When Chen Xuanting knocked on the door and entered the study, he saw a mess on the table.
The Marshal stepped aside, his cuffs wet, while Lin took a handkerchief and kept wiping the documents, files, strategic maps and other items on the table.
"Madam, let me do this kind of work. Your cheongsam is also dirty." Chen Xuanting immediately walked over and quickly cleaned the table.
He put away all the important documents and placed them on the top shelf of the bookshelf, then called a few orderlies to clean up the study.
Lin left first because she couldn't help. As she closed the door, she reminded him, "Chi Ming, I risked my life to get you and Cheng'er out safely. For my sake, please don't hold it against Cheng'er. He has indeed acted a bit absurdly over the years, and I will teach him a lesson."
Chi Ming responded without comment.
Only then did Lin leave.
Chen Xuanting pointed to the battle reports on the bookshelf and sighed, "This time, the Japanese army precisely bombed our warehouses storing gasoline, ammunition, and food. Marshal, there are spies among you. I have thoroughly investigated the army and found no spies. Have you considered the people around you?"
He was just short of saying openly that this Aunt Lin was very suspicious.
Chi Ming rubbed his brows and pondered, "To tell you the truth, I also suspected Lin. But I have been investigating her for more than half a year, but I still can't find any evidence against her.
"She never leaves her house and doesn't participate in any social activities. Even her clothes and jewelry are delivered to her by the shop owner himself.
"I've sent scouts to closely monitor everyone she's had contact with, but haven't found anything suspicious. Could you please tell me how she managed to pass off the classified information?"
Every spy must have a contact and must use unique methods to spread the message.
But Lin was a typical boudoir woman. She had no contact person, nor did she pass on any notes or strange messages. Her every move was under Chi Ming's surveillance.
This really stumped Chen Xuanting.
He bowed and said, "To be honest, Marshal, I have also been monitoring Aunt Lin recently."
"Did you find anything?" Chi Ming didn't feel surprised or angry.
Chen Xuanting is his intelligence officer and has the power to investigate anyone suspicious.
"Not yet. But I'm sure the Japanese must have a spy near you, otherwise they wouldn't be able to accurately understand our deployment. This person must be found, otherwise it will be difficult for us to launch our operation."
"I understand that the intelligence just placed on the table was all forged. This time I want to see if the Japanese can get hold of this intelligence."
At this point in the conversation, Chi Ming suddenly asked, "How did you persuade Zhuang Liuyun to come back? She seems very stubborn."
Chen Xuanting's tone softened unconsciously. "She's certainly stubborn, but she also has weaknesses. I had someone disguised as a thief and went to her house. For Master Zhuang's safety, she came back with me. She still cares about the overall situation."
Chi Ming frowned and immediately asked, "Is Xiaobao scared?"
Chen Xuanting gave the Marshal a deep look and shook his head, saying, "Young Master Zhuang wasn't frightened. According to Miss Zhuang, he snored loudly while cuddling the kitten. But Miss Zhuang didn't dare to sleep the entire night. When I went to pick her up, she had dark circles under her eyes."
Chi Ming's tense face completely relaxed. Thinking of the boy's red cheeks sleeping with the kitten in his arms, he couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.
He only cared about Zhuang Li's every move and didn't care about Zhuang Liuyun's situation at all.
Chen Xuanting noticed the change in his expression and said tentatively, "I thought you liked Miss Zhuang, so you brought her back to live with you."
"You think too much." Chi Ming glanced at him with a cold tone.
Chen Xuanting lowered his head to hide his sudden relief.
"By the way, you should send troops to clean out all the robbers, bandits and thieves in the city. I have been busy fighting the Japanese recently and have neglected public security issues. The police stations under the government are all just sitting there doing nothing and don't care about anything. If this continues, ordinary people will not dare to go out during the day." Chi Ming reminded.
"Okay, I'll pass it on." Chen Xuanting stood up and said, "Marshal, I'll leave for Baoding now."
"So soon? Didn't you say we'll go tomorrow?" Chi Ming was a little surprised.
"I received a tip-off that Miss Zhuang's eldest brother is a gambler and has run up a lot of debts. I'm afraid if I go too late, he'll squander all the Zhuang family's wealth."
"Then go ahead." Chi Ming waved his hand immediately.
The door creaked open and closed again, and the room became very quiet.
Chi Ming rubbed his brows and thought for a while, then he opened the drawer, took out the investigation report on Aunt Lin and slowly read it.
The report was a full centimeter thick, and Chi Ming had already worn down the edges. Even so, he couldn't find a single flaw in Aunt Lin. If she was truly a spy, how on earth had she managed to pass on the information?
If it wasn't her, who else in the mansion could enter and exit the study at will and obtain information?
There were clearly only a few suspects, but Chi Ming had been searching for half a year and still couldn't find them.
The more he thought about it, the more his headache grew. When he heard the clock strike twelve, he stood up and walked towards the yard next door.
---
At the same time, Zhuang Li said in his heart: "There is a spy around Chi Ming."
7480: "Master, how do you know?"
