Let them offer their loyalty!

Chapter 131 Jia Shu's Suspicion Maxed Out (10,000 Words for Monthly Tickets!)

But he had always thought Jia Shu's "attack" would be about yesterday's affairs.

To his surprise, Jia Shu completely deviated from the expected script, first using a [Joint Investigation Application] to divert his attention.

Then, while he was distracted, he directly probed him with a list of spies to test his response.

Luckily, Qiu Tu's acting skills had reached a masterful level by then.

So, facing Jia Shu's probe, Qiu Tu feigned ignorance and threw the question back, "But why is the minister asking me this question?"

"I'm from the Interrogation Section, after all...."

Most people who are bad at lying tend to make a fatal mistake: God's Perspective.

With "God's Perspective," they fail to see the traps in the other person's questions when lying.

Like the question Jai Shu just asked, he seemed to be seeking Qiu Tu's opinion.

But in reality, he was testing Qiu Tu's[level of knowledge about the spy list leak]. Continue your journey on empire

Because... theoretically, the spy list had nothing to do with Qiu Tu, not even half a Copper Yuan!

As a member of the Interrogation Section who had never dealt with spies and had just joined the Political Department, completely unaware of the details of each department, how could he possibly analyze the killer or provide Jia Shu with advice?

Therefore, had Qiu Tu wildly guessed or analyzed the spy leak himself, it would have exposed him. Countering with a question or not answering was actually the correct response.

However, Jia Shu was obviously not an ordinary person. After hearing Qiu Tu's response, he smiled and, adjusting his gold-framed glasses, continued, "But... that colonel from the military told me that you provided them with the list."

At this point, Jia Shu pointed his index finger at Qiu Tu, saying with a snide smile, "He told me that you collaborated with the Security Department's Investigation Department to cover your tracks, forcing them to deploy personnel to shield you. This led to the exposure of most of the military's spies."

"This has also led to severe criticism of the Investigation Department within the Security Department."

"So, to mend the fold after the sheep have been lost, and to prevent these spies from being caught in one fell swoop, you took great pains to compile this spy list and handed it over to the Investigation Department, hoping they would redeem themselves by taking the blame."

At this, Jia Shu's smile turned colder as his eyes twinkled with a frosty glint, "Please tell me... how do you explain this?"

It must be said, Jia Shu's speculations and probes were indeed very intimidating.

At least in that moment, Qiu Tu himself believed it!

But the problem was... Qiu Tu wasn't fighting alone. He had his "cheat."

Betraying the Investigation Bureau and giving the Bureau's spy list to the military would be grounds for a "secret execution" in any city.

But the problem was... Qiu Tu's Crisis Countdown clock didn't start ticking!

In the upper left corner, there were only those two hourglasses counting down.

One was the [Yin Caimei case deadline] with 5 and a half days remaining, and the other was the [Danger in the Dark] with only 2 and a half days left.

So... just by that, Qiu Tu knew Jia Shu was bluffing him!

While he felt completely calm inside, he also had time to spot more flaws in Jia Shu's words.

The most important thing to determining if a statement is a lie is the number of details it contains.

The more details there are, the easier it is to slip up, so instinctively, people reduce details when lying.

Although Jia Shu had boldly used "Investigation Department" as a detail to intimidate Qiu Tu, if the colonel had already revealed the source of the intelligence to Jia Shu, there would have been no need to deliberately conceal who Qiu Tu's "contact" was.

Even without naming names, he could have used "Head of the Investigation Department" as a reference.

But Jia Shu didn't mention the Head of the Investigation Department or "Rain Butterfly," proving that he guessed Qiu Tu was likely working with the Investigation Department, but didn't actually know who it was. Hence, the vague description.

With this in mind, Qiu Tu grew even more certain that Jia Shu was bluffing him!

So he pretended to be astonished and enraged, bursting out, "Minister, someone is spreading rumors!"

"How have I collaborated with the Security Department's Investigation Department?"

"All my contacts with the Security Department were authorized by you!"

"And besides... how could I, a mere Deputy Staff Leader, possibly know the spy list?"

"If I don't know the spy list, how could I have given it to the Security Department?"

Listening to Qiu Tu's flurry of questions, Jia Shu carefully studied Qiu Tu's facial expressions. After not noticing any discrepancies, he rarely furrowed his brows....

But at that moment, Qiu Tu refused to let it go, "Minister! You must stand up for me in this matter!"

"If this accusation sticks, I can forget about promotion and raises, and I'll never be able to hold my head high in the Security Department or the Investigation Bureau again!"

"So, tell me which colonel has been talking nonsense! I want to report them up the chain!"

Seeing Qiu Tu's agitation, Jia Shu didn't take it seriously. He soothed him with a smile, "Chief Qiu, don't be agitated. Perhaps that colonel misspoke, or I misheard."

