Did he trick the young marshal into becoming sworn brothers and then go south to Huangpu Military Ac

"Brother, is that Dr. Lin really got three heads and six arms?"

The third young lady's eyes flickered, her heart stirred, but she teased, "You've been talking about it ever since we got back. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd met some white-bearded old immortal."

Song Ziwen put down his wine glass, shook his head repeatedly, and his eyes revealed a fanaticism.

"Third Sister, don't joke around. This man is not an old man at all; he is no more than twenty-five years old. Yet his profound knowledge, broad vision, and skillful tactics are simply terrifying."

Song Ziwen cut off a piece of steak, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it haphazardly a couple of times, swallowed it, and continued speaking.

"We in Guangzhou are busy figuring out how to raise tens of thousands of silver dollars for military expenses. Various warlords are fighting tooth and nail for a few broken guns and a few pieces of land. But Dr. Lin has in his mind a century-long plan to use industrial products to reap the benefits of an agricultural country."

Song Ziwen tapped his knuckles on the table as he began to recount the exchange that afternoon in the Bund suite, trying his best to explain those profound economic theories to his family in simple language.

"He talked to me today about the underlying logic of great power competition. He said that in the future world, money won't be earned by mining gold or by cheating through exchange rate differences. The core lies in the industrial scissors. As long as you master the most advanced chemical synthesis technology and special smelting technology, you can endlessly exchange costless industrial assembly line products for agricultural products and minerals from underdeveloped countries. This is called 'dimensional reduction plunder'."

As he spoke, he took a deep breath, his eyes becoming extremely complex, showing both admiration and a hint of lingering fear.

"He also predicted that within ten years, the global financial system will be restructured. Currency will be completely decoupled from gold and shift to a fiat currency system anchored to the credit of national industries. Think about it, we are still struggling to gather enough cash to ship a ship full of weapons, and he has already seen through the trend of world currencies in the next ten years. I have only seen a few shadows of this kind of strategic vision in those top tycoons on Wall Street who control the lifeline of the country."

The silver key in the third young lady's hand stopped.

Having studied in the United States since childhood, she was well-informed and naturally understood the terrifying background and skills required to achieve these things in the quagmire of warlordism in China.

"What does Dr. Lin look like?"

The third young lady suddenly asked a question. Lin Qi's sudden appearance was like a boulder suddenly crashing into her life.

In this bustling metropolis filled with warlords, politicians, and compradors, a young man suddenly appeared out of nowhere, possessing wealth, talent, and power.

Song Ziwen was taken aback, then burst into laughter.

"His inner beauty shines through his knowledge and refinement, not to mention his physical appearance—tall, with striking features, sharp eyebrows, and bright eyes. What's most remarkable is his demeanor; he has none of the vulgarity of a nouveau riche, nor the arrogance of an old warlord. Compared to him, all the so-called young talents in our country are nothing but clowns."

The third young lady lowered her eyes, looking at the steak on the plate, but her mind had already wandered elsewhere.

Having made up his mind, he decided to find an excuse to personally meet this mysterious Dr. Lin another day.

Just then, the black bakelite telephone in the corridor rang.

The ringtone was extremely shrill.

The butler picked up the receiver, covered the mouthpiece, and quickly walked into the dining room, whispering in his ear, "Young Master, it's for you. It's an urgent call from Huanlong Road."

Huanlong Road, that's where Zhang Jingjiang's mansion is located.

Song Ziwen's expression changed slightly. He immediately got up and walked towards the corridor, his leather shoes making a rapid sound on the wooden floor.

Less than two minutes later, he returned to the restaurant, all his previous excitement gone. His face was ashen, and his brows betrayed his unconcealed anxiety and seriousness.

"Big brother, what happened?"

The third young lady sensed something was wrong and immediately pressed for answers.

Song Ziwen grabbed the trench coat from the coat rack and draped it over his shoulders.

"A major incident has occurred on Renjie Gong's side, and an emergency meeting needs to be held immediately."

He left those words behind and pushed open the door without looking back.

It had started raining outside sometime earlier. The black Ford sedan sped through the puddles and disappeared into the night in the French Concession.

……

Huanlong Road, Zhang Mansion.

The extremely secluded room on the second floor had its curtains drawn so tightly that not even a sliver of light could see through.

