My spy diary

Chapter 674 Interrogation (Seeking monthly votes)

"That little bastard Xu Zeng'en submitted a confession of Mao Qiwu to Tang Heng, saying that he was a double agent and the evidence was conclusive!"

Mao Qiwu was speechless, and just as he was about to say something in his defense, he heard Dai Chunfeng say again:

"Fortunately, Tang Naijian managed to suppress the matter for the time being. However, the Xu family also had their own demands; their Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Zhongtong) also wanted to get involved in the Japanese spy case."

"A Japanese spy case?" Mao Qiwu was completely bewildered. Weren't they arresting Communists and undercover agents? When did a Japanese spy case come up? Dai Chunfeng sized him up for a moment, but didn't explain. Before leaving, he only instructed Mao Qiwu to go to the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Zhongtong) to retrieve Mao Zhongxin's body and notify the family to bury him, as a final act of courtesy. As for the funeral, it couldn't be held in the name of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

After giving these instructions, Dai Chunfeng led his adjutant Jia and the guards toward the Wanglongmen Detention Center.

The interrogation room door opened, and Zhang Yi walked in with a cold face.

All the plainclothes officers and Lai Guomin, the head of the interrogation section, hurriedly stood at attention and saluted.

"Director Zhang!"

"So, Section Chief Lai, you've been entertaining her for an hour or so now, have you managed to get anything out of her?"

Lai Guomin shook his head awkwardly.

Liu Ningxue had been tortured beyond recognition and was in a semi-conscious state. The plainclothes officers continued to lash her with their iron whips, and she let out intermittent, shrill screams.

Zhang Yi made a gesture, indicating that Lai Guomin and the plainclothes officers should leave.

“You’re all tired, go and rest for a bit. I’d like to have a private chat with Miss Liu.”

As he spoke, he walked step by step to Liu Ningxue, bringing his face close to hers, which was stained with blood:

"Will you confess or not? Tell us your code name and the organization you belong to, and help us catch your superior, and you won't have to suffer anymore."

Liu Ningxue gasped for breath, her lips trembling slightly, but she smiled contemptuously and responded with silence.

Zhang Yi sneered: "A bet's a bet. If you're caught, you have to accept your fate. A spy whose identity has been exposed, whether she confesses or not, has only one ending: she'll be discarded by her master."

"With your experience, you should know the rules of this business: once a piece fails, it is abandoned. Abandoning means that even if you keep the secret, you will one day find yourself facing the guns of your own people."

Liu Ningxue stared at Zhang Yi's face, raising her head contemptuously:
"Really? I wanted to say that to Deputy Director Zhang as well. I was thinking, if one day Dai Chunfeng finds you, his lackey, disobedient and useless, what will he do to you? Will he also treat you as a traitor? By the way, Deputy Director Zhang, your current situation is not good. I heard that they all suspect you are a Red Party spy, 031, infiltrated into the Military Intelligence Bureau."

She deliberately emphasized the words "Deputy Director Zhang" to make Zhang Yi understand that she had discovered his true identity.

Zhang Yi seemed to be enraged, and he grabbed her hair:
"Who is Boss Dai? Do you think you can fathom him? Don't try to play these underhanded tricks of sowing discord in front of me. Speaking of which, we should thank you for your recording, which allowed us to expose the Red Party's treacherous scheme."

Liu Ningxue looked at him defiantly: "I'm sure Deputy Director Zhang has also heard the saying, 'Once the seed of doubt is planted, trust will collapse.'"

Zhang Yi remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he couldn't help but think that this Japanese female spy's ability to see through people was indeed remarkable. However… Zhang Yi sneered, walked to the interrogation room door, and asked:

"Any progress in the interrogations of the other people?"

Lai Guomin hurriedly said, "I was just about to report to you. They've confessed everything they could, but so far they haven't found anything. Except for Liu Ningxue's personal maid, they won't say anything else." After a pause, he added, "According to the brothel madam and the thugs who guard the premises, they saw this maid named Xiaodie briefly leave the brothel."

Zhang Yi raised an eyebrow: "Leave? You mean she's Liu's liaison?"

"should be."

"So, the intelligence has already been passed on by her?" After a moment of contemplation, he instructed Lai Guomin, "Take her to interrogation room number two, and bring over everything we found at her residence."

"Yes."

Soon, all the items found at Xiaodie's place were brought in. Although Xiaodie's arrest was hasty, there was not a single item in her residence containing personal information, not even a photograph. There was nothing with any identity information, only a pile of clothes and daily necessities, which made her identity even more suspicious.

After a moment's thought, Zhang Yi picked up several interrogation records and compared them. Some people said she left the brothel about half an hour ago, while others said it was an hour, which was contradictory.

