Chapter Seventeen: Surveillance

A few days ago, I wanted to give you this note, but I never saw you around,” Chen Meili said.

“The handwriting on this note doesn’t look like that of a woman,” Song Yingge remarked.

“My brother entrusted someone to give it to me before his business trip,” Chen Meili explained.

Song Yingge pondered for a moment, a vague suspicion forming in his mind.

“My brother’s name is Chen Liangxin; he works at the Ministry of Finance. A few days ago, he and his colleagues went to the Yingchun Pavilion for entertainment and requested Liu Yuezheng. Later, after drinking too much, he dozed off. The next day, when he returned home and opened his briefcase, he sensed something was wrong. My brother has a habit: every page of his documents must be arranged in order; if even one page is out of place, he feels uneasy. In his briefcase, he carried a draft budget for the defense of Jinling City for the coming year. Since it was only a draft, he took it with him, planning to revise it at home during his day off. When he began editing, he noticed two pages were out of sequence. He suspected someone at Yingchun Pavilion had tampered with the document. So he came to me. I originally intended to tell you about this when we went to the movies that day. But you disappeared for several days,” Chen Meili concluded, casting a plaintive look at Song Yingge.

Song Yingge feigned ignorance. “Why didn’t you report this to the other intelligence teams?”

“What do you think?” Chen Meili’s gaze grew even more mournful.

“If your brother was on a business trip, how do you know so many details?” Song Yingge changed the subject.

“The note was given to me nine days ago; he returned only yesterday,” Chen Meili replied.

“Ha! The moonlight is beautiful tonight,” Song Yingge, his mind filled with thoughts of capturing Japanese spies, responded casually before bidding farewell to Chen Meili and heading toward Caodu Alley.

The golden clue wouldn’t fail; if there was a problem, it must be Liu Yuezheng.

“If Liu Yuezheng is a Japanese spy, then my previous deductions about Ma San were not just slightly off, but fundamentally flawed. Ma San’s deliberate mention of Liu Yuezheng wasn’t to divert my attention but was a reverse psychology tactic that ultimately exonerated her,” Song Yingge thought.

If Ma San had fled initially, the secret service would have thoroughly investigated everyone at Yingchun Pavilion, and Liu Yuezheng would likely have been exposed. Moreover, Ma San wouldn’t necessarily have escaped subsequent pursuit by the secret service. After the failure to groom Chen Pengfei, Ma San’s family in Japan would also have been implicated. So he confessed with a mixture of truth and lies, not only ensuring his family’s safe evacuation to the United States but also shielding Liu Yuezheng and possibly saving his own life.

This strategy—killing three birds with one stone—was indeed brilliant. Even placing Song Yingge in his position, he might not have done better.

“Ma San, Ma San, this round, I admit defeat,” Song Yingge mused. Even an unknown foot soldier possessed such profound and meticulous thinking. No wonder spies were never simple characters.

Now that Liu Yuezheng was in the open and Song Yingge working covertly, there was no need to rush to arrest anyone. They would monitor Liu Yuezheng first, then investigate those she interacted with, find her courier and handler, and follow the trail to capture them all at once.

Back in Caodu Alley, Song Yingge instructed the on-duty Zhang Ke to contact the members of the fourth team. Within an hour, all team members were assembled.

After a brief introduction, Song Yingge assigned the tasks.

Liu Dazhi and another member would pose as customers and enter Yingchun Pavilion to monitor anyone who contacted Liu Yuezheng, then relay the information to Sun Xi, who would arrange surveillance.

As for Song Yingge, he and Zhang Ke would roam nearby, trying to gather information from street vendors.

A small place like Yingchun Pavilion harbored two Japanese spies selling people to the invaders. Details previously overlooked now seemed suspicious.

Song Yingge refused to believe the owner of Yingchun Pavilion was innocent.

“This Yingchun Pavilion business sure is booming,” Song Yingge said, buying a roasted sweet potato and chatting with the vendor.

“Absolutely. One night’s earnings are worth several years for me,” the vendor replied, quite talkative.

“Then the owner must be rolling in wealth,” Song Yingge remarked.

“That’s the strange thing. I’ve been here vending for years and never heard who owns Yingchun Pavilion. I only know it’s usually managed by the madam,” the vendor said.

“Could the madam be the owner?” Song Yingge asked.

“You must be joking. You don’t know, she used to be a prostitute herself when she was young. I even helped her with business. How could she afford to run such a large brothel?” the vendor answered.

“Then that’s impossible. How long has Yingchun Pavilion been open?” Song Yingge inquired.

“I think it started operating in the 18th year of the Republic, so about seven or eight years,” the vendor replied.

“What was the madam like when she was young?” Song Yingge asked.

“Her name was Du Juan, and she was quite pretty in her youth. Over the years, her appearance has grown harsher. I remember she fled famine with a child. A woman with a burdensome child, what else could she do but sell herself?” the vendor said.

“Once, while she was entertaining a client, her child ran off and drowned in the Qinhuai River. It’s really tragic,” the vendor sighed.

After a few more casual remarks, Song Yingge departed.

“Tomorrow, check the business records of Yingchun Pavilion and see if the owner is Du Juan,” Song Yingge instructed, his intuition warning him that Du Juan was suspicious.

“Yes, team leader,” Zhang Ke replied.

The next day.

“Team leader, the owner of Yingchun Pavilion is not Du Juan but a woman named Liu Fengni from Anhui Province,” Zhang Ke reported.

“Liu Fengni?” Song Yingge was at a loss. “Can you find any detailed information about her?”

“No. I asked the person who handled the registration back then; he vaguely remembered Liu Fengni herself wasn’t present; a broker handled it,” Zhang Ke explained.

“Can you find the broker?” Song Yingge asked.

“That person has no memory of the broker either,” Zhang Ke said helplessly.

“Forget it for now. Keep monitoring Liu Yuezheng,” Song Yingge said.

In the following two days, neither Sun Xi nor Liu Dazhi discovered Liu Yuezheng associating with anyone unusual.

Liu Yuezheng might be a homebody who rarely left Yingchun Pavilion.

But the more isolated she was, the more certain it became that she had a courier; otherwise, her intelligence couldn’t be transmitted.

After several tiring days of surveillance, the fourth team was exhausted.

Song Yingge had no choice but to seek help from his former superior, Zhou Weiqiang, to borrow some of his team members.

Zhou Weiqiang had no reason to refuse. This would not only strengthen his relationship with Song Yingge but also allow him to share credit for the case.

The entire intelligence division respected Song Yingge’s abilities. In less than a month at the secret service, he had caught more Japanese spies than others did in a year.

Zhou Weiqiang was eager for a chance to ride on the coattails of the fourth team’s case.

“You two take turns resting. Our fourth team must always be present on site. Change the surveillance target: ignore the customers. Focus on the people inside Yingchun Pavilion. Watch for any special contacts,” Song Yingge instructed Sun Xi and Liu Dazhi.