Chapter 334: Bastards…

“Director Cha, how do you think Secretary Deng Zhiping should respond to Politburo member Liu Peiqi’s demands?”

Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Tang Guochang, who was watching Liu Peiqi torture Secretary Deng Zhiping through the surveillance system, turned to me.

“Secretary Deng must understand perfectly well that his life is hanging by a thread.”

“Do you think he’ll simply hand over Chairman Xi’s secret funds?”

“No. Before transferring the money, he’ll make a counterproposal.”

“And what sort of conditions could he possibly offer?”

I had a rough idea of what kind of counterproposal Deng Zhiping would make to Liu Peiqi. However, there was still a chance that my guess was wrong, so I decided not to say anything unnecessary.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“It’s a shame we can’t listen in on their conversation.”

“I completely agree with you on that, Vice Chairman Tang.”

At that moment, Triad Vice Chairman Wei Chen joined the conversation as though a question that had been bothering him for some time had suddenly resurfaced.

“Director Cha, why did Bureau Chief Pu Zhenghua’s men cut the power to Deputy Secretary Zhang’s safe house?”

“They probably figured there were surveillance cameras installed on the fence.”

“Hmm... That does sound plausible. But how did they get inside?”

“I’ll answer that,” NIS Director Om Giyeon said before I could.

“Please, go ahead.”

“When our agents entered and left the safe house, they unlocked the rear door.”

“Ah, so that’s what happened.”

Wei Chen nodded as though the final piece of a puzzle had finally fallen into place.

NIS Director Om Giyeon glanced at him before turning back to me.

“Director Cha, I’m against giving Chairman Xi the surveillance footage.”

“Why?”

“He’ll inevitably wonder why Politburo member Liu Peiqi was torturing Secretary Deng Zhiping.”

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang intended to hand the surveillance footage seized from the safe house over to Chairman Xi Jinping as evidence.

Secretary Deng Zhiping managed Xi Jinping’s secret funds.

So the first thing Chairman Xi would do after watching the footage would be to check whether his money was still intact.

But by then, Liu Peiqi would already have stolen it.

The accounts holding Chairman Xi’s secret funds would be completely empty.

In order to find the missing money, Xi would thoroughly investigate Liu Peiqi’s own secret accounts.

And he would immediately discover that Liu Peiqi’s accounts had been emptied as well.

Under those circumstances, suspicion would naturally fall on Vice Chairman Tang Guochang.

I asked NIS Director Om Giyeon what he thought about my reasoning.

“Director Cha, your assumptions are absolutely correct.”

“I’ll suggest a solution to that problem, so listen carefully.”

“Go on!” Tang Guochang urged impatiently, leaning forward with his entire body.

“First, there’s one important condition. The surveillance system was installed by Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan.”

“Ah, I understand what you’re getting at.”

“Vice Chairman Tang, when you entered the safe house, you weren’t supposed to know the cameras existed.”

“Of course.”

“Vice Chairman Tang only learned that Politburo member Liu had tortured Secretary Deng after reviewing the surveillance footage.”

“You’re suggesting that I report it to Chairman Xi exactly that way?”

“That’s right.”

“Very well. I’ll do exactly that. But what about Chairman Xi’s missing secret funds?”

“The dead tell no tales.”

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang instantly understood what Cha Jiham meant.

Chairman Xi Jinping would use every means available to recover his stolen money.

However, the key figure in the matter, Politburo member Liu Peiqi, would be eliminated.

That would make it extremely difficult for Chairman Xi to recover the stolen funds.

Tang Guochang cautiously asked Jiham what he thought of that line of reasoning.

“Vice Chairman Tang, I’d give your idea eighty points at best.”

“I’m curious. Where did I lose the remaining twenty?”

“Chairman Xi’s chances of recovering the money Liu Peiqi stole are zero.”

“And why are you so certain?”

“First of all, we’ll need Director Griffin’s help.”

CIA Director Eddie Griffin, as though he had been waiting for exactly that moment, eagerly joined the conversation.

“Director Cha, tell me what you need.”

“First, we need a bank account opened in Politburo member Liu Peiqi’s name.”

Director Griffin turned toward Vice President Cayman.

Cayman immediately understood what his boss had in mind. With lightning speed, he made a call, exchanged a few short sentences with someone, and hung up.

“Director Cha, an account at UBS in Switzerland will be ready within thirty minutes.”

“Excellent. Vice Chairman Tang, you’ll need to transfer Chairman Xi’s stolen funds into that UBS account under Liu Peiqi’s name.”

“Of course. We’ll do that.”

“Director Griffin, you understand what comes next, don’t you?”

In other words, they needed to launder the trail around the account so thoroughly that Chairman Xi Jinping would never be able to trace where the money had gone.

“I’m not an idiot. How could I not understand?”

“Ha-ha-ha. Excellent. Now, let’s watch Politburo member Liu torture Secretary Deng.”

***

“Politburo member Liu, you should think three times before touching the Chairman’s secret funds.”

Secretary Deng Zhiping spoke in a trembling voice. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

“And why is that?”

“Ever since MSS Minister Peng Yuxiang disappeared, the Chairman has personally been checking the state of his fund on a regular basis.”

“You... actually expect to go back to the Chairman?”

Secretary Deng Zhiping immediately understood the hidden meaning behind Liu Peiqi’s question.

Chairman Xi Jinping did not personally check the balance of his secret funds.

Liu Peiqi knew that.

But Deng Zhiping was creating the illusion that he alone had access to the accounts and was responsible for checking them.

“There’s something you don’t know, Politburo member Liu.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’m not the only one who manages the Chairman’s fund. Central Committee Secretariat Chief Zhang Hui manages it as well.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Why would I lie in a desperate situation like this?”

