2: Chapter 2 The Visitor at Night

Zhu Wenhao did not answer immediately.

For sixty years in the ming dynasty, he had stood alone at the pinnacle of power.

Tragedies of fathers turning against sons and brothers fighting each other were merely the most common political dramas in the Forbidden City.

He had long been accustomed to looking at all his blood relatives as if they were mere chess pieces.

Executive Vice Mayor of Linjiang City.

According to the official system of the ming dynasty, this was at most equivalent to a Vice Prefect of the low fourth rank.

A sesame-seed official's memorial of greeting like this wouldn't even cross the threshold of the Office of Transmission.

His slender fingers swiped to answer the call.

"Where are you?"

"The winds in the city are blowing the wrong way. Your mother said you didn't come home all night."

"I don't care how you're fooling around outside, get back home today immediately."

This was the commanding tone of someone in a position of authority.

Zhu Wenhao listened quietly.

He did not refute or explain.

Although this Vice Prefect father of the low fourth rank spoke with cold and harsh words, his underlying tone was one of undisguised protectiveness.

"Father."

"I ran into some trouble at the hotel this morning."

"Mayor Su Changming's daughter was in my bed."

"Ten minutes ago, a group of police officers kicked open my door."

Zhu Wenhao's tone was flat, without any exaggeration.

He simply stated everything that had happened today, exactly as it occurred.

In officialdom, this was called leaving blank spaces.

Water that is too clear has no fish, and a person who is too demanding has no followers.

Subordinates should never make judgments on behalf of their superiors.

Even between father and son, one had to leave enough room for the other to deduce and plan.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe's heavy breathing came through the receiver.

The vice mayor, who was currently vying for the mayoral seat, keenly sensed the hidden malice.

Former Mayor Xiao Tianyou had just fallen from grace.

His political rival Mayor Su Changming's biological daughter was sleeping in his own son's bed.

And it had precisely triggered a police raid.

The trap had been sprung.

"Is the trouble resolved?" Secretary Zhu Tianhe's voice changed completely.

"The police have already left."

"Come home tonight and report to me in person."

Without waiting for Zhu Wenhao's reply, Secretary Zhu Tianhe hung up the phone directly.

Putting away his phone, Zhu Wenhao found the Volkswagen Lavida in the hotel parking lot.

The engine roared.

The vehicle merged into the endless flow of steel in Linjiang City.

Times had changed.

Humans had built skyscrapers that pierced the clouds and created weapons that could take a person's head from thousands of miles away.

Yet the logic of power's operation had not changed one bit over thousands of years.

There were no flashing swords or shadow plays.

A single document or a personnel change could still ruin a family and destroy lives.

Night fell.

Villa No. 4, Linjiang Municipal Party Committee Family Compound.

Zhu Wenhao sat behind the large mahogany desk in the study.

On the computer screen were Linjiang City's public government financial reports from the past three years, the scale of municipal investment bonds, and the list of winning bidders for major engineering projects.

The brain left behind by the original host was extremely unfamiliar with these data.

But Zhu Wenhao spent the entire afternoon reviewing them.

The ledgers of the Ministry of Revenue in the ming dynasty were as vast as the sea, and the tricks local officials came up with to embezzle funds were a hundred times more complex than those of today.

No matter how sophisticated modern financial terminology was packaged,

the underlying logic remained exactly the same.

Municipal investment bonds that robbed Peter to pay Paul were nothing more than the age-old trick of 'eating next year's food today' that every dynasty had played to death.

The nested layers of shell companies were exactly the same as the 'flying drafts' used by salt merchants in the ming dynasty.

"The more they try to hide it, the more it is exposed."

Although Zhu Wenhao did not know where the money ultimately went, combining it with Mayor Su Changming's actions, it likely had something to do with him.

Zhu Wenhao picked up a pen and drew three circles on a blank sheet of paper.

Municipal Investment, Mayor Su Changming, Secretary Zhu Tianhe.

With limited information on hand, he would have to have a good talk with his cheap old man later.

Suddenly, an extremely restrained knocking sound came from downstairs.

One long and two short, very rhythmic.

In this heavily guarded Municipal Party Committee family compound, it sounded exceptionally out of place.

Zhu Wenhao did not move.

A lowered voice drifted in.

"Is Mayor Zhu home?"

This was definitely not a casual neighborly visit.

It was more like an opportunist walking straight into a trap in the dead of night.

Seeing no movement inside, the person outside raised his voice.

"Mayor Zhu, I saw the light in your study is on. I'm Staff Member Wang Tao from the Municipal Policy Research Office. I brought you some local specialties from the countryside."

"If you're resting and it's inconvenient to open the door, I'll just leave the things at the door."

The security at Villa No. 4 in the Municipal Party Committee family compound was tight. How could a benched clerk from the Policy Research Office get in in the middle of the night?

Someone must have instructed them, which was why the guards at the main gate let him through.

Leaving it at the door...

If someone with ulterior motives took a few photos, then even if it was just mud falling into his pants, it would look like feces, and he wouldn't be able to wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

Zhu Wenhao sat on the mahogany chair, his fingers tapping the desktop.

In the court of the ming dynasty, the censor officials also loved to use these dirty, shadow-catching tricks.

The methods were clumsy, but their lethality was immense.

There was currently no one else at home besides him.

If he ignored it and let this bucket of dirty water be splashed, Secretary Zhu Tianhe would have a hard time tomorrow.

"He who does not plan for generations cannot plan for a single moment."

Zhu Wenhao stood up and pushed open the study door.

He went downstairs and walked through the living room.

