BTTC Chapter 127

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Editor: Joyy

Chapter 127

Who betrayed my Red Queen?

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The King of Spades had probably never been scolded to his face like this in his life. But his expression didn’t change, and he didn’t even look annoyed.

He was completely different from the traditional Golden Triangle drug lord, who wore a big gold chain, had tattooed arms, and went out with a group of thugs. On the contrary, he was wearing a very slim black leather jacket, a white crew-neck T-shirt inside, and a pair of thin leather gloves. He was quite tall and had a reserved temperament. People around him could only see that he was well-educated and lacked the typical ignorance and arrogance of a low-level henchman in a gang.

“Nice to meet you, too,” he replied softly.

A-Jie walked up two steps, lowered his head, and called Big Brother. The King of Spades raised his eyebrows and looked at him: “I told you to remember your previous lessons, but you remembered them too deeply.”

A-Jie pointed his finger at Uncle Bo, and before he could even open his mouth to speak, he was sneered at by the King of Spades: “Don’t say anything; even if he wasn’t here to mess things up, you couldn’t have caught the Queen of Hearts.”

“……” A-Jie was a little embarrassed: “This old man killed ten of my people, and they just said they were going to meet Wu Tun in Myanmar…”

Uncle Bo was old and clever. Seeing that the situation was not right, he immediately took the initiative, pointing at the King of Spades with his trembling finger: “What are you doing, huh? What are you trying to do? You have sent people to Yongkang Village to keep an eye on the Yuanlong Gorge all year. We, old men, don’t bother with you anymore, so you send people to run into the mountains with weapons, and you came all the way here in person. Why don’t you tell me what you’re planning?”

The King of Spades slightly tilted his head and glanced at the old man.

Others couldn’t see his expression clearly, but when Uncle Bo met his eyes, he became timid: “Jin Jie… Jin Jie made the first move, and an old man like me can only…”

A-Jie rubbed his stiff shoulder blades because of being tied for a long time and scolded: “Plug this old man’s mouth for me!” 

His subordinates immediately stepped forward. The old man was so angry that he naturally thought that the King of Spades followed the tracker hidden on A-Jie’s body. He pointed at A-Jie, cursing: “I should have searched you just now; dare you use some high-tech means to trick me! Don’t think that you, Jin Jie, have a name now. When we were fighting the world in the Golden Triangle, you kids weren’t even born, you—”

As soon as the King of Spades waved his hand, his subordinates immediately lost their scruples and hurriedly blocked Uncle Bo’s mouth.

“Woooooo…” The old man’s face was red with anger at his junior’s disrespectful behavior. The King of Spades ignored him and glanced around the open space.

Three corpses were lying on the grass, and blood was gradually piling up into a puddle. The people brought by Uncle Bo were all disarmed, and Jiang Ting was standing beside him with a gun in his hand, but the muzzle of the gun was hanging loosely to the ground.

He didn’t care about the gun in Jiang Ting’s hand. After pondering for a few seconds, he finally turned to Yan Xie: 

“It’s been a long time, Captain Yan. I’m surprised to see you here.”

Someone had a gun pointed at Yan Xie, and he just stood there. A nerve in his brain seemed to be twitching, and his back molars were tightly clenched.

The King of Spades beckoned to a henchman and explained: “I met this man on the way when I was searching the mountain, and it didn’t take much effort for him to tell me that you were here.” 

The henchman dragged a staggering man from the SUV—it was Qi Sihao!

His feet had already been bandaged, his head was sweating profusely, and his face was bruised. His eyes were evasive, and he didn’t dare to look up at Yan Xie.

“I thought that the formal meeting between you and me would be more harmonious, but I didn’t expect something like this. But it’s okay; it won’t prevent you and me from getting to know each other well.” The King of Spades pointed at himself: “My Burmese name doesn’t matter anymore. My Chinese surname is Wen, and my first name is Shao. This name was recorded as the personal information of the third-level police inspector ‘Rivet’ on the Gongzhou Public Security network, which is true.”

——A drug lord had not only become the undercover agent of the police, but he also dared to use his real name!

“I joined the police service about five or six years later than you. If you look through the files, you’ll see that I was hired into the Gongzhou public security system after passing the examination.” The King of Spades clasped his black-gloved hands in front of him and smiled: “However, I didn’t stay in the Gongzhou Municipal Bureau for a long time and was assigned to be an undercover of my own cartel, which was really a coincidence.”

“……” Yan Xie opened his mouth, and the cold wind instantly poured down his throat and entered his lungs. He asked hoarsely: “…You being forced to shoot Rivet was also a lie?”

Jiang Ting turned away from him without saying a word.

“Oh, let me explain that.” The King of Spades said: “Probably not, because he didn’t know that person was my substitute.”

He turned to Jiang Ting and smiled: “Actually, from the very beginning, there were two people who were sharing the role of “Rivet”, but I was the one who came forward and communicated with Yue Guangping. The one who left a fingerprint record in the city bureau when he was a police officer and talked to you through voice calls was the substitute. Three years ago, the stand-in was shot by you…to be precise, by A-Jie. But, of course, he didn’t die. If you’re still interested, you can meet him again when you return.”

