hotmtlnovel Chapter 36 Yan Shuo's Secret Zhangshan City
Chapter 36 Yan Shuo's Secret Zhangshan City
Li Zhiyao's father, Li Yanshan, was the chairman of "Yanshan Industrial," a company mainly engaged in mining and arms trading, which effectively provided material support to the Military Intelligence Bureau. He had old acquaintances with high-ranking Kuomintang officials such as Yan Xishan and Li Zongren, and had served in the Shanxi Army in his early years.
Her mother, Shen Manqing, was the niece of Shen Baochang, the former Minister of Finance of the Beiyang Government, and the founder of the "Manqing Embroidery Shop" in Shanghai. She came from a prominent family in Jiangnan and had kinship ties with Song Ziwen, Kong Xiangxi, and others. Her maternal grandmother was the cousin of the three Song sisters, but she kept a low profile because she "did not get involved in politics".
His elder brother, Li Zhixing, was a major staff officer in the communications battalion of the 29th Army. He had participated in the Great Wall Resistance War and had certain connections within the Northwest Army.
Li Zhiyao's main task was to arrange the current security measures, leave the two weapon dolls with their parents to be responsible for their entry and exit security, and tell the older brother to pay attention to safety.
He then quickly said goodbye to his family and headed to Shanghai.
At the same time, in Shanghai, inside the intelligence department of the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Army, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was suffocating.
Major General Yuichi Tanikawa slammed a report on the table and roared at his subordinates, "It's this Yan Shuo, codenamed Red Bean, who wiped out our Nishimura Squad and killed Matsui-kun! A report for the entire army? Circulated among all departments? Very well, he's laid bare his secrets to us!"
A lieutenant colonel bowed and reported: "Minister, we have investigated Yan Shuo's background. He is from Xi'an, his parents are alive, and he has an older sister who is married to Victor Lancaster, the commercial attaché at the U.S. Consulate in Xi'an. He also serves as the manager of Citibank Xi'an Branch. In addition, we have also found out that Yan Shuo has several action groups under his command. His core deputy is codenamed Maodou, whose real name is Li Zhiyao; there are also four other groups: Black Blade, Yellow Dog, Lone Wolf, and Bluebird. The identities of the members have not yet been fully verified, but they are all directly under Yan Shuo's command."
"Parents, sister, American son-in-law..." Yuichi Tanikawa's lips curled into a sinister smile. "Immediately send men to Xi'an to arrest his family. I want him to taste the bitterness of losing loved ones! Furthermore, devise an undercover plan targeting his various groups. Yan Shuo's ability to take down the Nishimura squad demonstrates the group's formidable fighting capabilities. We must turn this group into our informants, making them serve the Great Japanese Empire—or, utterly destroy them!"
The lieutenant colonel quickly replied, "Yes! We have already selected three agents who are fluent in Chinese and familiar with the Kuomintang's operational methods. They are to be disguised as exiled students and unemployed soldiers and infiltrate his group. One of them is codenamed 'Viper,' and he spent half a year in the Kuomintang's special training program and knows their assessment process inside and out."
Tanikawa Yu nodded: "Tell Viper to gain Yan Shuo's trust at all costs. If the infiltration succeeds, the reward will be huge; if it fails, he'll bring you his head!"
In the French Concession, Yan Shuo received a telegram from Li Zhiyao saying that "his family has set off for Hong Kong." His anxiety eased slightly, but then he received an encrypted telegram from the Military Intelligence Bureau: "Recently, we have detected frequent movements of Japanese spies, suspected of launching an investigation against you and your subordinate group. Be careful to guard against undercover infiltration."
Yan Shuo's face darkened, and he immediately convened a meeting with his team members.
"Headquarters has issued a warning: Japanese agents are about to target us." Yan Shuo slammed the telegram on the table. "They already know our group's structure, and they'll most likely send in an undercover agent. From today onward, all recruitment and assessment of new members must be handled personally by Zhiyao and me. No one is allowed to recruit new people without authorization. In addition, the group will implement the 'Three No's' principle: do not reveal your real name, do not discuss personal relationships, and do not contact strangers alone."
"Captain, what should we do with the intelligence points we contacted before? There are quite a few people there who need to be recruited," asked team member Zhao Hu.
Yan Shuo pondered for a moment: "Temporarily suspend the connection. Inform those awaiting recruitment to remain on standby. Without my instructions, they are not allowed to contact us. However, provide them with sufficient living expenses and bring them to me individually for screening. I will monitor and follow them at several distances. If any outsiders are found following them, immediately alert them and execute them on the spot. In addition, each group should shrink its operations and strengthen internal screening. Once suspicious persons are found, immediately take them into custody and await my instructions."
The team members received their orders and dispersed.
Recently, Yan Shuo's teammates have been too active, engaging in assassinations, raids, and recruiting new members. This excessive activity is not a good thing, so Yan Shuo has decided to curb it.
Some team members thought they were invincible because they had masks and voice stickers, and they wandered around aimlessly, which was ridiculous. Fortunately, only a few team members were killed and none were captured, otherwise it would have been even more troublesome, as they would have had to find a way to rescue or send them on their way, which was incredibly annoying.
The intelligence he sent back this time was mostly from high-ranking officials. Yan Shuo felt a tickle on his neck. No matter what he thought, as long as the telegram was sent back, he would offend a lot of people. In modern terms, he was courting death!
Yan Shuo felt that if his backer, Dai Li, were to truly reach the desperate situation he perceived, Dai Li might not be able to protect him, or even if he were, it was uncertain whether he would.
Thinking about this, Yan Shuo regretted sending the telegram back. He pondered the function of the weapon doll and had a crazy idea.
Considering that the weapon doll could not perform overly complicated tasks without him, he had no choice but to leave one of the weapon dolls to disguise himself as Liu Jie. In the near future, he would only be responsible for collecting intelligence from each group, without issuing any missions. He would just wait for each member to report the intelligence they had obtained and then send it back to the mountain city. He would not do any other unnecessary actions.
Then, Yan Shuo set off back to the mountain city, where he was about to do something crazy.
Inside the reception room of the Chen family mansion in the mountain city, the candlelight flickered, casting long and short shadows of everyone present.
A heavy, oppressive atmosphere hung in the air, broken only by Chen Lifu's angry rebuke, which echoed among the carved beams and wood.
"Damn it!!" Chen Lifu slammed his teacup to the ground, shards of celadon scattering everywhere, tea soaking the expensive carpet. "Just because of that brat Yan Shuo's worthless telegram, I was publicly reprimanded by the Chairman, dismissed from my post, and confined to my quarters! This brat has utterly disgraced the Chen family!"
He was dressed in a blue long robe, his usual refined demeanor completely gone, his eyes bloodshot, and veins bulging on his forehead.
Sitting in the main seat, Chen Guofu was pale. Suffering from lung disease for many years, his breathing was slightly rapid, but he remained calm. He coughed lightly twice and raised his hand to signal his younger brother to calm down: "Lifu, calm down. Things have come to this point, getting angry won't solve anything."
Chen Guofu's son, Chen Zupeng, quickly stepped forward and handed over a clean handkerchief: "Second Uncle, please calm down. Yan Shuo's actions were indeed excessive. Relying on Dai Li's favor, he dared to be so arrogant and didn't even respect our Chen family."
Chen Lifu's two sons, Chen Zening and Chen Zewei, also echoed his sentiments.