"Or maybe he's trying to deliberately sow discord between us."

"These kinds of things are quite common among our brother departments."

"Moreover, I haven't chosen to believe it, have I?"

"Otherwise, why would I entrust you with such an important task?"

With that, Jia Shu also tapped the document in Qiu Tu's hand.

Qiu Tu, though still visibly indignant, finally stopped insisting on making a report.

After soothing Qiu Tu a few more times, Jia Shu then waved his hand, indicating that Qiu Tu could leave.

Interestingly, Qiu Tu knew when to quit while he was ahead. After saluting Jia Shu, he took the documents and left Jia Shu's office with an expressionless face.

But after Qiu Tu had left, the smile on Jia Shu's face slowly faded, as he watched the office door close slowly with a deep gaze.

His face was filled with contemplation....

After quietly reflecting for a while, Jia Shu slowly opened a notebook on his desk.

It had several pages of scribbles and drawings. The events since Master Qin Si's escape were all meticulously listed.

Then.... Jia Shu wrote a bunch of comments and speculations with a vermilion pen.

For instance.... It was Qiu Tu who actually forced Master Qin Si to flee.

Qiu Tu was already collaborating with the Security Department by that time, which is why they covered for him.

For instance.... On the day of Yin Caimei's death, Secretary Bai must have suspected something was wrong with Qiu Tu's identity and worried that he was the actual murderer, so he sneakily made a phone call to tip someone off.

For instance.... The spy list from the Investigation Bureau within the military was leaked by Qiu Tu in order to make amends for the oversight.

However, regarding how Qiu Tu got hold of the list, Jia Shu marked it with a bright red question mark, clearly guessing that he couldn't figure out where Qiu Tu obtained the spy list from.

y Like.... Yesterday, in the case of Commissioner Qin Heng, Qiu Tu was pretending to be earnest in investigating, but in reality, he had already informed the Security Department about all the details of the case, hence the scene where they extensively captured people afterward.

As for the motive behind Qiu Tu's actions, Jia Shu also clearly wrote two names: Qin Shuman and Yan Chen.

Under Qin Shuman's name, he noted two words "missing" and then.... an arrow pointing at Master Qin Si.

Clearly, even though Yan Chen believed he had guessed wrong, Jia Shu still thought Qiu Tu was involved with Qin Shuman.

He even suspected that the reason Qiu Tu chased away Master Qin Si was to take the opportunity to rescue Qin Shuman.

All subsequent actions, including the targeting of the Qin Family, undermining Yan Chen and himself, were all because of this irreconcilable conflict.

If Qiu Tu were here right now, seeing this notebook, he would probably break out in a cold sweat.

After all, except for some minor details, the notebook contained almost the entire truth of the incident.

After quietly reading the information on the notebook for a while, Jia Shu slowly closed it, his face revealing an exceptionally relaxed and content smile....

'This fruit is indeed mischievous, even at this stage, it's still playing a part.'

"But... finally, it's almost time to close the net.... I can hardly contain myself anymore...."

[Jia Shu's Suspicion Level +0, Satisfaction Level +0]

.....

Meanwhile.

Having left Jia Shu's office, Qiu Tu glanced at the popup notification and then frowned slightly.

The lack of increase in [Satisfaction Level] was understandable to Qiu Tu. After all, very few could fathom a twisted mind.

But the fact that the [Suspicion Level] hadn't risen at all? That was a bit odd, wasn't it?

Qiu Tu was no fool; Jia Shu's suspicions were blatantly laid out for him today.

He even unabashedly fabricated lies to test him.

This was almost a sign of an imminent falling out.

If so, and the suspicion level remained unchanged, then.....

...wait a minute!

It suddenly dawned on Qiu Tu to make a bold guess: Could it be that Jia Shu's suspicion of him had been maxed out from the start?!

So he never believed in him at all?

So.... no matter what he did, his suspicion level wouldn't change at all?!

With that realization, Qiu Tu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!

He couldn't help but look back, and for some reason, he felt as though Jia Shu, with his hands crossed below and propped against his cheeks, was gazing at him with an impassive look that seemed to penetrate through walls, observing his pre-death struggles.

'Damn it, I really can't delay any longer! I must take him down soon!'

With that thought, Qiu Tu hesitated for a moment, then turned around and made for the executive elevator to the ninth floor of the Investigation Bureau!

He planned to have a serious talk with that dangerous woman, Tang Feifei....

After all, when it comes to life and death, "innocence" is worthless....

....

After taking the elevator to the ninth floor, Qiu Tu walked towards Tang Feifei's private office and rest area.

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Today is still 3 chapters with 10k words, first posting 2 chapters with 7k words, the 3rd chapter is estimated to be sent before 19 o'clock.