituted by the Senate. We're just exploiting their loopholes."
Panpan looked thoughtful.
"Panpan darling, your political instincts are too weak. Think about it—once this defense argument of ours is presented in court, what will happen?"
"That Yang person will certainly be able to get out of this. She'll just have her master pay some compensation to the Administrative Office. She might not even have to bear the stigma of being a murderer."
"Bingo! And then?"
"Then?" Panpan's face showed confusion.
"Unless those people in the Jurisprudence Society are prepared to slap themselves in the face and deny the 'rule of law' they trumpet all day long, they'll have to hold their noses and go along with my plan. But afterward, the Senate will certainly get lively: Transmigrator Yang and a bunch of transmigrators who place great importance on transmigrator super-citizen status will celebrate. The Jurisprudence Society will definitely push back hard. As for the transmigrators—you won't need Du Wen running around yelling. Like foxes mourning a hare's death, what do you think Yang Jihong and Lin Xiaoya—natives though they are—will think?"
"Yes, they need to make their voices heard. And the Jurisprudence Society, the others—especially the marginalized transmigrators who have nothing but their votes. They'll see their own situation reflected in that Transmigrator Yang. Everyone will realize they need—"
"Newspapers. Media."
"Panpan darling, you've finally got it." Cheng Yongxin opened a bottle of Kvass, tilted it slightly, and took a long swig.
"I think you're quite aware that within this system, you are a deliberately marginalized nuisance."
Her voice was gentle and clear, but the content was cold and merciless.
"You should be grateful that modern education was fairly successful: although the Executive Committee finds your running around annoying, they absolutely won't move against you—their fig leaf. Otherwise, they couldn't justify themselves to those soy sauce transmigrators who still haven't successfully transitioned their mindset."
Facing the ashen-faced Panpan, Cheng Yongxin remained calm.
(End of Chapter)