Chapter Seventy

  I was stunned, looking at the old man in front of me, a high-ranking general who had made great contributions and was still serving in the General Staff Intelligence Department, but had fallen to such a state. I said in a low voice: "Is it Comrade Chen Nian?"

  He was also stunned after hearing this, and then carefully observed me, looking at me and the security guards who were all in military uniforms, with two cars parked behind us. He asked: "Who are you?"

  "I replied, 'You come with me right away, I've been sent to fetch you.' As soon as I finished speaking, the guards who were supporting him helped him into the car, and just as he sat down, I heard a loud shout from afar: 'Everyone hurry up, the man is going to escape!'"

  I heard the sound and looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a group of about 14 or 15 people running over. As they approached, seeing that we were soldiers, the leader-like person asked me rudely: "What kind of people are you?"

  "And what are you people?" I also said bluntly.

  He was taken aback and loudly said: "I am from the Central Investigation Team. I came to take counter-revolutionary Chen Nian to report on the situation. Who are you?"

  I sneered: "I am from the Central Military Commission now, we have taken over his case, you can leave."

  "He also sneered: 'ID!'"

  "I said, 'He is an officer of our army and should be taken over by us. Let's go!' As soon as I finished speaking, he said, 'No one is allowed to leave?' Suddenly, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. The group of people with him also took out their guns. My bodyguard immediately came over, loaded his gun and aimed it at them. I looked at him and said, 'I hate it most when others point their guns at me. Get out of here immediately, or none of you will be able to leave!'"

  He saw me still being so arrogant and a bit foolish. A person walked up behind him and whispered a few words to him, and he listened and said: "Who are you after all?"

  I looked up at the sky and said: "The people from the Military Commission."

  He looked at the fierce-looking guards standing beside me and seemed a bit scared. At this time, someone in the crowd behind him said: "Do you want to cause a bloody incident?"

  I laughed and said: "If you want to know, just look at what you've done, you should be killed. Think about yourselves, don't do things that leave no room for retreat."

  The leader heard this and was slightly moved, but still asked: "Who are you?"

  I knew that in order to get through today smoothly, I had to reveal my identity. Just as I was about to speak, a military jeep came speeding over and quickly stopped on the other side of the road. Three soldiers got out of the car, led by a middle-aged military officer who walked over. The head of the investigation team here hastily went up to him and said: "You've arrived just in time, take a look."

  The middle-aged military officer didn't even look at me and ordered: "Take the person away from the car."

  "Yes." Another two soldiers were about to come forward and take him away. I said coldly: "Whoever dares to take him, I'll have them shot."

  The middle-aged military officer heard the voice and said to me: "Your documents."

  "Pretending I didn't hear it, I said: 'Are you talking to me?'"

  "That man shouted: 'I am from the General Staff Headquarters, I have the right to check your documents.'"

  I heard him say: "Okay."

  I took out my ID and said, "Let me take a look."

  He glanced at me sideways, looking at my ID card. When he saw the name "Tang Ning", he was taken aback. Then when he saw the position of Commander of Xizhou Province, he was stunned. I said: "Can I go?"

  The officer, upon hearing this, returned my documents to me. I said expressionlessly, "I know you now, not bad! The General Staff and the Committee are working together." I turned around and said to Chase, "Let's go."

  When our car drove far away, the investigation team asked that general officer: "Old Zhang, who is he? So powerful, I will report to Director Yao when I go back."

  Old Zhang replied: "Do you know who he is?"

  "Who is it?"

  "That's Tong Ning."

  Tangning?

  "That's Tong Ning."

  "Ah? Is that Tang Ning who took away more than 20 of our young generals and sent them to the battlefield as cannon fodder? Is that the same Tang Ning who dared to openly monitor and restrict our Western Zong Division?"

  "It's him."

  "What's wrong with him! Can he go against Director Yao and us?"

  Old Zhang looked at him with a bitter smile and said: "I just received the news this morning, your Director Hu was driven out of Tangning this morning, doesn't he look fine?"

  "Ah!"

  "I'll go back and report to the General Staff again, goodbye!" After finishing speaking, he hastily got on the car and left.

  The rest of the investigation team looked at each other, all a bit depressed, and then left as well.

  On the train I said to Comrade Chen Yun: "You have suffered, Comrade Chen Yun."

  Chen Yan choked back tears and said: "The organization still trusts me, right?"

  I looked at him and couldn't bear to strike him again, saying: "Right, this time I've come to take you to a new job."

  Chen Nian hastily wiped away his tears, straightened his clothes and saluted, saying: "Chen Nian obeys the organization's arrangement, please instruct."

  I felt a pang in my heart, and I returned the salute saying: "Comrade Chen Nian, wait a minute, you will go to the Western Zhejiang Military Region to report for duty as the director of the Intelligence Department. I hope you can do a good job." This decision was made within a few seconds, I couldn't bear to see such a loyal comrade to the Party and the country being struck again, besides, I also needed his expertise in intelligence work.

  I said to Chase: "Go to the airport."

  As I looked up and saw the plane carrying Chen Nian flying away, two guards also left. I said: "Let's go, let's go back."

  The chairman sat on the sofa facing Ye Long and asked: "Is this true?"

  Ye Long nodded and said, "It's true. However, I have also reviewed Comrade Chen Nian's materials, and Comrade Chen Nian is indeed an excellent intelligence expert. He has sent us valuable information from the enemy's side many times before liberation, and after liberation, he has worked diligently without joining any faction."

  The chairman nodded and said, "I have an impression of this comrade, he's a good comrade. It seems I need to hold a meeting with the comrades below. There's a tendency to grab at straws just by looking at the beard. Yelung, go notify them, we'll hold the meeting in 1 hour and get the General Staff and the Cultural Revolution Group to come."

  "Yes."

  The chairman deeply understands that if he lets Hu Die and others continue to stir up trouble, it is very likely that they will put too much pressure on Old General Ye and others. This time, it is clear that they are using Tang Ning to exert pressure on him. The election for the new term is about to take place soon, so it's better to be more stable. Liu Yun-geng really wants to be in this chairman position, he even proposed to amend the constitution, Old General and others compared to him are still good comrades, without selfishness!

  Yao Chunyuan's face turned iron-gray as he hung up the phone, just wanting to talk to Hu Die about something, when the phone rang again. He picked it up with a bit of impatience and said: "Hello, who is this?!"

  "Is this the Chairman's office? Is Comrade Yao Chunyuan in?"

  Yao Chunyuan's face changed again and he said with a hint of respect: "Ah! I am. Is there something? Please speak."

  "You and Hu Die immediately come to the chairman's office for a meeting, remember it's immediate." Then he hung up.

  Yao Chunyuan hung up the phone with a bit of helplessness and indignation, and politely said to Hu Zuolang sitting beside him: "Director, the chairman asked us to go to his place for a meeting immediately."

  "Hmm, let's go quickly." After saying that, he stood up and walked to the door. Before leaving, he turned back to Yao Chunyuan and said: "Don't call me 'team leader', call me 'director'. It sounds like I'm some kind of minor official."

  "Yes, yes, Director."