Chapter 328: Searching for Cousin-in-Law

At this thought, her mind was in turmoil. She knew that if she reported this, her cousin-in-law’s official title of “Jinyiwei Trial Centurion” alone would be enough for her to “render meritorious service.” Although many people had been arrested, none of them held a real “official position.” Lin Ming was a proper Jinyiwei Trial Centurion, a genuine court-appointed official. His importance was completely different from the “small fry” who had been caught. For this alone, a promotion of one rank would be no problem. Perhaps this could even be a stepping stone into the State Security Bureau…

She suddenly realized how heartless such a thought was. Not only had she and Lin Ming shared a small affection, but just in terms of their family relationship, he had done nothing to wrong her. Her days in Foshan could be said to be some of the freest and happiest times of her youth. And now she was thinking of turning him in for personal gain…

A chill went down her spine at the thought. She couldn’t do such a thing. Besides, if she reported her cousin-in-law, what would happen to her cousin? Her cousin had always been good to her…

However, if she didn’t report him, and her cousin-in-law was captured… she couldn’t bear to imagine it. She pessimistically thought that Lin Ming would probably be caught before long. Li Yongxun knew all too well how formidable the Senate’s organs of dictatorship were. For her cousin-in-law to try to get by in Lingao with his meager “jianghu experience” was next to impossible.

She had to find her cousin-in-law as soon as possible and persuade him to leave Lingao! Otherwise, the consequences of his capture would be unimaginable. Although Lingao had no imperial prison, no dreaded “Northern Pacification Bureau,” once he fell into the hands of the State Security Bureau, his fate would be no better than falling into the hands of the Eastern Depot. The only difference was that the torture here was “cleaner” and less likely to kill. The lives of convicted traitors were spared so that every last bit of value could be squeezed out of them, to be finally consumed in the mines and on construction sites.

If anything happened to her cousin-in-law, she would first have to answer to her cousin. Her cousin had a large family, and without this pillar of support, what would become of them?

Moreover, after her cousin-in-law’s arrest, her own family relationship with him would become a trigger. Although she had already clearly stated her relationship with Lin Ming in her personal statement, the situation was suspicious. Given the State Security Bureau’s usual methods, she would definitely be “suspended for isolated investigation” as a “person of interest.”

The thought of being locked in a “study class,” writing “materials” day and night, made Li Yongxun shudder. And with such a mark on her record, whether she would be allowed to continue as a “police officer” would become an unknown, let alone her dream of one day working in the “Imperial City Office.”

But how could she find her cousin-in-law now? Since he had infiltrated to gather military intelligence, he must have come under an alias. Lingao was a huge place, with a resident and transient population of nearly 200,000, a large city even by the standards of the Great Ming. If he used an alias, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack…

However, this was no challenge for Li Yongxun, who had been immersed in the police system for several years. She had a decent understanding of the Senate police’s investigation methods and mindset. Combining this with what she had seen today, she began to analyze carefully:

Lin Ming was at “Night Flower.” Although he wasn’t wearing his own clothes but a bathrobe from the establishment, he still had his topknot, which meant he was not a naturalized citizen but had likely entered as a voluntary migrant or a traveling merchant.

Since he hadn’t undergone “purification,” he certainly wasn’t employed by any institution or enterprise under the Senate’s control. Given that there were no beggars or vagrants in Lingao, and he was patronizing a mid-to-high-end brothel like “Night Flower,” it was clear that Lin Ming had a respectable cover, most likely a small merchant.

Since he entered as a merchant, he must have applied for a temporary identity card. Whether he was renting a room or staying in an inn, there would be a record. Although he definitely used an alias, since he was frequenting the pleasure district of Dongmen Market, his lodging should also be in Dongmen Market. Combining these two points should reveal something.

All these household registration materials were managed by the Household Registration Office.

This was the advantage of being in the right place. Li Yongxun secretly felt lucky. She picked up the now-cold black tea, drank it in one gulp, and stood up.

“Sister Li, are you getting off work? Let’s go back to the dormitory together.” The invitation came from her “apprentice,” a recent graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences who now shared a dormitory with her. Although they were polite to each other on the surface, Li Yongxun just didn’t like this girl.

“No, you go back first. I still have some work to finish,” Li Yongxun said.

The “apprentice” obediently left first. Li Yongxun looked up at the entire office. Most of the people in the large office had already left. She stood up and tidied the documents on her desk, sorting and locking them away before leaving.

