Chapter 250: The Complicated Secret
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
7:00 at night. Rongyang Branch, Vice Bureau Chief’s office.
This office belonged to Bureau Chief Luan Xiaoxiao, but Luan Xiaoxiao was not around at the moment. The room only had three people in it: Liao Jingxian, Zhao Yu, and Miao Ying.
Liao Jingxian tilted his head as he sat on Luan Xiaoxiao’s chair, and asked Zhao Yu and Miao Ying to sit on the couch opposite each other.
“Whew!” Before Bureau Chief Liao even spoke, he first inhaled deeply, as if signaling what he was going to say was extremely important. He first opened his phone and showed Zhao Yu and Miao Ying a document, before finally saying, “You guys, look carefully. This was all the data on your computers, they weren’t deleted, but were all transferred to the city level Criminal Investigation Department! This is the processed document. It also has Bureau Chief Hong’s signature.”
“This…” Zhao Yu knew Bureau Chief Liao always spoke as he pleased and directly asked him, “Liao, why didn’t you pick my call from a few days ago? Where have you been these past few days?”
“Where did I go?” Liao Jingxian spoke angrily. “Hmph, to save someone! Zhou! He almost died…”
“Ah? Zhou? Bureau Chief Zhou? He…what happened to him?” Zhao Yu asked urgently.
“He was reported anonymously!” Liao Jingxian replied, “We’re not even sure where the evidence came from. Not only did it look real, but the crime was severe as well. I can’t even talk about it here! Anyways, Zhou’s probably not gonna come back to work for a while!”
“Ah? That severe… Then…what now?”
“The investigation is more or less over now.” Bureau Chief Liao sighed. “Even though I can help him, Zhou’s political career is pretty much over! Mm…actually, let’s talk about Tang first. As soon as Bureau Chief Zhou had issues, Tang Zhaolong was immediately appointed. This wasn’t some set-up by the higher-ups or any huge conspiracy, this is the emergency mechanism set up by the Qinshan Police System, got it? Hmm, I think you guys wouldn’t understand, because I just began to understand it!”
Hearing this, Miao Ying looked at Zhao Yu in confusion. She thought to herself. “Why are all the higher-ups so wordy?” But Zhao Yu was already used to Liao Jingxian’s whimsical attitude and immediately yelled, “Stop wasting time. Speak!”
“Zhou’s reported crime is very severe! If it is proven true, it will cause a huge scandal with chain reactions and far reaching consequences. Once the city branch reported it, the officials decided to activate the emergency mechanism and transfer the bureau chief that was the furthest from the Rongyang area. This person was Tang Zhaolong!
“This sort of policy is from the older generation. Only if they got someone far away could this internal investigation not be affected by Zhou Andong. Mmm…is this hard to understand?”
“We got it, we got it! Now get to the actual point!” Zhao Yu held up his phone. “Qu Ping, the truth behind Qu Ping, just what was it? Hurry up!”
“Hey, quiet down a bit, will you? Right now, Qu Ping’s name is highly sensitive!” Liao Jingxiao scolded him a little in frustration. “You guys are truly stubborn! Despite all the pressure and danger, you guys still dared to go against orders. How reckless! But truthfully speaking, you guys are really something! Despite all the difficulties, you guys still found some evidence! Finding Zhao Qing, Jin really found the right people.”
“Jin?” Miao Ying was a little confused.
But ZhaoYu did not stop and rushed the Liao Jingxian, “Keep going! Get to the point!”
“The point is,” Liao Jingxian spoke quickly, “you guys made something simple into something complicated! Got it?”
Zhao Yu and Miao Ying looked at each other, unsure of what was happening.
“Mm, you guys are both excellent detectives, but did you really not think about this while investigating Qu Ping’s murder?” Liao Jingxian shrugged and explained, “If Qu Ping really was murdered because she got involved with a massive case, then as a team leader, don’t you think she’d realize? Would she really know what she was getting into? But throughout this entire case, did you guys feel like Qu Ping had any preparation?”
Ah? Actually, Liao Jingxian’s word had a huge effect on Zhao Yu and Miao Ying. They had thought of countless possibilities, but had failed to notice this one.
It seemed plausible. If Qu Ping knew she might be in danger, then why wasn’t she alarmed. Her death was very sudden. That was why everyone thought it was an accident! Before Qu Ping’s death, she had been completely focused on the Mianling Case, without any signs of worry, panic, or nervousness for her own safety. What could this mean?
“Hmph! How are you guys detectives if you guys can’t figure this out?” Liao Jingxian proudly put away his phone, then opened another document for them. “Look at this. This document came from the City Level Forensics Department who looked at Zhao Qing’s corpse. It was also signed by the bureau chief! Don’t worry, our police department has no internal issues. Qu Ping’s death probably stemmed from the most typical reason—revenge!”
Revenge?! What does that mean? Where did revenge come from? Zhao Yu and Miao Ying once again stared at each other, even more confused than before.
“Actually, this whole thing has to start from someone else. I’ll warn you ahead of time.” Liao Jingxiao warned them, “I won’t bother with a confidentiality agreement with you guys, but you guys have to keep your mouth shut! Otherwise, I’ll murder you both!”
“Holy…” Zhao Yu whistled.
