Kingsman Agent in Film and Television

Headquarters of the Bureau of Secrecy.

The news of Yu Xiuning and her husband's "disappearance" in Shanghai caused a huge uproar within the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics.

Many people's first reaction is:
It was done by Commander Zhang!
But some people immediately realized that if Zhang Anping did it, would he need to make concessions in terms of benefits in order to punish Chen Ming?

Moreover, many people at the time expressed their support for giving Chen Ming a lenient punishment.

However, many people have quietly raised another argument:
It is precisely because it seems impossible that Zhang Anping did it that it is possible that Zhang Anping did it—don't forget what General Mao said?

As General Mao once said, Zhang Anping is a complete hypocrite. He only cares about his own interests. Many times, his seemingly fair actions are just an act. There are no gentlemen in the spy business at all!
(Mao Renfeng: Nonsense, I didn't say that! I didn't say it!)

The people below were buzzing with discussion, and even the higher-ups in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics were wondering to themselves – was this something Zhang Anping did?

I don't think so!

They hesitated, unsure how to respond. In the past, they would have to kick someone when they were down, add insult to injury, and rub salt into the wound. But now, the report on the expansion had piqued the interest of the Executive Office. Anyone with eyes could see that the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was about to expand, and Zhang Anping was even willing to offer benefits. If they went against him now, what if they were isolated by him?
Amid this hesitation, an emergency meeting was convened.

There is only one topic:
The disappearance of Yu Xiuning and her husband!

"Investigate! Investigate thoroughly!"

Zhang Anping, who rarely speaks first, expressed his anger immediately upon the convening of this emergency meeting:
"It must be investigated strictly!"

"No matter who is involved, no matter what kind of person is involved, we will investigate them thoroughly!"

Those attending the meeting took in Zhang Anping's expression and couldn't help but wonder:

There's a 98% chance it wasn't Zhang Anping who did it.

So, who is it?
Many eyes quietly fell on Mao Renfeng. Was it him?

But if we start a major war at this time... wouldn't that be asking for trouble?
At the previous bureau meeting, Zhang Anping's statement that he would take charge of the funding completely "destroyed" everyone's thoughts about him. Although Mao Renfeng was the official director, without the help of others, going up against Zhang Anping alone was just courting death.

What did he think?

Mao Renfeng seemed to sense the probing gazes, inwardly cursing Minglou for causing her trouble at this crucial moment, while righteously and sternly declaring:
"Deputy Director Zhang is right, we must investigate this thoroughly without leniency!"

"I suggest that Qiu Ning lead a team to Shanghai to investigate! What do you all think?"

As is well known, Qiu Ning is one of Mao Renfeng's staunch supporters, second only to Ming Lou in Mao's faction.

Mao Renfeng's decision to bring out Qiu Ning, a key general, at this time suggests a thorough investigation is indeed underway.

This time, they have no intention of getting involved in the conflict between Mao and Zhang.

All eyes turned to Zhang Anping—was Zhang Anping against or in agreement?
To object, I'm afraid... is because they have something to hide!
Seeing that no one else had any objections, Mao Renfeng asked Zhang Anping probingly, "Anping, what do you think?"

"I think I can."

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Anping agreed.

Mao Renfeng then inquired further, "Anping, what are your thoughts on the selection of the deputy head of the investigation team?"

Mao Renfeng knew Zhang Anping too well. In addition, he was well aware that this was not Zhang Anping's doing at all. Shanghai happened to be Zhang Anping's core stronghold. Therefore, given Zhang Anping's personality, he would definitely not get involved in the selection of the deputy leader in order to avoid suspicion.

As expected, Zhang Anping expressed his opinion without hesitation:
"I have no opinion!"

"Well, then... let Mingtai go?" Mao Renfeng seemed to be thinking, and finally chose Mingtai after making a decision.

The three Ming brothers, the eldest Ming Lou and the second Ming Cheng, are staunch supporters of Mao Renfeng, but the youngest brother sides with Zhang Anping, which is common knowledge. Mao Renfeng's nomination of Ming Tai shows no sign of any personal bias.

This nomination left everyone else bewildered. Judging from the selection, it seemed that Mao Renfeng did not intend to use this matter to deal with Zhang Anping!

Could this really be an accident?
While everyone agreed, they were also thinking to themselves – considering that Yu Xiuning and her husband had worked in Shanghai since their debut, and that Yu Xiuning held a high position in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, perhaps this was something Yu Xiuning herself had done.

Because of Mao Renfeng's personnel arrangements for the investigation team, the senior officials present felt reassured. For the time being, it seemed that Mao Renfeng would not provoke Zhang Anping over this matter—which was a good thing for the Bureau of Secrecy, which was about to reap a huge reward.

……

That night, Qiu Ning received a call from Mao Renfeng and went to Mao's house immediately.

Qiu Ning was actually very excited. This time, it seemed that he was going to become a sharp blade in Mao Renfeng's hand, stabbing hard at Zhang Shihao, the big spy!

To his surprise, Mao Renfeng's meeting with him that night was not to have him act as a weapon to strike Zhang Anping.

