Upon hearing Li Zhiqun's words, Ren Manshan's face immediately turned cold. He didn't know what Li Zhiqun's intention was in suddenly bringing up this topic. He sat up straight and said in a deep voice, "Li Zhiqun, what do you mean by this? We who escaped from Chongqing, who among us doesn't have relatives or connections in the Chongqing government? If you're going to settle scores, I'm afraid all of Mr. Wang's followers will be arrested and investigated. Your No. 76 is meddling far too much!"
Seeing Ren Manshan's sensitive reaction, as if his tail had been stepped on, Li Zhiqun was afraid that he would misunderstand. He knew that Wang Tianhai's confidants were all old men he had brought from Chongqing. As Ren Manshan said, they were all unsuccessful figures in the Chongqing government and had many connections with it. If he let these people misunderstand that he was involved, he would make enemies on all sides and find it difficult to move forward in the puppet government.
So he quickly explained, "Brother Manshan, you've misunderstood. If that's the case, then since I was previously a member of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, wouldn't I also be arrested and investigated?"
"So you mean...?" Ren Manshan was taken aback and asked in confusion.
Li Zhiqun continued, "Brother Manshan, you're not an intelligence officer, so there are many inside stories I can't reveal to you. Your brother-in-law, Wang Hanmin, is currently in Shanghai and is the head of the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station. He's specifically responsible for assassinations and intelligence gathering. The government officials who have been killed in the past few months are all his doing."
"What did you say? You mean the Han Chinese are in Shanghai?"
Ren Manshan was truly shocked this time. His brother-in-law, Wang Hanmin, had not been very successful in his early years, otherwise he would not have gone into the business of espionage. He had managed to get a deputy station chief position in the Military Intelligence Bureau based on his seniority. Later, with the war raging and the situation in chaos, the two families lost contact. He had no news of them for a long time. Then, he fled Chongqing and came to Shanghai, and lost all contact with them. But he never expected that he would be in Shanghai.
Li Zhiqun continued, "It's absolutely true, Brother Manshan. You hold a high position, and in the past few months, your colleagues have all been targeted by Wang Hanmin to varying degrees. But you alone haven't even had anyone tracking or monitoring you. Do you really think it's because you have strong protection? They've even tried to assassinate Mr. Wang several times, why would they care about your few bodyguards? This is Wang Hanmin giving you a break!"
Ren Manshan suddenly realized that he was now the secretary-general of the Central Party Headquarters of the puppet government, which was an important figure. However, in the past few months, although officials around him had been assassinated one after another, he had been safe and sound. So this was the reason.
Ren Manshan looked at Li Zhiqun with suspicion, waiting for his further explanation.
Li Zhiqun continued, "For so long, Wang Hanmin has been working against me. In order to protect the smooth establishment of the new government, both of us have suffered heavy losses, but now things have taken a turn for the better."
At this point, Li Zhiqun said, emphasizing each word: "Just last night, I arrested Wang Hanmin!"
Upon hearing this, Ren Manshan's eyes widened immediately. He leaned forward and asked urgently, "What did you do to him? Zhiqun, everything can be discussed. We're just serving our own masters..."
Ren Manshan joined Wang Tianhai's faction only because he had long been unsuccessful in the Kuomintang, not because of any real differences in political views or other matters of principle. In fact, most officials in the new government were like that; they were all opportunists, so there was no question of them being particularly hostile to the Chongqing government. Now, upon hearing that his brother-in-law had been arrested, Ren Manshan suddenly became restless.
Li Zhiqun spread his hands and said helplessly, "Brother Manshan, please rest assured, Wang Hanmin is still alive. It's just that he insists on not cooperating. I had no choice but to use some torture instruments, but he is still stubborn."
"I'm in a difficult position! You know, although our No. 76 is a department of the new government, we are still under the control of the Japanese. I can't hold back, so if he continues to resist, it's a dead end, and in the end, no one will benefit. That's why I came to visit you, Brother Manshan, to ask you to persuade him. If we can change our stance, we'll all be colleagues! After the Chongqing government falls, we can all achieve our goals, and then our futures will be limitless. Why be so stubborn?"
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