Chapter 975
The Disappearance of Wang Tianfeng
After Minglou revealed himself to be an underground party member, everything that Wang Tianfeng said to Mingtai in the interrogation room was spread at an extremely fast pace.
At that time, the most important thing for everyone in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was how to deal with Minglou.
Just as Zhang Anping explained to Wang Tianfeng and Shen Zui, if Minglou were to be dealt with easily, it would mean the collapse of the vital order that was maintaining the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics.
Fortunately, the outcome was still gratifying—Ming Lou was acquitted, and Wang Tianfeng was transferred out of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics without even a proper position, leaving his post empty.
But after Minglou left the detention cell the next day accompanied by Mao Renfeng, everyone in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics began to pay attention to another matter that had been circulating at the same time the previous night:
The Death of Mingjing!
It's hard to keep secrets even within the Bureau of Secrecy—after settling the battered Mingtai last night, Mingcheng contacted old friends of the Ming family, his intentions quite obvious.
This, in the eyes of many, was the prelude to a major battle between the Mao and Zhang factions.
But the result was quite unexpected.
After Minglou left the detention cell, the storm did not occur. Although some people visited Minglou to inquire about the truth of Mingjing's death, Minglou dismissed them all with the excuse of an "accidental car accident".
The victim's relatives all said so, and even if someone wanted to stir up trouble over this matter, they would be powerless to do so alone. Therefore, the matter was dropped without a trace. This made others curious about what price Zhang Anping had paid to keep Minglou silent on this matter.
Under these circumstances, Mingtai's job transfer to the guard department, which was tightly controlled by Mao's faction, proceeded smoothly without causing any disturbance.
However, the aftermath of this incident occurred just over ten days later—Mingtai, still recovering from his injuries, came to the Guard Department to assume his duties. On the very day he took up his post, the Internal Affairs Investigation Section, a subordinate unit of the Guard Department, launched a series of actions against the Zhang faction, and there were even several near misses.
Fortunately, the matter was inexplicably resolved just two days later—the Zhang faction took a step back, and the Mao faction also took a step back.
But Mingtai did not disappoint. After the Zhang and Mao factions each took a step back, he turned around and colluded with members of the Mao faction's intelligence department, launching a large-scale investigation into Wang Tianfeng.
That's right, it was a big fuss.
Anyone with eyes to see could tell that this was a test, and a test of Zhang Anping at that—once Zhang Anping spoke up to stop it, the Mao faction would know Zhang Anping's bottom line and then hastily end this test. But what was surprising was that after Shen Zui, who was in charge of the intelligence department, reported to "Special Envoy Zhang," the Zhang faction did not make any statement on the matter!
No objection is an endorsement; no restraint is indulgence!
Now that Zhang Anping has completely abandoned Wang Tianfeng, Mingtai is even more lawless!
First, they led men to violently search Wang Tianfeng's residence repeatedly, causing chaos and disorder. Then, they sent people to follow Wang Tianfeng around like a tail, demonstrating close surveillance to the fullest extent.
That wasn't all. He also pulled up a large number of operations handled by Wang Tianfeng and specially hired an accountant from his own company to audit various accounts. In total, he compiled more than 30 items of funds to be investigated, involving more than 100 large yellow croakers.
After that, Mingtai interrogated a large number of underground party members, extracting confessions from them through subtle clues:
Wang Tianfeng of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics is suspected to be one of their comrades.
Mingtai's crude method of framing Zhang Anping was utterly unworthy of his status as Zhang Anping's student. Yet, the report written based on such a rudimentary method of framing actually received the signature and approval of the high-ranking officials of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics!
Investigate Wang Tianfeng!
Overjoyed to receive the permission, Mingtai immediately led the guards straight to the Wang family's residence.
Wang family.
The telephone rang shrilly.
Wang Tianfeng, who had been like a walking corpse during this period, finally reached out and answered the phone after it rang again and again.
An unfamiliar voice came through the microphone:
"Get out of here! Mingtai fabricated evidence that you're a communist sympathizer. He's now authorized to interrogate you and is on his way to arrest you!"
After saying that, the other end of the phone hung up, and at that moment, Wang Tianfeng's cloudy eyes suddenly became unusually sharp.
From the moment Mingtai began his high-profile investigation of him, this outcome was inevitable.
Wang Tianfeng never considered resisting—after Zhang Anping completely abandoned him, he was constantly tormented by the question of "Was I wrong?" and he didn't care at all about what he would encounter next.
But this phone call immediately put his agent on high alert.
Given his popularity, his current situation of being abandoned by Zhang Anping, and the fact that he is definitely being monitored, it is impossible and inappropriate for anyone to notify him.
So, is it Mingtai?
Force yourself to run away so you can then kill yourself with a legitimate reason?
Given Mingtai's hatred for himself, this is not too unusual.
