chocomug

*Not a new chapter, just editing.

 “Why are you guys investigating instead of Old Bu?” Li Yun asked Rouxi and Ju De. He had just returned from his trip when Rouxi filled him in with what had happened. “Don’t tell me he got pushback from his superiors?”

Rouxi nodded. If it was any place in the world, she would have ignored the police, but Bu Tao was captain, and she trusted him. However, within a day, he was ordered to hand over the case to the provincial office after they that saw He & Shang Firm was attached to the case.

“Apparently, there was already a file on the firm, and the provincial office was investigating the cases,” said Rouxi. “However, Old Tao said he had dug up some complaint reports from at least six years ago.”

“In other words, they had been sitting on piles of evidence and letting them rot,” Li Yun said and then looked at Ju De. “Your father probably knows about it.”

Ju De nodded, “The firm used to be Fu & He Associates, but they changed the name after Mr. Fu took office in the provincial office. Mr. Fu used to be father’s lawyer, but he hadn’t been active in awhile. I think he’s holding evidence because they have something on him.”

Soliciting prostitutes, assassination, money laundering and bribery, it wasn’t something people do without it being known to other people. Crime only surfaced when something happened between the parties that was beyond repair. It was a special kind of insurance.

“There are a couple of creeps there, but only three are feared by everyone else in the firm,” said Ju De. “Mr. Shang, Gong, and Lui.”

“How about the women?” Rouxi asked. “During the party, only the female associates attended the party, so who do you think spiked Zhangmi’s drink?”

“A mousy intern that joined the same time Zhangmi did,” said Ju De. “She looked like someone who could be pushed to follow orders. Aside from an inferiority complex, she’s not mentally stable.”

Ju De knew; he was like that before. Although he had gotten better, his desire to destroy everything in his path and to feel a tiny sense of superiority remained. The intern was likely jealous of the attention Zhangmi was getting. It would be easy to manipulate her and make her drug Zhangmi. She could reason with herself that she was coerced into it, but ultimately, it was her own weakness that led her down the dark path.

“Did you do anything to them?” Li Yun asked curiously. Given Ju De’s impulses, he was surprised he didn’t get a call from Bu Tao to bail him out.

“I’m not that rash, there are hidden rats higher up in the pyramid,” Ju De replied, although there were ways to ruin the people in the law firm, it was better to destroy the root of the problem.

Li Yun nodded. He wanted to make sure Ju De hadn’t alerted anyone. The police could raid the firm, but what were the chances of them finding evidence? Even if they did gather evidence, who else was involved? If the firm had information on the governor, they likely had information on the judge and many other government officials. The worst thing to do in any situation was to be rash for short term gains. For now, they needed to investigate how far up the pyramid was.

“Is there nothing we can do now?” Rouxi asked. It was unfair that they couldn’t take actions against the perpetrators. “If we can’t rely on the police, couldn’t we at least try for a public outcry?”

“Should we get Bufu to push out the news?” asked Ju De.

Li Yun thought about the possibility. The best way to spread the news fast was over the internet. However, they also need a way to release information so that it wouldn’t be traced back to them. The authority has the ability to shut down any website if they see harmful materials. They also had the ability to track down the individuals who sent out the information.

Bufu had methods to push news into trending, but it only worked once. He could hack the three largest news agencies and push the information through. No matter how quickly the authorities worked to remove the content, the information was already leaked and could be shared through word of mouth. However, the content must induce enough rage in the general public to push a thorough investigation. What they needed wasn’t evidence, but an emotional response and outcry from the general public. However, if they were able to spread the information too quickly without solid evidence, the public will forget as soon as the next big scandal appear.

Another way to stop politicians is to work with the political opponent. There were problems in this scenario. What if the rival politician didn’t want to expose the information immediately? The best time was usually before the committee selection.

“We need to wait,” said Li Yun. If they attempt to open an investigation, it may not go as planned. The general public was too fickle to rely on. If they revealed the information and someone released a big name celebrity scandal, it would be wasted. "We will have to find more explosive information or even a video."

A document with illegal deals wasn't as explosive as a sex scandal by a politician or celebrity. Even a corrupt politician wasn't newsworthy unless it was a large-scale operation, much less a law firm involved in illegal deals and prositution.

"Did you check the cameras of the restaurant?" asked Li Yun.

Ju De shook his head. He then revealed a video on the tablet. “Ah Nin and I went there to scope out the place.”

Li Yun watched the footage that appeared to be Ju De, walking with Zhu Ah Nin inside a fancy club. Apparently, they were going to celebrate Ah Nin’s birthday, which was seven months ago.

The video panned briefly on the first floor, which was the dance floor. As it was the weekdays, there weren’t as many partygoers. Ju De and Ah Nin followed the waiter up to the second floor of the club, where the private lounges were located. Ju De spent 2500 yuan to reserve a lounge for an hour.

"I hope it's your own money," Li Yun said looking at the expensive decorations inside the club. Aside from the decorations, there were checkpoints and security guards in key locations, along with security cameras.

"This isn't a normal club," Ju De explained. "It's a very fancy club called the Midnight Sky Bar. It's owned by Mr. Bai, who was a former judge. He worked mainly behind the scenes, and few people have seen him."

Li Yun had never heard of the bar before, but it was likely an elite type bar for members only. Then again, high end bars weren’t Li Yum scene. Even after gaining a bit of wealth, he never saw the need to go out to expensive places.

I’m"You're doubtful that Mr. Bai will share his camera feed with us, and that he’s involved somehow?" asked Li Yun.

"Probably," said Ju De. "Bufu have tried hacking into their computers, but he said there wasn't anything, so it's likely on their internal server."

Li Yun may need to prepare another suit.