"During this trip to Shanghai, you must remember one thing:

Stability is paramount!

Faced with Mao Renfeng's instructions, Qiu Ning was dumbfounded—wasn't it widely rumored that Mao Renfeng was going to take action against Zhang Anping again?
How did it become "stability is more important than everything"?

Mao Renfeng said meaningfully:
"Ning, our Bureau of Investigation and Statistics is about to expand, so unity is extremely important, and stability is paramount! You must strike a good balance!"

His meaning was clear: Zhang Anping absolutely could not be involved—but as the bureau chief, he couldn't say it outright.

Qiu Ning understood, knowing that Mao Renfeng meant:

Even if there is evidence pointing to Zhang Anping, he absolutely cannot be exposed.

He felt regret, but he had no choice but to express his opinion to Mao Renfeng:
"Stability is paramount, and the department understands now—the Director is the one who truly has the big picture in mind!"

Mao Renfeng smiled bitterly to himself, "Do you think I don't want to take this opportunity to stab Zhang Anping in the back?"
As long as I can seize the opportunity to stab Zhang Anping in the back, I'd be willing to do it even if it harms the interests of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics!
The problem is, if I actually stab him, I'll have to cut off my own arm!
He then spoke to Qiu Ning about the precautions to take during the investigation, implying that Qiu Ning should unite with Mingtai and give Mingtai high authority during the investigation so that Mingtai could do whatever he wanted.

These words were so vague and confusing that Qiu Ning was completely bewildered, but she still agreed to them all.

At this moment, the butler suddenly entered the study and whispered a few words in Mao Renfeng's ear. Qiu Ning noticed a flash of annoyance in Mao Renfeng's eyes. After the butler left, Mao Renfeng's words became perfunctory. Qiu Ning tactfully got up to take his leave, and as expected, Mao Renfeng did not try to stop him.

As Qiu Ning was being escorted away by the housekeeper, she noticed a car parked in the yard with its engine off, and she could vaguely see the figures inside.

Just after Qiu Ning left, a figure got out of the car and, led by the butler, went to the study.

"Acheng, why did you come here so quietly?"

Mao Renfeng showed no annoyance upon seeing Mingcheng; in fact, to show his friendliness, he continued to use Minglou's nickname for Mingcheng, "Acheng."

"Director, my elder brother sent me."

After Mingcheng saluted respectfully, he said, "I personally handled the matter concerning Yu Xiuning and Chen Ming in Shanghai." Mao Renfeng suppressed her displeasure: "You killed them?"

Mingcheng shook his head: "I didn't kill them. I put them on a ship to America. Yu Xiuning is ultimately a woman. She clearly lost her sense of proportion when it came to her husband. After my brother scared her, she used the power of her Northeast China faction as a bargaining chip to get my brother to help her and her husband leave the country."

"Right now, their ship is floating at sea."

Mingcheng's face showed an undisguised joy, as if he was waiting for Mao Renfeng's praise.

Mao Renfeng was genuinely annoyed and also blamed Minglou, but he knew that Minglou was in the Northeast and would definitely be severely behind on the news from the Bureau headquarters. Although the Executive Office was interested in the expansion, no official documents had been issued, and the Bureau kept it a secret to a certain extent. Therefore, Minglou certainly didn't know, and he was only doing it from his own perspective.

Therefore, he inquired, "Acheng, tell me the whole story in detail."

Mingcheng immediately began to recount the story.

The gist of his story was:
Minglou exploited Zhang Anping's murderous nature to deceive Yu Xiuning, making her believe that Zhang Anping was very likely to kill Chen Ming as a warning to others. This frightened Yu Xiuning so much that she considered fleeing. Minglou then manipulated the situation to successfully take over the loyal forces controlled by Yu Xiuning.

As for what happened in Shanghai, he didn't "drastically change" the story and recounted his affair with Du Shijun in detail.

"Director, Du Shijun bribed a spy from the Shanghai station. The spy took a sum of money and ran away. Moreover, he had made arrangements, so we can pin this on him. My elder brother said we can take this opportunity to purge the Shanghai station and deal a heavy blow to Zhang Anping's stronghold."

Mao Renfeng's lips twitched.

If it weren't for the expansion of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, Minglou's timely assistance would have been perfect—don't be fooled by the fact that Minglou's plans in Shanghai were so crude and seemingly so easily exposed.

But none of that matters. What matters is that by taking advantage of the investigation team's trip to Shanghai, we can conduct various investigations into the Shanghai station. Once we find a pretext, a massive and fierce battle can be launched.

Therefore, it doesn't matter how many loose ends Mingcheng left in Shanghai; what matters is that an investigation team can go to Shanghai.

And this investigation team couldn't possibly fall into Zhang Anping's hands, right?
But the problem is...

Expand the team!
The Bureau of Investigation and Statistics is expanding, and Zhang Anping is destined to be the beneficiary. If Mao Renfeng dares to fight against him, he will be making an enemy of everyone in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics who are waiting to reap the rewards. Zhang Anping did this before, and the result was that he was "betrayed by everyone." Mao Renfeng is going against the tide!

