"That's so thoughtful," Ji Xin looked at the room and praised, "Old Jie, you really have a taste for life."
This was originally a casual compliment, but Xie Erren, who had a ulterior motive, had an unpleasant meaning. He laughed a few times and said: "This courtyard is originally a place where I come to stay and relax from time to time. It also welcomes senior comrades. Of course, it must be made more comfortable. There are orderlies here-all transferred from the army." People are very reliable. If you need anything, just ask them."
He said hello, and four strong young men came, all wearing National Army uniforms and equipped with pistols.
"This is a chief from the central government. From now on, you must follow the instructions of the two chiefs and take care of your daily life. You will be responsible for guarding when you go out. Do you understand?"
The four of them stood at attention together and gave a resounding "yes".
"You guys should rest first and I won't disturb you any more. Let me know when the investigation will begin and I will fully cooperate."
Chen Baibin felt that Xie Erren spoke calmly and entertained people thoughtfully. There is absolutely no sense of Zhao Yingong’s worried and hasty response when Hangzhou Station was investigated. I felt a little fond of him.
Ji Xin nodded and said, "Don't worry, let's officially start working tomorrow."
The three words "don't be in a hurry" made Xie Erren's heart jump again, and he couldn't help but wonder what this word meant. He agreed perfunctorily: "Okay, then I'll go to work first."
Watching Xie Erren leave in a hurry, Chen Baibin whispered: "This elder Xie seems to be quite capable."
"To be the chief official in Wuzhou area, you must have some ability." Ji Xin said.
The orderly came in and brought the two people's luggage in. According to the rules, only his maid could open the Senate's daily luggage. The orderly only brought the box in and then left. The two of them took matters into their own hands to pack their luggage. There are three main rooms, one of which is the office, and the two east and west rooms are their bedrooms.
The orderly brought tea in: "Report! The water in the bathroom is ready."
After saying that, he turned to leave, but Ji Xin stopped him and took out a piece of white paper.
"Write down the names and brief resumes of your entire service team."
"Yes, Chief!" The orderly was a little confused, but the Chief's order was overwhelming. He immediately took the pen and started writing crookedly on the white paper.
Ji Xin took the paper, read it over, put it in his folder, and asked, "Are you the squad leader Zhou Chuyi?"
"Report to the chief! Yes."
"When did you arrive in Wuzhou?"
"A week ago, Chief!"
"Why are you sent here?"
"The superiors said that Wuzhou applied to transfer us to serve the chief."
"What was the specific situation in the yard when you came here? I mean, the furnishings and layout of the house."
"Same as today!" Zhou Chuyi answered simply and neatly, "After we came here, we cleaned every day and waited for the arrival of the chief."
"Okay, you can go."
The orderly left, and Ji Xin stood up and said, "I'm going to wash up first."
"Okay, I just have to pack my luggage."
Chen Baibin lives in a room on the east side. It can be seen that the furniture in the room has been rearranged, because there are still traces of past furniture on the walls. Judging from the traces, it was not the simple single bed that it is now, but a medium-sized bed.
He opened the suitcase next to the bed, and a faint fragrance immediately emitted from it. Chen Baibin received relevant training in Lingao and immediately smelled the scent of the spices used by women to diffuse their clothes.
Have women lived here? He was a little confused.
After packing their luggage and returning to the main hall, Ji Xin had already put on pajamas and slippers and was wiping his hair with a towel.
"Go quickly, the bathroom here is really nice." Ji Xin said, "Not only does it have a bathtub, but it also has a Japanese-style courtyard! This old man really enjoys life."
Chen Baibin came back from the shower and saw that Ji Xin had begun to look through a pile of documents.
"What's this?"
"It's the documents related to the Wuzhou Incident that Xie Erren just asked someone to send over. There are also materials on several cases they are currently investigating."
"There are quite a lot of documents." Chen Baibin flipped through a few of them. "But these documents are very well done and very detailed. I just don't know how reliable they are..." He lowered his voice.
"It's up to us to discover it." Ji Xin said, "Until the problem is discovered, let's consider it reliable."
“Where to start?”
"First of all, we need to sort out what happened. How the enemy came in, how they broke into Elder Xie's office, and how they kidnapped him and then rescued him on the city wall. This process must be investigated and understood, and every detail must be reported. If we can match the number, we will record it if we can’t. We will start with the written materials, so that when we talk to the relevant personnel in the next step, we can have a clear target and know whether they lied."
"clear."
