Chapter 56: Handling Opinions

Xiao Zhanfeng knew what the chief meant and stood at attention, saying, “To serve the Senate and the people!”

“Good. Since you have arrived in Leizhou, you will be one of the main responsible persons here from now on. I happen to have a tricky matter that I am preparing to hand over to you,” Yan Maoda said.

Xiao Zhanfeng thought to himself, the first test has already come. He said in a calm voice, “Please give your orders, Chief.”

“Follow me.”

Yan Maoda got up and led him through a door, twisting and turning through several corridors with sentries, and finally came to a small room with guards on duty.

The room only had simple tables, chairs, and file cabinets. Xiao Zhanfeng was familiar with the Australian’s ways, and seeing this layout, he knew that this was a place for interrogating important criminals.

Yan Maoda opened a door inside, and inside was another guard, guarding a long corridor with seven or eight locked, iron-clad doors on both sides. Obviously, this was a private prison set up by the Australians locally.

When Xiao Zhanfeng was in Leizhou, he only knew that the Australians had taken over all of the former Third Master Zhu’s property, and had also taken control of the original Haiyi Hall, carrying out large-scale construction on Haian Street. He didn’t expect that they had secretly established such a large-scale operation.

It seemed that the Leizhou Sugar Industry Guild on Haian Street was the seat of the Senate’s government in Leizhou.

Yan Maoda nodded to the guard and led Xiao Zhanfeng to a door, motioning for him to open the peephole on the door and look inside.

The peephole was made of thick glass, but it was very small. At present, they could not produce one-way glass with a very thin coating, so they could only reduce the size. To ensure safety, the thickness was also made relatively large.

The cell was not large, but it was not dark and damp. The skylight on the roof let in bright light, and the environment could be seen clearly. A woman was sitting in the room, her head bowed, embroidering on an embroidery frame.

Although her head was bowed and her face could not be seen clearly, it was clear that she was not old, only about twenty-seven or twenty-eight. She had fair skin and a plump figure, at least the wife of a middle-class family.

“This is…”

Yan Maoda didn’t speak, and led him back to the interrogation room.

“Her name is Qiu Han,” Yan Maoda took a thin file from the file cabinet and placed it on the table in front of him. “The matter is very simple. Qiu Han is Senator Wen’s life secretary. She used to be…”

Xiao Zhanfeng nodded. He knew Wen Tong. Although he was not as familiar with him as he was with Chen Tianxiong, he knew what a life secretary was.

“Before Qiu Han became Senator Wen’s life secretary, she was Zhu An’s, also known as Third Master Zhu’s, concubine. This was disclosed in the materials submitted when she became Senator Wen’s life secretary.”

“But we discovered in last year’s political review that not only was Qiu Han Zhu An’s concubine, but she was also the sister of the pirate Gu Dachun, who was killed by us.”

Xiao Zhanfeng was a little confused. This matter had little to do with the Civil Affairs Committee or the Foreign Intelligence Bureau. It was under the jurisdiction of the General Political Security Bureau. He didn’t know why it was being brought to his attention specifically.

“After being exposed, Qiu Han confessed that she didn’t tell the truth because she was afraid. She also said that when she sought refuge with Senator Wen back then, she did have the intention of avenging Zhu An and her brother. But as time went on, she felt that Senator Wen had been very kind to her and she could no longer bring herself to do it. She just wanted to serve Senator Wen well. Other than that, there was nothing else, and no collusion with outsiders. We conducted a physical analysis and a lie detector test on her confession, and after several months of external investigation, we believe that what she said is indeed the truth.”

After Yan Maoda finished speaking, he gave Xiao Zhanfeng a meaningful look and continued, “Since the matter has been investigated clearly, we need to give a specific conclusion and handling opinion. Senator Wen has proposed that he hopes Qiu Han will be released and return to his side to work.”

He pulled out a formatted official document from the file. Xiao Zhanfeng recognized it as a “Political Review Conclusion and Handling Opinion Form.”

The political review conclusion column had already been filled in: “After investigation: it is true that some personal and family relationships were concealed, but there are no deeds or remarks that endanger the Senate and the people.” The handling opinion column below was still blank.

“Now I authorize you to fill in the handling opinion.”

Xiao Zhanfeng was shocked, “Chief, this violates organizational procedures. I don’t have this authority…”

“This is a special authorization I am giving you as a senator and the deputy station chief of the Leizhou station,” Yan Maoda said sternly. “You know I have this authority.”

Every senator station chief at an overseas station actually served as the highest local political security officer.

“You now have half an hour to study these materials,” Yan Maoda looked at his watch. “I’ll be back in half an hour. The handling opinion you fill in will be my decision.”

