Chapter 2055 - Commence Operations
Mu Min was in a bad mood today.
After months of exhaustion, she'd finally gotten a day with nothing urgent, a day to rest and get together with the female Elders in Guangzhou—though they affectionately called themselves "sisters," Mu Min knew perfectly well they were plastic sisters at best.
But even plastic sisters could have a wonderful time. Especially when someone really knew how to host. There was no doubt that Pei Lixiu's "tea party" at Ziming Tower today would be the height of indulgence.
Who could have guessed she'd be intercepted halfway there by someone from her bureau saying there was "a political case." Seeing the gathering fall through, she returned alone in frustration. At the bureau, her rear end hadn't even warmed the chair when the first forensic report arrived. The deceased was actually one of Zhang Xiaoqi's subordinates!
Though the official coroner's report hadn't come yet, the scene investigation showed the deceased Chu Xiaoran had died of "mechanical asphyxiation." Combined with the scene evidence and the handwritten suicide note left behind, it was undoubtedly suicide by hanging.
Of course, she could order an autopsy to further confirm, but Mu Min felt there was no need.
The case was absurdly straightforward and required no "solving," but Mu Min knew the follow-up wouldn't be so simple.
Just as she was pondering how to write up this case, Political Security sent another notification: Steward Mai Dami of the Liang family had accidentally fallen to his death while sightseeing at Yuexiu Mountain. They requested the Police Bureau pay close attention to anything suspicious during processing.
Climbing a mountain in this heat when it's not even a holiday! Mu Min tossed the note into her file box. She stood up in irritation and paced around her office a few times before returning to her desk and pulling out her personal Glock 17 to clean. Over the years, she'd developed this habit to ward off bad moods.
Having been in policing for years, Mu Min had long since become numb to death. From officially taking up her post in Guangzhou, through public order rectification, the witchcraft case, the Guan Di Temple incident—one major case after another, and every one eventually required her to countersign an execution order. If she could handle ordering deaths, what were two people who'd died on their own?
Still, this Chu Xiaoran... Mu Min thought again of the woman who'd taken her own life. She sighed. Didn't you know that hanging leaves an ugly corpse? Didn't you know your death would bring trouble on your three directors? You'd already become an Executive Committee cadre with good days ahead—what could you possibly not work through? Why earn yourself a "criminal" label?
If her death was personal rather than work-related, Mu Min calculated on Zhang Xiaoqi's behalf—should she suggest privately asking Dean Deng for a medical certificate of long-term depression for Chu Xiaoran? As shrewd as Dean Deng was, doing a favor for the Finance Gods wouldn't be a losing deal. The only trouble was that handwritten letter—now in the investigators' hands. To remove it would require exercising her "command authority." Though exercising command authority needed no specific reason beyond "for the benefit of the Executive Committee and the People," the exercise itself left a record.
If certain people in the Executive Committee took against her and wanted to cause problems, that record, once accessed, would be the perfect excuse: "Covering for a criminal."
Then it occurred to her—the suicide notes had originally been transferred from the Tax Bureau along with Chu Xiaoran's clothing. Obviously, the three Tax Bureau leaders had already read them. If they'd wanted to label Chu Xiaoran's death as "depression," wouldn't it have been better to simply intercept the letters at the Tax Bureau stage?
Why hadn't they?
Slowly pressing the ejected rounds back into the magazine, Mu Min felt herself growing calmer, her hands moving faster. Those unreliable thoughts from earlier seemed like oil floating on water, not touching the deeper workings of her mind at all.
"Little Zheng!"
"Director Mu!"
"Go notify Tax Bureau Director Ai that I need to speak with him and Directors Wang and Zhang. In one hour."
"Yes!"
As the sedan chair entered the Tax Bureau gates, Mu Min spotted Zhang Xiaoqi standing in front of the office building, apparently anxious as she spoke with someone beside her.
"Xiaoqi." Mu Min jumped down before the carriage had fully stopped and took Zhang Xiaoqi's hand. "Everything alright?"
"Yes." Zhang Xiaoqi waved off the people around her, sending them back. "Let's go to the small conference room on the second floor."
"Really alright?" Mu Min asked in a low voice as they walked side by side up the stairs.
"Qiyi and the others are working on something." Zhang Xiaoqi didn't answer directly but gave Mu Min a new piece of information. "Wu Mu just arrived too—he's already in the conference room."
"Wu Mu? Ha..." Mu Min couldn't help but laugh. "I was just about to look for him. Saves me a trip."
The Tax Bureau's small conference room was actually quite spacious. But now, with a large makeshift blackboard mounted on four tables pushed together in the center, the space felt cramped. Mu Min and Wu Mu stood on opposite sides of the blackboard, chalk in hand. The board was already a mess of their lines and circles.
"Hey, you two, let's pause. Let me interject something." Ai Zhixin couldn't take it anymore. "You both say the Tax Bureau lacks investigative and analytical experience. Would you think about having our Major Cases Investigation Division people come learn from you? Given how stretched you are for manpower, if we could handle some preliminary, basic investigation and analysis, wouldn't that help share the workload?"
