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

Chapter 45 The Stage is Handed Over to Him

No. 1 Courtyard, Military Police Headquarters Dormitory Area, Shanghai.

Only two small courtyards in the entire military police headquarters accommodation area are independent.

These two courtyards belonged to the two most powerful people in the military police headquarters.

One of them was Otani Unshichi, the commander of the Military Police Headquarters.

The other building houses Saburo Miura, the Chief of Staff of the Military Police Headquarters.

In March, the air in Jiangnan is humid, and it often rains lightly.

In Commander Otani Unshichi's courtyard, a small tea table was placed next to the huge French windows.

Beside the coffee table were several pots of plain-colored, unnamed flowers, currently blooming profusely in clusters.

There was a small red stove next to the coffee table, where a pot of sake was being warmed.

Besides two wine glasses, the coffee table was covered with a variety of snacks to accompany the drinks, such as green beans, dried plums, shredded squid, dried anchovies, and dried meat.
Such a display was indeed rather shabby for the commander of the military police headquarters.

The sake on the stove began to steam, and Otani Unshichi picked up a small sake bottle wrapped in a cotton cloth from the table and poured a cup for Suzuhara Shingo, who was sitting opposite him.

Immediately afterwards, he poured himself another glass, raised his glass, and said softly, "Suzuhara-kun, please."

Suzuhara Shingo held the cup with both hands, slightly lower than the other person, carefully touched it to the other person's cup, and then drank it all in one gulp.

"Ha!" Suzuhara Shingo downed a mouthful of sake, a look of lingering enjoyment appearing on his face.

"Lord Otani, this wine is quite extraordinary."

Otani Yunqi nodded slightly and said, "This is the masterpiece of Nishisankisai, the master brewer from Kyoto."

"I had to pull a lot of strings to order two bottles. If it weren't for Suzuhara-kun, I wouldn't have been willing to drink them."

Shingo Suzuhara glanced at the unlabeled bottle next to him, a knowing look on his face.

This is similar to how, in later generations, 53-degree Flying Fairy Moutai was served in mineral water bottles at banquets; the exterior may not be impressive, but the contents are of high quality.

"Let's get back to the main topic." Suzuhara Shingo took a stack of documents out of his briefcase and handed them to Otani Kumochi.

"Mr. Otani, I must say you are being too wary. We have already conducted a background check on Chen Yang."

“You asked us to do it again, but the result is still the same.”

“This includes not only Chen Yang’s case, but also the entire Lin Zonghan family, where he currently resides. A detailed investigation has been conducted.”

"At present, there seems to be no problem, and I can also believe that the Lin family maintains goodwill towards the Empire."

"Only his eldest sister seems to have some dissatisfaction with the Empire, but a woman who rarely leaves the house poses no threat to us."

Otani Yunqi quickly flipped through the documents, remained silent for a moment, then lit each document one by one with the charcoal fire in the oven and threw them into the iron basin beside him.

A pungent smell filled the air, but the two of them paid no attention to it.

Otani Unshichi raised his glass and clinked it against Suzuhara Shingo's, taking a small sip before saying, "Suzuhara-kun, it's been about a month since Chen Yang came back, hasn't it?"

"To be honest, I find it hard to imagine that a young man in his early twenties with no connections could get you to help him take control of the Shanghai shipping terminal just by making two transactions."

"I don't think his plan should be that simple."

Shingo Suzuhara frowned and said, "Does Lord Otani mean that Chen Yang has a master backer?"

"This person should be very familiar with Shanghai's freight industry, but I don't see anyone behind him who could do this."

"Could it be that, Mr. Otani, you believe the Osaka Chamber of Commerce is behind this, using Chen Yang to control the transportation of supplies?"

Otani Yunqi sighed and said very seriously, "Suzuhara-kun, I'm not worried about the Osaka Chamber of Commerce. The Osaka Chamber of Commerce has been cooperating with us for so long and has never had any accidents. They are still safe for us."

"I'm worried that Chen Yang might be backed by the South Manchuria Railway Company."

Shingo Suzuhara was taken aback: "Lord Otani, are you overthinking this? The South Manchuria Railway's sales network and supply warehouses are all in the north."

"Even the transportation of supplies goes through the port of Lushun, which is not on the same transportation route as ours in the south."

"How could you possibly think that Chen Yang has any connection with the South Manchuria Railway?"

Otani Yunqi said calmly, "Suzuhara-kun, haven't you seen the internal announcement? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is being restructured, with Matsuoka Yosuke appointed as Foreign Minister and Fujiwara Tomoo as Permanent Vice Minister?"

Shingo Suzuhara nodded and said, "I saw this news a long time ago. Wait, does Lord Otani think that what Chen Yang did was instructed by Vice Minister Fujiwara?"

"What is his purpose in doing this? Does the South Manchuria Railway Company want to take over the Osaka Chamber of Commerce's sales network in the south?"

"It's not necessarily an annexation; it could still be related to railway and shipping transportation," Otani Yunqi said slowly. "The Empire is currently in a standoff with the Blue Army in Xuzhou."

"Once we capture Xuzhou, we can connect the north and south, forming a complete transportation line."

"Suzuhara-kun, don't forget Mr. Matsuoka's 'Manchuria-Mongolia Lifeline' theory."

"He was a person who paid great attention to railway transportation, and it was under his leadership that the South Manchuria Railway Company was able to more than double in size."

"I think they are planning to exploit the transportation lines."

Shingo Suzuhara shook his head repeatedly and said, "Impossible, impossible, Lord Otani, I had dealings with Takuichi Omura when I was serving in the Kwantung Army."

"If President Ōmura really wanted to mess with the transportation line, he wouldn't have entrusted such an important task to a Chinese person."

"Moreover, given Chen Yang's qualifications, it's impossible for him to oversee such a crucial project as the transportation line."

"I still maintain my view that controlling all the docks in Shanghai was his own idea."

Otani Yunqi took a sip of his drink and said, "So, Suzuhara-kun plans to help him take over the four docks in the Chinese territory, just as he wishes."

Shingo Suzuhara nodded and said, "Lord Otani, since we have chosen to cooperate, I believe that improving his strength is also improving our own strength."

Otani Yunqi placed his wine glass on the coffee table and said slowly, "I think we should still be careful."

“Suzuhara-kun, in addition to having enough benefits, I think we also need to have some leverage over him in our cooperation.”

"A handle?" Shingo Suzuhara frowned and asked, "What does Lord Otani mean?"

Otani Yunqi tapped his fingers lightly on the table: "It's also very simple to confirm that he has no connection with the South Manchuria Railway."

"Hirata Jisaburo of the South Manchuria Railway Affairs Investigation Department has been collecting information on the movement of goods in Shanghai."

"Let Chen Yang take action and give Director Aoki a warning. If Chen Yang is willing to do it, I think he is still trustworthy."

Shingo Suzuhara hesitated and said, "Lord Otani, will it cause dissatisfaction if we move against the South Manchuria Railway Company?"

"Moreover, I'm afraid this target is too big, and Chen Yang might not dare to make a move."

Otani Yunqi smiled slightly: "Suzuhara-kun, didn't you say he was very brave?"

“Tell him directly that you can help him sort out the matter at the Chinese-controlled wharf. In exchange, he must see news of Hirata Jisaburo's death within three days. Don’t worry about how things will end after that.”

"Tell him that we can give him the stage in Shanghai. As long as he performs well, people will naturally come to his aid."

"Hi"

(End of this chapter)