Chapter 13: Chief of Staff Han's Secret
An incredible conjecture gradually formed in Yin Chuan's mind, but it was just an idea brought about by a momentary inspiration. To put it nicely, it was a wild and fantastic idea, and to put it bluntly, it was just a random and inexplicable thought. The person who came up with that method either hit the mark by accident or was a genius. In short, it seemed that no normal person could come up with it.
But there are three urgent things to do right now: first, is this method actually feasible? Second, where is the evidence? And third, does the murderer really have the time to do this?
Yin Chuan asked Du Yunzhang what time it was. Du Yunzhang replied that it was already the fourth watch of the night, which was about three in the morning. Yin Chuan frowned. There were still three or four hours until dawn, and time was running out.
He looked at Lu Jiyu, who was being questioned, and said, "Platoon Leader Lu, could you take me to see Staff Officer Han's barracks? I want to know what the layout is like there."
Lu Jiyu gave a bitter smile and turned his back to let Yin Chuan see his bound hands. "How can I have the right to speak now? If you want to see, just go ahead. If you need my guidance, there's no need to ask me."
That's right, Yin Chuan thought. He pushed the door open and walked out of the barracks. He said hello to Situ Xin outside, "Deputy Commander, there's something I need your approval for." Then he stated his request.
"Well..." Situ Xin frowned. "If your request is indeed helpful for the investigation, I naturally have no objection. But since it involves Staff Officer Han Chihan's barracks... it might be more troublesome."
"What? Aren't you the actual leader of this army now? It's just a matter of a word, what's the problem?" Du Yunzhang asked.
"You may not know that when Captain Shen was still here, Staff Officer Han's influence in our regiment was almost as strong as mine. If we rashly search his barracks during this sensitive period, he might mistakenly think that I was deliberately targeting him."
"We're just looking at the layout of his barracks and we're not planning to search it," Linlang explained.
Situ Xin smiled disapprovingly and said, "You may indeed think so, but others don't. So I advise you to proceed with caution." Yin Chuan spoke earnestly, "Now that Captain Shen is gone, you are nominally the supreme commander of this unit. At the very least, Staff Officer Han has to give you some respect. We don't ask for a thorough search of Staff Officer Han's barracks, just a look inside and out to see the layout of his place. I have a rough idea of it, and that's enough."
Situ Xin stroked his chin, still a little hesitant. "Mr. Yin, I don't quite understand what your purpose is in doing this. Do you have any clues that lead you to suspect him? Or do you already have evidence that he is involved in Captain Shen's case? I still want to remind you very seriously that the accusation against him cannot be taken lightly. If Captain Shen's death has nothing to do with him, the consequences will probably be more serious than you imagine."
"What? Can he deal with us directly without you, the deputy commander?" Du Yunzhang was very dissatisfied.
"He might not be incapable of it." Situ Xin's words were tinged with thorns. "In short, you'd better be careful."
Seeing his hesitant look, Yin Chuan's judgment about Staff Officer Han was roughly confirmed - this person must be no ordinary person.
Situ Xin asked Lu Jiyu to lead the way. After walking just a few steps, Han Chi's barracks were right next to Shen Hui's barracks. As the four of them turned the corner, they bumped into someone.
"Staff Officer Han? Are you busy?" Lu Jiyu asked when he saw that it was Han Chi coming towards him.
Han Chi quickly covered his chest, as if covering something intentionally or unintentionally. Although his face changed color, he still pretended to be calm and said, "Hey, Platoon Leader Lu, what's going on?"
Lu Jiyu glanced at him and said, "Look, Mr. Yin wants to go to your place. Do you think it's convenient?"
Han Chi was stunned for a moment. He seemed to have misunderstood what Lu Jiyu said and thought that Yin Chuan wanted to question him personally, so he quickly replied: "I'm really sorry, I have important things to do. After I finish it, I will cooperate with you in investigating the case. I won't stay with you for long." After that, without waiting for the other party to explain, he disappeared in a panic.
Lu Jiyu was a little overwhelmed and looked at Yin Chuan. Yin Chuan was also full of doubts at this time, but this did not disrupt his plan. He said to Lu Jiyu: "It doesn't matter, we can still do what we need to do."
The four of them turned a corner and arrived at Han Chi's barracks, a few steps away. Before entering, Yin Chuan felt the tent wall with his hand. It was indeed thicker than ordinary barracks, and there was a slight gap between the inner and outer layers. The window faced Wu Ziqing's barracks next to it, and diagonally across was the regimental commander's tent, which made him more confident in his guess.
Du Yunzhang walked in first, pushing open the tent door. The room inside was about the same size as Shen Hui's barracks. Then, Yin Chuan, Linlang, and Lu Jiyu filed in one after another.
"You three, please take your time looking around here. If there is nothing for me to do, I will take my leave." Lu Jiyu said.
"Don't leave so quickly—" Yin Chuan stopped him, "I still have something to ask you."
Lu Jiyu looked embarrassed. "After all, this is Staff Officer Han's private barracks. If he knew that I brought a few people to his barracks without his permission, I would be adding insult to injury!"
"What? Even Deputy Commander Situ's words don't work on Chief of Staff Han?" Yin Chuan asked in confusion.
"To be honest with you..." Lu Jiyu leaned closer to Yin Chuan and spoke cautiously in a low voice, "Staff Officer Han naturally obeyed the orders of the regimental commander and deputy regimental commander on the surface, but in reality... Let's say there was a mistake in the armory last time, and Commander Shen demoted a battalion-level staff officer in the general staff to platoon leader. Han Chi expressed his firm obedience, but afterward, that staff officer still stayed with Han Chi, and the demotion became a dead letter."
"Then Captain Shen, won't you ask about it?" Du Yunzhang asked.
"Captain Shen never mentioned this matter again. He just turned a blind eye to it."
"It seems that this Chief of Staff Han is really good at saying one thing in public and doing another behind the scenes." Linlang sighed.
"That's just a habit of a few officials." Du Yunzhang disagreed.
Yin Chuan quickly winked at Du Yunzhang, implying that he should stop talking nonsense here, or he would get into trouble. Du Yunzhang understood and kept silent.
"Actually, we junior officers aren't stupid. Who can't see that there's something fishy going on here?" Lu Jiyu said in a low voice. "But this is a tacit understanding between the superiors. How can we casually comment on it in private?"
Yin Chuan nodded slightly, then looked around the room. At first, he didn't notice anything unusual. Military beds, folding tables, stools, shelves... these were common items in the officers' barracks. However, after looking around, Yin Chuan found that many of the items and furnishings in the barracks seemed to be similar to those in Shen Hui's barracks.
"Hey, Platoon Leader Lu," Yin Chuan asked Lu Jiyu, "were all the barracks for these regimental commanders built by your logistics platoon?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Were you also responsible for the items and furnishings in the barracks?"
"That's not the case. Although our logistics platoon is responsible for carrying the commander's belongings during the march, when camping, the commander's personal guards are responsible for daily necessities in the barracks. These are not our responsibility. Of course, Staff Officer Han doesn't have full-time guards like the regimental commander and deputy regimental commander, but he still has the authority to have our logistics platoon help him arrange the interior of the barracks."
Yin Chuan thought that it seemed necessary to find Chen Hui's personal bodyguard Duan Dage as soon as possible to ask him clearly.
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