Ning Zhiheng, who was far away in Shanghai, received the news of Shirakawa Eiji's assassination immediately.

Miura Yoshiaki sent an urgent telegram to the Shanghai headquarters overnight. Upon receiving the telegram, Yi Hua'an immediately rushed to Ning Zhiheng's home and informed him of the matter.

Ning Zhiheng immediately summoned Hirao Daichi to his home and urgently inquired about the details of the matter.

Looking at Hirao Daichi in front of him, Ning Zhiheng threw the telegram in front of him and said coldly, "This is the talent you chose? Daring to assassinate the garrison commander directly, making a big fuss over a small matter."

Hirao Daichi picked up the telegram and was naturally shocked. With such a big incident, Miura Yoshiaki no longer dared to hide anything. In the long telegram, he described the whole story.

They were informed that the military police were investigating the assassination of Shirakawa Eiei. Currently, all they knew was that the weapon used by the assassin was a Japanese Type 38 rifle, which appeared to be the work of the Japanese garrison. Based on this, the military police were quickly investigating the personnel of the garrison.

Yi Hua'an said with some concern, "If it really was done by the garrison, then it's troublesome. This means that Shirakawa Eiji's actions have caused instability among the garrison. Shirakawa Eiji's methods are too reckless."

Ning Zhiheng was also worried about this. In fact, this matter could have been handled more discreetly. He only needed to give a heads-up and have the high command of the Shanghai garrison find an excuse to transfer Hirayama Tokumoto's position. However, Shirakawa Eiji was too eager for quick success and directly used violent means to solve the problem. Now he has been assassinated instead, which is really a case of losing more than he gained.

Hirao Daichi explained in a low voice, "Chairman, although Shirakawa Eiei's actions were reckless, if handled properly, the problem can still be solved. The telegram said that Miyata Yasuhisa, the chairman of the Miyata Trading Company, has fled. I judge that it must be related to him. I will go to Suzhou tomorrow to deal with this matter and make sure to arrest the murderer and quell this matter."

Ning Zhiheng nodded. His subordinate's boss had been murdered. Regardless of who was right or wrong, he had to find the murderer and avenge Shirakawa Eiji. Otherwise, how could he stabilize the people's hearts? This was the first time in a long time that someone had used violence to confront the Fujiwara Company. Ning Zhiheng could not let this go unpunished and had to thoroughly investigate the murderer.

The next morning, Hirao Daichi boarded a train to Suzhou, the first major station on the Beijing-Shanghai Railway. The journey took just over two hours.

News soon came back that the murderer was Hirayama Jiro, the younger brother of Hirayama Tokumoto.

The military police quickly discovered that on the same day Hirayama Tokumoto died, Hirayama Jiro, who was stationed in a nearby county town, had also disappeared. His usual pistol and Type 38 rifle were also missing. Someone must have informed him of the news, which is why he entered Suzhou City that night and assassinated Shirakawa Eiei to avenge his brother. As for the messenger, it was naturally Miyata Yasutoshi.

Ning Zhiheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't done by the local garrison, it could be considered a personal grudge and wouldn't have much impact on the Fujiwara Company.

He then ordered Miura Yoshiaki to serve as the head of the Suzhou branch and continue to oversee the company's operations, while also ordering the military police to track down Hirayama Jiro and arrest him as soon as possible.

On this very day, Keiji Tsuchihara quietly left Shanghai and headed to North China to carry out a defection mission.

The next day, Ning Zhiheng received an invitation from the Tsuchihara Agency. It turned out that Major General Kagesa Hiroki, who had just arrived in Shanghai, invited him to a small banquet. The attendees were all top figures in Shanghai, and Fujiwara Tomohito, as the most powerful and influential person in Shanghai's social class, was also specially invited.

That evening, Ning Zhiheng gladly attended the banquet at Yingzuo Yushu's new official residence.

Security for this banquet was handled by the Tsuchihara Agency and the Special Higher Police. As a subordinate unit of the Tsuchihara Agency, the Special Operations Department was also fully mobilized to control the surrounding streets.

Ding Mo and Li Zhiqun personally led the team and waited at the nearby street intersection. When they saw Ning Zhiheng's convoy entering from afar, Li Zhiqun quickly went forward to greet them.

The car stopped, the window rolled down, and Ning Zhiheng looked at Li Zhiqun, nodded slightly, and smiled, "So it's Director Li. Thank you for your hard work!"

Li Zhiqun immediately bowed and said, "Mr. Fujiwara, we are here on guard duty as ordered. It is no hardship for us to serve you!"

Ning Zhiheng laughed and waved, signaling the convoy to move forward, and soon arrived at the gate of the mansion.

At that moment, Lieutenant General Naoya Tada, the garrison commander, also arrived. Upon hearing this, Hiroki Kagesa went out to greet him.

Kagesa Hiroki was not tall, had large ears, and a thin, ordinary appearance, but his slightly narrowed eyes were bright and piercing.

"Tada-kun, Fujiwara-kun, it's an honor to have you here! I'm so sorry I didn't greet you properly!" Kagesa Hiroki stepped forward and greeted them warmly.

Naoya Tada and Zhiheng Ning quickly stepped forward to shake hands with Hiroki Kagesa as a sign of respect.

Although Kagesa Hiroki only holds the rank of Major General, he holds an important position in the Central China Expeditionary Army Staff Headquarters. In terms of rank, he is no less than Tada Naoya. In particular, he is currently in charge of the Tsuchihara Agency and is highly valued by the General Headquarters. Tada Naoya dares not neglect him.

Ning Zhiheng was extremely enthusiastic. One of his backgrounds was Lieutenant General Uehara Junpei, an important figure in the Central China Expeditionary Army. He and Kagesa Hiroki belonged to the same camp and were much closer to each other.

He stepped forward and grasped Kagesa Hiroki's hand, saying softly, "General Kagesa came to Shanghai without informing us beforehand. I should have been the one to welcome you, but instead you invited me. That's really impolite. I'll host another day. Please do me the honor!"

Kagesa Hiroki took over the Tsuchihara Agency in a very low-key manner. Not many people who weren't well-informed knew about it, so many people only found out when they received the invitation. Ning Zhiheng also only learned about it from He Siming's report.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!