Kingsman Agent in Film and Television

The Zhang family's assets have been investigated!
Translated—The Zhang family, Zhang Anping's family, had their home ransacked!

The moment the asset investigation team moved into the Zhang family's residence, the news spread like wildfire, like a huge ripple in water. No one could have imagined that as it spread, the ripples would turn into towering waves.

Faced with this news that had turned into a huge wave, Zhang Anping's close associates were all plunged into deep confusion and shock.

Their teacher, the one who stood firm in Shanghai like a nail during the War of Resistance, the man who repeatedly defeated the Japanese and left them helpless, the man who, during the nation's time of crisis, secretly transferred more than 100 million yuan to the Nationalist government without seeking fame or fortune or considering the risks, his... home was raided?
That man who hated evil and loathed corruption was... had his home raided on charges of embezzlement?!
Whether Zhang Anping was wronged or the fact of corruption is established, it is enough to overturn the values ​​of everyone in the Zhang faction.

Confusion—the teacher they trusted, the superior they trusted, the man whom countless people still respectfully address as Commander Zhang, District Chief, or Teacher, the last loyal minister and the last conscience of the Party and the State in their eyes, was actually... also a member of a huge corruption ring?
Shocking—if even he is corrupt, is there any hope left for this party-state?

Those unrelated to Zhang Anping's faction did not rejoice at the raid on his home; most felt only a chilling cold.

The section chief believed that punishing Zhang Anping would serve as a warning to others against corruption.

But what is the key to the current media storm?
It's corruption by the four major families!

It was Zhang Anping who secretly transferred $4000 million to the chief attendant. This was a huge sum of money that did not go into the national treasury, but it ended up as a number in someone's account!

But the final executioner's blade was wielded against this loyal minister who had taken such a great risk!
Ridiculous and outrageous!

This reminds countless people of Han Fuqu, who was executed.

Given Han Fuqu's actions, executing him would be both reasonable and legal. But what if the same thing happened to his own people?
There was absolutely no "execution without hesitation"!

Often, big problems are minimized and small problems are simply ignored.

The current raid on Zhang Anping's property is strikingly similar in nature to this incident.
Someone murmured, "Perhaps the next step will be to investigate the four major families?"

But all he got in response was a cold laugh. After all these years, don't people know what kind of person the chief attendant really is?

Power politics trumps the rule of law, and self-interest trumps public interest!
Would such a person use the knife representing justice to cut down his core supporters?
What are you thinking!

Shanghai.

Huang Jianxia put down the phone helplessly, sat down blankly, and remained silent for a long time.

He never expected that the young man he considered a close friend despite the age gap would eventually have his home confiscated for embezzlement.

"How...how could you have joined them in their corrupt ways?"

After a long while, the old man murmured with a heavy heart. He had always regarded Zhang Anping as the continuation of the ideals of old men like himself—they had once chosen a perilous and difficult path in the face of the corrupt Qing government.

In the end, he both succeeded and failed—disheartened, he chose to withdraw from politics, but when the country was in peril, he saw in Zhang Anping what his generation looked like in their youth.

In the end, even the little guy he admired so much was assimilated by this damned world.

"Then... can the light only be over there?"

The old man gazed into the distance, a hint of indescribable despair in his eyes—even a little guy like Zhang Anping had succumbed to depravity in the end. Was this world truly beyond saving?

He remained seated without moving, never considering using his connections to help Zhang Anping, nor did he doubt whether Zhang Anping was being framed—he had given up hope and no longer believed that the concept of integrity existed in this world.

……

Chen Mansion.

The so-called Chen Mansion was the Nanjing property of Chen Gongbo, the number two figure in the Wang Jingwei regime. It was confiscated after the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, but because of Chen's reputation, no one in the high-ranking positions of the Nationalist government chose to move in. In the end, it was taken over by the director and is now the "prison" where Zhang Anping is detained.

"Very high-class," Zhang Anping said, scrutinizing the mansion as he entered, before adding with a thoughtful expression:

"I thought I would be placed in a dark and sunless prison."

Zheng Yaoquan waved his hand, signaling the Second Bureau agents around him to step back and make room for the two of them. He then stepped forward, poured Zhang Anping a cup of tea, and pushed it in front of Zhang Anping, saying in a slightly low voice:

"Anping, shall we talk?"

"Talk?"

