Ning Zhiheng stayed in the French Concession for two days before rushing back to the city, because Yi Hua'an had sent back important news: Tsuchihara Keiji had returned to Shanghai from North China.
Keiji Tsuchihara has been away from Shanghai for over a month and has finally returned. His arrival may add uncertainty to the current situation in Shanghai, so Ning Zhiheng needs to be careful.
Because of the Kitaoka Ryoko incident, Ning Zhiheng was unsure of Tsuchihara Keiji's true attitude. He knew that due to the hasty nature of the operation to eliminate Kitaoka Ryoko, there were many loopholes left. Fortunately, he eliminated all the survivors and removed the hidden dangers.
However, in his estimation, Tsuchihara Keiji shouldn't turn against him for Kitaoka Ryoko. Firstly, there was no solid evidence, and secondly, it didn't align with Tsuchihara Keiji's current interests. A shrewd intelligence chief like him should know how to make the right choice.
In Tsuchihara Keiji's official residence, Eguchi Ryusei was sitting in the seat below Tsuchihara Keiji, and the two were talking in hushed tones.
"This trip to North China was really not going well. I don't know where Wu Peide got the news from, but before I even arrived in North China, he claimed to be sick at home and wouldn't come out. I visited him several times, and no matter how I threatened or bribed him, he refused my invitation on the grounds that he was seriously ill. I originally planned to do some more work, but Liangzi's death made me unwilling to get entangled with him. In the end, I had no choice but to take action and get rid of him, and hurriedly returned."
It turned out that Tsuchihara Keiji's trip to North China had not met expectations at all. After receiving the notification from the Military Intelligence Bureau, Wu Peide immediately feigned illness to delay the trip and sternly refused Tsuchihara Keiji's invitation, vowing never to be a traitor and never to work for the Japanese. Despite repeated attempts to persuade him, Tsuchihara Keiji became enraged and murdered Wu Peide.
Ryusei Eguchi knew that his teacher was in a bad situation. The defection mission in North China had failed, and the death of Ryoko Kitaoka had made his teacher act out of character, showing an unprecedented level of fatigue and despondency.
He could only offer words of comfort: "Ryoko's passing was truly unexpected for any of us. Please accept our deepest condolences, teacher."
Keiji Tsuchihara looked at Ryusei Eguchi and asked, "I have already interrogated Jin Kazuya Yabe. According to him, Yoshiko actually hid Jiro Hirayama. Were you aware of this?"
Ryusei Eguchi nodded and then reported on everything that had happened since Keiji Tsuchihara left, especially the murder of Ryoko Kitaoka, in which he described in detail the on-site investigation.
"Teacher, based on my on-site investigation and the private investigations I've conducted these past few days, I believe the Fujiwara Company is the most suspicious. Fujiwara Tomohito is probably the mastermind. He somehow found out that Ryoko was hiding Hirayama Jiro and suspected that Ryoko had ulterior motives, so he simply sent people to eliminate everyone. This man is ruthless and decisive, no wonder he has the situation he has today."
Keiji Tsuchihara's eyes were filled with sorrow. He felt that his student Ryoko Kitaoka was different from others. The teacher-student relationship was very deep. He never expected that after only a little over a month away, everything would have changed when he returned. It was a case of an old man burying his young daughter.
He gently rubbed his cheek, let out a long sigh, and said, "Actually, before I left Shanghai, I did arrange for Ryoko to conduct some investigations into Fujiwara Tomohito. The purpose was to make further contact with him and gain his support in order to salvage the unfavorable situation. But I didn't expect that Ryoko would actually hide Hirayama Jiro. How foolish of her! She simply wanted to use the Fujiwara Company's murder of the garrison officer as leverage. But what kind of storm can a mere deserter stir up? Alas! Ryoko is still too politically naive. In the end, she harmed herself and others!"
Upon hearing this, Eguchi Ryusei's eyes widened. So Kitaoka Ryoko was indeed investigating the Fujiwara Company in secret. Then his judgment must be correct; Fujiwara Tomohito must have killed Kitaoka Ryoko.
He quickly advised, "Teacher, our situation is precarious right now. We must not make any more powerful enemies. Fujiwara Tomohito is currently remaining neutral. His forces and the groups around him have not participated in this struggle. If we keep investigating, we will be pushing him towards Kagesa Hiroki. Besides, we don't have any solid evidence. It's all just speculation, and it would be a complete loss!"
Ryusei Eguchi was much older than Ryoko Kitaoka, and his perspective was more accurate.
Keiji Tsuchihara gave a wry smile. From his perspective, he was more thoughtful than Ryusei Eguchi, and he certainly wouldn't risk losing sight of the bigger picture by making such a basic mistake.
He said slowly, "Don't worry, I know how to make choices. Actually, there's no point in talking about this now. When I was in North China, I received a notice from headquarters that the failure had been confirmed. We have officially withdrawn from the work of forming a new government. My return to Shanghai this time is to hand over the work to Kagesa Hiroki and bring our personnel back to North China."
"It's already confirmed?" Ryusei Eguchi asked in surprise. Although he was mentally prepared, it was still a pity that the effort had failed at the last minute.
"Actually, when Kagesa Hiroki took over my work, I knew it would be difficult to stay in Shanghai. Otherwise, the headquarters wouldn't have made such an arrangement. Ryoko must have wanted to go all out and fight to the death, forcing Fujiwara Tomohito to support me and use the Fujiwara family's influence to turn the tide. But..."
At this point, he couldn't help but sigh again, "What a pity for Liangzi, she was so young. I shouldn't have sent her to Shanghai, otherwise things wouldn't have come to this!"
After they finished speaking, they remained silent for a long time.
Meanwhile, in the room of the Mulan Academy, Ning Zhiheng and Yingzuo Yushu were sitting cross-legged on a tea table. Ning Zhiheng personally served tea to Yingzuo Yushu. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two got straight to the point.
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