"Snap!" A crisp sound!
The slap turned half of Imai Yuji's face bright red, but he dared not be negligent in the slightest. He stood at attention and obediently awaited Uehara Junpei's judgment.
“I specifically gave orders beforehand that the security of this banquet was extremely important, and that no Chinese people should be involved in any security work. Why didn’t you follow those orders? Can you afford to take responsibility for such a huge loss?”
Uehara Junpei's roar silenced everyone around him, and Imai Yuji turned deathly pale.
At this moment, Ning Zhiheng suddenly remembered something and said, "During the banquet, there was indeed a Chinese man who wanted to serve wine to the VIPs, but Araki-kun noticed in time and turned him away. Was it this Zhan Yuanliang?"
Upon hearing this, Araki Tetsu nodded and said, "That's the person. According to Consul General Hori, Zhan Yuanliang had worked at the consulate for many years without any problems, but I always felt something was off, so I let him leave."
At this point, Araki Tetsuya couldn't help but feel a little scared. Judging from the situation at the time, Zhan Yuanliang's target must have been the many high-ranking officials in the VIP seats. If he had been allowed to stay, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Upon hearing this, Uehara Junpei gasped. He and his men had almost been ambushed and had narrowly escaped death. He looked at Araki Tetsuya, nodded slowly, and said approvingly, "Araki, well done!"
Araki Tetsuya was immediately invigorated by Uehara Junpei's praise. He straightened up, tapped his heels, and bowed respectfully.
Uehara Junpei then asked Imai Yuji, "Among those who were poisoned, were there any personnel in key positions?"
Yuji Imai was most afraid of this question from Junpei Uehara, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Among the officials of the Nanjing government, the three highest-ranking are ministers, while the others are insignificant."
"What about our losses?" Uehara Junpei pressed, completely unconcerned about the Nanjing government's losses; in his eyes, those people were nothing more than dispensable lackeys and henchmen.
Yuji Imai had no choice but to continue answering: "Because the other side mainly poisoned the sake, our losses were relatively large. Most of the poisoning was mild, but the few with obvious symptoms were basically our personnel. From the consulate, there was Vice Consul Uchida Meizan and Secretary Miyashita Yusuke. As for the military, there were mainly several brigade commanders and regimental commanders from the 6th Division, as well as several officers who were at the same table with them. Among them... one of them was Colonel Ueno Keisuke, the director of the Seisui Research Institute."
"What?"
Uehara Junpei was immediately startled, his nerves tensing up instantly. He pressed, "Ueno Keisuke has also been poisoned. How serious is it?"
Junpei Uehara could calmly face the losses of those consulate staff and active-duty military officers. From his perspective, these people were all replaceable; if they were lost, he could simply replace them.
However, Keisuke Ueno is different. He is Japan's top biochemical expert and holds a pivotal position in the research of biological weapons. He was specially transferred from Northeast China to oversee the work of the poison gas factory in Central China. If he were to be poisoned, the loss would be enormous, far exceeding what a few active-duty officers could cause.
Faced with Uehara Junpei's persistent questioning, Imai Yuji was momentarily speechless.
As the head of the Special Higher Police and the head of the intelligence department, Yuji Imai was naturally aware of Keisuke Ueno's special identity and important position. That's why he reported Ueno's situation last. Seeing Junpei Uehara's stern expression, he couldn't help but feel even more panicked. According to his observation, Ueno's poisoning was relatively severe, and the possibility of rescue was slim. How could he answer that? Saying it would only make the situation worse.
Seeing that Imai Yuji was too frightened to answer, Ning Zhiheng decided to step in and smooth things over. He coughed lightly and said to Uehara Junpei, "Uncle, the incident happened suddenly. No one could have imagined that there would be a problem inside the consulate. I think Imai-kun handled it very well. The situation may not be as bad as we thought. Let's wait for the results of the rescue before we talk about it."
Upon hearing this, Yuji Imai felt as if he had been granted a pardon. In fact, he felt the most wronged. He was only responsible for the security of the banquet, but there were problems within the consulate itself. How could he possibly take precautions?
If we're talking about assigning blame, the consulate should bear a greater responsibility; I was indeed wronged this time.
Imai Yuji cast a grateful glance at Ning Zhiheng. Given Fujiwara's standing in Uehara Shogun's eyes, with him intervening, Uehara Shogun would certainly not refuse him.
At this moment, Yuji Imai couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate that he had a good personal relationship with Chairman Fujiwara, who spoke up for him at a crucial moment.
When Uehara Junpei heard Ning Zhiheng defend Imai Yuji, he knew that Ning was intentionally protecting Imai Yuji. He had to suppress his anger and softened his tone before ordering, "Immediately conduct a city-wide manhunt for Zhan Yuanliang. I want you to thoroughly investigate the entire city of Nanjing. Also, investigate all of Zhan Yuanliang's history and connections, arrest his family members and friends. In short, you must find this person. Such a big incident cannot be left unexplained."
Junpei Uehara is currently in a terrible predicament, facing a huge headache. This matter has had a very bad impact, especially since the problem occurred at the welcoming banquet for the three members of parliament. The news will definitely reach back to Japan and the highest levels of government. If he doesn't handle it well, he will get into trouble. Therefore, he must provide an explanation.
Yuji Imai felt a sudden sense of relief; the most difficult hurdle had finally been overcome. Now that he was in charge of the investigation, things would be much easier. Arresting Zhan Yuanliang was one thing, but even if he was unlucky and failed to catch the main culprit, he could shift the blame to the consulate. After all, the consulate bore an undeniable responsibility in this matter. He could then ask Chairman Fujiwara to intercede on his behalf, and he should be able to get through this safely without much trouble.
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