Chapter 2323 - Going to Wuzhou (II)

"Too thoughtful," Ji Xin praised after surveying the room. "Old Xie, you really have a taste for the good life."

This was originally a casual compliment, but to Xie Erren—who had a guilty conscience—the words carried an uncomfortable edge. He gave a dry laugh. "This courtyard was originally a place where I'd come to stay and relax for a while. I also receive visiting Senators here, so naturally I have to make it comfortable. There are orderlies here—transferred from the army. Very reliable people. Just ask them for whatever you need."

As he spoke, he called out, and four sturdy young men appeared, all wearing National Army uniforms and equipped with pistols.

"These are the chiefs from the Central Government. From now on, you will follow their commands. Take good care of their daily needs and be responsible for security when they go out. Understood?"

The four stood at attention together and gave a loud "Yes!"

"You rest first. I won't disturb you further. Let me know when you start the investigation—I will fully cooperate."

Chen Baibin noticed that Xie Erren spoke calmly and was hospitable. There was absolutely no sense of anxiety or hasty improvisation like when Zhao Yingong was investigated at the Hangzhou Station. He unconsciously found himself developing a somewhat favorable impression of the man.

Ji Xin nodded. "No hurry—let's officially start work tomorrow."

The words "no hurry" made Xie Erren's heart skip a beat. He couldn't help wondering what they meant. He agreed perfunctorily: "Good, good. Then I'll go attend to my work first."

Watching Xie Erren hurry away, Chen Baibin whispered: "This Senator Xie looks quite capable."

"To be the chief administrator of the Wuzhou area, naturally he must have some ability," Ji Xin said.

An orderly came in and brought their luggage inside. According to regulations, a Senator's personal luggage could only be opened by his own attendant. The orderly merely delivered the boxes and withdrew. The two organized their luggage themselves. The main house had three rooms: the middle one served as the office, and the east and west rooms were their bedrooms.

The orderly brought in tea. "Report! The bath water is ready."

With that, he turned to leave. Ji Xin stopped him and produced a sheet of white paper.

"Write down the names and simple resumes of all the personnel in your service group."

"Yes, Chief!" The orderly was somewhat baffled, but the chief's order was paramount. He immediately took the pen and wrote crookedly on the white paper.

Ji Xin took the paper, read it once, placed it in a folder, and asked: "You are Squad Leader Zhou Chuyi?"

"Report Chief! Yes."

"When did you arrive in Wuzhou?"

"A week ago, Chief!"

"Why were you sent here?"

"Superiors said Wuzhou applied to transfer us here to serve the chiefs."

"What was the specific situation of the courtyard when you arrived? I mean the layout and furnishings of the house."

"Same as today!" Zhou Chuyi answered crisply. "After we came, we just cleaned every day, waiting for the chiefs' arrival."

"Alright, you may go."

The orderly withdrew. Ji Xin stood up. "I'll go wash first."

"Okay, I need to unpack my luggage anyway."

Chen Baibin's room was in the east wing. The furniture had clearly been recently rearranged—marks on the walls showed the previous arrangement. From the traces, what had been placed here before wasn't the current simple single bed, but a medium-sized Babu bed (a traditional canopy bed).

He opened the clothes trunk by the bed, and a faint fragrance immediately wafted out. Chen Baibin had received relevant training in Lingao and immediately recognized it as the scent of incense that women used to perfume their clothes.

A woman lived here? He was puzzled.

After organizing his luggage, he returned to the central hall. Ji Xin had already changed into pajamas and slippers, toweling his hair dry.

"Go quickly—the bathroom here is really nice," Ji Xin said. "Not only is there a bathtub, but also a Japanese-style small courtyard! This Old Xie really does enjoy life."

Chen Baibin returned from his bath to find Ji Xin already flipping through a pile of documents.

"What are these?"

"Documents related to the Wuzhou Incident that Xie Erren just had someone deliver. Also materials on several cases they're currently investigating."

"That's quite a volume." Chen Baibin leafed through a few casually. "But these documents are very well done—very detailed. Just don't know how reliable they are..." He lowered his voice.

"That's for us to discover," Ji Xin said. "Until we find problems, we tentatively consider them reliable."

"Where do we start?"

"First, we comb through the process of the incident. How the enemy got in, how they rushed into Senator Xie's office, how they kidnapped him, and how he was rescued on the city wall. This entire process needs to be investigated clearly. Every detail must match the report. Discrepancies must be recorded. We start with the text materials first, so that in the next step when we speak with relevant personnel, we can have specific targets and also know if they're lying."

"Understood."