But Wang Tianfeng's agent instincts told him that if Mingtai's stance was not problematic, then the most satisfying way to vent his anger was to capture Mingtai and find a way to control him, given the hatred between them and Mingtai's personality.
Instead of ending it all by killing yourself.
Unless, of course, he has truly found their weakness and they want to take this opportunity to get rid of him completely!
go?
If they try to escape, they will be killed!
Keep?
After Mingtai arrests him, he will have a hundred thousand ways to deal with him.
And this phone call, which cannot find the "whistleblower," will become one of the pieces of evidence confirming that he is a communist.
At that time, they will die with their eyes wide open in disbelief.
Faced with such a certain death situation, Wang Tianfeng not only did not panic, but he also sensed a familiar feeling.
Katyusha!
Upon thinking of these three words, Wang Tianfeng suddenly lost his will to die.
He's dead, and the happiest person must have been the real Katyusha.
With this in mind, Wang Tianfeng made up his mind: he would rather perish together with Katyusha than let her be so smug!
After making the decision, Wang Tianfeng quickly calculated the time Mingtai had given him while picking up the phone and dialing a number.
"I am Zhang Anping!"
Upon hearing the familiar voice from the other end of the phone, Wang Tianfeng felt an inexplicable surge of excitement. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he spoke in his usual tone:
"I just received a phone call."
"Hmm?" A strong sense of doubt traveled through the phone line, but no one asked why—clearly, the person was still harboring resentment.
“Someone informed me that Mingtai fabricated evidence against me for being a communist sympathizer, and now he’s coming to arrest me.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone:
"I signed it."
This answer was unexpected by Wang Tianfeng. He calmly replied:
"I won't run away—the innocent will clear themselves!"
"I know."
After saying those three simple words, the phone call ended.
On the other end of the phone, Mr. Zhang Anping frowned involuntarily after finishing the call.
To avoid suspicion, Mingtai has no contact with him now, but Mingtai's plan was approved by him—to use the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics to completely eliminate Wang Tianfeng. In the current situation, whether Wang Tianfeng stays or runs away, it is a dead end.
But why did Wang Tianfeng call him?
Is it merely... a statement?
Was he... unwilling to accept it?
Zhang Anping pondered for a while but did not reach a conclusion.
[Well, I'll have to see him eventually. Once I do, the truth will be clear...]
Thinking of this, Zhang Anping shook his head slightly and sighed inwardly:
【Pity……】
If only Old Wang had died on the battlefield during the War of Resistance against Japan!
Let's turn our attention back to the Wang family.
In an apartment not far from the Wang family's residence, several agents were listening to conversations on a cassette tape while wearing headphones.
After putting down their headphones, the group reached a consensus:
"It is indeed Commander Zhang's voice."
"Commander Zhang doesn't seem to care about him?"
"Who knows what big shots are thinking—call Young Master Ming, this guy doesn't want to run, the brothers lying in wait should withdraw." "Okay."
With just a few simple words, a path to survival was opened up so easily.
Wang family.
Wang Tianfeng was methodically organizing the items, putting away what needed to be put away and covering what needed to be covered.
After quickly and slowly tidying everything up, Wang Tianfeng took his pajamas and headed to the bathroom. As the steam rose, the bathroom glass was completely obscured, and only a vague figure could be seen lying in the bathtub.
From the high-altitude surveillance point, the current state of the Wang family could be seen. The agent in charge of monitoring abandoned his surveillance of the vaguely visible figures and said to his companion:
"I must say, this guy surnamed Wang is quite particular; he knows to wash himself clean."
His companion shook his head: "What's the use of washing him clean? He'll still stink after squatting for a few days. When it's time for him to set off, he'll still be smelly."
"That's true—look at this guy, Commander Zhang protected him so much, but he kept betraying Commander Zhang. Now look what happened, no one's protecting him anymore!"
"Who knows what he's thinking? Let's just do our best to keep to the end! Young Master Ming is very generous; he definitely won't treat us unfairly later!"
At this point, the two couldn't help but smile knowingly. Perhaps it was the lure of money, but as soon as they finished laughing, the agent picked up his binoculars again and looked towards the Wang family's bathroom—and was relieved to see that he could still make out the figures.
His companion laughed and said, "There's no need to look—the eavesdropping team said he even called Commander Zhang to say that the innocent have nothing to fear!"
"The innocent are innocent? That's a bit... naive!"
The two couldn't help but laugh again. Who didn't know that Wang Tianfeng was innocent?
But in this world, does it really matter whether things are clean or not?
Despite their constant laughter and banter while being monitored from afar, their professionalism as secret agents was impeccable. Although they joked that there was no need to watch men shower, they would both occasionally pick up their binoculars to take a look.
After a while, an agent suddenly asked, "How long did he take a bath last time?"
"About ten minutes! During the days we've been monitoring them, it's never exceeded fifteen minutes!"
"Check the call log. Find out what time the person eavesdropping made the call!"
"It was half an hour ago—what happened?"