Liu Peiqi turned toward Director Liu Haoran.

“What do you think about what Secretary Deng just said?”

“Even if the Chairman decides to check the accounts, he’ll assume Secretary Deng himself stole the fund.”

“But the Chairman’s money is being transferred into my personal account, isn’t it?”

“I prepared an account under a false name, just in case.”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

Liu Peiqi burst into loud laughter, delighted that what had seemed like an impossible problem had been resolved so easily.

Liu Haoran waited until he calmed down before continuing.

“Brother, we need to hurry.”

“Why?”

“Secretary Deng needs to board a flight to Switzerland at dawn tomorrow.”

No matter what, they had to placate Secretary Deng Zhiping if they wanted to get their hands on Chairman Xi’s money.

Threatening him with death would not get them the funds.

That was precisely why Liu Haoran lied and pretended that they intended to spare his life.

“Secretary Deng, you heard what Director Liu said?”

Deng Zhiping did not believe a single word Liu Peiqi said.

Once they killed him and buried his corpse somewhere, or dumped it into the water, every loose end would disappear with him.

Anyone with even a little sense could understand that.

It was painfully obvious that the moment they took Chairman Xi’s money, they would eliminate him.

Still, he decided to cling to that faint, almost nonexistent chance of survival.

“I heard. But I have one request for you, Politburo member Liu.”

“What request?”

“If I flee to Switzerland alone, my family could suffer terribly.”

“You have a point.”

“That’s why I’m asking... May I go to Switzerland with my family?”

Liu Peiqi had already planned to kill Deng Zhiping, so neither he nor his family would ever be going anywhere near Switzerland.

But Liu had absolutely no intention of telling him the truth.

“I’ll make sure your family flies to Switzerland before noon tomorrow.”

“Tell them that yourself over the phone right now.”

“That won’t be a problem, but you can’t make the call yet. You understand why, don’t you?”

In other words, Deng had to transfer Chairman Xi’s money into the account Liu specified first.

“Of course I understand. Untie my hands.”

“Bureau Chief Pu, you heard him?”

“Yes.”

With that short reply, Public Security Bureau Chief Pu Zhenghua took a sharp knife and cut through the ropes binding Deng Zhiping’s hands.

Deng thanked him and brought his trembling hands to the laptop.

As though he had been waiting for exactly this moment, Liu Haoran took a note out of his pocket.

“Secretary Deng, transfer the Chairman’s money into the account written on this note.”

Deng Zhiping took the note from Liu Haoran’s hand and placed it on the table.

Feeling as though every keystroke was taking him one step deeper into hell, he began entering the information into the laptop.

Pu Zhenghua, who had been watching him, suddenly seemed to remember something and turned toward Liu Peiqi.

“Politburo member Liu, since we have some time, why don’t we go down to the basement and take a look at the gold bars?”

“That’s not a bad idea. Keep an eye on Secretary Deng in the meantime and make sure he doesn’t try anything.”

“Yes, sir.”

Leaving Pu Zhenghua behind in the room, Liu Peiqi headed down to the basement.

Liu Haoran followed him.

After inspecting the stacks of gold bars stored in the basement, Liu Peiqi turned toward Liu Haoran.

“Doesn’t something seem strange to you?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Brother.”

“Deputy Secretary Zhang said he had obtained thirty-one tons of gold, didn’t he?”

Thirty-one tons was an enormous amount.

And yet the basement was only half-filled with gold bars, which was why Liu Peiqi had begun to have doubts.

Liu Haoran pointed toward the gold.

“I checked. Most of these bars weigh twenty-five kilograms each.”

“Hmm... Then how much is all this gold worth?”

Liu Haoran spent quite a while calculating on his phone before answering.

“At a price of 1.15 billion dollars per ton, it comes to approximately 35.6 billion dollars.”

Liu Peiqi felt an incredible surge of energy.

If he managed to seize another seventy-five billion dollars from Xi Jinping’s secret funds, he would suddenly have a staggering 110.6 billion dollars in his hands.

How could he not be delighted?

“Ha-ha-ha! Is that so?”

“That’s right. By the way, what should we do about Bureau Chief Pu?”

“You want to get rid of him?”

“Exactly, Brother.”

“Is that really necessary?”

There was clear disapproval in Liu Peiqi’s question, but Liu Haoran did not doubt for a moment that he could persuade him.

“Brother, do you really intend to give Pu Zhenghua two tons of gold?”

When Liu Peiqi had drawn Pu Zhenghua into the crime, he had promised to have him transferred to the position of Chief of the Beijing Public Security Bureau and, as his commission, give him two tons of the gold Zhang Jinan had hidden away.

That was what Liu Haoran was reminding him of now.

“Can you take care of Pu?”

“Of course. I’ll handle everything myself.”

“Then do it.”

After giving that brief answer, Liu Peiqi returned to the living room.

Sitting down on the sofa, he addressed Secretary Deng Zhiping.

“You’re still not done? When are you going to finish the transfer?”

“I’m already at the final stage.”

Some time later, Deng Zhiping, who had been completely absorbed in his work, finally spoke.

“Politburo member Liu, I just completed the transfer.”

“Director Liu, check it.”

Liu Haoran took the laptop from Deng Zhiping.

After working on it for a while, he reported back to Liu Peiqi.

“Brother, Secretary Deng wasn’t lying.”

“Excellent. Secretary Deng, hurry up and call your family.”

But Deng Zhiping never got the chance to call them.

Pfft!

Public Security Bureau Chief Pu Zhenghua suddenly fired his pistol at him.

“Kh...! Bastards...”