Only Xiao Zhanfeng was left in the interrogation room. He had not expected this test to be so delicate, and it also involved a senator. He carefully studied the few materials. No matter how he looked at it, besides concealing the fact that she was Gu Dachun’s sister, Qiu Han had no other blemishes.

From a cautious point of view, it was not appropriate for someone like Qiu Han, with an unclear history and who had once concealed her family relationships, to return to the side of a senator. But from another perspective, Qiu Han had been Senator Wen’s life secretary for more than a year. If she had wanted to do something, she would have had countless opportunities.

He picked up a dip pen and wrote on the handling opinion: “Transfer back to the original unit for controlled use.” Then he signed his name and the date below.

He used blotting paper to absorb the ink and handed it to Yan Maoda, who had returned to the interrogation room. Yan Maoda looked at it silently and put it in the file. He pulled the bell rope and called the guard outside.

“Fill out a No. 11 decision to lift the investigation and bring it to me for my signature.”

Xu Ke was among the first batch of the Overlord Action special mixed formation to return to Lingao. Originally, he should have returned to Kaohsiung to continue providing intelligence and internal security support for the Engine Project, but an urgent telegram from the “center” ordered him to return to Lingao immediately to report on his work.

“It’s probably the arms factory on Gulangyu that has attracted their attention,” Xu Ke thought. He had already submitted the first batch of reports to the Intelligence Bureau in Xiamen, including photos, survey data, and the confessions of prisoners.

The transport ship he was on had just entered the port, and Jiang Shan, the director of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, was already waiting for him in an office in the customs building. He looked a little anxious.

“It’s been a hard journey. Originally, you should have been allowed to rest first after traveling back and forth, but this discovery is too important,” Jiang Shan said bluntly. “This is an analysis made by several senators from the machinery department based on the photos and survey data you sent earlier. It seems that the situation is more urgent than we imagined.”

Jiang Shan took a sealed file bag with a wax seal from his briefcase and handed it to him. “You study it and immediately prepare a report. The Executive Committee will hold a secret meeting tomorrow morning, and some heads of relevant departments will attend.”

“I understand. I’ll have the materials ready tonight,” Jiang Shan said. “Later, I made some new discoveries on Gulangyu and Xiamen Island.”

“Good. You can include them. This matter must be kept absolutely confidential. The professional senators you consult can only be limited to the few on our list.”

“Yes, I understand,” Xu Ke replied.

“Then you go home and pack up first. In two hours, I’ll send someone to pick you up. Tonight, you’ll stay at the General Office’s First Guesthouse to prepare the materials,” Jiang Shan said.

The next morning, the meeting was held in the conference room of the Executive Committee compound. Not many people attended: it was an enlarged meeting of the Executive Committee. Besides the members of the Executive Committee, only the Chief of the General Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Director of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, and the First Deputy Director of the General Political Security Bureau attended. Basically, they were all heads of decision-making and violent institutions.

Xu Ke had been preparing the report all last night and didn’t finish the PPT until after two in the morning. To maintain secrecy, he did all the materials himself.

Ten minutes early, Xu Ke followed Jiang Shan into the conference room. This was his first time in the conference room of the Executive Committee compound. At this time, Xu Ke was wearing a crisp naval uniform. This was the Type 87 naval officer’s spring and autumn dress uniform he wore when he served in the PLA, with the insignia changed. Because this uniform was made of woolen cloth, Xu Ke used it as a dress uniform and wore it on more important occasions—the Senate Navy’s uniform was really too shabby.

He was carrying a classified briefcase with a security cord attached to his wrist.

The attendees of the meeting arrived one after another, and the meeting started on time.

Wen Desi, who was presiding over the meeting, first made a brief opening speech, and then motioned for Jiang Shan to continue.

Jiang Shan stood up. He was wearing a handsome hunting-style jacket—from the fabric to the workmanship, it was clear that it was a product of another time and space. It stood out among the cotton military-style jackets worn by most people in the office.

“Comrades. During the recent Overlord Action, our bureau dispatched Navy Captain Xu Ke to act with the troops to provide intelligence support and collect intelligence on the spot. He made some important discoveries in Xiamen while carrying out his mission. According to the materials and intelligence analysis we have, the nature of this matter may be very serious, and we believe that it may also be related to the ‘Jia’ ship incident. Therefore, it is necessary to report to the Executive Committee and the Senate, and request the Executive Committee to give specific instructions for the next step of our work. Now let him explain to you.”

Xu Ke stood up and walked to the podium in a few steps. He first saluted everyone, then took out the documents from his bag, but he did not read them, because he already knew the content by heart. Then he turned on his laptop and projector.

The meeting used a projector to play the PPT. The first thing that appeared on the screen were a few digital photos of the aftermath of the battle at Zhongzuosuo City. Xu Ke began to explain.