Jiang Ting said nothing; his facial expression was extremely cold.

After a long while, he finally managed to say: “Why did you do that?”

“There are two reasons,” The King of Spades said casually, “You can choose the one you like better.”

“…..”

“Wu Tun trained you, sent you to the police world, and later was planning to use you to kill me. This step was actually very clever, because you were indeed too high as an opponent. I have thought about arranging a person of my own in the high-level public security to fight against you, but Qin Chuan…” The King of Spades shrugged, “First, he insisted on staying in Jianning. I never force others to do things for me. Second, it turned out that he would only be killed by you. So even if I had used him, it would have been just a waste of time.”

“At that time, I had just returned to the China-Myanmar region from the United States. There were many people I could bribe, but few people I could trust. Once it’s revealed that I placed an insider, not only will it not be able to shake your position in the police force, but it is likely to become one of your further achievements. So in the end, I could only do it myself. This is one of the reasons. On the other hand, I just came back from the United States, where I have lived for more than ten years…”

The King of Spades sincerely said: “It’s natural to want to see you.”

Jiang Ting closed his eyes.

It was a light and restrained movement, but his emotions could be clearly seen from the subtle lines on his brows.

Yan Xie forced himself to speak and asked in a deep voice, “…are you really blood brothers?”

The King of Spades laughed: “Of course not. Do you think I’m a pervert?”

Apart from him, probably no one present dared to think there was anything funny about this joke.

“Wu Tun promoted him because he wanted to kill me. The Golden Triangle is such a place. The aging drug lord can’t allow his own son to encroach on power, even at the last moment. Because once he loses power, he will face the situation of being besieged by countless enemies, not to mention that it was his only son.” The King of Spades turned toward Jiang Ting and said, “As for him, he was just a tool to Wu Tun, a seemingly obedient and useful son. If I had been a little less lucky three years ago, I might have really lost to him.”

Uncle Bo began to struggle again to say something, probably to defend Wu Tun, but no one cared about him.

“So where did I fail three years ago?” Jiang Ting asked hoarsely, “Did Yue Guangping tell you about the 1009 operational deployment?”

Unexpectedly, the King of Spades shook his head: “No, Yue Guangping didn’t reveal this secret until his death.”

Jiang Ting obviously didn’t believe it.

“I mean it. The answer is actually very simple.” The King of Spades lazily said, “Six months before the start of Operation 1009, that is, at the end of spring and early summer, one day Yue Guangping suddenly contacted ‘Rivet’—sorry me—to verify a problem”

Jiang Ting suddenly thought of something.

“He asked: I heard that the Queen of Hearts is a woman; can you find a way to verify this?”

The King of Spades looked at Jiang Ting’s pale face, smiled, and shrugged: “See, you understood what was going on at once. “

The instantaneous clues went back with the memory, and all of them were collected in Jiang Ting’s trembling pupils. Yes, he finally realized why Yue Guangping made the phone call with a mental breakdown before he died, and why Qin Chuan reminded him that Operation 1009 had no traitor at all—

Because the person who left this fatal flaw was himself.

—Three years ago, late at night, Household 301, Block A, Building 701, Botaoyuan Community.

The housekeeper had long since gone to sleep, and the dim lamp in the living room reflected the curling smoke of the cigarette. The cigarette butts on the table were piled high, but the half cup of strong tea in Yue Guangping’s hand was still warm. After a long time, he put the teacup gently on the table with a “bang”, saying:

“I understand all these things you reported just now. But because it is a matter of great importance and too broadly sketched, if there are any false and fabricated parts, you have to take serious responsibility, understand, Captain Jiang?” 

On the other side of the sofa, the head of the anti-drug division, who came uninvited late at night, put his elbows on his thighs, crossed his fingers against his nose, and nodded silently.     

“I have another question.” Yue Guangping paused and then asked in a deep voice, “Even if what you reported is completely true, how did you know these secrets?”

Yue Guangping was almost retired, and staying up late for many years had made him age very badly. The circles around his eyes were full of wrinkles, and the bottoms of his eyes were also deeply darkened. But the eyes behind the presbyopic glasses were still like lightning, staring closely at Jiang Ting’s face as if as long as there was a slight flaw, he could nail him in place.

“…I don’t know much, they have been on guard against me.” Jiang Ting said in a low voice.

Before Yue Guangping understood what “they” meant, Jiang Ting said, “I am the Queen of Hearts.”

It took several seconds for Yue Guangping to react, and he almost stood up: “What did you say?!”

Jiang Ting raised his face and looked back at him quietly.

The Queen of Hearts was one of the most mysterious figures in the drug cartel. The police were not even sure whether this person was Chinese or Burmese. Even the senior undercover agent who had been in the interior for many years could not get any information about the Queen of Hearts from other drug dealers. Yue Guangping used to believe that this person did not exist or that the King of Spades had set up a front to handle some sensitive business.