Zhang Anping smiled, sat down, and said self-deprecatingly, "What do you want to talk to a prisoner like me about?"

“You’re a smart man; you should be able to see the foreigners’ wolfish ambitions—they want to tear a piece of flesh off the Party-state.”

“I know.” Zhang Anping looked directly at Zheng Yaoquan, showing none of the awkwardness or unease of a prisoner, and said indifferently, “But what does it have to do with me now?!”

"You are loyal to this country, so you shouldn't want to see the foreigners' conspiracy succeed, right?"

Zhang Anping frowned slightly:

"so what?"

"You... take full responsibility."

The atmosphere suddenly froze. Zhang Anping's expression turned incredibly cold, his eyes filled with terrifying killing intent as he stared coldly at Zheng Yaoquan.

After saying those words, Zheng Yaoquan felt no pressure and said softly:
"The Party and the State will not mistreat your family. The director will even leave behind a substantial fortune to ensure your family's well-being."

"As long as you take full responsibility."

The murderous aura emanating from Zhang Anping abruptly dissipated, and he suddenly slumped down, powerless. But then he began to laugh "foolishly," his laughter filled with an indescribable helplessness.

Zheng Yaoquan looked at Zhang Anping with sympathy, but there was no joy of victory, only regret and coldness.

Zhang Anping's biggest mistake was that he joined the four major families on the scales of justice, but he ended up on the other side of the scales.

Embezzlement was never Zhang Anping's biggest problem!

Unable to face Zhang Anping in this state, he slowly rose and left with a slightly desolate silhouette. Just as he was about to exit through the door, he couldn't help but glance at Zhang Anping again, thinking to himself:

We are indeed rivals, but I respect your character—if anything happens to your wife and children in the future, I, Zheng Yaoquan, will never stand idly by!

After Zheng Yaoquan left, Zhang Anping's sense of powerlessness vanished just like that.

A strange, amused look appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Zheng Yaoquan, Zheng Yaoquan, how come you are so impatient?

Once you're at the poker table, if you easily reveal your hand, you'll lose everything, you know?

He gently shook his head, his gaze fixed on the direction of home.

Right now, your house is being ransacked, isn't it?
A cold laugh involuntarily surfaced. Zhang Anping had experienced unimaginable wealth, but he had never brought a single penny home. Unless the secrets of global trade were revealed, wealth had absolutely nothing to do with Zhang Anping.
[Director, oh Director, next up is... when your hair starts to fall out!]

……

The section chief's heart was very upright at that moment.

He had no doubt that the confiscation of the Zhang family's property would yield a huge fortune—in this world, could anyone leave with clean hands after handling such greasy, fatty meat?
nobody!
There is absolutely no such person!
Therefore, he was of pure heart and had no worries about the progress of the raid.

Instead, he is now more concerned with what kind of propaganda to use to severely deter corruption within the Party and the state through Zhang Anping's death.

"It's a pity we can't make a move against them!"

The section chief was still filled with resentment. Compared to his "relatives," Zhang Anping was just a small fry. Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to use his sword to kill them!

It's so frustrating.

At that moment, the secretary suddenly knocked on the office door.

"Chief, General Zork wants to see you."

"Zork? Wasn't he overseeing the confiscation of property? He can't be here to plead for leniency, can he?"

While pondering Zorc's purpose, the director gestured to his secretary to invite him in. By the time Zorc was led in by the secretary, the director had already reached the door.

The section chief used this attitude to show respect for Zork, but his words were laced with barbs:
"General Zork, could it be that you can't bear to see your friend's home raided?"

Zorc, already an expert on China, was perfectly capable of not missing the pre-emptive "block" in the director's words. He shrugged and said:
"No, no, no, Mr. Director (the way of addressing him is strange, so please don't dwell on it), I have great respect for your way of doing things and will not easily express my opinion on this matter."

"Haha, I knew General Zork was a man of principle—please have a seat."

"No need to sit down, I still have to go to the newspaper office—I'm just passing by to deliver something to the director."

"Delivering something? Something taken from the Zhang family's house?"

"Bingo!" Zorc snapped his fingers, and his adjutant presented the item, which Zorc then handed to the chief.
"Director, this is a temporary register of seized materials, and this is a housewife's income and expenditure ledger—haha, I think you will be very, very satisfied with it."

"Alright, the delivery's done. I'll head to the newspaper office now!"

