Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

Chapter 121 Street Fury
"What?" Zhang Xiaolin instantly lost all interest and shoved the tearful maid away.

"what happened?"

Song Zushan said in a deep voice, "Boss, ever since Brother Rong had that incident, in order to prevent those people from causing trouble again, we have arranged hidden agents around the venue as you instructed."

"Nothing had been happening for a while, but starting yesterday, a lot of strangers started appearing."

“Their behavior was very suspicious, so I had people follow them all the way.”

"They went to 625 Da Xi Road."

Zhang Xiaolin knew perfectly well what was in that place.

With a loud bang, Zhang Xiaolin slammed the teacup on the coffee table onto the ground: "Damn it, Zuo Mingquan, you've gone too far!"

"People say you can do it once, twice, but not a third time. Do they really think I, Zhang Xiaolin, am a paper tiger that they can mold however they want?"

"Ah Shan, call for help. I'm going to wipe out the Special Service Department today."

Song Zushan's face immediately fell. He said that it was fine for his men to chop up ordinary people, and they were not afraid of even gang warfare.

But that was the Nanjing Special Service Committee. Not to mention that everyone there was armed, most of their agents had received professional training.

Even his official position was not something he could mess around with; it was a legitimate unit established by the Nanjing authorities, with the Japanese backing him up.

If it really came down to a direct confrontation, the Japanese would definitely cause trouble for Zhang Xiaolin.

Their men are all based in Shanghai; if you really investigate, you can catch them all.

Attacking government institutions is tantamount to rebellion, which would surely result in bloodshed.

The boss has had too much to drink and hasn't sobered up yet.

Song Zushan quickly gave the butler a look, indicating that the boss was speaking under the influence of alcohol and might not mean it once he sobered up.

The butler bowed slightly and said, "Master, didn't Mr. Qi remind you last time that you are now an official and cannot act on impulse? You must follow the rules."

Zhang Xiaolin frowned. Indeed, Qi Shiyi had reminded him before that the most important thing in officialdom could be summed up in four words.

"I have a legitimate reason."

You can be ruthless, but you can't break the rules.

At this moment, Song Zushan chimed in, "Boss, I've heard that recently this secret service has been kidnapping and extorting people under the guise of arresting Communists, and indiscriminately killing innocent people, which has aroused public outrage."

You're now on Wen Lao's side, do you think of a way to use the Inspectorate's name to take action against them?

The original KMT government had five branches of government: the Judicial Yuan, the Legislative Yuan, the Control Yuan, the Executive Yuan, and the Examination Yuan.

The Jinling Reformed Government had only three branches: the Prosecutor's Office, the Legislative Yuan, and the Executive Yuan.

Wen Zongyao was the chief prosecutor, and the new government's supervisory departments were also under his jurisdiction.

Zhang Xiaolin cultivated a relationship with Chen Jintao of the Ministry of Finance, who was also part of Wen Zongyao's faction.

Zhang Xiaolin lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying, "This is a good idea, but we can't just let ourselves be slaughtered."

"Ah Shan, find a few unfamiliar faces to guard the area. If they dare to make any rash moves, have them killed."

“If something goes wrong, give them some money and let them leave.”

"Yes, boss, I'll arrange it right away..."

Shanghai, 625 Daxi Road, Special Service Office.

It was already 8 p.m., but the lights in the secret service were still as bright as ever.

Zuo Mingquan has been in Shanghai for so long, and it's rare that he hasn't appeared at Jinyulou for a single day. Instead, he's been staying obediently in his office.

In the distance, the faint sound of church bells could be heard. Zuo Mingquan wiped his face, turned around and walked to the window. Looking at the dark night outside, his brows were furrowed.

"Knock knock knock," a knocking sound rang out on the door.

Zuo Mingquan immediately perked up: "Come in."

Zhang Zixian pushed open the door and strode to Zuo Mingquan's side: "Fourth Uncle, it's all done."

“The newsboy’s family has all been sent away, and the previous statements and evidence have all been collected. We guarantee there won’t be any problems.”

"Phew." Zuo Mingquan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, nodding repeatedly and saying, "That's good, that's good."

Zhang Zixian asked with some confusion, "Fourth Uncle, what exactly do you want us to do?"

"That Commander Chen didn't say we did anything wrong."

"Foolish," Zuo Mingquan said in a deep voice, "Do you think Commander Chen is deliberately looking for trouble?"

"He's preparing to take down Zhang Xiaolin, but before that, he wants to plug the loopholes in our hands. We're useful to him now."

Zhang Zixian scratched his head and said, "But what can't he say directly?"

"Speak frankly? Do you think this is where you can say things frankly?" Zuo Mingquan sneered. "If he speaks frankly, wouldn't that be the superior instructing him, and the subordinate taking the blame?"

"Do you really think he's stupid..."

"Which of these officials isn't shrouded in mystery? Do you think his inexplicable outburst of anger is due to a surge of righteousness, or him seeking justice for those people?"

"He was putting on a show for others, his goal was to get me in trouble. If he didn't handle these things properly, it would be easy for someone to find fault with him." "If I'm not mistaken, the Inspectorate should send someone over in a few days."

"The Nanjing Inspectorate?" Zhang Zixian asked in surprise. "What are they doing in Shanghai?"

"What for? Of course, it's to find something on us." Zuo Mingquan said in a deep voice, "What kind of brain does Zhang Xiaolin have? The most he can think of is to go to Nanjing to complain."

