Free Web NovelThe Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau symbolized the state authority of Shanghai.
Inside that fortress-like place, Yoo Seongjin spent his time without undergoing any formal investigation.
Except during meal times, he could not even see another person’s face, and the interrogation room where he was kept was monitored twenty-four hours a day.
He even slept on the simple cot installed inside the interrogation room.
Only after several days had passed did Xu Xin finally enter the interrogation room.
“Let’s talk now.”
Xu Xin said as he took a seat.
Yoo Seongjin, who had been sitting on the cot, moved and sat across from him.
“How have you been? Contrary to the rumors, the facilities in the Public Security Bureau’s interrogation rooms are quite decent, aren’t they?”
Xu Xin said with a smile, but Yoo Seongjin simply looked at him silently.
“I’m going to ask you a few questions. If you give the answers I want, I’ll let you return safely to Korea.”
“What kind of law allows someone to be locked up like this for days without any notice? Explain what crime I’ve supposedly committed.”
“Curious?”
“And what happened to Director Kim Hyeonjeong?”
“Curious?”
Yoo Seongjin frowned at Xu Xin’s behavior of repeating the same word.
“What exactly are you trying to do here? Call a lawyer. Contact the embassy as well. I’m a businessman with Korean nationality. Detaining me like this is illegal.”
At those words, Xu Xin smirked and lifted his hand, beckoning.
Moments later, the door of the interrogation room opened and Xu Xin’s subordinates entered carrying a cardboard box.
Soon the Public Security officers placed the box on the table and left.
Xu Xin stood up and opened the box.
“This was found in the hotel room where Chairman Yoo was staying. You know what this is, don’t you?”
What Xu Xin pulled out was a bundle of white powder wrapped in plastic.
Yoo Seongjin had little difficulty guessing what it was.
“······What are you talking about?”
“I’ll be the one asking questions. Let’s find out why this opium was discovered in Chairman Yoo’s hotel room.”
In China, drug crimes were serious offenses regardless of nationality.
There had even been cases where Korean drug smugglers were executed without trial.
Judging by the amount inside the box, it was enough to warrant at least life imprisonment, possibly even the death penalty.
“You’d better not expect to walk out of here safely. No one will be able to protect Chairman Yoo.”
Yoo Seongjin let out a low groan.
He had never once used or distributed drugs.
Even when the Russian mafia alliance, the Black Dragon Society, and the Yamaguchi-gumi smuggled narcotics, Yoo Seongjin and Cheonha Group had never entered that business.
“I have never touched drugs.”
Xu Xin shook the lump of opium in his hand.
“Then why was this found in Chairman Yoo’s hotel room?”
“I don’t know. After entering Shanghai, I never went to the hotel. I went straight from the airport to JK Media headquarters.”
“We’ve already received testimony from the employee who hid the opium in the hotel room. He said he brought your bag to the room under your orders. We also confirmed the smuggling route. The drugs came from Afghanistan into China through Cheonha Trading.”
The Shanghai Public Security Bureau had already cast a tight net.
There was only one thing Yoo Seongjin could say.
“I never did such a thing.”
He answered calmly, but cold sweat ran down his back.
He had expected them to accuse him of bribery or tax evasion.
He never imagined they would bring up drug smuggling.
“With evidence like this right in front of us, and witnesses besides, denying it won’t solve anything.”
Yoo Seongjin shut his mouth completely.
“But if you give us the answers we want, I’ll take care of this box myself.”
Despite Xu Xin’s sweet offer, Yoo Seongjin remained silent.
When Yoo Seongjin refused to speak, Xu Xin brought up Kim Hyeonjeong.
“I heard Director Kim Hyeonjeong is your lover. What crime did she commit? Because of you, she might spend the rest of her life in prison or get executed.”
“······.”
“Evidence proving the crimes of Hao Xun and the Black Dragon Society. And proof of their connection to Hu Jintao. If you give us that, both you and your lover will walk out of here safely.”
When Hao Xun’s name came up, Yoo Seongjin narrowed his eyes.
“So Hao Xun was the real target?”
Xu Xin shrugged and smiled.
Yoo Seongjin realized this was not a simple case. It was a power struggle among China’s ruling elites.
“You don’t need to know that much. So? Feeling cooperative yet?”
“I know nothing.”
“We already know everything about the relationship between Cheonha Group and the Black Dragon Society. Denying it won’t help.”
“I know nothing about it. Call a lawyer. And contact the embassy.”
Yoo Seongjin folded his arms and closed his eyes, clearly indicating he had no intention of continuing the conversation.
Seeing that, Xu Xin’s smile disappeared and he slammed the desk.
“Hey, you bastard! Do you even know where you are to be acting like that?!”
“······.”
“At this rate you’re really going to die, you stupid bastard!”
“······.”
“You think only you’ll die? Your lover will die too!”
Xu Xin shouted furiously, but Yoo Seongjin never opened his eyes.
At the very moment Yoo Seongjin was being interrogated by Xu Xin, Kim Hyeonjeong was also undergoing questioning in another interrogation room.
* * *
As if it had already been arranged, the Chinese ambassador handed over the receiver and quietly left the ambassador’s office.
After confirming she had left, I brought the receiver closer.
“This is Kim Muhyuk.”
—This is Jiang Zemin, President Kim Muhyuk. It feels like it’s been a long time since I last heard your voice.
As expected, the one who had moved the Chinese ambassador was Jiang Zemin.
There were not many people capable of contacting me this way, so I had already guessed.
“It’s good to hear from you, Chairman Jiang.”
—Chairman? I’m nothing but an old man pushed to the back room now. But you’re not surprised.
“Because there aren’t many people who could move the Chinese ambassador in Korea. And the current ambassador is from the Shanghai faction, isn’t she?”
—Hmm.