"The Wuzhou incident also involved a riot in a Sanhezui labor camp. This matter is still under investigation by Wuzhou itself. We will not get involved in the specific investigation for the time being. We will see what conclusions they come up with and then we will conduct a review. .”
"Looking at what the secret report says, things at Sanhezui are not simple."
"There are many things involved in the Sanhezui case, but I personally don't think it necessarily involves Xie Erren. The focus of the investigation is still in the city." Ji Xin looked around and asked, "What do you think of this yard? Sample?"
“The layout is very comfortable.”
"anything else?"
"More refined."
"Don't you think there's a powdery smell here?"
Chen Baibin's eyes widened: "Do you feel the same way?" He immediately mentioned the scent of incense he smelled when he was putting away the clothes.
"If you guessed it right, a woman lived here, and her status was not low." Ji Xin said, "Apart from the exquisite furniture and furnishings, what do you think this 'conference table' in front of us is?"
Chen Baibin looked at the table and saw that it was high-end furniture made in this time and space. The decoration was simple and the size was large.
"This is called a painting desk. Most people don't have it in their homes. Only those with money and leisure will have it. It's used for writing calligraphy and painting."
Xie Erren did not know how to paint, so he specially prepared such a painting table. This person's status is self-evident.
There are no female senators in Wuzhou. Only Xie Erren's maid could qualify as a woman of high status who could live in a key place like the Third General Mansion.
However, before Xie Erren set out, it was said that he did not bring his maid to take office because Wuzhou was close to the front line. So who is this woman?
They all knew the answer in their minds, which was Cai Lan, the "retained personnel" mentioned in Xie Erren's report, and the "mistress" in Luo Yangming's report.
"It should be that Cai Lan." Chen Baibin lowered his voice and said.
Ji Xin nodded: "However, this place is so big, it's impossible for her to live alone. Have you seen all the houses in this yard?"
"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 a few camp beds and simple furniture inside. It looked like a dormitory for our four orderlies. However, this room was obviously not originally used as a dormitory. .Because there is soot accumulated from kerosene lamps burning for a long time on the ceiling.”
Kerosene lamps were relatively rare items under the Senate, and were generally only used by senators and senior naturalized cadres. The four servicemen who arrived just a week ago had neither the qualifications nor the time to leave these marks on the ceiling. In this city of Wuzhou, the number of kerosene lamps can be counted on one hand, and only three or four people can use them.
"You mean Xie Erren did business in the east wing."
"Yes. Such thick black smoke traces cannot be naturalized civilian cadres. Only us veterans who like to work at night have such a habit."
Chen Baibin understood what he meant. Xie Erren not only adopted "Cai Lan", but also lived with her here for a long time.
This point was not mentioned even in the top secret report of the Political Security Bureau - naturally, Luo Yangming, who wrote the report, could not know the details of the private lives of these elders.
If this is the case, then Xie Erren's matter will be big. From the perspective of protecting the personal safety and confidentiality of the elders, living together with an unexamined, unrated, and not even naturalized native is a serious violation of discipline. Not to mention that such a man was within easy reach of the Senate's confidential material.
"It seems that Cai Lan, who was brought up in one stroke, is an important breakthrough." Chen Baibin said with some regret, "It's a pity that she has committed suicide - what a coincidence!"
Ji Xin nodded and said nothing. He also didn't believe that Cai Lan "committed suicide." But now that the person is dead, there is no need to dwell on it. He said: "It is no longer important how Cai Lan died. But this matter points us in the direction. We should start the investigation from the perspective of naturalized people."
Naturalized citizens were only one aspect. He thought that such a large courtyard with such exquisite furnishings would definitely require a lot of service staff. There was a high probability that these service staff were not naturalized citizens, but indigenous people. The testimonies of these people are actually more authentic. But where are they?
Suddenly a chill ran down his spine: These people may never be found again.
"Then let's talk to Luo Yangming first tomorrow. He is from the Political Security Bureau and he wrote the report. It is easier to talk and there won't be too much whitewashing." Chen Baibin suggested.
"Luo Yangming is Wang Zha now. It would be too direct for us to talk to him right away. It might cause an overreaction - not only bad for Luo Yangming, but also bad for himself." Ji Xin opened his notebook, "Let me see, first of all The captured enemy prisoners began to talk. According to the report, there are two prisoners who are more important, one is named Jiang Suo and the other is Yi Haoran. They are the enemy's commanders and organizers, and they will comply with the rules."
