Then, Let Them Offer Their Loyalty!

Chapter 77: Innate Mistress's Sacred Body

At that moment, Liu Fuping thought she was hallucinating.

Who in their right mind tried to kill you one moment and then nonchalantly asked about your superior the next?

But seeing the serious expression on Qiu Tu's face and the inquisitive look in his eyes, Liu Fuping knew this man wasn't joking.

"What a jerk!" she cursed silently. Despite her lingering fear from the near-death experience, Liu Fuping didn't refuse Qiu Tu directly. Instead, she evaded, "Why do you want to know about my superior?"

Qiu Tu leaned against the windowsill, looking at her with a faint smile. "You and your superior have already been exposed. Jia Shu won't let you off. So, there's no point in hiding your identity anymore."

"You might as well come clean. Right now, we're in the same boat, and who knows, I might be able to figure out a way to save us."

Liu Fuping didn't respond immediately. She first straightened her disheveled clothes, even pulling up the loose neckline of her chest—Qiu Tu had just tried to kill her, so he certainly didn’t deserve to ogle her now!

As she stood up, she kept thinking about Qiu Tu's words. Naturally, she asked, "You keep saying you're caught in a trap too, that we're in the same boat. What do you mean?"

Qiu Tu toyed with the communicator he had taken from Chen Feng, his expression deep. "The reason I took on this case was because of Jia Shu's arrangement."

"He didn't want me to solve it, just to investigate superficially, fabricate some evidence, pin it on a suspect, and close the case."

"I didn’t think much of it at first, but later, something started to feel off."

"This case has so much attention—New Realm City's Chamber of Commerce, the Municipal Council, the military—all are involved. If we just pin it on a random criminal, can we really cover it up?"

"And if we can’t cover it up, would Jia Shu and Yan Chen choose to protect me, or sacrifice me?"

"So, after thinking it over, I decided to investigate the case thoroughly first, find the real culprit, and then decide what to do."

At this point, Qiu Tu paused, picked up the cigarette he had dropped on the ground, and put it back in his pocket. "But who would have thought that as soon as I got involved in this case, I'd realize something was really wrong."

"Yin Caimei, such an important suspect, was allowed to bring personal belongings?"

"And among these personal belongings was a highly seductive, possibly banned, book?"

"What’s even more unsettling is that after her death, the department didn’t investigate, didn’t seal off the scene, and didn’t even conduct an autopsy."

"This completely disregards her status as an important suspect and doesn’t match the department's usual level of attention."

Qiu Tu glanced at Liu Fuping. "You must have realized you were trapped because of this too, right?"

Liu Fuping nodded slightly.

Qiu Tu continued, "Following these clues backward, I found that the higher-ups’ attitude toward this case was suspicious from the start."

He pointed to the ceiling. "It seems they don't care about the truth of this case."

"Something's really off."

Qiu Tu said, "Even if they wanted to fake the case, shouldn’t it be after the investigation hits a dead end, or after finding the culprit but deciding the implications are too great to pursue further, that they start covering up?"

"But deciding to fake it from the start, without even investigating—doesn't that seem excessive?"

Liu Fuping had already sensed something odd about the case, but she had felt lost, unable to find a breakthrough. Now, with Qiu Tu connecting the dots, a flash of understanding hit her. She looked at Qiu Tu in shock. "So... you think the Political Division silenced Yin Caimei themselves?"

Qiu Tu nodded slightly.

With this new perspective, Liu Fuping quickly understood what Qiu Tu meant by "trap" and "in the same boat." Her mind raced, piecing together the information. After a moment, she stared at Qiu Tu with wide eyes. "So, you're now in a dilemma?"

"If you continue investigating, you might uncover something about the higher-ups."

"But if you try to cover it up, you probably won’t be able to?"

Qiu Tu finally nodded in satisfaction. "You finally got it right."

"You!" Liu Fuping glared at Qiu Tu, her chest heaving in anger.

Qiu Tu's gaze briefly lingered before he looked away, not out of disinterest, but because he genuinely wasn’t in the mood. Besides, he wasn’t belittling Liu Fuping on purpose. Compared to Qin Shuman, Liu Fuping's skills and professionalism were leagues behind.

With Qin Shuman, Qiu Tu often didn’t even need to say a word; she could guess his intentions and cooperate seamlessly.

But Liu Fuping...

Upon realizing she was trapped, her first move was to come and question him?!

Qiu Tu seriously doubted how much professional training she had actually received. If intelligence could be transmitted through "X," Qiu Tu would have gladly increased hers.

While Qiu Tu was silently critiquing Liu Fuping, she finally made up her mind. She looked at Qiu Tu and said, "I can’t tell you who my superior is."

Seeing Qiu Tu's strange expression, she explained quietly, "Because he might not have been exposed."

"I didn’t get this information from him."

"It was from a high-ranking official in the department who admires me."