With a click, the heavy security door was pulled inward.

Outside the door stood a middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses, his hair neatly parted.

He was holding two unmarked black plastic bags, preparing to place them on the doormat.

Seeing the door open, the man's face broke into a warm, familiar smile, and he lifted his leg, trying to squeeze his way inside.

Zhu Wenhao did not back down.

With one hand on the doorframe, he stood tall, blocking the entrance completely.

"Who are you?"

Staff Member Wang Tao was forced to stop by this human wall and let out a couple of awkward laughs.

"Hello, hello. You must be Zhu Wenhao, right? I'm Staff Member Wang Tao from the Municipal Policy Research Office. Is Mayor Zhu home?"

Zhu Wenhao glanced at the two black plastic bags.

The bags were stretched into distinct, square shapes.

They were clearly not local specialties, but rather resembled stacks of cash.

"My father is not in."

"Oh, Mayor Zhu isn't in? That's perfect. I'll go inside and wait for him for a bit."

"There are some grassroots research findings that I need to report to him in person."

"It doesn't look good if we block the doorway and the neighbors see us."

Go inside, put down the items, chat for a bit.

Then make an excuse to use the restroom or take a phone call to slip away.

Once the things were left behind, the trap would be set.

Zhu Wenhao did not yield an inch.

"Speak right here."

His tone was indifferent as his gaze swept over Staff Member Wang Tao from head to toe.

Having been the supreme ruler for sixty years, he had seen more treacherous officials and wicked ghosts than the grains of rice Staff Member Wang Tao had eaten in his lifetime.

Staff Member Wang Tao felt his skin crawl under the gaze.

"Zhu Wenhao, why are you being so distant? Your father and I are old acquaintances..."

"Section Chief Wang."

"What benefits did Secretary Li Changgeng promise you?"

"You know very well what level of security the Municipal Party Committee compound has."

"You're carrying two bags of dubious items, yet the guards not only didn't stop you, but let you walk all the way to Villa No. 4 without any hindrance."

"This means that your entire entry has already been recorded in the surveillance footage and visitor logs."

"If I'm not mistaken, these are likely filled with cash. You plan to leave the money here and just walk away."

"Tomorrow, rumors will spread like wildfire throughout the Municipal Government compound."

"When the Discipline Inspection Commission steps in, how will you explain the source of this money? Will Mayor Su Changming step forward to take the blame for you?"

"You won't be able to escape the charge of bribery."

"Can a fool like you, who doesn't even qualify as a disposable pawn, carry such a burden?"

Staff Member Wang Tao took two big steps back, his grip on the black plastic bags in his hands faltering.

A mere bookworm could not withstand this kind of direct, table-turning interrogation.

"I... I got the wrong door."

He didn't even bother to make a polite excuse.

Staff Member Wang Tao turned around, tightly clutching the two plastic bags, and fled in his leather shoes.

His steps were unsteady, and he almost sprained his ankle on the steps.

Zhu Wenhao leaned against the doorframe.

The people in modern officialdom have bones that are too soft.

Before any torture was even applied, merely exposing the logic was enough to scare them out of their wits.

They were far inferior to the tough men in the Brocade Guard's prisons back then who would rather die than speak.

The security door closed once again.

The interlude over, he continued researching the materials.

In the middle of the night.

The sound of the gate downstairs opening rang out.

Accompanied by a strong smell of alcohol, Secretary Zhu Tianhe pushed open the living room door.

A young man wearing a black jacket was supporting him.

That was Secretary Zhu Tianhe's personal secretary, Secretary Gao Ming.

Reeking of alcohol and unsteady on his feet, Secretary Zhu Tianhe called out as soon as he entered, "Zhu Wenhao, where are you?"

Zhu Wenhao put down his pen and turned the circled sheet of paper face down on the desk.

"Dad, I'm in the study."

He walked to the top of the stairs and answered.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe, who was still being supported by Secretary Gao Ming as he leaned toward the sofa, paused.

His back straightened immediately.

"You're in the study?"

Secretary Zhu Tianhe pushed away Secretary Gao Ming's hand and walked to the foot of the stairs in a few quick strides.

He looked up.

"What are you doing in my study!"

No one knows a son better than his father.

In Secretary Zhu Tianhe's eyes, other than causing trouble, the only reason his son would enter the study was to steal cash from the drawer or play computer games.

Zhu Wenhao walked down the solid wood staircase.

"Just looking at the city's public news."

Secretary Zhu Tianhe didn't believe him at all.

He turned and instructed Secretary Gao Ming beside him.

"Secretary Gao Ming, go up and take a look."

Secretary Gao Ming was around thirty years old, with a capable and efficient demeanor.

Upon hearing his leader's instruction, he first nodded politely to Zhu Yuntong, then quickly went upstairs.

Only the father and son were left in the living room.

The air was filled with an indescribable tension.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe loosened the tie around his neck and sank into the leather sofa.

He reached up to massage his temples.

He raised his eyelids, using the ceiling light in the living room to re-evaluate his son standing a few paces away.

It was very strange.

Usually, when this kid saw him, he would either be subservient or stubbornly demand money.

Today, however, he was surprisingly quiet.

Standing as straight as a pine, neither obsequious nor arrogant.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe snorted coldly and reached for the water cup on the coffee table.

Zhu Wenhao beat him to it, picking up the thermos on the coffee table.

He poured a cup of warm water.

He placed it gently next to Secretary Zhu Tianhe's hand.

His movements were natural and fluid.

He said softly, "Father, an uninvited guest came to our home tonight."