"Look at these newspapers," Zhuang Li spread out nine papers on the ground and pointed at them one by one. "They all report on the Japanese army's latest air raid. This air raid lasted only half an hour, but the Japanese planes successively bombed Chi Ming's oil depot, ammunition depot, and grain depot, paralyzing his army. How did they do that?"
Zhuang Li folded up the newspapers one by one and said in a deep voice, "Only by obtaining accurate intelligence in advance could these planes find their targets in such a short time."
He then asked: "Do you know what is the most important thing in a war?"
7480 hesitated and said, "Advanced weapons?"
"No, the generation gap in weapons can be made up by the number of troops. Intelligence is the most important thing. If I were to play cards with you, and I could see through your cards, while you knew nothing, what do you think the probability of you winning against me would be?"
7480: "...Based on your calculation ability, the probability of me winning against you is zero."
Zhuang Li nodded and said, "So, the job of an intelligence officer is actually to spy on the opponent's cards. A crucial piece of intelligence can often determine the outcome of a war."
Zhuang Li gave his final conclusion: "I want to help Chi Ming find this spy. I suspect his death in battle is related to the intelligence leak."
7480 knelt silently. The host had only been here for a few days? He had already uncovered the plot that the Lord God had deliberately hidden so quickly.
After determining the target, Zhuang Li rubbed his temples and continued to read the rest of the newspaper.
Don't underestimate these rumors. Zhuang Li can glimpse many secrets from between the lines: for example, although there was no flood or drought in a certain place in Northeast China, the local people left their homeland and became refugees. Could this be related to the Japanese military operations?
He speculated that either important minerals were discovered in this area and it was occupied by the Japanese army, or some military fortress was built there and it became a secret base of the Japanese army.
For example, if a newspaper reports that several trains have been cancelled, where did these trains go? Could they be transporting Japanese troops?
By checking the starting and ending stations of these trains, Zhuang Li was able to infer the Japanese army's next troop deployment plan and guess the Japanese army's next attack target.
And then there are these job advertisements from Northeast China. Why would such an industrially underdeveloped region recruit so many workers? Was it to produce weapons and ammunition for the Japanese military's arsenals?
If we follow this recruitment information, will we find the military factory secretly built by the Japanese army in China?
This was Zhuang Li's way of obtaining intelligence. He didn't need to go to the dangerous front lines; he could just sit at home and see through all the clues.
Twelve o'clock slipped by unnoticed. Zhuang Li rubbed his brow and finally stopped searching. His brain was like a computer, scanning various images and texts to calculate the desired results. It was a very mentally exhausting task.
Little Orange had fallen asleep with his legs up in the air, his furry belly rising and falling gently and making snoring sounds.
Zhuang Li looked at it with envy, so he tiptoed over, buried his face in Xiaoju's belly, rubbed it left and right, and then took a deep breath.
Chi Ming, who walked into the library, happened to see this scene.
The boy buried his furry head in the equally furry cat's belly and moved it around like a piglet.
Chi Ming was stunned on the spot, and an unbearable feeling of itching suddenly came over him.
He walked over quietly, looked at her quietly for a while, then sat down, hugged Zhuang Li from behind, and buried his head in her soft and warm neck.
His nose touched the boy's delicate skin and he took a deep breath. The incomparable satisfaction and relaxation drove away the fatigue accumulated in his heart.
Zhuang Li struggled slightly.
Chi Ming immediately hugged him tightly and said in a muffled voice: "Xiaobao, don't move. Let brother hold you for a while. Brother is very tired."
Chi Ming had never told anyone about his feelings. He had tried to transform himself into an emotionless war machine. But in front of the young man, he could reveal his true self without any burden.
Zhuang Li lay motionless on the ground. He waited until Chi Ming's breathing became less heavy before turning around and gently rubbing his head.
He certainly knew what kind of responsibility Chi Ming was carrying. The future of this country and this nation rested on his shoulders.
No one would understand his feelings, but Zhuang Li did; no one would feel sorry for his efforts, but Zhuang Li did; no one was willing to help him share his burden, but Zhuang Li was willing.
Thinking of this, Zhuang Li rubbed his head again, silently conveying his concern.
Chi Ming never expected the boy to respond to him, so he froze.
So Zhuang Li rubbed Chi Ming's hair a few more times, rubbing it along the hair, rubbing it against the hair, rubbing it left and right, making Chi Ming's hair a mess.
Chi Ming finally recovered from his shock, scooped the boy into his arms, held him on his knees, and asked, "Xiaobao, are you comforting me? Huh?"
Zhuang Li stared at him with his dark eyes, without saying a word, but his slender fingers went into his hair and stroked it gently a few times.
Chi Ming took this silence as a positive answer, so he smiled happily.
He picked up the boy and said with renewed energy, "Come on, I'll take you to dinner."
Fatigue, heaviness, and depression did not exist. He could still fight for another five hundred years.
Seeing Chi Ming walking in with his younger brother in his arms and messy hair, Zhuang Liuyun: "..."
What happened? Did Brother Chi get bombed?
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