Chapter 2297: Investigation
Yi Haoran was taken to the County Police Bureau—formerly the Cangwu County Yamen—for temporary detention. His arrest was "preventive"; without a specific charge, there was no interrogation. The police simply tossed him into a cell and went to report the completion of their task.
He was not the only one in the cell. To ensure the grain fleet's safe arrival, Zheng Ergen, following Xie Erren's instructions, had conducted a sweep of "preventive detentions" throughout Wuzhou, rounding up a motley assortment of individuals deemed "potential threats." Naturally, this included quite a few cases of the muddled judging the muddled.
Seeing the cell packed with various characters arrested for unknown reasons, Yi Haoran felt slightly reassured. The Australians suspected him, true. But judging by the situation, he wasn't a high priority—merely restricted in movement, safe for the moment.
Yi Haoran cared nothing for his own personal safety. He had long since placed life and death outside his consideration. Tonight's great event in Wuzhou would proceed unaffected; all necessary arrangements had been made. Originally, he had planned merely to sit in the shop and wait for dawn to learn the results.
With these thoughts, he ceased worrying. He found a corner against the wall, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.
Having dispatched Zheng Ergen to make arrests, Zhao Fengtian still felt uneasy. The mysterious disappearance of the external verification letter demanded an explanation. What if there was a mole lurking right beside the Chief?
At this thought, his mind immediately went to Cai Lan. Chief Xie had been spending his nights there recently, reviewing official documents. She was one of the few people with potential access to them. And given her suspicious background...
Zhao Fengtian could no longer sit still. He decided to find Xie Erren first, report the situation, and then decide on a course of action—after all, this matter involved someone close to the Chief.
But he immediately hesitated. Whether or not Cai Lan was involved, this would be a tremendous embarrassment for Chief Xie. It was hard to predict how the Chief would react. If Cai Lan turned out to be innocent and Chief Xie directed his anger elsewhere, Zhao Fengtian feared he wouldn't have a good outcome.
He decided to investigate quietly first. He summoned the naturalized staff responsible for document transmission in Xie Erren's office and questioned them one by one, verifying that no errors had occurred at any step of the process.
Now the only option was to search the office itself. Perhaps the document had been left in some corner.
Zhao Fengtian sent someone to quietly fetch Xie Erren's security secretary and asked about Xie Erren's current whereabouts.
"Chief Xie is currently at his office in the Prefectural Yamen. He's already notified us that he won't be returning to the Three Headquarters tonight," the security secretary said. "He wants to preside over the command center."
"Where is Cai Lan now?"
"Nothing unusual."
"Come with me as a witness. We'll go to the Three Headquarters together and inspect Chief Xie's office."
The security secretary was surprised. "Has something happened?"
"I won't hide it from you." Zhao Fengtian explained the disappearance of the verification letter and his suspicions in detail. "This matter is of grave importance. Without concrete evidence, it's inappropriate to draw conclusions—and even less appropriate to report to the Chief."
"I understand." The security secretary grasped the severity of the situation. "I'll go with you right now." He added, "Ideally, we find nothing wrong!"
"I hope so too." Though Zhao Fengtian said this, he held little hope. Xie Erren's office was cleaned daily, and there were strict protocols for file management. It was impossible for a document to simply be left lying around.
If the document wasn't there, he would have no choice but to report to Chief Xie.
Zhao Fengtian and the security secretary went to the Three Headquarters. After unlocking the door, they searched the office for a long time. Every document remaining was cross-checked against the registry; not a single one was missing, and all were accounted for. Only that external verification letter was nowhere to be found.
If the letter hadn't been misplaced, the only other possibility was that it had been put into Xie Erren's confidential box. This box was kept by his confidential clerk and contained high-level secret documents—but this possibility was minuscule.
Losing documents was a major incident no matter how one looked at it, let alone something as important as an external verification letter. This had to be reported to Chief Xie immediately. He couldn't shoulder this responsibility alone.
Xie Erren's face turned extremely unsightly upon hearing Zhao Fengtian's report. After a long silence, he asked, "Do you have any hard evidence?"
"Currently, we have no evidence. But based on the document transmission hierarchy, it was definitely lost during the stage involving the Three Headquarters," Zhao Fengtian said.
Xie Erren's head buzzed. Documents didn't have legs; they couldn't walk. The only possibility was that someone had removed it. And in the Three Headquarters, aside from himself, the only person who could quietly remove a document was Cai Lan.
Of course, if one insisted on widening the circle of suspects—the servants attending Cai Lan, the confidential clerks with office access—there were four or five others under suspicion. But in this moment, Xie Erren's intuition told him: the one who took the document was Cai Lan!
A bitter taste instantly swirled in his mouth, recalling the feeling from middle school when he discovered the girl he had pursued so long already had a boyfriend. His mind went blank.
Seeing Xie Erren's face turn pale, Zhao Fengtian knew something was wrong and called out urgently, "Chief! Chief!"