After saying that, Zorc left. The director made a token attempt to persuade him to stay, and then escorted Zorc to the stairwell before returning. At this point, his face was filled with solemnity.

His intuition told him that what Zorc had sent was probably...nothing good. After gesturing for his secretary to leave, the director first flipped through the register, and as he looked through it, his expression turned...ugly.

This... doesn't look like the property of a high-ranking official of the Party and the State.

Especially considering that the Zhang family has two generals!
After taking a deep breath, the section chief flipped through Zhang's mother's income and expenditure ledger again, and a gloomy look gradually filled his face.

fake!

Must be fake!

He shook his head vigorously, trying to banish the complaints from Zhang's mother in the ledger from his mind—this was fake, it must have been forged by Zhang Anping beforehand!

Despite his unwavering certainty, reason told him that it was true, it couldn't possibly be false—no one could have such foresight, no one!
He couldn't help but get up and paced anxiously back and forth in the office.

Surprisingly, Zhang Anping, who had amassed enormous wealth and was hailed as the God of Wealth, lived a remarkably frugal life!

How can this be?

His values ​​seemed to have been washed away by a flood.

Besides having his values ​​eroded, the director also keenly realized what Zorc had meant by "pointing out" him—Zoc wanted to go to the newspaper!
What are you going to do at the newspaper office?!

What can we do? — Of course, we can expose this!
As Zhang Anping's comrade-in-arms, Zork, due to his status as a US military general, could not intervene in the "investigation" by the Nationalist government. However, now that Zhang Anping's innocence has been proven, Zork can use public opinion to thoroughly publicize this shock through newspapers.

As a friend, it's not at all unreasonable to do this.

But what would happen if this got out?
The section chief suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

Zhang Anping, who received a massive amount of money, did not embezzle a single penny. However, what about the 40 million he secretly transferred to the chief attendant, excluding the portion that went into the national treasury?
Such a comparison...

"Asshole!"

The section chief was so angry that he kicked over the coffee table. If it weren't for that person, how could he have suddenly been put in such a passive position?
How to do?
What should we do now?
Cold sweat beaded on the section chief's forehead. If the situation wasn't handled properly, the already raging public opinion might just explode!

Taking a deep breath, the section chief suppressed his anxiety, pushed open the door, and called out to his secretary outside:
"Get the car ready—take me to the Zhang family's!"

The secretary was completely bewildered. It took him several seconds to realize that this Zhang family must be Zhang Anping's family. He suppressed his confusion and dialed the number to notify the driver.

Seeing the secretary making a phone call, the department head seemed to clear his head a bit. He quickly walked to his desk, picked up the phone, paused for a moment, and then put it down.

He had just wanted Zheng Yaoquan to release the man, but releasing him now would be too hasty.

Then he put down the phone.

He initially considered not informing Zheng Yaoquan for the time being, but after thinking about it, he worried that Zheng Yaoquan might say something he shouldn't have, so he picked up the phone again.

"Jeff - How is Deputy Director Zhang doing?"

"Alright? Hmm, Deputy Director Zhang is, after all, a meritorious official of the Party and the country. Although he is currently under investigation due to pressure from foreigners, the innocent will clear themselves—you and Deputy Director Zhang are old friends, so you shouldn't kick him when he's down."

"Okay, I know you're sensible. Alright, I have to go now, I'll hang up."

After hanging up the phone, the section chief breathed a sigh of relief. Zheng Yaoquan probably didn't say anything out of line; after all, he was an old spy and knew his limits.

Go to the Zhang family!
What he needs to do now is go to the Zhang family in person.

……

Chen Mansion.

When Zheng Yaoquan put down the phone, his forehead was covered in beads of sweat.

He was classmates with the section chief and knew him far better than most people. Although the section chief's voice sounded the same during the phone call, he still keenly sensed the unease.

The way the section chief addressed Zhang Anping was even more interesting.

Deputy Director Zhang!
You should know that after deciding to take down Zhang Anping, the section chief only ever mentioned Zhang Anping by his name!
At this point, however, they referred to Zhang Anping as "Zhang the Plant"—it's normal to call someone "Plant" at work, but in this situation, calling him "Zhang the Plant" is inappropriate.

But ironically, he... he had confronted Zhang Anping not long ago!
Political struggles have their limits. At most, people will kick their opponents away; they generally won't fight to the death. This is because it's an unspoken understanding, because everyone within the system is tacitly upholding the rules.