Perhaps my reaction had been unexpected, because I heard a low murmur from the receiver.
—Well, never mind. The reason I contacted you through the ambassador is simple. This line cannot be tapped or recorded.
“Is that so? That’s a bit frightening. What exactly are you planning to say?”
There were many ways for him to contact me.
Yet he deliberately used the Chinese embassy.
Just as he said, it might have been because he feared recording or wiretapping.
Or perhaps he thought that the moment I came to the Chinese embassy meant I was ready to bend.
—President Kim is frightened of something? That’s surprising. You seemed like a man without fear.
“I’m someone more fearful than anyone else. I just try hard to hide it.”
—Hahahaha. That’s the most amusing joke I’ve heard this year.
We began with meaningless conversation, probing each other.
The one who struck first was Jiang Zemin.
—Enough small talk. Why did you visit the Chinese ambassador today?
“Didn’t you expect me and wait for me?”
—As the saying goes, a thirsty man digs a well. The thirsty man digs the well. The thirsty one isn’t me, is it, President Kim?
The thirsty one digs the well.
It was a deliberate provocation, knowing I cared about my people.
“I came to ask why Chairman Yoo Seongjin was detained.”
—Hmm? Who is that?
Pretending not to know when he obviously did.
I ground my teeth inwardly as I replied.
“The man arrested in Shanghai.”
—Ah, I think I heard about that. Something happened in Shanghai, they said.
“It seems you have no intention of talking. I’ll hang up now.”
I had no intention of being dragged around. I deliberately pressed him hard.
—The moment you hang up, I cannot guarantee his life. Will you still hang up?
At the open threat using Yoo Seongjin’s life as leverage, I dropped even the outward respect I had been maintaining.
“Don’t try to make a deal with me using Chairman Yoo’s life. His life is not a bargaining chip. If his life ends, everything that follows will be something you triggered, Chairman Jiang.”
—Hahaha! You dare threaten me? As expected, President Kim, you’re entertaining.
Jiang Zemin’s laughter was so loud that I frowned and moved the receiver slightly away.
—Do you think we’d kill him? If he’s innocent, he’ll be released. If he’s innocent, that is.
What nonsense. China was a place where innocence didn’t matter if they chose to ignore it.
Yoo Seongjin—and Kim Hyeonjeong as well—could not possibly be completely innocent.
Bribery was unavoidable when doing business in China. freewebnøvel.com
“It sounds like you intend to fabricate charges even if there are none.”
—Why would we do that? We are a nation governed by the rule of law. We don’t detain innocent people. I don’t oversee things personally, but Shanghai is practically my hometown. Something like that could never happen there.
“What do you want?”
—It’s not difficult. Hand Lai Changxing over to me. And give me the materials on Hao Xun, Hu Jintao’s right-hand man. Lastly, destroy the materials on the Shanghai faction... no, hand them over to me.
Lai Changxing was a businessman known as China’s greatest smuggler.
While operating in Fujian Province, he had smuggled massive quantities of goods.
Fujian lay across the strait from Taiwan and had strict security, and in the past it had been a base for pirates.
For smuggling on that scale to succeed, it required the tacit approval—or rather, organized assistance—of the Fujian navy, customs authorities, and public security.
‘I never expected him to ask for Lai Changxing. And how did he even know I secured him?’
His smuggling case had become public only after Jiang Zemin decided to use it to eliminate his political enemies.
Because the scandal could grow enormous, high-ranking officials connected to it warned Lai Changxing in advance.
Lai Changxing fled to Canada with his family.
The Chinese authorities had since shown little effort to bring him back, citing the absence of an extradition treaty with Canada.
Meanwhile, Lai Changxing lived luxuriously in Canada, frequenting casinos.
“Lai Changxing? I don’t know who that is.” frёewebηovel.cѳm
For now, I decided to deny it.
Lai Changxing was a «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» card I intended to use later.
I had contacted him in Canada, arranged for him to leave using a forged passport, and was now protecting him in a place no one knew.
—Stop pretending. Black Bear approached Lai Changxing while we were monitoring him. After that he vanished like a ghost...
Jiang Zemin trailed off before continuing.
—Anyway, if you give me those three things, President Kim, your business will regain its wings.
The reason for targeting Hao Xun was obvious.
He intended to use him to put a leash around Hu Jintao’s neck.
Demanding the Shanghai faction’s documents meant he wanted to prevent them from being used against him.
But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t guess why he wanted Lai Changxing.
‘There must be something I don’t know.’
Lai Changxing had something.
A card capable of tightening a leash around Jiang Zemin himself.
“What if I refuse the offer?”
—Then it can’t be helped. We’ll proceed according to the ‘law.’ Do you know what charges those two people were arrested under?
When I didn’t respond, Jiang Zemin continued in a voice filled with amusement.
—Drug smuggling and distribution. They were carrying five kilograms of opium. Even if Hu Jintao or Wen Jiabao personally intervened, their lives couldn’t be saved.
“Drugs?”
Drug smuggling?
Yoo Seongjin would never touch drugs.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
—Whether it’s nonsense or not is for us to decide. So think carefully. Those two people’s lives depend on you, President Kim. Give me your answer within a week.
Jiang Zemin hung up.
I remained still, holding the receiver even after the call ended.
Even as my thoughts grew tangled, one question finally found its answer.
‘That strange feeling finally makes sense. He wasn’t targeting me. Jiang Zemin’s target from the beginning was Hu Jintao and the Communist Youth League.’
Just then, the Chinese ambassador returned.
“He asked me to give this to you.”
In her hand was a document envelope.
“······Did you already know everything?”
“What are you referring to? I know nothing.”
The Chinese ambassador joked lightly.
How exhausting.
I roughly snatched the envelope she handed me and left the Chinese embassy immediately.