There was no stove in the room, but the air was so hot and oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

The ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts of various brands, and bluish-white smoke swirled under the chandelier.

Zhang Jingjiang sat in a wheelchair, his face ashen. Liao Zikai sat on the edge of the sofa, his brows furrowed in a deep knot. Chen Guofu stood in the corner, not daring to breathe.

Chiang Kai-shek, dressed in civilian clothes without any military rank, paced back and forth, his military boots creaking on the wooden floor.

The door was pushed open, and Song Ziwen walked in, bringing with her a chill.

Looking at the scene inside, his heart skipped a beat. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and took off his rain-soaked overcoat.

Liao Zikai stubbed out the half-lit cigarette in his hand in the ashtray and looked up at Zhang Jingjiang.

"Renjie, everyone's here. Let's start the meeting."

Then, Liao Kai turned to look at Chiang Kai-shek.

"Kaisen, repeat your findings and deductions in front of everyone."

Chiang Kai-shek stopped in his tracks, placed his hands on the long table, leaned forward, and looked extremely cold, like a cheetah poised to pounce.

"Gentlemen, I suspect there is a traitor within the core of our Guangzhou headquarters, and of a very high rank."

These words were like a thunderclap out of nowhere. Song Ziwen's hand, which had just picked up the teacup, suddenly froze, and a few drops of tea splashed onto the back of his hand.

"What makes you say that?"

He suppressed his shock.

Chiang Kai-shek straightened up and began to analyze the situation step by step.

"In the afternoon, we disembarked at the Shiliupu Wharf. Lu Xiaojia's guard company immediately placed the wharf under martial law and used the Governor's Mansion's special car to pick us up and take us to the Astor House Hotel. At the time, everyone thought that Lin Tuozhi had connections everywhere and could command warlords, which was indeed true, but the problem lay in the details."

Chiang Kai-shek raised one finger.

"Our whereabouts are top secret. Apart from you, very few people in the Grand Marshal's Mansion know the exact date we set off or which passenger ship we took. This was a top-secret trip."

He turned to look at Zhang Jingjiang.

"I just asked Renjie, and after receiving the secret telegram from Guangzhou, he blocked all news from our comrades in Shanghai to ensure our safety. Even the husband doesn't know we're arriving today."

Zhang Jingjiang nodded slightly from his wheelchair, his voice hoarse.

"That's right. I originally planned to meet you after dark. As for Dr. Lin, I didn't tell him a single word. There's no way he could have gotten any information from me."

Chiang Kai-shek placed his hands on the table again and said in a deep voice.

"Since Renjie Gong didn't leak the news, no one in Shanghai knew we were coming. How did Lin Tuozhi know? Not only did he know we were coming, but he also calculated the docking time of the British merchant ship we were on with great precision, and even arranged for Lu Yongxiang's army to meet us in advance."

The room was so quiet that only heavy breathing could be heard.

"He's an overseas Chinese who's only been back in China for a few months. He should have been completely unaware of the personnel changes in Guangzhou. How did he manage to do that?"

Chiang Kai-shek's voice rose, carrying a chilling undertone: "There's only one explanation: someone in the Grand Marshal's mansion used a highly secret channel to tip him off in advance! Someone revealed our entire whereabouts!"

Song Ziwen felt as if all the air in her chest had been sucked out.

He finally understood why those big shots looked so ashen.

A group of people who had spent half their lives in secret revolution suddenly discovered that their cards were laid bare.

If even top-level personnel changes and confidential schedules can be instantly transmitted to Lin Qi, who is far away in Shanghai, then what secrets does the Grand Marshal's Mansion have left?

This is equivalent to being stripped naked and standing in the middle of the street.

Who leaked the secret?

Everyone is a suspect, yet no one seems to be a suspect.

Once the seeds of mutual suspicion are sown, they will quickly grow into towering trees.

The atmosphere in the study became extremely strange and tense.

Everyone kept quiet, frantically searching their minds for every key figure in the Guangzhou headquarters.

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. If this mole really existed and held a very high position, the Southern regime would face annihilation at any moment.

The stalemate lasted for a full fifteen minutes.

Song Ziwen simply couldn't stand this suffocating suspicion.

He stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open a crack to let in the cold wind, trying to clear his head.