He hesitated for a moment, then stopped worrying about it. He found a map of the area near Huanyun Pavilion and looked at it. His gaze fell on Xiaodie behind the coated glass—she was less than 1.6 meters tall, with a well-proportioned figure and an estimated weight of no more than 100 pounds. She sat blankly in the interrogation chair.

"Have the photos been developed yet?"

"Flushing is underway."

Zhang Yi didn't say anything. He walked to the coated glass, squinted slightly, and carefully examined Xiao Die for a few moments. Then he found paper and pen and quickly drew a portrait of her.

Lai Guomin nodded to himself, admiring Zhang Yi's professional skills. He had drawn a portrait of the suspect with just a few strokes, which was no easy feat.

Zhang Yi had no time to care about his thoughts. After comparing the portrait with Xiao Die herself, he summoned Shen Linfeng from the Action Department and immediately gave the order:
"Take the portrait and your men and immediately conduct a thorough search of the area within a five-kilometer radius of Huanyun Pavilion, including brothels, shops, residential areas, and so on. See who saw her during that time period."

“Yes. As long as we can find witnesses and trace her movements, we can find her supplier or her dead email address.” Shen Linfeng’s eyes were sharp.

It's getting late.

Several cars drove up to the gate of Wanglongmen Detention Center and slowly came to a stop.

A guard walked toward the car at the front.

When the guards approached, Lieutenant Jia, who was in the passenger seat, rolled down the window and handed over his identification.

The guard glanced at the identification, immediately saluted respectfully, stepped back, and allowed passage.

The car drove into the detention center without any obstruction and parked directly in front of the office building.

Dai Chunfeng got out of the car and went straight to the office with a gloomy face.

In the office, He Zhiyuan and Yang Rong were struggling with how to report to Dai Chunfeng when the office door was suddenly pushed open.

"Who let you in? Don't you know how to knock?"

He Zhiyuan angrily reprimanded him, only to realize that it was Deputy Officer Jia who had entered. He hurriedly got up and saw Dai Chunfeng standing at the door with his hands on his hips.

The office was filled with smoke.

Dai Chunfeng covered her nose with a handkerchief and coughed, saying irritably:
"How much smoke have you guys been smoking? It's so pungent! Open the windows right now!"

"Yes." He Zhiyuan asked cautiously as he opened the window:

"Director, what brings you here? We were just about to report to you."

"What are you reporting?" Dai Chunfeng noticed the strange expressions on the two men's faces and became puzzled. Shouldn't capturing a Japanese spy be a happy thing? Why did these two heroes look so preoccupied?

Yang Rong opened his mouth, "How should I put it?" He gave a wry smile, looked at Dai Chunfeng, hesitant to speak, unsure where to begin. Dai Chunfeng was even more puzzled, and said with a dark face:

"What the hell are you talking about? Spit it out. I don't have much time. I have to deal with that Xu guy later."

"Ten minutes should be enough time to tell you a story." He Zhiyuan walked over and smiled apologetically at Deputy Officer Jia, closed and locked the office door, then turned to look at Dai Chunfeng.

His expression was solemn, and Dai Chunfeng subconsciously suppressed his doubts and became solemn as well.

"A story? A tragedy or a comedy?" Dai Chunfeng asked.

"Well, this is up to you to decide." Yang Rong pulled up a chair and respectfully invited Dai Chunfeng to sit down.

Dai Chunfeng was completely confused, but she still sat down.

After Dai Chunfeng sat down, Yang Rong continued, "Chief, do you still remember the traitor Zheng Huhe?"

Dai Chunfeng was taken aback, his expression quickly darkening. He paused for a moment before asking angrily:
Why bring up this traitor?

“He is the protagonist of this story.” After saying that, Yang Rong pressed the play button on the recorder.

In the interrogation room next door, Zhang Yi was interrogating the maid Xiao Die.

Xiao Die ignored the same words she had said to Liu Ningxue earlier. Whether she was well-trained or used to life-or-death situations, Zhang Yi's words had no effect whatsoever. The dark-skinned, thin female spy seemed to have grown impatient and simply closed her eyes.

Zhang Yi was not discouraged at all, and started chatting as if they were old friends:
"Xiaodie? That shouldn't be your real name, right? Let's call you that for now. You're quite something. Under the protection of Sanmu, there's no shortage of excuses. Most people couldn't handle it, but you actually managed to."

Xiaodie tilted her head and looked at him, without answering.

Zhang Yi continued, "To be honest, I didn't initially expect you and Liu Ningxue to be in cahoots. Are you Chinese or Japanese?"

Xiaodie remained silent.

Zhang Yi smiled and said, "Here, sometimes silence can be quite effective, but sometimes it can give you away. You are very smart and capable, but sometimes you go too far and your cleverness backfires. Do you admit that?"

