Espionage: I became sworn brothers with Zheng Yaoxian at the beginning, and became the Seventh Broth

Chapter 350 Profiting at Public Expense

into the night.

Ye Shaohong, who had just taken the medicine, was lying on Yu Manli's lap, resting with his eyes closed.

There was a rapid knock on the door.

Yu Manli frowned.

She gently placed Ye Shaohong on the sofa, supporting the back of his head with both hands.

Seeing that Ye Shaohong showed no signs of waking up, Yu Manli got up and went to the door of the room in her slippers.

I opened a crack in the door and peered out through the light from inside.

A soft, dissatisfied murmur followed. "Yunlong, what are you doing here so late at night?"

"Are you looking for Station Master Ye?"

"He's resting now. If it's not urgent, you should come tomorrow."

Outside the villa, Li Yunlong held a gift box in one hand and a folder in the other, his face immediately showing an apologetic expression.

"Sister Yu."

"No, this is an urgent telegram from Jinling headquarters. The station chief must come and check it in person."

"Or... you...?"

Before Li Yunlong could finish speaking outside the door, Ye Shaohong, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly woke up on the sofa in the villa's living room.

He pinched the space between his eyebrows and then sat up.

"Is that Yunlong?"

"come in."

Upon hearing Ye Shaohong's call, Yu Manli let out a long sigh of relief before reluctantly opening the door and letting Li Yunlong into the villa.

After entering the room, Li Yunlong did not rush to meet Ye Shaohong.

Instead, he stopped and bowed slightly to Yu Manli.

Seeing that the anger on Yu Manli's face had subsided slightly, he finally relaxed and jogged to the villa's living room.

"Stationmaster, urgent telegram from Nanjing!"

Upon arriving at the sofa seating area, Li Yunlong first put down the gift box he was carrying before handing the folder to Ye Shaohong.

"Ah."

"It's so late at night, and I'm sorry to have troubled you to make this trip."

"Manli, make Yunlong a cup of tea."

Reaching out to take the folder Li Yunlong handed him, Ye Shaohong opened it and glanced at it. His eyebrows immediately rose. Very rare.

This time, the telegram sent to him by the Nanjing headquarters did not use a proprietary code.

Instead, they used the secret service's plaintext.

The text above only contains one line of text.

"Depart within five days!"

In later generations of China, there is a classic joke on the internet: the fewer the words, the bigger the matter.

The same principle applies to the officialdom during the Republic of China era.

Looking at the brief description on the folder, Ye Shaohong didn't put it down immediately. Instead, he held it in his hand and frowned as he pondered.

The contents of the telegram were beyond Ye Shaohong's expectations.

There was no blame, nor any admonition.

This completely formulaic communication information actually explains a lot.

First, the details of his reckless actions in Jiangcheng have already reached Nanjing, reaching the ears of Director Dai Yunong and Chairman Chiang.

The second piece of information.

The Chief Executive and the Chairman were furious, but for some reason, neither of them severely punished him.

The third piece of information.

Although no punishment was given, anger was hidden. Otherwise, Director Dai Yunong would not have sent him a message via internal code, which also served as a warning.

The fourth piece of information.

Although it was a warning, it also showed care and concern. The director should already know about his illness, so while urging him to take action, he also specially gave him a few days to rest.

Having deciphered the deeper meaning of the telegram, Ye Shaohong finally closed the folder and placed it on the table.

His gaze then fell on the gift box that Li Yunlong had brought.

"Yunlong, what does this mean?"

"You know I never accept gifts."

At this moment, Li Yunlong had just received the brewed strong tea from Yu Manli when he heard Ye Shaohong's question, and he hurriedly put down the teacup.

He then laughed.

"Station manager, you've misunderstood."

“I know your temperament and character, how could I dare to go against you?”

"This box contains the portion of the Sun family's property that should have been allocated to you after it was confiscated."

This is an old tradition of the Special Service Department. It's unclear who started it, but when Ye Shaohong was at the Nanjing headquarters, he would confiscate the property of Japanese spies and traitors every time he cracked a major case involving Japanese spies.

The upper and lower parts are moist.

This was the biggest unexpected gain for him. Now that he had arrived in Jiangcheng, the local customs were the same as in Jinling.

As the presiding judge of the case and the deputy stationmaster of Jiangcheng Station, he naturally received the largest share of the profits from the confiscation of the Sun family's property.

"Oh?"

"I won't bother checking how many there are, just tell me directly."

Is Ye Shaohong too lazy to check?

No.

He was still ill and weak, so he just made up an excuse.

"Yes!"

"On the very night that you, Station Chief, fell into a coma due to a fever, the personnel responsible for confiscating the Sun family's property in Hanyang County returned to the Jiangcheng Station of the Special Service Department."

"They first informed Station Chief He Mingxuan of the news of Zhou Haichao's assassination."

"Then they handed over the ledger of the confiscated Sun family property."

"Station Chief He originally wanted to ask you to help inspect the Sun family's assets, but due to special circumstances at the time, it was delayed."

"When I heard yesterday that you had regained consciousness, Station Chief He Mingxuan called me to his office and handed me the ledgers."

At this point in his story, Li Yunlong paused deliberately, and he even looked up at Ye Shaohong.

"Oh?"

"So, the people who confiscated the Sun family's property in Hanyang County returned on the evening of the 7th, and it wasn't until yesterday that Station Chief He Mingxuan gave you the account books?" "That's four days, enough time for him to tamper with things."

Ye Shaohong's lips curled into a cold smile, and then he asked another question.

Have you asked around?

"How much less is the total?"

Li Yunlong gritted his teeth and nodded in response.

"I've already asked."

“Last night, as soon as I got the ledger, I interrogated those field agents who had returned from Hanyang County.”

"They're quite stubborn."

"But after being tortured, he still told me the details."

"By comparing the ledgers, it was found that Station Master He took about 30% of it, with the majority of it going to real estate and shops near Jiangcheng."

"He didn't take much of the gold bars, US dollars, British pounds, or silver dollars."

Ye Shaohong smiled after hearing Li Yunlong's detailed introduction.

It wasn't that he was so angry he laughed.

Rather, it is a kind of contempt and disdain.

In his opinion, Station Chief He Mingxuan still lacked courage. Since he had already reached out, he should have taken more.

Taking only 30% may seem like leaving room for both sides, but conversely, it also shows his cowardice and incompetence.

If Ye Shaohong were to operate it instead...

If he doesn't take action, fine; but if he does, he'll at least take half of it.

Moreover, Station Chief He is far too petty.

To avoid his actions being leaked, he didn't even take any hard currency like gold bars, US dollars, British pounds, or silver dollars.

Instead, they took away houses and shops that were extremely valuable but inconspicuous. Ye Shaohong looked down on them.

As for whether these houses and shops are valuable or not?

The answer is, of course, that it's valuable.

But it also depends on the time.

In peacetime, Station Chief He Mingxuan's methods were correct, and his choices were also appropriate.

But what time is it now?

The Republic of China was a chaotic period.

After the New Year, the main force of the Japanese devils will launch a counterattack on Jiangcheng. At that time, these seemingly valuable houses and shops will be destroyed in the artillery fire.

Of course.

Knowing is one thing.

But that doesn't mean Ye Shaohong will let him off easily.

"Okay." "I understand."

"Tell me what you brought today."