Hearing Ai Zhixin's proposal, both Mu Min and Wu Mu's expressions flickered momentarily.
"I'd certainly support it." Mu Min thought briefly and agreed without hesitation. Wu Mu followed suit: "I'd personally support it, of course, but I'd still need to request permission from Director Zhao."
"I was just throwing it out there. Thanks to you both." Ai Zhixin noticed Wu Mu's discomfort and realized he'd overstepped. "Let's get back to business. Based on your analysis, the Luo family's Guiren Ju—the one with the least meat—is actually the key point?"
"Correct. Whether it's the financial transactions your Tax Bureau uncovered or the personnel movements we've been monitoring, one end always circles back to the Luo family." Wu Mu picked up the chalk and drew several horizontal lines, dividing the entire board into three layers, with Guiren Ju in the middle.
"This is the Shi family; this is the Lin family..." Wu Mu emphasized the arrow directions and wrote "Mai" and "Liao" alongside. "This is the Liang family. Our expedited interrogation of Liao Rushen yielded a great deal of useful information. He and Mai Dami, Liang Cunhou's personal steward, are sworn brothers—he's the third-ranked..."
"But Mai Dami is dead."
"Died at a very convenient time—now the Liang family is completely clean." Wu Mu smiled helplessly. "Our surveillance officer was following from a distance at the time and couldn't confirm exactly how he fell. Director Mu just said her people's on-site investigation found no signs of a struggle, and everyone accompanying Mai Dami up the mountain was his close relatives and nephews. So we can only tentatively conclude it was suicide."
"Another suicide." Ai Zhixin's mood soured at the word. "Why do these ancients all favor this approach?"
"Alright, Director Ai, enough complaining. Let's step back and look." Mu Min added three vertical lines to the blackboard. "Though the Luo family is key, the Lin, Shi, and Liang families appear to be operating independently, only connected through the Luo family financially. The expedited interrogation records of Liao Rushen that Wu Mu showed you—he knew essentially nothing about the other three families' actions and arrangements. This means they each have other communication channels..."
"I thought catching the Luo family would let us root them all out?"
"I initially thought the Luo family was Guangzhou's 'transit station' too. Now it looks like at most they're a 'supply depot'—Lin, Shi, and Liang are actually three separate lines."
"Didn't you arrest that Smith fellow?"
"Only caught him this morning. Just started interrogating—he's much tougher than Liao Rushen."
"Director Wu, I'll have to trouble you to interrogate slowly, but please get the fake tax receipts sorted out for me."
"Sure, I'll note that. And what about you?"
"Interrogation isn't our forte. We'll join Director Mu in sealing up the Shi family first." Ai Zhixin stood and handed a cup to Wu Mu and Mu Min, one in each hand. "The evidence against the Luo and Lin families is solid—no need to wait; we can proceed directly with property seizure. Director Mu, let's commence operations."
The seizure operation was led by the two women, Mu Min and Zhang Xiaoqi—Wang Qiyi had been kept behind by Ai Zhixin to discuss "more pressing matters." The operation went smoothly. The Shi and Lin families seemed to have anticipated this; the entire household, including servants and maids, remained silent. The only noise came during the Guiren Ju seizure when Master Luo Zhixiang shouted a few phrases like "I am a law-abiding citizen of the Great Song" and "I've done business with the Executive Committee."
Lin Zunxiu stood at the foot of the steps and raised his eyelids slightly. The two female short-hairs at the main hall entrance were tall and sturdy with fair skin, their features carrying an air of propriety. Though small, exquisite "Australian revolvers" hung at their waists, they didn't look like brutish thugs. Young Master Lin had seen and heard plenty about court officials handling cases, but today, with it happening to his own family, things felt quite different. The two female short-hairs stood with feet together, expressionless, neither speaking to each other nor making small talk—as if each was weighed down by heavy thoughts.
Just as he was pondering, the sound of a carriage came from outside the main gate, followed by greetings: "Governor Liu, good day!" "Comrades, thank you for your hard work!" The two female short-hairs on the steps also went toward the gate to greet the arrival. As they passed him, Young Master Lin wisely bowed his head another fraction, holding his breath and standing silently in place with hands at his sides.
In the distance, voices clamored. Lin Zunxiu strained his ears but could only barely make out Grand Prefect Liu loudly saying "Good, good, good" three times and some nauseating flattery.
Hearing this, Young Master Lin couldn't help but sneer inwardly. A grown man, master of an entire city, having to fawn so on two women—these short-hair bandits weren't just uncouth, they were beyond the pale!
Beyond contempt, Young Master Lin was also quite baffled by the short-hairs' approach today. He was someone who'd seen much of the world. By common sense, the day of property seizure should be the day of ruin. Yet these two female short-hairs had only ordered their subordinates to seal things up—no moving of valuables, no digging up the entire property. How peculiar. Could there still be room for a turnaround?
Next update: Volume 7 - Two Guangs Campaign Section 168
(End of Chapter)