Even if it's an unspoken rule.

But now, he was driving Zhang Anping to his death—even though it was the section chief's idea, Zhang Anping wouldn't be a fool to target the section chief.

The only one who could drive Zhang Anping to his death was himself.

Political struggles and life-or-death struggles are two different things.

In their fight to the death against Zhang Anping, the Japanese have already proven one thing with countless lives lost:

We can't beat them!
Zheng Yaoquan's hands were inexplicably trembling at that moment. He picked up the phone and called his trusted aide:
"Go to the Zhang family and check the results of the asset inventory!"

Zheng Yaoquan was undoubtedly a smart man. The director's sudden change of heart, coupled with the phrase "the innocent will clear themselves," made him realize an unbelievable fact:
Zhang Anping probably didn't embezzle a single penny!
If the truth is as he suspects, then... Zheng Yaoquan is in big trouble.

It should be understood that Zhang Anping's mistakes were never matters of principle, but rather that he had put himself on opposite ends of the scales with the four major families.

If Zhang Anping has engaged in embezzlement, then dealing with him would be easy.

But what if Zhang Anping hadn't embezzled any money?
How to deal with it?

Since Yue Fei was falsely accused and killed at Fengbo Pavilion, Qin Hui has been kneeling to this day.

If Zhang Anping didn't have financial problems, would the chief attendant have been able to deal with him?
Not only can't they, they might even have to treat Zhang Anping as a role model – this is both a good way to respond to American questions and a tactic to win people's hearts.

But in doing so, Zheng Yaoquan...

After a heart-stopping, agonizing twenty minutes, Zheng Yaoquan finally received a call from his trusted confidant.

"Director, the investigation is complete. The investigation team did not find any huge amount of property in the Zhang family. To be precise, the Zhang family... has almost no other property besides real estate."

"By the way, Commander Zhang's wife pawned a gold bracelet before."

The voice of his confidant could not conceal the awe and tremor of awe at a miracle.

Kang dang
The phone slipped from Zheng Yaoquan's hand and fell to the ground.

……

Zhang family.

The section chief sat there blankly, before him lay the detailed results of the investigation into the Zhang family's assets.

However, what he was holding in his hand was a pawn ticket.

In order to cope with an emergency, a high-ranking official's relative had to pawn his wife's gold bracelet...

"Director, it has been verified that Director Zeng pawned the bracelet because his maid, Wu Ma, needed money urgently. The Zhang family couldn't afford it at the time, so Director Zeng pawned the bracelet after hearing about it."

Director Liu explained the source of the pawn tickets in a low voice. After he finished speaking, he was worried that the director would not understand the existence of Wu Ma, the maid. After all, the Zhang family was in such dire financial straits, so why did they need to hire a maid?
He then explained:
"The salaries of his servants were, as was customary, handled by the General Affairs Department of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. I specifically checked, and the General Affairs Department of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics could have covered the salaries of three servants, but Zhang Anping reduced the scale. I heard that many high-ranking officials of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics were discussing this privately."

Upon hearing this, the section chief felt even more uneasy.

At this moment, his mind was a mess—a thought was urging him to quickly and decisively solve the problem, but he just didn't want to use his brain.

Just then, from the small room where Wang Chunlian and the maid Wu Ma were being held, came Wang Chunlian's angry and urgent voice. Upon hearing this, the director instinctively stood up, intending to go over but then stopped. He gave Director Liu a look, and Director Liu understood, going over to find out what was going on. He then walked over with a heavy expression.

"Director, it's almost time for school to let out. The Zhang family has two children at the Army Children's Primary School, and we need to pick them up."

The section chief hesitated and asked, "The Army Children's Primary School? That primary school where tuition is completely free?"

Director Liu replied:
"Um--"

Then, surprisingly, he said in a hesitant tone:

“I heard that relatives of high-ranking officials in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics used to be able to attend the affiliated primary school of Central University for free, because the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics would cover the cost of several tens of silver dollars per semester, but this rule was later cut.”

The section chief remained silent for a long time after hearing this, then finally slammed his hand on the table:
"withdraw!"

"Everyone, evacuate immediately!"

"Tell my driver to take Mrs. Zhang to Lu Xiao to pick her up!"

After taking a deep breath, the section chief made a decision:

"Notify all newspapers that a press conference will be held tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM!" (End of Chapter)