Huo Shaoheng had just hung up on Chen Lie when he heard the operator through his earpiece. “Sir, Deputy Minister Xue called. He wants to speak with you.”
Huo Shaoheng did not want to be disturbed. He told the operator: “Ask him to leave a message. I’m busy right now, and won’t be taking any external calls.”
An official statement was released at 6 o’clock in the evening. After that, all the phones in the Special Ops base continued to ring off the hook, up until the day of Dou Qingyan’s trial, three days later. Most of the calls were from friends and relatives of the guests, calling to ask for Huo Shaoheng and plead their case.
Once 48 hours had elapsed, the guests detained in the Special Operations Forces base were released, one by one. Not all the guests were allowed to walk free, however; some were detained for further observation because their phones showed suspicious activity.
Jin Wanyi was one of the guests who had been allowed to leave. She was entirely innocent, after all—she had merely been caught in the crossfire.
Yin Shixiong walked her to the door. He had nothing better to do, anyway. “Take care, Lawyer Jin.”
Jin Wanyi knew Yin Shixiong’s real identity by now. She rolled her eyes at him unhappily. “Mr, Yin, how could you? That was mean of you to deceive me.”
“Oh, I was just doing my job.” Yin Shixiong offered no further explanation. He bade goodbye to Jin Wanyi, and returned to the base.
Jin Wanyi chewed on her lip as she walked out of the Special Ops base. She saw that Mr. Jin, a distantly related uncle of hers and one of the partners at JD Law Firm, had come to pick her up.
“Hello, Uncle! You personally came to pick me up?” Jin Wanyi was pleasantly surprised. She hurried over to the car.
“I was worried about you. Get in, quick.” One of the limousine’s doors opened, and Jin Wanyi stepped inside.
The car made a U-turn and sped away.
…
Zhao Liangze had just walked Bai Shuang to the door.
He saw Jin Wanyi get into a limousine, and nonchalantly raised a hand to part his bangs. It was just a cover: his watch was equipped with a camera, and he snapped a photo of the car’s license plate with it.
Bai Shuang had been uncharacteristically silent, but it was obvious that she was in a good mood. She blushed at the sight of Zhao Liangze; she had been the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, once, but try as she might, she could not form a coherent sentence in front of Zhao Liangze.
Zhao Liangze was very polite to her. He apologized profusely. “Miss Bai, please don’t take this personally. We’re just following protocol here, you’re not being charged with anything.”
Bai Shuang finally smiled. “It’s fine.” As soon as she said that, she lapsed into silence.
Zhao Liangze looked around. “Miss Bai, I don’t see anyone waiting for you. Did your family send someone to pick you up?”
“…I guess they haven’t arrived yet?” Bai Shuang looked around, but did not see any car from the Bai family. “What about my cousin, isn’t she coming with me?”
She was referring to Bai Yueran.
“Your cousin is a total workaholic. As soon as she got out of the interrogation room, she ran off with her other colleagues in the Legal Department for a meeting.” Zhao Liangze laughed. “Do you want to see her?”
“No, I don’t want to bother her when she’s busy.” Bai Shuang saw Zhao Liangze laugh, and turned a deeper shade of red.
Zhao Liangze chatted amiably with her, and only excused himself when a car finally arrived to pick her up.
Bai Shuang sat in the car. Her eyes were glued upon Zhao Liangze’s slender back.
Her heart had been shrouded in a dark fog ever since her father’s act of treason; now, finally, a ray of sunshine was slowly parting the fog.
…
He Zhichu and Wen Shouyi were released as soon as the maximum time allowed for their detention was up.
Gu Nianzhi personally escorted He Zhichu out of the base.
They stopped at the boundary line outside of the Special Ops HQ. He Zhichu’s handsome face was frosty, even as he helped Gu Nianzhi adjust the fuzzy beret on her head. “You should be spending time in the university, instead of wasting your time pretending to be a soldier here. You’re a lawyer. Don’t be deluded into thinking you’re one of them.”
Gu Nianzhi readily agreed with him. She did not dare cross him again, not after what happened in the interrogation room. Deep down, however, she stuck her tongue out at him. She would give up being a lawyer and join the army in a heartbeat if it were possible for her to do so…
Unfortunately, the Special Operations Forces did not accept her…
The thought upset her, and Gu Nianzhi decided not to dwell on it. She smiled at He Zhichu. “Professor He, I’ll visit you at the university in a day or two to get your signature. Don’t forget!”
“All right. Call me beforehand. I’ll send a car to pick you up.” He Zhichu’s fingers were icy cold. They occasionally came in contact with Gu Nianzhi’s ear as they tugged on her beret, and Gu Nianzhi had to shrink away uncomfortably. She bade He Zhichu farewell with a simple “Goodbye, Professor He,” and watched him get into his car before returning to the base.
