Ning Zhiheng's telegram was sent to Chongqing and quickly reached the hands of the Director. The Director, who had just finished reporting his work to the General Headquarters, was in a great mood, but upon seeing this telegram, his face darkened and his smile vanished.
In my report to the Chairman today, I specifically requested commendations for Yue Sheng and Wan Mulin. The Chairman highly praised this and said he would reward those who had made contributions handsomely.
Unexpectedly, Wan Mulin was captured by Number 76 in the blink of an eye. How could Number 76 act so quickly? How could such an oversight occur? This caught the Director off guard.
In fact, given the Director's character and actions, he is ruthless in achieving his goals. Intelligence work is dangerous and cruel, and sacrifices are inevitable, but he doesn't care about those things.
But Wan Mulin was different. He was Yue Sheng's head steward, his most capable assistant, and also Yue Sheng's cousin. When Yue Sheng was poor and down on his luck, it was Wan Mulin who lent a helping hand and saved him. In the end, he assisted Yue Sheng for many years. It can be said that Wan Mulin was no longer a brother and master-servant in the ordinary sense to Yue Sheng.
The Director and Yue Sheng have always had a close relationship, and the Director is extremely familiar with the relationship between Wan Mulin and Yue Sheng. Therefore, Wan Mulin is a pawn that cannot be easily discarded.
Moreover, Yue Sheng has done a great deal of work for the Director over the years, even giving him all his resources. Yet, in the end, he had to flee Shanghai, where he had built his business for many years, and hide in Hong Kong. The Director has always felt guilty about this. This time, he entrusted Yue Sheng with the task again. Now that the mission is accomplished, Wan Mulin, who carried out the operation, has been arrested. If he really stands idly by and lets Wan Mulin go unpunished, he will definitely not be able to explain it to Yue Sheng.
Therefore, the Director decided to do his best to rescue Wan Mulin. However, the Military Intelligence Bureau had limited resources in Shanghai. Ning Zhiheng even stated that he was powerless to help. Although the Director was angry, he knew Ning Zhiheng's character. This young man would never back down or hesitate in the face of the big picture.
After all, Wan Mulin's case was too big. Under the high attention of the Japanese, even Ning Zhiheng dared not take risks easily, otherwise, any loss to the Shanghai Intelligence Section would be something the Director would not want to see.
Frankly speaking, if the Director had to choose between the Shanghai Intelligence Section and Wan Mulin, he would choose the Shanghai Intelligence Section without hesitation. The difference in importance is obvious!
So since Ning Zhiheng made it clear that he was unable to provide assistance, the bureau chief couldn't force him. Besides, he had been scheming and acting unethically during this rescue operation, which had greatly displeased both Huang Xianzheng and Ning Zhiheng. Now, he couldn't bring himself to ask Ning Zhiheng to clean up the mess. It seemed that he had no choice but to find another way.
As for the Shanghai station, the Director immediately rejected it. The Shanghai station had just been reorganized, and the first batch of operatives had just arrived. The intelligence personnel assigned to them had not yet entered Shanghai. Even if things went smoothly, they would only have operational capabilities, not intelligence capabilities. Moreover, this matter could only be handled cleverly, not by force. Therefore, the Shanghai station could not help in any way and was also sidelined by the Director.
After careful consideration, the bureau chief immediately sent a telegram to Yue Sheng in Hong Kong, informing him of Wan Mulin's arrest and urgently discussing with Yue Sheng matters related to Wan Mulin's rescue.
Upon receiving the telegram, Yue Sheng's eyes immediately turned red with anxiety. Wan Mulin was far too important to him; he was willing to do anything to rescue him.
So, in just one day, radio waves frequently crossed between Chongqing and Hong Kong, and after several discussions, a rescue plan was finally decided.
It was really inappropriate for the Military Intelligence Bureau to get involved. Yue Sheng had been entrenched in Shanghai for many years and had connections with various government officials and dignitaries. He was known for his extensive network of connections.
So the two sides agreed that the Military Intelligence Bureau would apply for a batch of funds, and the bureau chief would even contribute a huge sum of money himself. Yue Sheng would then step in to bribe and smooth things over in an attempt to rescue Wan Mulin.
That same afternoon, Yue Sheng's other assistant, Si Guangyuan, boarded a passenger ship bound for Shanghai and rushed there to begin the rescue of Wan Mulin.
Upon arriving in Shanghai, Si Guangyuan went directly to visit Zhou Fushan, the top official of the new government, Wang Tianhai's right-hand man, who was then serving as the Minister of Finance, Minister of Police, and member of the Special Agents Committee of the puppet government.
Since Yue Sheng had a good relationship with Zhou Fushan, who was also the superior of the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters, it would be most appropriate to contact him.
To Si Guangyuan's disappointment, Zhou Fushan initially greeted him with a smile when he heard that he was Yue Sheng's special envoy, but upon hearing that the envoy was to rescue Wan Mulin, and that he was trying to rescue Wan Mulin from Li Zhiqun's control at the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters, he immediately refused.
The reason is simple: Si Guangyuan was unaware of the feud between Zhou Fushan and Li Zhiqun. Two months ago, this matter would not have been a problem, but now, Zhou Fushan and Li Zhiqun have a deep-seated grudge against each other, so how could Zhou Fushan possibly step forward and make a fool of himself?
Seeing Zhou Fushan's refusal, Si Guangyuan became anxious and pleaded repeatedly. Finally, Zhou Fushan simply told him the whole story. These seasoned officials could not possibly go too far. He was unwilling to offend Yue Sheng, so he finally instructed Si Guangyuan to go to Ren Manshan, the then deputy secretary-general of the Central Party Headquarters of the puppet government.
Zhou Fushan explained to Si Guangyuan in detail: "Brother Yuesheng is far away in Hong Kong and is somewhat unfamiliar with things in Shanghai. Currently, among the officials of the new government, Li Zhiqun is like an anomaly. He only recognizes the Japanese and Mr. Wang, and doesn't deal with people like us at all. Ordinary people can't even get a word in. The only person who has a good relationship with him is Ren Manshan. Ren Manshan's brother-in-law is Wang Hanmin, the deputy director of the Special Agent Headquarters. They have a very good personal relationship. The 76th Division arrests people every day, and many people get people released through Ren Manshan's connections. If you want to save Wan Mulin, you can only do so through his connections. I really can't help you!"
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