Chapter 340: Money, Betrayal, Despair

It was not Public Security Bureau Chief Pu Zhenghua who killed Liu Peiqi and his brother, but Vice Chairman Tang Guochang himself.

Naturally, he had anticipated this turn of events and prepared a plausible story in advance.

“When Chief Pu dealt with the Liu brothers, he looked like a raging demon.”

“A demon, you say...”

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang understood perfectly well why Central Committee Secretariat Chief Zhang Hui had suddenly stopped himself.

He was surely trying to find weak points in Tang Guochang’s story.

While Tang Guochang was wondering where he might have slipped up, Zhang Hui spoke again.

“You believe there was a falling-out between Chief Pu and Politburo Member Liu. What do you think about that, Vice Chairman?”

“I share the same opinion.”

“And what caused this falling-out?”

“In my assessment, it was a combination of several factors: money, a sense of betrayal, and despair.”

“I’d like to hear what your conclusion is based on.”

“To draw Pu Zhenghua into the crime, Liu Peiqi promised him two tons of gold and the position of Chief of the Beijing Public Security Bureau as a reward. For reference, two tons of gold are worth three billion dollars.”

Liu Peiqi was famous for his extraordinary greed.

It was simply impossible to believe that a man like him would willingly hand over two tons of gold to Pu Zhenghua.

Chief Pu must have realized that as well, which was [N O V E L I G H T] why he killed him.

Secretariat Chief Zhang Hui asked Tang Guochang what he thought of that explanation.

“Your guess, Zhang, is worth fifty points out of a hundred at best.”

“Then explain the remaining fifty.”

“Chief Pu knew very well what kind of man Liu was.”

“That is perfectly logical.”

“Which means he must have had a plan from the beginning for how to force Liu to hand over the promised reward.”

“Hmm... Indeed. Go on, I’m listening.”

“But something unexpected happened. He was detained together with the Liu brothers. And the entire scene where he and Deputy Secretary Zhang killed Secretary Deng was recorded from beginning to end by surveillance cameras.”

“The realization that the death penalty was inevitable, combined with his rage over Liu’s betrayal, was most likely what drove him to take that terrible step, after which he killed himself.”

The moment Tang Guochang finished speaking, Commander Wang Dazhong picked up the thread.

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

“If it hadn’t been for Secretary Deng, we would have been in enormous trouble.”

“What do you mean?”

“Liu’s crime only came to light because Secretary Deng managed to call you, Vice Chairman.”

Bzzzt!

At that moment, the phone in Zhang Hui’s hand briefly vibrated.

He checked the message in a flash and immediately said,

“The Chairman has just arrived at the hospital.”

“Tell him that we’re in hospital gowns and cannot go downstairs to greet him at the entrance.”

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

Zhang Hui hurriedly opened the ward door and stepped outside.

As though he had been waiting for exactly that, Tang Guochang turned to Wang Dazhong.

“The real game starts now, so stay sharp.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“It wouldn’t be proper to receive the Chairman while lying in hospital beds. Let’s move to the visitors’ room.”

Before long, Zhang Hui escorted Chairman Xi Jinping inside.

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang and Commander Wang Dazhong rose from the sofa to greet him.

“We should have gone to report to you ourselves. Forgive us for making you come all the way here.”

“Why bother with formalities? How are you feeling?”

“The bullet grazed my side, while Commander Wang was hit in the left thigh.”

“It’s a miracle neither of you suffered serious injuries. Let’s sit down and talk.”

Chairman Xi Jinping seemed thirsty. He picked up a bottle of mineral water from the table and drained it in several large gulps.

After setting the empty bottle back down, he turned to Tang Guochang.

“Is it true that Liu Peiqi killed Secretary Deng and Deputy Secretary Zhang?”

“To be precise, Chief Pu eliminated both of them on Liu’s orders.”

“I see... I have a great many questions. Let’s go through everything one by one.”

“There were cameras installed at Deputy Secretary Zhang’s safe house. Wouldn’t it be better for you to watch the footage first?”

“Zhang Hui already told me that he examined the footage thoroughly.”

There was a clear desire in Chairman Xi’s voice to skip watching the recording.

“Understood. Ask whatever you want to know.”

“First of all, why did Secretary Deng go to Zhang’s safe house in the first place?”

“I’ll answer based on our phone conversation. Deputy Secretary Zhang planned to present you with an extremely valuable gift.”

“And by valuable gift, you mean gold?”

“Exactly. He asked for army personnel to escort the trucks carrying the precious metal.”

Xi Jinping possessed absolute power in China.

Because of that, no sane person would dare lay a hand on something meant for him.

Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan understood that perfectly well, yet he had still decided to involve the army.

The Chairman asked Tang Guochang why Zhang had made such a decision.

“Secretary Deng told me that Politburo Member Liu Peiqi had set his sights on Zhang’s gold.”

“Is that really true?”

“You can listen to the audio recording I sent to Zhang Hui.”

“All right, I understand. But how did Zhang Jinan learn about Liu’s intentions?”

In reality, Chairman Zhen Weiliang had deliberately leaked that information when he sold Zhang twelve tons of gold.

But Tang Guochang could not reveal the truth, so he gave the explanation he had prepared beforehand.

“Liu Peiqi also intended to present you with gold, but he had completely exhausted his cash reserves.”

“And how did Zhang find that out?”

“The rumor that Liu had humiliated himself by trying to present you with diamonds spread everywhere. Zhang Jinan must have heard about it and logically concluded that Liu had run out of funds.”

“A very reasonable conclusion. But what was the motive for killing Zhang?”

“There were two motives. You already know the first, so I’ll omit the details.”

“Fine. Move on to the second.”