"Gentlemen."

Song Ziwen turned around, looked at everyone, and spoke with a firm tone.

"From our meeting this afternoon, I felt Dr. Lin's sincerity. He is a man of great vision. The blueprints he presented and the 150,000 silver dollars he donated were all real money. He is after the lifeline of the country's heavy industry. If he were really a spy sent by some force to investigate, there would be no need for him to spend so much money, and there would be no need for him to expose the fact that he has informants in Guangzhou at this time. This is completely illogical."

Song Ziwen walked back to the table and placed his hands on the back of the chair.

"Instead of getting caught up in mutual suspicion and confusion here, let's go to the Astor House Hotel first thing tomorrow morning and ask him directly. Given his magnanimity, he certainly won't try to hide anything from us."

Liao Zikai pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Ziwen is right. Suspecting your neighbor of stealing your axe is a cardinal sin in military strategy. This matter concerns the safety of our headquarters. Rather than making wild guesses and damaging the harmony, we should ask them directly."

Although Chiang Kai-shek still had doubts, he could not find a better solution and could only acquiesce.

Just as everyone reached a consensus and breathed a sigh of relief.

Ring ring.

Outside the secret room, in the corridor, the telephone rang without warning.

In this tense and tense moment, when everyone's nerves were on edge, the sudden ringing of the bell made everyone's heart skip a beat.

A phone call at this time has an extremely eerie feel to it.

Zhang Jingjiang turned his head and gave Chen G a wink.

Chen immediately opened the door and went out to answer the call.

The door to the secret room was half-open, and Chen Gfu's low voice could be faintly heard outside.

Because of the door panel, I couldn't hear clearly; I could only hear a few words intermittently.

"Feed? Who?"

"...Yes, this is the Zhang Mansion."

"...What did you say?"

The sounds outside suddenly stopped, followed by a deathly silence, a silence more torturous than any noise.

A minute later, the door was pushed open.

Chen G walked in, his steps extremely stiff, like a rusty machine, each step appearing extremely laborious.

His facial expression was extremely strange, as if he had seen something extremely absurd and terrifying.

The nerves in the corners of his eyes twitched slightly uncontrollably, and his lips were dry and bloodless.

Zhang Jingjiang sensed something was wrong, gripped the wheelchair armrests tightly with both hands, and asked in a deep voice.

"Guofu, who called?"

Chen G Fu stood by the table, scratched his head, and forced a bitter smile that looked worse than crying. He swallowed several times before finally managing to utter a dry sound.

"It's...it's Dr. Lin."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room was stunned.

What was Lin Qi calling about at this time?

He didn't even know we were in a meeting, did he?!

"Why did he call?"

Chiang Kai-shek stepped forward, staring intently at Chen G., his eyes sharp as knives: "What did he say on the phone?"

Chen Fu glanced around at the several ashen-faced southern tycoons and felt a chill run down his spine. He knew what kind of tsunami his next words would trigger.

"Dr. Lin asked me to tell everyone..."

Taking a deep breath, Chen Gfu's voice began to tremble: "Dr. Lin said... that everyone should stop speculating in the mansion. There are no spies in the Guangzhou headquarters, and no one has leaked information to him."

Song Ziwen's eyebrows furrowed.

Liao Zikai gripped the armrest of the sofa tightly.

Chen felt like he was suffocating. He closed his eyes and blurted out the rest of his words in one breath.

"Dr. Lin said that he himself calculated the details of the three of you coming to Shanghai, including the exact date of departure and which merchant ship you would take to arrive at the Shiliupu Wharf, all while staying in his room at the Astor House Hotel."

The room fell into a deathly silence; you could hear a pin drop.

Was it calculated that someone leaked the information?

Based on just a few clues, how could someone sit in a suite in Shanghai, thousands of miles away, and accurately deduce the confidential decisions and specific itineraries of the highest levels of government in the South?

Is this even human?

Song Ziwen's eyes widened, a violent buzzing in his head caused him to lose all control of his body, and he suddenly stood up from the chair.

The movement was too large, and it knocked over the white porcelain teacup next to him.

The scalding hot tea dripped down the mahogany tabletop, splashing onto the floor.

In this deathly silence, the faint sound of dripping water was amplified infinitely, striking the nerves of everyone present.