"Commander Chen had already calculated that he wouldn't dare to confront us head-on, and would only be able to deal with us using the tricks of officialdom."

“As long as we make the evidence we have irrefutable, even if Mr. Leung himself intervenes, let alone the Inspectorate, he won’t be able to find any fault with it.”

"By the way, you didn't do anything to that newsboy's family, did you?"

Zhang Zixian waved his hands repeatedly: "Don't worry, Fourth Uncle. You've already told us not to make a big deal out of things that can be solved with money. How could we dare to do anything reckless?"

“I investigated their background. The newsboy started selling newspapers to make a living when he was six or seven years old. His family had no connections. We spent thirty silver dollars to get them to leave at night.”

"Thirty?" Zuo Mingquan frowned. "Didn't I say I'd give you one hundred silver dollars? Are you kidding me? You're even robbing the dead?"

Zhang Zixian quickly waved his hand and said, "Fourth Uncle, how could we dare to rob the dead? We were just thinking of that family."

“Their family consists of a couple in their fifties or sixties, who are so thin they’re practically skin and bones. They have no ability to resist at all. Don’t you understand that in a place like that, it’s not about giving as much money as possible?”

“If we give them a hundred silver dollars, I’m afraid they’ll lose their lives before nightfall.”

"Thirty silver dollars is enough for them to go back to the countryside and buy two pigs to make a living."

Upon hearing this, Zuo Mingquan couldn't help but sigh.

It must be admitted that Zhang Zixian, who grew up in the slums, has a deep understanding of that place.

There are no secrets there. If they slip someone a hundred dollars, someone will rob them the moment they step out the door.

One hundred silver dollars—that's more than a Shanghai worker earns in a whole year.

Moreover, the world is in such a mess, there are bound to be a few unidentified corpses on the Huangpu River every day.

Given their circumstances, if they had a hundred silver dollars, the elderly couple would surely be floating on the Huangpu River within two hours.

This is the darkness of our time.
"Alright, it's getting late, let's go back," Zuo Mingquan instructed.

"Fourth Uncle, I don't have much work to do, so I might as well come with you," Zhang Zixian said with a smile.

Zuo Mingquan did not refuse, nodded, turned off the office light, and the two went downstairs one after the other.

Da Xi Lu was located within the French Concession, and it was extremely lively at eight o'clock.

Zuo Mingquan would normally be at Jinyulou at this time, but because of Chen Yang's matter, he didn't dare to go, for fear of being caught red-handed.

After all, the code of conduct for public officials clearly stipulates that public officials are prohibited from engaging in prostitution.
Normally no one would care about this rule, but now it's different.

This thing, to put it bluntly, weighs less than four ounces without being weighed, but if you do weigh it, it's more than a thousand pounds.

People can use this as an excuse to mess with you at any time.

The uncle and nephew were chatting and laughing as they left the gate. They hadn't walked more than a hundred meters when suddenly, a black Austin car seemed to have gone out of control and crashed straight into them.

This type of car was quite popular during the Republic of China era. It was taller than a normal sedan, and from a modern perspective, it was like a Republic of China version of an SUV.

Zuo Mingquan was a professional agent after all. He noticed something was wrong as soon as the car arrived. He shoved Zhang Zixian aside, pulled out a gun from behind his back, and fired three shots at the driver's seat.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Most of the bullets hit the thick steel plates of the vehicle, making a dull and ear-piercing "clanging" sound, and sparks flew everywhere.

Several stray bullets whizzed past the car roof and struck the exquisite stucco decorations on the wall of No. 625 Daxilu, sending gravel and dust raining down...

The driver was experienced; he quickly ducked to avoid the bullets, while the passenger stuck his gun out the window and fired three shots at the other driver…

"Bang bang bang." Two shots were aimed at Zuo Mingquan, while the other shot was fired at Zhang Zixian.

The other side's purpose was clearly to prevent Zhang Zixian from causing trouble, but little did they know that Zhang Zixian had never seen anything like this before and was currently hiding behind cover, trembling with fear.

Zuo Mingquan had clearly experienced gunfights more than once. He calmed down and fired repeatedly at the car, quickly running out of bullets.

The other party originally intended to kill, but the location of the gunfight was only about a hundred meters away from the intelligence station, and the noise had already alerted the personnel on duty inside.

The car executed a beautiful drift, and the gunman in the passenger seat poked his head out and fired several shots at Zuo Mingquan's hiding place.

As the roar of the car engine faded into the distance, the black Austin sedan quickly disappeared into the night.

"Fourth Uncle, Fourth Uncle, how are you?" As the gunfire stopped, Zhang Zixian rushed forward to check if Zuo Mingquan was injured.

"Pah. Just a scrape, nothing serious." Zuo Mingquan spat and waved his right hand.

His right arm was covered in blood, but it wasn't a penetrating wound; it was a superficial injury caused by a bullet slicing through the skin.

However, even the superficial wounds made Zuo Mingquan wince in pain.

"Fourth Uncle, who is trying to kill you?"

Zuo Mingquan clutched his arm, staring at the direction the car had disappeared in, and sneered, "Is there any need to guess? Who in Shanghai wants me dead right now?"

Zhang Zixian's face darkened, and he uttered three words: "Zhang Xiaolin..."

(End of this chapter)