After leaving the office, she went to the National Police archives. The archives were located in the basement of the headquarters building, where electric lights were installed. The dim yellow light of the low-wattage incandescent bulbs in the corridor cast flickering shadows on the walls, adding a sense of mystery.

Under the dim lights of the corridor, piles, stacks, and bundles of materials and files were scattered about. These were all materials that had not yet been sorted and filed. There was a shortage of everything here, and qualified archivists were unheard of, while the rate at which files accumulated far exceeded the processing speed of the few unprofessional archivists.

The archivist on duty was a retained clerk from the former county yamen’s archives. Although his experience had nothing to do with modern archival management, he was at least considered a “professional.” He learned the new knowledge relatively easily and continued his old trade in this archive.

According to the “Australian masters’” rules, he asked Li Yongxun for her identification, even though she had been coming here once or twice a week for several years.

He examined her ID card carefully, as if he had never seen it before, then stared blankly at her face. This old clerk knew very well what his new masters liked, which was “doing things by the book.” As a “retained person” with a “problematic history,” he always did his best to perform perfectly in this regard.

Finally, he took out a form on a clipboard, filled in her name, police number, and finally the date of inquiry.

“Sign here,” he said, handing back the form and her ID card.

Li Yongxun felt a little nervous. Her query would be recorded on the registration form. However, she came to check the archives every two or three days, and the files she checked were related to her work, so it shouldn’t arouse suspicion.

After signing, she said, “I want to check the temporary identity card issuance records for the last three months.”

The clerk on duty carefully searched the shelves beside him, pulled out a thick index register, licked his finger, and quickly flipped through it. It didn’t take long for him to find the right page.

“The material you want is in B61/839. Follow me.”

They came to storage area B, where rows of tall wooden file cabinets stood. The clerk quickly opened one of the cabinets.

“There are twelve boxes of documents in total. Don’t you have anything more specific?”

“I need to check all of them…” Li Yongxun looked at the huge cardboard boxes. If she was unlucky, she could be searching until dawn and still not find it.

Each of those boxes was as large as a big desk drawer, over a meter deep, and made of cardboard. The clerk found her a trolley, dragged the boxes to the reading area, and turned on the dedicated electric lamp. Li Yongxun took a deep breath, opened the first box, took out a large stack of paper folders, and began to inspect them.

Li Yongxun knew she was looking for a needle in a haystack. ID photography had not yet been widely implemented, so there were no photos on the ID records, only fingerprints. She didn’t know Lin Ming’s alias, which made the search very difficult. After thinking for a moment, she decided she could only go through them one by one and see which ones looked likely.

What she knew for sure was that Lin Ming must have a Foshan accent, so his registered “place of origin” could only be a nearby prefecture or county. Secondly, he was literate and came from a family of centurions, so he was very likely registered as “literate.” Combined with his age and gender, this could narrow down the search range.

Li Yongxun started searching from the most recent date. Her luck was good. She soon found a file where the registrant’s name was “Lin Min.”

Besides the name, everything else matched her cousin-in-law’s profile: gender, age, place of origin, and education level. The only strange thing was that the place of origin was “Kaohsiung,” and the registered occupation was “sailor.” Her cousin-in-law had never been a sailor… However, reading on, “Lin Min” had disembarked from a Guangzhou-registered ship, the “Dongshangju.” This seemed to confirm it further.

She carefully read the registration form, which had little information, a few more times, but couldn’t find anything else. She thought for a moment, picked up a pencil, and copied “Lin Min’s” temporary ID number onto a note, then returned to the counter.

“I want to check this person’s employment registration and household registration.”

The clerk took the note and busied himself with the index books and cards behind him for a while, then found three more files.

The employment registration was simple, but Li Yongxun still found the information she wanted on it. “Lin Min” had registered at the “Weimin Employment Agency” in Dongmen Market, which matched his appearance in the Dongmen Market customs district. Looking at the subsequent employment registration documents, “Lin Min” had become a “clerk” at a wholesale firm in Dongmen Market called “Haixing Store” the day after he registered.

The second document was the temporary household registration material from Haixing Store: “Lin Min,” as an employee of the firm, had been registered to live in the “collective dormitory” of Haixing Store.

Li Yongxun was basically certain that Lin Min was Lin Ming. During the questioning of the prostitutes last night, she had happened to hear someone mention that a guest surnamed Wang was a clerk at “Haixing Store.”