Gu Nianzhi returned to Huo Shaoheng’s residence, only to discover that there was now a constant stream of guests entering and leaving the house.
She pulled Yin Shixiong to a corner of the living room as she stared inquisitively at the crowd. “Brother Xiong, what’s going on? Why are all these people here?”
“…What, are you going to defend them?” Yin Shixiong gave a wry laugh. “Do you even know what they’ve done?”
“What’s wrong? Is it serious?”
“Of course it’s serious. We’ve had to clean out the Special Operations Forces,” said Yin Shixiong animatedly, as though he were an overly eager professor conducting a lecture on his favorite subject. “Heh, everyone says Prime Minister Dou is one of the people, a commoner who worked his way up the ladder. They say he’s not the kind to use underhanded tactics, or stir up political infighting. Well, it turns out he’s just as bad as the rest of them—maybe worse, seeing as he had the audacity to plant his men in the Special Ops!”
“Oh? You’re sure his agents are among us?”
“Of course I’m sure. How else would he be able to get those photos?” Yin Shixiong threw the dart in his hand. It struck the bull’s eyes on the dart board hanging on the opposite wall. “Want to play a game of darts with me?”
“Ugh, no! You know I hate playing darts!” Gu Nianzhi hated playing darts because she had terrible aim with darts. She was a much better shot with a gun in her hand. “You’re conducting a purge, just because of those photos?”
“The photos are just the tip of the iceberg. Dou Qingyan had four other men help her commit her crime. They stole confidential information from the Special Ops and smuggled them out. And it isn’t just the photos, there’s also…
“Big Xiong, Mr. Huo is looking for you.” Zhao Liangze walked over, just in time to stop Yin Shixiong from finishing his sentence.
Gu Nianzhi smiled. “I’m going to bed. You guys should get some rest, too.”
She turned and walked dejectedly up the stairs.
Yin Shixiong watched uncomfortably as Gu Nianzhi climbed the stairs and eventually disappeared from view, but he made no attempt to stop her. He glared at Zhao Liangze and said in a low voice: “You moron, couldn’t you have come up with a better way to change the subject? Nianzhi knows what you were trying to do, you were so obvious about it!”
“I did it for the both of you, you know. Everyone’s on edge now, after the incident with the leaked photos. You better watch what you say,” Zhao Liangze said indignantly. “General Ji and Chairman Long are here. Director Bai is entertaining them in the living room right now, but they’re waiting for Mr. Huo. You should go look for him, quickly…”
…
At that very moment, over in the Prime Minister’s official residence, Yan Qiuying, the Prime Minister’s wife, was sobbing her heart out. She tugged on her husband’s sleeve and cried: “You have to think of a way to save Qingyan! Do you want to see her behind bars?”
“She’s right, Mr. Prime Minister. You can’t just stand idly by. Qingyan has suffered so much in the last six years. Besides, what’s the big deal about those photos? Why is General Huo being so difficult about it? Why is he calling the shots, anyway? He’s not the Prime Minister!”
Mrs. Yan was currently surrounded by the wives of a few of the cabinet ministers. They were close to Mrs, Yan, because their husbands reported to Prime Minister Dou.
The women had done their best to plead on Dou Qingyan’s behalf, and were now rallying about Mrs. Yan to comfort her.
“Yes, that makes sense. I don’t care how powerful General Huo is, he’s just an officer in the military. You’re the head of the country, the Prime Minister! You’re responsible for everything in this country. No one has more authority than you!”
The ladies had a glib tongue, and were experts at flattery. They could suck up to someone all day and never have to repeat a phrase.
Prime Minister Dou had remained calm—up until he heard the wife of the Minister of Finance sigh and say: “To be honest, I think they’re just trying to be difficult. At worst, Dou Qingyan shouldn’t have said General Huo was her ex-boyfriend. At best, it’s just an innocent crush. They’re blowing things out of proportion. They want to try her in military court, but Qingyan isn’t even a soldier anymore! What grounds do they have to court-martial her?”
Prime Minister Dou could hardly sit still after that.
This incident was, on the surface, purely about Dou Qingyan, but he was sure the Special Ops’ actual target was him.
“Sir, you have a phone call.” Prime Minister Dou’s first secretary walked in with a phone.
Prime Minister Dou solemnly excused himself, and walked to a side hall with the phone. “Hello, yes? What is it?”
“Sir, I have bad news. The four men we planted in the Special Ops as our agents have been arrested by the Special Ops early this morning!”
Prime Minister Dou was hopping mad. “What did you say?! They were arrested early this morning—and you just found out about it?! Do you know how difficult it was for us to get those four men into the Special Ops?!”