Gossip is a natural human instinct, so Qiu Tu was immediately intrigued. "Which high-ranking official?"

"Does he know you're a spy?"

Liu Fuping hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's... Deputy Director Tang."

"Deputy Director Tang?" Qiu Tu blinked, looking bewildered.

He quickly searched his memory for information about this big shot. A moment later, he froze, then stared at Liu Fuping in shock. "Deputy Director Tang? You two?!"

A rare blush crept onto Liu Fuping's cheeks, but being a married woman, she quickly composed herself. She even questioned Qiu Tu, "What?! Is that not allowed?"

Qiu Tu: .....

"It’s not that it’s not allowed. Just... unexpected..." Qiu Tu replied, his expression strange.

He left the rest unsaid, but Liu Fuping understood his meaning clearly...

Deputy Director Tang, whose full name was Tang Feifei, was the only female among the nine high-ranking officials of the New Realm City's Investigation Department. In her early thirties, she had a striking appearance with a tanned complexion and short hair, giving her a valiant and heroic air. Besides her looks, Qiu Tu's other impression of her was that she had an impressive figure—not in the curvaceous, feminine way like Liu Fuping, but rather in a sleek and athletic manner, like a panther.

Tang Feifei's chest was well-developed, and her limbs were lined with muscle, exuding an explosive power. Just one glance at her made you feel she could run a kilometer without breaking a sweat. She was a woman who had risen to the top in a brutal agency like the Investigation Department, and no one dared to underestimate her.

But now, the unexpected revelation that she had an affair with Liu Fuping left Qiu Tu feeling a chill down his spine.

Was he stuck in a den of mistresses? First, he got involved with the Director’s mistress, and now he had tangled with the Deputy Director’s lover?

It seemed that he had some sort of innate rebellious fate.

Moreover, Yan Chen was already a force to be reckoned with, but Tang Feifei, a woman of such high rank, was even more formidable, her scheming mind no less dangerous than Yan Chen's. Adding to that, women’s tempers could be extreme. If she ever found out about his ambiguous relationship with Liu Fuping, she might just cut him up and feed him to the dogs.

Qiu Tu suddenly recalled the gossip he heard on his first day in the Interrogation Office about Liu Fuping and Section Chief Liu from next door. He wondered if that man was still alive...

After indulging in these random thoughts for a while, Qiu Tu looked at Liu Fuping with a complicated expression and remarked, "I always knew you were deadly to men, but I didn't expect even women couldn't escape your charm."

Liu Fuping rolled her eyes at him, too lazy to explain, and instead asked, "Now that you know who I’m connected with, what’s your plan?"

Qiu Tu stroked his chin, deep in thought.

If he remembered correctly, Tang Feifei was the Deputy Director of Administration in the Investigation Department, responsible for training, organization, finance, and administrative work. But because Yan Chen was overbearing and had many loyal followers, Tang Feifei was often sidelined.

Therefore, there was a natural conflict between Tang Feifei and Yan Chen.

The female spy case was likely orchestrated by Yan Chen’s faction. If Tang Feifei knew about it, could she possibly use this opportunity to make a move?

With this thought, Qiu Tu's eyes lit up, feeling as if a door had been opened.

Now that Yan Chen knew Tang Feifei had leaked information to Liu Fuping, a spy with unknown allegiance, he had something on her. If Tang Feifei could then obtain evidence of Yan Chen and Jia Shu's involvement in silencing an important suspect...

If both sides believed they had leverage over the other, an interesting conflict might ensue, throwing the entire situation into chaos.

And as long as chaos ensued, Qiu Tu could fish in troubled waters and escape unscathed. Could this be his way out of the looming crisis?

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed...

However, the only thing he needed to be careful of in this plan was to protect himself as the center of the storm. He had to make sure he wasn’t caught in the crossfire before the battle even began.

But achieving this wasn’t too difficult.

In essence, it all boiled down to one strategy: stall.

He knew the final deadline for the case was ten days. During these ten days, he had to keep investigating without ever closing the case. Then, he would help Tang Feifei find evidence of Jia Shu's crimes before Yan Chen did. The matter would then become a clash between two powerful factions, with Qiu Tu uninvolved.

Beyond that, the key to the whole situation was to ensure that the two factions couldn’t reconcile or negotiate. He not only had to drag Tang Feifei into the mess but also make sure she couldn’t get out.

And to do that...

Qiu Tu’s gaze fell on Liu Fuping...

Perhaps he had been silent for too long, as Liu Fuping seemed to be daydreaming. Suddenly noticing Qiu Tu’s deep gaze, she looked up and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Hearing Liu Fuping’s question, Qiu Tu smiled gently.

"Sister Liu, do you want to survive? Do you want to complete your undercover mission?"

For some reason, looking at Qiu Tu’s handsome smile, Liu Fuping couldn’t help but shiver. She felt that this Qiu Tu was even more terrifying than the violent one from earlier—like a devil ready to toy with her mind...

Author's Note