"Sometimes," Xiaodie said softly.

Zhang Yi lit a cigarette: "Actually, you've had it pretty tough too. You have to take care of her every day, getting up earlier than the chickens, sleeping later than the dogs, eating worse than the pigs, working harder than the oxen, and living in constant fear. May I ask, do you have enough money? Are they good to your family?"

Xiaodie answered earnestly, "I'm just a maid, a servant, and I get fifteen yuan a month. You should have investigated that thoroughly, right?"

Such a simple trick was obviously no match for a well-trained female spy. Zhang Yi smiled and looked at her as he continued:

“I looked at the interrogation records of other people. They said you also solicited clients and even entertained Mao Zhongxin. Didn’t you know he had a sexually transmitted disease? Weren’t you afraid of getting infected? Think about it, while you were desperately selling your body to please men and obtain intelligence, your superior might be taking a hot bath, drinking hot tea, and happily celebrating that your intelligence had earned him medals and rewards. Was it worth it? Were you willing to accept it?”

Xiaodie sniffed: "There's nothing I can do, I'm just a servant girl."

"Is that so?" Zhang Yi smiled, his eyes narrowing slightly, but he still couldn't hide the sudden sharpness in his gaze.

"You're Japanese!"

"Really?" Xiaodie was quite surprised to hear Zhang Yi's words and cautiously asked.

At this moment, Zhang Yi suddenly cut to the chase, saying, "A person's whereabouts, residence, identity, and even appearance can be deliberately changed, but some things are not so easily changed. For example, accent."

Although you're trying your best to hide it, the pronunciation systems of Chinese and Japanese are ultimately different. Japanese pronunciation relies on the 50-sound chart, which includes hiragana and katakana. Most Japanese people can't distinguish between retroflex and alveolar consonants, and they will also confuse some Chinese pronunciations.

You just said the word "person" twice, but to me, you meant "ethics." So, sometimes, too much cleverness can be troublesome.

Upon hearing this, Xiaodie's composure, which had remained unchanged throughout, stiffened. Meeting Zhang Yi's gaze, she unconsciously shrank back, immediately shut her mouth, and remained silent.

"As the Chinese saying goes, 'A guilty conscience needs no accuser,' or 'The more you try to hide something, the more suspicious it becomes.' Why are you doing this?" Zhang Yi shook his head as he looked at Xiao Die, who had fallen silent again. "You may not care, but what about your family? If we spread the word that Liu Ningxue's identity was exposed because of you, what would your superiors think? How would they treat your family?"

Xiaodie shuddered, clearly moved by these words.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Yi directly posed the question:
"Your true identity, Liu Ningxue's true identity, which should we talk about first?"

"I am not a spy."

"You're not a spy. What were you doing when you hurriedly left the brothel a few hours ago? We've already sent people out with your portrait to find eyewitnesses. We believe we'll soon find out your whereabouts. With such a large-scale search, your superior must be panicking. What will he think? What will he do when he hears that you betrayed Liu Ningxue?"

This made Xiaodie pause for a moment, but when she spoke again, she repeated the same sentence:

"I am definitely not a spy, really."

The recording equipment and the interrogator faithfully documented the power struggle within the interrogation room. Zhang Yi finished another cigarette, looking at the female spy before him. Based on her current performance and revealed abilities, coupled with her Japanese identity, her rank must be higher than Liu Ningxue's. In other words, dealing with someone like her required patience.

Thinking this, Zhang Yi got up:

"Think it over carefully. Once Liu Ningxue confesses, you will be completely worthless."

Xiaodie raised her head, looked into Zhang Yi's eyes, and said earnestly:

"You've got it wrong, I'm definitely not a spy."

In the next office, Dai Chunfeng finally finished listening to the recording. He leaned back in his chair with a tense face, not saying a word. His expression was quite subtle. The doubt from before seemed to still be there, frozen on his face, and then twisted into surprise and suspicion.

The dim light from the chandelier shone on his face, making him look gloomy and casting a somber mood over the entire office.

After a long while, he rubbed his temples and asked in a heavy tone:

"What do you think this story is all about?"

This topic weighed heavily on He Zhiyuan and Yang Rong. They exchanged a glance and shook their heads bitterly.

Seeing that the conversation was about to fall into an awkward situation, Dai Chunfeng reached for the cigarettes on the table, sniffed them, and suddenly said:
"The smell of smoke in this room is already quite strong."

After saying this, he got up and walked outside.

He Zhiyuan and Yang Rong understood Dai Chunfeng's meaning; some things were not appropriate to say here, so they followed Dai Chunfeng outside.

The three of them went into the courtyard. Dai Chunfeng lit a cigarette, took a puff, swirled it in his mouth, and then exhaled.

What did Zhang Yi say about this?

(End of this chapter)