"The Wuzhou Incident also involves a riot at the Sanhezui Labor Camp. The Wuzhou side is still conducting their own investigation. We won't intervene for the time being. We'll wait for them to reach a conclusion, then review it."

"Looking at the statement in the secret report, the matter at Sanhezui is far from simple."

"The Sanhezui case involves quite a few things, but I personally feel it won't necessarily implicate Xie Erren. The focus of our investigation is still in the city." Ji Xin looked around. "How do you find this courtyard?"

"The layout is very comfortable."

"And?"

"Relatively refined."

"Don't you notice a hint of rouge and powder here—a certain femininity?"

Chen Baibin widened his eyes. "You feel it too?" He immediately mentioned the scent of incense he'd noticed when putting away clothes.

"If I'm not mistaken, a woman lived here, and this woman's status was not low." Ji Xin said. "Beyond the exceptionally fine furniture, look at this 'conference table' in front of us. What is it?"

Chen Baibin examined the table. He could tell it was high-grade furniture made in this spacetime. Simple in pattern and large in size.

"This is called a painting desk. Ordinary households don't have them. Only wealthy families of leisure prepared them for writing calligraphy and painting."

Xie Erren didn't paint. Preparing such a painting table specifically—the intended user's status was self-evident.

There were no female Senators in Wuzhou. A woman who could live in a key place like the San Zong Fu and held a not-insignificant status could only be Xie Erren's maid.

But Xie Erren had reportedly declined to bring a maid when taking office, since Wuzhou was close to the front lines. So who was this woman?

Both men had the same answer in mind: Cai Lan, termed "retained personnel" in Xie Erren's report, and "mistress" in Luo Yangming's report.

"It should be that Cai Lan," Chen Baibin whispered.

Ji Xin nodded. "However, this place is too large for her to have lived alone. Have you seen all the buildings in this courtyard?"

"I haven't seen the East Wing yet."

"I just came out of the bathroom in the West Wing and took a look. There were several camp beds and simple furniture inside. It looks like the dormitory for our four orderlies. However, this room obviously wasn't originally used as a dormitory. The ceiling has accumulated soot from long-term burning of kerosene lamps."

Kerosene lamps were relatively rare items under Senate rule. Generally, only Senators and high-level naturalized cadres used them. Four orderlies who had only arrived a week ago had neither the qualification nor the time to leave these traces on the ceiling. In all of Wuzhou city, the number of kerosene lamps could probably be counted on one hand, with at most three or four users.

"You mean Xie Erren worked in the East Wing."

"Yes. Such thick black soot traces cannot be from naturalized cadres. Only we Senators who like to work at night have such habits."

Chen Baibin understood his meaning. Xie Erren had not only taken in "Cai Lan" but had also cohabited with her here for an extended period.

This point even the Political Security Bureau's top-secret report hadn't mentioned—naturally, Luo Yangming, who wrote the report, couldn't have known the private details of these Senators.

If true, Xie Erren was in serious trouble. From the perspective of protecting a Senator's personal safety and maintaining confidentiality, cohabiting with an indigenous person who hadn't been vetted, wasn't security-cleared, and wasn't even a naturalized citizen was itself a grave breach of discipline. Not to mention such a person having intimate access to the Senate's confidential materials.

"It seems this glossed-over Cai Lan is an important breakthrough point," Chen Baibin said with some regret. "Pity she already committed suicide—really coincidental!"

Ji Xin nodded but didn't speak. He also didn't believe Cai Lan had "committed suicide." But strictly speaking, the person was already dead—no need to dwell on it anymore. He said: "How Cai Lan died is no longer important now. But this matter has pointed us in a direction. We should approach the investigation more from the perspective of naturalized citizens."

Naturalized citizens were just one aspect, he thought. Such a large courtyard with such refined furnishings definitely required many service personnel. These service personnel were highly likely not naturalized citizens but indigenous people. Their testimony would actually be more reliable. But where were they now?

He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine: these people might well never be found.

"Then tomorrow we should talk to Luo Yangming first. He's from the Political Security Bureau and he wrote the report. It'll be easier to talk—there won't be too much whitewashing and covering up," Chen Baibin suggested.

"Luo Yangming is our trump card. If we go to him immediately, it's too direct. It might cause an overreaction—not only bad for Luo Yangming, but even worse for himself." Ji Xin opened his notebook. "I think we should start by speaking with the captured enemy prisoners. According to the report, two prisoners are particularly important: one named Jiang Suo, one named Yi Haoran. They were the commanders and organizers of the enemy. Starting with them follows proper procedure."

(End of Chapter)