After repeated calls, Xie Erren finally snapped back to reality. His heart was racing wildly, his body going limp. He had no love for Cai Lan, but he believed he had invested effort and bestowed grace upon her. He should have obtained this humble woman's body and heart entirely. He hadn't expected her to play tricks behind his back!
A wave of fury surged through him. In the past, he had been just an ordinary middle school student who could only "let it go." Now he was a regional potentate holding the power of life and death over countless people. If he wanted someone to live, they lived; if he wanted them to die, they died. If Cai Lan had truly betrayed him, he would make her wish she were dead!
Watching Xie's face shift from pale to green to flushed red, Zhao Fengtian worried the man might be having a stroke or some kind of fit. If something happened to him, it would be disastrous! Trembling with fear, he advised, "Chief, please calm down and catch your breath. This matter hasn't been thoroughly investigated yet..."
Seeing Zhao Fengtian's face full of worry, Xie Erren realized he had lost his composure. Regardless of whether Cai Lan took the document, flying into a rage now would only make him a laughingstock. His expression just now had been a major loss of dignity. He quickly composed himself. "I'm fine. The most urgent matter right now is the grain issue. Investigate secretly for now, control the situation and the relevant personnel—don't be in a rush to arrest anyone, just prevent them from escaping. We'll deal with it after the grain is unloaded tomorrow."
"Yes, I'll arrange it immediately." Zhao Fengtian understood Xie Erren's meaning: keep it quiet for now and control the situation.
Just as he was about to leave, Xie Erren stopped him again:
"Who was the person to be verified in that letter?"
"An accountant. I heard he's from Teng County..."
"Arrest him first."
"We've already arrested him."
"Good. Go about your business."
Zhao Fengtian immediately notified the security secretary and Zheng Ergen. The three put their heads together and decided to first seal off the courtyard where Cai Lan lived, forbidding anyone from entering or exiting. Xie Erren's office in the courtyard had already been locked and didn't need to be touched for the time being. The documents left in the main room would be retrieved by a confidential clerk. Any inquiries from unrelated personnel would be met with silence; news was to be temporarily blocked.
"What about that Mister Hao?" Zheng Ergen asked. "We've arrested the man. Should we move him to a special detention area?"
"No need." Zhao Fengtian shook his head. "If we move him now, I'm afraid he might sense something. If he commits suicide, the trail will go cold. Send two capable men to disguise themselves as prisoners and put them in the same cell to monitor him secretly."
"Then what about Cai Lan? If she notices something amiss and kills herself, wouldn't that be trouble?" Zheng Ergen was still worried.
Zhao Fengtian mused, "The Chief's intention is not to arrest anyone. Wait until there's time to investigate slowly. Observing the Chief's demeanor, it seems he isn't certain Cai Lan is involved—and we have no evidence at the moment..."
"Wouldn't we know if we dragged her in for interrogation?"
Zhao Fengtian patted Zheng Ergen's shoulder and smiled. "Brother, this matter isn't actually complicated, but we have to consider the Chief's feelings. No need to rush. If Cai Lan is guilty, the Chief can't protect her. But if she's innocent and we strike too hard, how will we explain it to the Chief later? Since the Chief said not to arrest anyone, we should be cautious..."
"What if she commits suicide?"
"Then it's suicide to escape punishment," Zhao Fengtian said. "Even simpler."
"Alright, I'll listen to you." Zheng Ergen was a bit confused, but Zhao Fengtian's rank was much higher, and he was the Chief's trusted aide. Following his arrangements couldn't be wrong.
Because Xie Erren had said he wouldn't be coming over that night, Cai Lan had kept Jiang Qiuchan to keep her company, planning to do some needlework under the lamp and chat to pass the time.
Just as darkness fell, there was the sound of movement in the courtyard. Cai Lan found this strange: if Xie Erren wasn't coming, the courtyard was usually dead silent. Why were people suddenly arriving?
She leaned against the window and peeked out quietly. She saw Zhao Fengtian and a familiar-looking man whispering in front of Elder Xie's study door. The lamp in the study was lit, and figures were moving inside.
What was going on? Cai Lan's heart tightened. She knew a little about the Australian rules; this study was like a government's war room. Except for Xie the bandit himself, no one else was allowed to enter at will. Now that Xie was absent, what were Zhao Fengtian and his men doing at the study door?
She immediately thought of the letter she had burned—could they be here for that? At this thought, her heart sank: Has something happened to Master Yi?!
Though she didn't know exactly what Master Yi was busy with, she had been following his instructions these past days, writing the bits and pieces she heard from Xie Erren onto paintings and calligraphy using rice water, then transmitting them to Chang Qingyun. She didn't need to be told to know they were plotting something.
For a moment, Cai Lan was stunned. From the moment she burned that letter, she knew this day would come. She had long made her plans: once the matter was exposed, she would commit suicide and follow her fiance to the underworld.
(End of Chapter)