Therefore, the disappearance of Yu Xiuning and her husband, which could have been a stroke of genius, has now become a hot potato. And because of Mingcheng's almost "careless" actions in Shanghai, Minglou is likely to be easily found out by Zhang Anping!

Abandon Minglou?

This idea was rejected by Mao Renfeng immediately.

What a joke! The Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' largest station right now is the Northeast Station (Northeast Headquarters Supervision Office). Moreover, Minglou is no longer the poor guy he was when he first arrived in the Northeast. After a year of managing the Northeast, Minglou has already built up a huge force in the Northeast Station. Now he has also taken over Yu Xiuning's direct subordinates. It would be an exaggeration to say that his power is at its zenith. How could anyone give up on Minglou at this time?

But if they don't give up, what if Zhang Anping uses this as an excuse to make trouble...?

Mao Renfeng frowned. This bastard Zhang Anping, now that the expansion is imminent and he's the God of Wealth, is really as tough as a hedgehog to deal with!

Mingcheng seemed taken aback by the unexpected praise, then, noticing Mao Renfeng's uncertain expression, he asked nervously:

"Director, is it... is it something I've overlooked?"

Mao Renfeng sighed:
"Ah Cheng, your older brother was reckless this time. He should have asked me first!"

He then talked about the current situation of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. Mingcheng listened with an uncertain expression, clearly not expecting such a thing to happen.

After Mao Renfeng finished speaking, she was still frowning and thinking about how to break the deadlock when Mingcheng suddenly stood up:

"Director, I did this behind my brother's back. I will take full responsibility for all the crimes. Please rest assured, Director, I will never implicate my brother!"

These words can naturally be interpreted as meaning that they will not implicate the Director.

Mao Renfeng retorted irritably, "You'll take responsibility for nothing!"

“You represent your older brother, and your older brother represents me. Now that this has been done, can you take responsibility all by yourself?”

"Don't have such a foolish idea. If the sky falls, the tall ones will always be the first to hold it up!"

Upon hearing this, Mingcheng was excited, then bowed his head in shame, as if he were ashamed of causing trouble for Mao Renfeng.

"Alright, alright, I'll figure out a way to handle this. Just relax—Acheng, what you need to do now is go back to the Northeast immediately. Remember, you've never been back to Shanghai, and you've never been to Nanjing! Do you understand what I mean?"

Mingcheng was deeply moved and said through gritted teeth, "Director, if... if it's difficult, I'm willing to take full responsibility!"

Mao Renfeng glared at him: "I told you not to spout such useless nonsense anymore!"

Mingcheng bowed his head, his whole body filled with deep emotion.

He suddenly remembered his first lesson from his time at the Guanwang Temple:
An actor's self-cultivation...

We are all actors, seasoned actors—those movie stars, they act for a paycheck, we act for life and faith!

After sending Mingcheng away, Mao Renfeng's expression was still somewhat gloomy, but he was clearly no longer angry.

"Du Shijun, Du Shijun..."

He muttered the name to himself, a hint of amusement slowly appearing on his face.

If he remembered correctly, not long after Dai Chunfeng died, Du Shijun acted like a complete idiot and thoroughly humiliated Zhang Anping in the matter of arranging the plane.

Zhang Anping seemed to have been ignored for a long time, but Mao Renfeng understood that Zhang Anping was playing the emotional card. Otherwise, how could the newspapers suddenly expose Zhang Anping's desolate figure later?

If Zhang Anping hadn't been the one pulling the strings, how could this have easily made it into so many newspapers?
Zhang Anping, it seems, has never forgotten this enemy.

Previously, he had used Du Shijun to deliberately pass on his whereabouts to Mao—at that time, Zhang Anping probably wanted to get involved and wait for Mao to take advantage of him.

Fortunately, he didn't think of using physical means to deal with Zhang Anping, otherwise he would probably be buried with grass growing three feet high by now.

Although Zhang Anping did not target Du Shijun afterward, the fact that he remembered him once clearly proves that Zhang Anping has not forgotten the previous humiliation. He just hasn't found a suitable opportunity yet. Moreover, the other party's status as a "small fry" is obviously not worth Zhang Anping's special effort. This does not mean that Zhang Anping will forget this enemy!

Standing behind Du Shijun was Du Yuesheng, and the Kong family...

Thinking of this, Mao Renfeng's eyes darted around, and she muttered to herself:
Nephew Anping, your Uncle Mao is going to avenge you...

A smile involuntarily appeared on his face—Zhang Anping was a hypocrite. If he were to lead the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics to fight against Du Yuesheng and the Kong family for Zhang Anping's sake, would Zhang Anping dare to stand aside?
Whether he dares or not is one thing, but he can't!
He will inevitably have to confront Du Yuesheng and the Kong family. Once that happens, will he still care about Minglou's involvement in this matter?
Moreover, Minglou's actions ultimately protected Yu Xiuning and Chen Ming—Zhang Anping gained both substance and face!
Is this what it's like to be a hypocrite?

Mao Renfeng chuckled softly. "It feels really good!" (End of Chapter)