Chapter 131 — Frustrated Qiu Lingshan

"Captain Yang, you mean...?" Han Lingshan was a little unsure.

"This case can wait. We wait until the suspect lets his guard down—that is when we move," Yang Huaijun said. "Otherwise, no matter how anxious you are, it will do no good."

"Uh... Captain Yang, but I already gave Director Chen a military pledge..." Qiu Lingshan was suddenly in a difficult spot. Had she known the case would be this complicated, why would she have pledged herself? Wasn't she just making trouble for herself?

"Is that so..." Yang Huaijun was left somewhat speechless. Qiu Lingshan truly dared to act and take responsibility—even he would not have dared do such a thing... This case was rather complex, and the web of interests it dragged into the open was not as simple as what appeared on the surface.

Who was Gu Pengzhan? A member of the provincial Political Consultative Conference, a star entrepreneur of the province, a man who not only commanded a vast network of connections but was also a family friend of the Chen family in the military. With such a background, someone had still dared to touch his daughter—so one could well imagine the background and power of that someone. For an ordinary person to move against Gu Pengzhan would be no different from courting death; and whoever dared to move against Gu Pengzhan had reached an even higher level, a level whose people even he, given his own family background, would not carelessly provoke. So this case was indeed hard to handle.

"Xiao Song, this military pledge of yours—you made it a little too hastily." At this moment, pouring cold water was useless, but the cold water still had to be poured, to prepare Qiu Lingshan mentally. "Anyone who dares touch Gu Pengzhan's daughter—what level of person that is, you should understand. This involves a conflict of interests at an even higher tier. Those few robbers are undoubtedly nothing but pawns; they are not hard to deal with. What is hard to deal with are the people protecting them. At least, before they lose that protection, finding those robbers will be very difficult for us. Once the heat dies down and those people abandon the robbers, finding them will be as easy as turning over the palm of a hand."

Though Qiu Lingshan could be impulsive in her actions, she was not stupid. She understood what Yang Huaijun was saying—she should never have gone to the director to make that military pledge in the first place; she should have laid out these difficulties instead, and the director, she believed, would not have made things hard for her.

But the pledge had already been made, and for her to go say these things now would be inappropriate. No matter what, Qiu Lingshan could only tough it out now.

"Captain Yang... so what should I do now..." Qiu Lingshan did not want to give up halfway. She knew that even if the agreed deadline passed, it would not be much of a problem—the director would not really do anything to her—but her standing and reputation in the police force would decline accordingly...

"If you really want to crack the case, then listen to me and go ask Wei Zhao. You may reap unexpected rewards." Yang Huaijun offered her a hint—though whether Wei Zhao would help her was no longer Yang Huaijun's concern.

"Wei Zhao? He can help me?" This was the second time Qiu Lingshan had heard Yang Huaijun say this. The first time she had not taken it seriously, but the second time... she knew Yang Huaijun was not the kind of man to spout nonsense; he would not say baseless things carelessly.

"Perhaps. It's possible..." Yang Huaijun smiled and added, "If he sincerely wants to help you."

"I understand. Thank you, Captain Yang." Yang Huaijun had already spoken clearly enough, so Qiu Lingshan naturally could not press further. She hung up, and her brows knitted slightly.

Wei Zhao—just what was this man's background? According to what Uncle Qing had said, he was merely a follower Gu Pengzhan had hired to keep the eldest young lady company, or rather a personal bodyguard. The fact that he could bring Gu Mengyao out of the kidnappers' hands without a scratch showed that Wei Zhao had some skill—but could he help her crack the case and catch the culprits?

And why was Captain Yang so keen on recommending this man to her? What kind of ability did this man have that Captain Yang thought so highly of?

Suddenly, Qiu Lingshan thought of something strange! That day, when she had taken Wei Zhao to the police station, they had run into Yang Huaijun halfway there. Yang Huaijun had looked as if he had seen a ghost, so agitated at the sight of Wei Zhao that he kept calling him "Eagle." Though Wei Zhao had not admitted it and had given Yang Huaijun a round of cold mockery, afterward the two of them had talked for a long time in the office. When she asked Yang Huaijun about it later, he had said nothing, only that he had already released Wei Zhao...

At the time Qiu Lingshan had not thought much of it, but now, on careful reflection, Yang Huaijun's attitude had been truly abnormal. Yang Huaijun was not a rash man—just who had he mistaken Wei Zhao for, to be so agitated, so flustered in front of her?

Seen this way, there must be something questionable about Wei Zhao. It was just that she did not know, and Yang Huaijun had not told her either. Only when she ran into trouble did Yang Huaijun recommend him to her.

At the thought of Wei Zhao, a wave of bitterness rose in Qiu Lingshan's heart. Her, go beg him?

As for their relationship now, never mind whether Wei Zhao would help—she would be lucky if he did not give her a round of cold mockery! Ugh, had she known this man would be useful, why had she offended him?

Qiu Lingshan hesitated again and again, then decided she would keep stepping up her own search efforts. To go beg Wei Zhao would be the death of her; she could well imagine how he would mock her.

From the very first day she met him, Wei Zhao had never had a kind word for her, directly mocking her for getting in through the back door. To go beg him now—wouldn't he only say all the more that she was incompetent, that she had gotten in through the back door, that she could not even crack a case and had to turn to others for help?

Later, the incident at the hospital had deepened the rift between them even more. She had only wanted to teach him a lesson—who would have thought it would turn into some sordid little drama? She truly regretted it now.

Qiu Lingshan sighed. Why was she so unlucky? To think that she, the female instructor who had cut a swath through the special forces, should be brought low by a little man—it was simply too humiliating to speak of! If her former comrades-in-arms and trainees knew that the renowned Instructor Song had actually been looked down upon by someone, wouldn't they laugh their teeth out?

And that was only the least of it. What depressed Qiu Lingshan most was that she had grown up in the great courtyard, where every boy around her had been utterly compliant with her—when had she ever suffered such a loss? To go beg Wei Zhao would be to bow her head to him, and when had she ever bowed her head to anyone?

Qiu Lingshan was deeply conflicted, and so she vented her temper on her subordinates, ordering them to intensify the search day and night, and not to stop until the robbers were found.

The men under her knew full well that Qiu Lingshan had given the bureau chief her solemn pledge, so though they suffered bitterly, they all gritted their teeth and carried on. If the case was not solved within the time limit, then it would not be Song Ling alone who lost face—the whole criminal investigation unit would be shamed as well, would it not? After all, they were the ones carrying out the work.