Chapter 97 : Killing and Heartbreaking

“Oh my God, are you serious?” Everyone asked in shock, feeling a bit frightened but their curiosity about what the two families had done only grew.

“I heard a noise coming from their house in the middle of the night, so I quietly got up and went to the yard. I saw with my own eyes that the three of them were taken away by the police. I figured they must have done something serious. I was so scared I didn’t even dare to breathe.”

“Did those three people who were just arrested commit the same crimes as the two families?”

“I don’t know about that… Sigh, our brigade has been named an ‘Advanced Brigade’ every year, but I’m afraid that title might be gone this year.”

“I also heard from the educated youth at the Youth House that Nangong, Han, Chen, and Yun haven’t been there these past few days. Do you think they might have been arrested too?”

“Impossible! Don’t talk nonsense. Siying and the others probably just asked for leave for something important. Don’t drag their names through the mud,” Li Hongying immediately objected when she heard that.

“Exactly. How can you just believe every rumor? With the character of those four kids, how could they possibly have done anything illegal?” Wang Yunfeng also stood up to defend them. They couldn’t let a few gossipy old women ruin the reputations of those young people.

“Don’t spread rumors. Those kids just went to the provincial capital to have some fun. They even asked my old man to issue a letter of introduction,” Zhang Cuifen said, standing up as well. Siying had the best relationship with her household, how could she let others slander her?

“Yes, I was at Cuifen’s house the day the letter of introduction was written. Don’t talk nonsense,” added Lu Lianzhi. Siying was one of their own in the brigade, and they wouldn’t let anyone tarnish her reputation.

—

In the county, after receiving orders from higher authorities, Nangong Ruochen and Nangong Ruoyi split into several teams to arrest the enemy spies identified during the previous night’s interrogation. The police and local military units in the relevant areas fully cooperated with the operation.

“Nangong Ruochen, there are enemy spies in that house right now,” said Yun Siying from the passenger seat of the military truck. Using her mental powers, she had detected a basement in the house, containing a radio transmitter, and someone was actively sending a message.

“Stop the truck.” The team members exited the vehicle without hesitation or doubt, they had witnessed Yun Siying’s abilities throughout the day and knew from experience that her words were always accurate. Their job was simply to act on them.

“Boss, your brother’s team is way more efficient than ours. The guys are saying that every time, they nail it exactly,” one of Nangong Ruoyi’s subordinates joked.

“That kid’s just lucky,” Nangong Ruoyi replied, though his eyes gleamed with envy. He was envious of his brother’s good fortune and thought that if Siying could officially join the army, it would significantly boost their operational effectiveness.

—

Meanwhile, Li Yanyan had spent the entire morning searching through the items confiscated from the Shu family by the Revolutionary Committee, but still hadn’t found the lotus jade pendant. She suspected the Shu family had hidden it, so she asked Guo Pingfei to interrogate them about its whereabouts but he refused.

Guo Pingfei had only tolerated Li Yanyan because she was passably attractive and had helped him score some career points. But now she wanted to meddle in his work and expected him to avenge her? Who did she think she was?

Poor Li Yanyan, now at the state-owned restaurant for a meal, was still racking her brain trying to figure out how to convince Guo Pingfei to interrogate the Shu family. She had to get that lotus jade pendant.

She walked out of the state-owned restaurant and returned to the Shu family’s house. She had nowhere else to stay for the time being, and the job that had been promised to her wouldn’t be available for a few more days. After a night of tossing and turning, she was utterly exhausted and fell asleep until she was awakened by someone knocking at the courtyard gate.

She was extremely irritated but had no choice but to get up and open the door. To her surprise, she saw two soldiers standing outside. One of them asked, “Are you Comrade Li Yanyan?”

“I’m Li Yanyan. What do you need from me?” she asked in confusion. ‘Could it be that the Shu family is sending people to retaliate?’ she wondered.

“Then please come with us. There are some matters we need your cooperation with for an investigation,” one of them said tactfully.

“Is it about the Shu family?” Li Yanyan tried to fish for information from the two soldiers.

“Sorry, we don’t have the authority to disclose that. Please come with us.” Their tone was firm, and Li Yanyan had no choice but to get into the car with them. At the same time, Li Mingqiang and Deng Miaomiao were also taken away.

When the Deng family heard the news, they immediately pulled strings to try and find out what was going on. But all they learned was that Li Yanyan and Li Mingqiang had been taken away at the same time, nothing more.

The Shu family was not interrogated, and with the military overseeing everything, no one dared to act recklessly. In truth, everyone already understood the situation: the charges were confirmed, demotion was inevitable, and no one wanted to offend the military.

But now, the military had directly arrested the informant Li Yanyan. It turned out she was an enemy spy and was subjected to intense interrogation. Having never experienced anything like this before, the young Li Yanyan quickly broke down and confessed everything she knew.

Her confession involved a spy network, a treasure left behind by the Chen family, and implicated the Shu family as well, so all three members of the Shu family were brought in for questioning.

Shu Zhisheng had no idea how he managed to walk out of the interrogation room. When they asked about the lotus jade pendant, he suddenly remembered that he had given it to Siying when she was six years old. Thinking bitterly of the child who seemed so ungrateful, he blurted out that he had given the jade pendant to Yun Siying.

As soon as he revealed the whereabouts of the jade pendant, they informed him that his wife, Chen Wan, was actually Chen Wanyan the daughter of the wealthy Chen family and that the lotus jade pendant she had left him was connected to the treasure the Chen family had hidden away.

He was so furious he nearly coughed up blood. Then, as the interrogation continued, they told him that Yun Siying was his biological granddaughter, Shu Ruxue was the daughter of Tang Lingxue’s sister and was in fact a spy and Li Yanyan was also a spy who had infiltrated the Chen family just to obtain the lotus jade pendant.

This time, Shu Zhisheng really couldn’t take it and spat out a mouthful of blood. He barely managed to stay on his feet, his last shred of dignity holding him up but in that moment, his hair turned completely white. The interrogator paused in surprise, then smiled, clearly pleased to see him like this. No doubt, the man worked for Shu Zhisheng’s political rival, this was a psychological assassination.

“Dad, Dad! What’s wrong?!” Shu Guofeng saw the blood on his father’s mouth, and his eyes turned red. Seeing his father’s devastated expression and shock-white hair, his heart filled with worry and panic.

Shu Zhisheng was filled with bitter regret. He realized now that by revealing Siying’s involvement with the jade pendant, he had brought great danger to her. But because of his resentment toward her, he had said it anyway. And now, having just learned that Siying was actually his own granddaughter, the realization hit him like a thunderbolt. ‘What have I done?’ he thought. Because of his words, Siying would now be hunted by wolves and tigers.