“……”

Yue Guangping’s eyes widened as if he was meeting this subordinate for the first time today. The living room was extremely quiet, and only the rapid breathing in his own chest could be heard. After a long time, Yue Guangping finally sat back little by little and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth:

“…How can you prove it?!”

Jiang Ting reached out for another cigarette, lowered his head, and lit it up.

“There were some misunderstandings in Myanmar back then. The specifics are not important. In short, many people in the Golden Triangle still think that the Queen of Hearts is a woman. This rumor is absolutely unknown in the public security system in southwest China. You can confirm this matter through your own channels. At the same time, I will leak some small clues from inside the drug trafficking organization. You should have an informant in there. Through the comparison of information, it should not be too difficult to confirm that I am the Queen of Hearts.”

Yue Guangping’s gaze stared at him with burning eyes.

“But I can’t disclose more important information.” Jiang Ting said again, “As I said, most of the elders under Wu Tun are Burmese, and those old men have been on guard against me. I have been in the public security system for many years. Most of the internal affairs of the group have been marginalized, and it is difficult for me to confirm the authenticity of much of the important information.”

He inhaled deeply, his beautiful eyes bloodshot, and smiled briefly:

“Anyway, I’ve confessed everything I can. Chief Yue, if you want to arrest me, I’m sitting here right now, and you can do it anytime.” 

………

In the open space in the mountains, the King of Spades looked at Jiang Ting’s slightly trembling eyes and asked with a smile, “Did you understand?”

“……”

“Yue Guangping doesn’t believe you and wants to find someone to verify your statement. I’m not the only undercover agent in his hands, but it may be because of the outstanding performance of ‘Rivet’,  he chose me. You can imagine how I felt when I heard him ask: “I heard that the Queen of Hearts is a woman, can you confirm this with Myanmar drug dealers?” 

The King of Spades approached slightly, almost sticking to Jiang Ting’s pale face. He asked slowly and word by word: “—Who betrayed my Red Queen?”

“I did an emergency investigation within the organization, but I couldn’t find out from where the information was leaked. When “Rivet” received the next encrypted instruction printout from the Queen of Hearts, I was extremely shocked to find that there was actually a mark with red nail polish on the piece of paper, as if it conveyed some kind of message inadvertently. At that moment, I finally knew that it was you who leaked the info.”

The King of Spades shook his head regretfully:

“As early as half a year before Operation 1009 began, Yue Guangping sold you to me.”

“I killed the fourteen anti-drug police officers, and I killed Captain Jiang…”

“I don’t deserve to be covered with the flag, Old Lu, I don’t deserve it!”

……

His eardrums were filled with countless noises that gradually grew hollow and long, as if the unjust souls had transformed into razor-sharp claws that were slicing the most bloody piece of flesh in the heart.

Jiang Ting closed his eyes, “…So when I suggested within the group that on October 9, we will pretend to trade in the ecological park while actually sending large shipments to the plastic factory to avoid the police’s eyes and ears, you already knew that this plan was actually a trap?”

The King of Spades said: “Yes, I had guessed so. Finally, I used Rivet’s undercover identity to inquire about the inner side of the city bureau to confirm it. For example, was there a signal booster installed in the command vehicle driving to the ecological park? What time were you leaving the city bureau gate as the commander-in-chief that day… Once I knew it was a trap, it became very easy to verify.”     

That’s why Qin Chuan said that the murderer was himself and that there had never been any mole—because the most crucial information had long been sent to the King of Spades by himself; he was the mole!     

Jiang Ting’s eyes were drooping, his lips were gray, and if one looked closely, one could even see the corners of his lips trembling slightly. After a while, he raised his head and took a breath, finally looking directly at the King of Spades, and asked, “So now that you know everything I’ve done, what are you going to do with me?”     

Surprisingly, the King of Spades did not directly answer this question. He shook his index finger: “I have to correct that a little. I know everything you have done, but why you did it is the suspense that I have not been sure of for three years.”

As he spoke, he turned to Yan Xie and casually raised his chin: “Captain Yan is here today. From the standpoint of emotion and reason, I think he should also hear this answer, including the months when you were by my side after the 1009 explosion. What do you think, Jiang Ting?”

Yan Xie’s gaze finally turned to Jiang Ting little by little.

From the very beginning, the King of Spades had been facing Yan Xie’s direction head-on, but Jiang Ting had always been sideways. He was still holding a gun in one hand; the muzzle of the gun was pointing down at his feet, and his fingers were already blue from the cold.

“…There was no reason,” Jiang Ting said slowly in the wind after what seemed like an eternity, “there was a power struggle within the family; I was just on the wrong team.”

Despite his preparations,  at that moment, Yan Xie’s soul sank heavily to the bottom of hell——

Uncle Bo suddenly let out a very eager whine, flushing red and trying to say something. The King of Spades glanced over and signaled his subordinates to let go of the old man’s mouth.

“I’m sorry.” Jiang Ting finally looked at Yan Xie and smiled faintly:

“If Chief Lu hadn’t come to the door, I could still have maintained the illusion for you for a while longer.”

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