Miao Ying’s forehead was completely wrinkled. What kind of bureau chief threatened their underlings? Was this Bureau Chief Liao also some sort of delinquent?
“Alright, let’s get to the main point!” Liao Jingxian organized his thoughts about and said, “This whole thing has to do with Qu Ping’s father. I won’t name Qu Ping’s father. Anyway, he’s an ace spy! He was incredible. Back then, he solo infiltrated a criminal organization as a spy for many years, then cooperated with the police and destroyed the entire organization!
“Due to his high merit, Qu Ping’s father later was promoted to the provincial office and was a huge official. I once had the honor of meeting him!” Liao Jingxian’s expression showed a sliver of pride.
“But,” his proud expression quickly gave way to sadness as he sighed, “unfortunately Qu Ping’s father ended up with a terminal illness and died early! Truly, the gods are jealous of the talented!
“It was because of her father’s status that the provincial level officials always treated Qu Ping well, wanting to cultivate her talent and have her blossom into an excellent police officer like her father. They had high hopes for her, but…unfortunately…in the end…”
“Then, could it be?” Miao Ying and Zhao Yu looked at each other again. Both of them seemed to have realized the implication.
“That’s right! The situation surrounding Qu Ping’s death was strange.” Liao Jingxiao said wistfully, “The higher-ups have long known the reason for her death. The city council set up a special investigation group specifically for this case. I’ll tell you guys now, they’ve known that Hou Meng was nothing but a scapegoat!
“Oh right, here’s the document.” Liao Jingxiao looked as if he remembered something, and handed another legal document to Zhao Yu and Miao Ying. “This is Hou Meng’s sentencing delay notice. Due to complications, Hou Meng’s sentencing will be delayed! The higher-ups have already released their command, saying that before Hou Meng is sentenced, they have to investigate this whole case thoroughly!”
“Ah?” Zhao Yu and Miao Ying were still in shock.
“After a few days of investigating, the investigation team found some shocking information.” Bureau Chief Liao lowered his voice. “As it turned out, the year the criminal group had been destroyed with the help of Qu Ping’s father, their leader was called Yu Something. I call him something because I can’t say his real name! Anyway, that person was already killed on the scene by the police during the initial capture!
“But, this Yu Something had a really powerful father. According to the information, this Yu Something’s dad came back from another country to get revenge for his son! That’s why we suspect Qu Ping’s death was related to vengeance for this guy!
“Qu Ping’s father was dead, so they killed Qu Ping instead?!” Miao Ying was angry. “Isn’t that too unreasonable? That’s monstrous! It’s blasphemy!”
Hearing this, Zhao Yu could not help but shake his head. This was called the vengeful way of the streets. The debt of the father was paid for by the son. To those bloodthirsty people on the streets, who would reason with you?
“I don’t know how you guys managed to find Zhao Qing.” Liao Jingxian sighed. “But the investigation team discovered from looking into Yu that apparently, Yu’s father specifically hired someone as powerful as Zhao Qing and made a hit-list, intending to get revenge on everyone who had harmed his son!
“I’ll tell you guys something else! Zhou Andong also participated in the capturing process, and he was the commander! We had reason to suspect that the people who framed Zhou are related to Yu’s father!”
No way? Zhao Yu was getting more confused by the minute. Why did this sound like the plot of a police film? Wasn’t this a little too much? Those years he spent on the street, he had never heard of something so crazy. Just what kind of person was Yu’s father? How could he be so powerful? To do something so reckless? Did he not fear death?
“But,” Bureau Chief Liao said, “unexpectedly, Tang Zhaolong is so shallow! We’d never have expected that a bureau chief from a small branch would be so stubborn, so rash! If I had time to explain everything to you guys, then the situation wouldn’t come to this! To even cause Liu Changhu such injury!”
Hearing this much, Miao Ying could not help but furrow her brows.
“Don’t think too much!” Bureau Chief Liao said seriously, “Tang Zhaolong was only acting on the higher-up’s command. Bureau Chief Hong had already mentioned to ask you Rongyang officers to stop any investigation on Qu Ping’s case. One reason was to protect you guys, the other was to prevent you guys from acting too much and alerting the other party, ending up being more of a nuisance than help!
“Also, the higher-ups had other plans. They were worried that the investigation would cause bad publicity, so they didn’t want you guys to interfere. If they could deal with it themselves, it would decrease the chance of the bad publicity spreading!
“How about it? After all that, did you guys finally realize something?” Liao Jingxian spoke without stopping, “If you feel like there’s something wrong still, or have any suspicions, I can show you guys all the documents!
“You guys didn’t even think, did you? If the higher-ups wanted to hide the truth regarding any shady business or conspiracy, how could they have given you guys so many openings and so many chances?”
Liao Jingxian’s words suddenly had Zhao Yu and Miao Ying at a loss for words.
“But after all that,” Liao Jingxian looked at the two of them, “you two’s capabilities are truly impressive! Even under such a difficult situation, you guys still found Zhao Qing, and almost captured him! That’s unbelievable!
“If you guys are interested in joining the city level investigation squad, I can write an application for you guys, and have you guys go to the city office and investigate together. How about it?” But before Liao Jingxian had even finished speaking, he already saw Zhao Yu’s middle finger raised in the air at him.