“He and Zhang were fiercely competing for the vacant seat on the Politburo Standing Committee.”

Chairman Xi Jinping nodded, understanding where Tang Guochang was going with this.

Liu Peiqi had reasoned that once Zhang Jinan was out of the way, he could easily have his own candidacy approved.

“Tang, there’s no need to continue. I understand the second point.”

“As you wish.”

“By the way, aren’t you aiming for a seat on the Standing Committee yourself?”

Of course he was.

Tang Guochang really had planned to enter the race for the committee seat and had even discussed it with Cha Jiham.

However, after presenting a whole series of convincing arguments, Jiham had advised him not to get involved in that fight.

His reasoning had been so solid that the Vice Chairman decisively washed his hands of the matter.

Naturally, he could not tell Xi Jinping any of that.

“It would be a lie to say I have no ambition.”

“Then why haven’t you shown any activity?”

‘Because very soon this entire world is going to be turned upside down, so why the hell should I try to curry favor with you?’

That thought flashed through Tang Guochang’s mind.

“My rivals were too strong, so I simply didn’t dare interfere. But now that they’re out of the game, I intend to start taking action.”

“Very well. I’ll look forward to the results. By the way, where is the gold Zhang managed to get his hands on?”

“In the basement of his safe house.”

“It’s still there?”

Tang Guochang had no trouble reading the implication behind the question.

Xi Jinping was certain they had already confiscated the gold they had found.

“How could we touch something that belongs to you, Chairman?”

“Belongs to me?”

“If yesterday’s incident hadn’t happened, Zhang Jinan would have presented that gold to you today.”

“Ah, that’s what you mean. I understand.”

“That’s why I would recommend moving it elsewhere before rumors begin to spread.”

“Of course. Zhang, take care of it.”

After giving the order to Central Committee Secretariat Chief Zhang Hui, Chairman Xi returned his attention to Tang Guochang.

“Do you know why Liu killed Secretary Deng?”

Tang Guochang, of course, knew the truth, but he could not say it aloud.

“Secretary Deng witnessed Chief Pu killing Zhang Jinan.”

“So they got rid of him as an inconvenient witness while covering their tracks?”

“Exactly. On top of that, it turned out that Liu Peiqi owed Deng four and a half billion dollars.”

“That bastard!”

Overcome with rage, Xi Jinping could not stop himself from swearing.

“Please calm down, Chairman.”

“How am I supposed to calm down?! That bastard Liu killed two people over nothing more than money!”

“I can’t argue with that.”

“And what happened to them in the end? You didn’t just let them go, did you?”

“They’re all dead.”

“What do you mean?”

“Commander Wang and I interrogated them to determine their motives.”

Tang Guochang reported to Chairman Xi exactly what Cha Jiham had dictated to him beforehand.

Whenever he missed some minor detail, Commander Wang Dazhong promptly filled it in.

“...Driven into complete despair, Chief Pu shot the Liu brothers, then shot himself.”

“I see... And where are their bodies now?”

“In this hospital’s morgue.”

“Why did you bring them here?”

In reality, Tang Guochang had personally eliminated Politburo Member Liu Peiqi and Public Security Bureau Chief Pu Zhenghua in the basement of the safe house where Cha Jiham’s group was stationed.

Director Liu Haoran, meanwhile, had been killed at Liu Peiqi’s villa.

But Tang Guochang had told Xi Jinping and Zhang Hui that the interrogation had taken place at a People’s Liberation Army safe house.

Realizing that his alibi was beginning to fall apart, he had ordered the bodies moved to the naval hospital.

He could not reveal the truth, so he gave the excuse he had prepared.

“Their bodies were loaded into vehicles by the medics from the ambulance crew that came for us.”

At that moment, Zhang Hui cut into the conversation with a question.

“Vice Chairman Tang, didn’t you record the interrogation on camera?”

‘Here it comes.’

Remembering the answer he had rehearsed in advance, Tang Guochang calmly replied,

“Of course we did.”

“Then let’s watch the interrogation footage.”

“Unfortunately, that’s impossible.”

“For what reason?”

“As I already reported to the Chairman, a fight broke out during the interrogation. With no weapon at hand, I grabbed the camera tripod and used it to defend myself. During the struggle, the camera came off the tripod and slammed hard into the floor.”

Tang Guochang paused to catch his breath before continuing.

“The impact knocked out the memory card. In the heat of the fight, I didn’t even notice. When it was all over and we inspected the scene, we discovered that the card had been crushed to pieces.”

“Well...”

Chairman Xi Jinping let out a disappointed sigh before Zhang Hui had a chance to say anything.

“Just in case, I ordered my subordinates to try recovering the data from the card.”

“I hope they manage it.”

The words ‘Don’t even dream of it’ nearly slipped from Tang Guochang’s tongue, but he displayed superhuman restraint and held them back.

“They’re doing everything they can, but to be frank, the chances are slim.”

At that moment, Zhang Hui spoke again, addressing the commander-in-chief.

“Chairman, if you want to make it to your meeting with Premier Wang Jue, we should leave now.”

“Ah, yes, yes. Right.”

Xi Jinping nodded and turned toward Tang Guochang.

“I’m in a hurry, so I have to go. Get well soon. We’ll see each other later.” 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

“Yes, Chairman. Have a safe trip.”

Tang Guochang and Wang Dazhong watched Chairman Xi leave.

“Vice Chairman, why did the Chairman hesitate just now?”

“Because he didn’t have any meeting with Premier Wang scheduled.”

“Then why did Zhang Hui bring it up?”

“Looks like he sensed something false in our answers.”

Muttering those words, Tang Guochang sank heavily back onto the hospital bed.