"He spent about ten minutes getting ready, and it's been almost 20 minutes since he went into the bathroom, and he's still soaking in it."
"Hiss—the shadow has been moving in a small area, something's wrong!"
The two surveillance agents' expressions changed drastically, and they immediately took out their phones to call the action team opposite the Wang family's house.
About ten seconds later, four burly men rushed out from across the street from the Wang family's house. They fiddled with the lock on the Wang family's door but couldn't open it. Then one of them quickly went back inside and took out a door-breaking hammer. After a few bangs, they finally broke open the Wang family's door. The four men, armed with weapons, filed in and kicked open the bathroom door, only to be dumbfounded.
A piece of clothing was stretched out in the bathtub, swaying slightly with the flow of hot water. Apart from that, the bathroom was... empty, with only water running everywhere.
A perfectly healthy person just vanished like that?!
"Impossible! There must be a trap! Search quickly!"
Four agents were searching through the tiny bathroom when one of them noticed something amiss and kicked the smooth tiled wall. With a loud thud, the "wall" collapsed.
A huge hole just appeared out there.
An agent stepped forward to inspect the large hole, his voice filled with anxiety as he said:
"It was broken open a long time ago, but it was plugged up with bricks without cement, and then a layer of putty and tiles were applied to the outside."
"Chase him! We can't let him get away!"
Too late to catch up!
The action team stationed opposite the Wang family's residence, along with two monitoring teams and an eavesdropping team, conducted a search in the vicinity but found no trace of Wang Tianfeng. At that moment, Mingtai also arrived with his men to make an arrest, and these men joined the search. Even though this expanded the search area, they still couldn't find any trace of Wang Tianfeng.
The person has disappeared!
……
Wang Tianfeng ran away!
The news was relayed to the headquarters of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics immediately.
At first, people didn't believe it—based on their understanding of Wang Tianfeng's character, it was impossible for him to flee after committing a crime.
But as the photos from the scene were sent over, the entire Security Bureau finally believed this undeniable fact.
The pre-existing escape tunnel further substantiated the accusations against Wang Tianfeng!
"Can you believe it? Wang Tianfeng, who stirred up trouble in the bureau and kept shouting for the traitor to be caught, is actually the traitor himself! Can you believe it?"
Mao Renfeng's office.
Looking at the hole in the photo, Mao Renfeng was speechless.
Since this escape hole was prepared in advance, it means that Wang Tianfeng was indeed prepared to escape at any time, which also proves one thing:
This person really is a Communist!
Otherwise, would he need to prepare this?
"What a fine Wang Tianfeng!"
Mao Renfeng couldn't help but "admire" it. He recalled the underground party's assassination attempt on Wang Tianfeng last year, and couldn't help but "praise" it again:
"What a clever ruse!"
"I never imagined that Zhang Anping, who had been playing with eagles for over a decade, would end up being outsmarted by Wang Tianfeng!"
At this point, Mao Renfeng's expression turned strange. Wang Tianfeng is someone you, Zhang Anping, have repeatedly tried to protect with your life. Zhang, this time... you're probably not going to get through this difficult time!
……
Zhang Anping's office.
Shen Zui was reporting to Zhang Anping when he said that Wang Tianfeng had run away as planned. Zhang Anping unconsciously dropped the pen in his hand.
After a long moment of astonishment, Zhang Anping finally asked:
Do you believe he is a communist?
Shen Zui was silent for a moment: "He... shouldn't be."
"He isn't!"
After stating his answer with unwavering certainty, Zhang Anping said slowly:
"Let him run away—go easy on him and the Operations and Intelligence departments, don't push him too far."
"Let's just pretend... he never existed."
Faced with the sentimental Zhang Anping, Shen Zui didn't know what to say. He nodded slightly and slowly left, completely unaware that as soon as he left, Zhang Anping's eyes sharpened.
He received the news the moment Wang Tianfeng disappeared!
It was only after he learned that Wang Tianfeng had escaped that he realized why Wang Tianfeng had made that phone call to him—it wasn't meant for him, but for the agent who was monitoring him!
In general, Wang Tianfeng, who has fled after committing a crime, is no longer a threat. From now on, he is a rat that cannot be seen in the light, and he will die if he is exposed to the light.
But Zhang Anping's intuition told him that given Wang Tianfeng's personality, he wouldn't normally run away, so why did he run away?
There's only one explanation: he feels he can't die yet!
This is a huge threat!
Zhang Anping's expression was icy; he was determined to find a way to find and eliminate Wang Tianfeng!
[I can only rely on the Mao faction—he's escaped this time, and Mao Renfeng will most likely seize this opportunity to attack me, at least delaying my reinstatement. I can use the Mao faction to find a way to expose him!]
After making the decision, Zhang Anping's gaze unconsciously lingered on the calendar.
1948 9 Month 12 Day.
This moment brought a smile to his face.
Although he ran away, we can't let him cause trouble like before!
[And right now, things are in turmoil...] (End of Chapter)