After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

The person on the other end of the phone identified himself as Shen Yayun. His voice carried a hint of amusement, as if the recent public opinion storm had no effect on him.

"Want to hear something new?" Chen Ping smiled at the empty corridor. "I'm afraid I can't afford to listen to Mr. Shen's piano playing."

"You're welcome." Shen Yayun's speech remained unhurried. "Yayun Tea House, top floor, Qinghui Pavilion. I've brewed this year's new tea. I'll wait for you for half an hour."

The call was unilaterally disconnected.

Chen Ping put his phone back in his pocket, and without hesitation, turned and pushed open the fire escape door. It was an obvious trap. But he had to go. Because Shen Yayun was currently the only lead that could connect him to the mastermind behind it all.

He neither informed Lin Shaofeng nor reported to Liu Mingyuan. This game was his alone.

Twenty minutes later, an ordinary black Passat pulled up in front of the Ya Yun Tea House. The tea house was a three-story antique-style building with upturned eaves and bracket sets, appearing very quiet under the city's neon lights.

Chen Ping put down the car and walked straight into the gate.

A maid in a cheongsam approached and bowed slightly. "Mr. Chen? Mr. Shen is waiting for you on the top floor."

She led Chen Ping up the wooden stairs, her steps very light. The entire teahouse was very quiet; there wasn't a single customer.

The Qinghui Pavilion on the top floor is a semi-open terrace. Pushing open the door, a cool night breeze blows in. Shen Yayun sits in front of a guqin, his back to the door. He has changed into a loose Tang suit, and his gray hair is neatly combed.

Hearing footsteps, he didn't turn around; he pressed the strings with his left hand and gently plucked them with his right.

Clang~

A clear, resonant piano note echoed through the night, carrying a powerful, penetrating quality.

The maid quietly withdrew and closed the door.

Chen Ping walked to the futon opposite him and sat down cross-legged. On a small tea table, a purple clay teapot was steaming.

Shen Yayun's fingers danced across the strings, and an ancient and powerful melody began to play. The tune was sometimes intense, and sometimes filled with murderous intent.

It is "Guangling San".

Nie Zheng assassinated the King of Han, leaving two corpses lying in the ground, blood splattering five steps away. This was a song of revenge, and also a farewell.

Shen Yayun was using this song to tell Chen Pingfang that being too sharp and outspoken will inevitably lead to self-destruction.

Chen Ping picked up his teacup and poured himself a cup of tea. The tea was amber in color. He didn't drink it, but just watched the steam rising from the cup.

After the piece was finished, the sound of the piano seemed to still linger.

Shen Yayun withdrew her left hand, which had lost half of its ring finger, from the strings.

"Deputy Secretary-General Chen, what do you think of my rendition of 'Guangling San'?" He finally turned his head and looked calmly at Chen Pingfang.

"The music is good." Chen Ping put down his teacup. "Unfortunately, the person playing the zither is not calm and his spirit is not pure. Nie Zheng is a man who would die for his confidant, but you are just a puppet controlled by desire."

Shen Yayun's face was unreadable, but her hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.

"puppet?"

"You think you're playing chess?" Chen Ping leaned forward slightly, staring at Shen Yayun's face. "Wrong. You're not even a chess piece. You're just a worn-out stirring stick that M-Tek used to muddy the waters of Sujiang."

The word was very impolite, and when Chen Ping said it, it carried a huge contrast and was extremely insulting.

Shen Yayun's breathing became erratic.

"A researcher at the Arts Department of the Provincial Department of Culture, a sinecure, which I held for fifteen years, and I never got promoted before retirement." Chen Pingfang's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck Shen Yayun's heart. "You feel like your talents are going to waste, that the system has wronged you. You pride yourself on your refined taste, looking down on those money-grubbing businessmen, and even more so on bureaucrats like Qin Daguan who only know how to scheme."

"M-Tek found you, gave you a platform, and made you feel like you were the mastermind behind the scenes. They took advantage of your arrogance and got you to contact other equally self-important but greedy contractors, like He Qishan. They used your greed to get you to build a huge financial network under the guise of Ya Yun Culture."

Chen Ping picked up his teacup and drank it all in one gulp.

"You enjoy this feeling, don't you? Watching people you used to look down on bow down to you. You even feel like you're correcting this vulgar world in an artistic way."

Shen Yayun did not refute. He simply looked at Chen Pingfang in silence, and a crack finally appeared on his calm face.

"You are neither Nie Zheng nor Ji Kang." Chen Ping put down his teacup with a soft thud. "You're just a pathetic wretch who, after retiring, realizes he's lived a life that's been a joke, and is desperate to prove himself."

Shen Yayun relaxed and leaned back in his chair. He suddenly laughed, his laughter a little hoarse.

"Brilliant. Truly brilliant." He nodded, seemingly in admiration. "Liu Mingyuan is lucky to have found someone like you."

He admitted it.

"You've already investigated Qin Daguan, haven't you?" Shen Yayun poured herself a cup of tea, her movements much slower. "He's just a scapegoat pushed to the forefront. A director of a general affairs department doesn't have that much power to coordinate dozens of infrastructure projects."

Chen Pingfang didn't respond, waiting for him to continue.

"M-Tek has a key figure in the province," Shen Yayun said, watching the tea leaves rise and fall in her cup. "This person is higher in rank than you and has more power than Qin Daguan. All crucial resource allocation is done through him. I'm just following his orders."

"who is he?"

Shen Yayun shook her head. "I don't know. We never meet in person, we only communicate through a one-way channel. He's very cautious and intelligent."

He took something out of his pocket, placed it on the coffee table, and pushed it towards Chen Pingfang.

It was a black USB flash drive, the very ordinary kind.

"What is this?"

"My coffin." A strange expression appeared on Shen Yayun's face, as if she were relieved, or perhaps mocking herself. "It contains all the detailed accounts I've handled over the past few years, as well as recordings of several conversations with that key figure. Although they've been processed, the technical experts from the National Security Bureau should be able to analyze something from them."

He stood up, walked to the edge of the terrace, and looked at the city lights in the distance.

"The strings have broken, and the musician should take his final bow. Deputy Secretary-General Chen, I have lost this game. But Su Jiang's grand strategy has only just begun."

After Shen Yayun finished speaking, she didn't look at Chen Pingfang again, turned around and walked into the dark stairwell, her footsteps gradually fading away.

Chen Ping remained seated, not moving. He stared at the small USB drive on the table as if it were a Pandora's box.