Chapter 2349: Old Friend Li Huamei (Part 1)

The group had made their decisions and was about to split up when Xu Yanliang remembered something:

"Li Huamei's file has a special surveillance marker. If we use her temporarily once or twice, there's no problem. But if we plan to rely on her heavily in the future and need her to participate in important operations, we definitely need to submit an application. It has to be approved by the Political Security Bureau."

"So troublesome? What heinous crime has this Li Huamei committed?" Wang Kai asked with dissatisfaction.

"Since there's a procedure, let's just go through it. I don't think she has anything shameful to hide," Zhou Wei said.

As soon as the correspondence regarding the Nanyang Company's intention to employ Li Huamei was dispatched, the relevant agencies of the Political Security Bureau sprang into action.

Though Li Huamei had been "naturalized" for more than three years, in the Political Security Bureau's files she was classified not only as a "controlled use object" but also as a "perennial surveillance target." From the moment she "defected to the Kuns," the Political Security Bureau had established a special personal file on her.

Zhao Manxiong's interest in her stemmed not from her name being Li Huamei, but from his long-standing suspicion of a connection between her and Li Siya.

Making such an association wasn't difficult: Macao was very small and couldn't accommodate too many female pirates.

In the 17th century, extremely few women drifted on the seas. In all of East Asia, including Southeast Asia, one probably couldn't find more than one or two female captains. Though Li Siya was only a mixed-race woman of Chinese and Portuguese descent, her fame had spread throughout the ports of East Asia—she was known even in distant Goa, India.

Li Huamei, however, was different. The Political Security Bureau had sent people specifically to Macao to investigate her background. Surprisingly, no one there had heard of such a female pirate. No one had even heard of the Hangzhou. Combined with the bizarre coincidence of Li Huamei and the Hangzhou appearing together, Zhao Manxiong and his subordinates strongly suspected this was no accident but rather some kind of deliberate design—someone knew about the "Age of Exploration complex" within the Senate.

But if this person knew about the Senate's "Age of Exploration complex," why deliberately use this particular combination? Wasn't this tantamount to announcing: "I have information sources from the old timeline"?

Having reached this stage, the Political Security Bureau further suspected that other people from the old timeline stood behind Li Huamei. The first to fall under suspicion was naturally Black.

Since Black's name became known to the Senate, the Political Security Bureau had shifted the focus of their investigation on Li Huamei to the connection between her and Black—naturally without result. No clues proved that Li Huamei had any contact with Black, and intelligence from Manila confirmed this.

The only aspect of Li Huamei's activities that aroused their interest was her romantic history with Qi Feng. Out of reasonable caution, Zhou Botao naturally considered the possibility of a "honey trap."

Though Li was a pirate and a rare independent woman in this era, under 17th-century social customs, her sudden and active pursuit of Senator Qi was obviously illogical...

Zhou Botao had suggested informing Qi Feng of Li Huamei's "suspicious" status, but Zhao Manxiong thought this inappropriate.

"If we tell him, he might think we're trying to interfere in his emotional affairs—we can't be those villains. Even if Li Huamei turns out to be a spy in the end, Qi Feng will vent his resentment on us."

"If we don't tell him and this Li Huamei does something detrimental to the Senator..."

"Let's do a routine 'notification,'" Zhao Manxiong said. "Didn't Qi Feng apply to go to Qiongshan?"

"Yes, he said he wanted to inspect the building material supply in Qiongshan. He also requested an inspection ship—the Hangzhou."

"Good. Use this as the reason to send him a memo explaining that Li Huamei has been naturalized for a short time and her historical background cannot presently be verified, so she is classified as a 'controlled use object.' Suggest he not take the Hangzhou—if he insists on taking it, ask him to bring additional security personnel." Zhao Manxiong said. "Then attach a reply slip and ask him to confirm receipt."

The memo was sent, and Qi Feng's reply was duly received. He stated that he was already aware of the situation but did not plan to change his travel arrangements. He thanked them for the reminder and said he would increase the security level.

After receiving the reply, Zhao Manxiong instructed Zhou Botao to plant members of the "Committee of Ten" around Li Huamei and on the Hangzhou.

"According to regulations, at least half of the Hangzhou's crew must be replaced after retraining. It's very easy to mix in operatives. You must find a way to develop informants among the old crew members remaining on the ship. In addition, someone must be positioned at Li Huamei's side."

"Understood! She recently acquired a little black slave girl who appears to be from East Africa. The girl is currently undergoing purification in the purification camp. Li seems quite fond of her; we can start there."

Thus Li Huamei was added to the long-term surveillance list, accumulating surveillance reports continuously. However, over several years, no useful intelligence was obtained. This was the first time Zhao Manxiong and his subordinates had encountered such a predicament. They knew perfectly well that Li Huamei's origins were suspicious—one could even say she had come to "naturalize" with ulterior motives—yet they couldn't find any suspicious points about her actual behavior.

"If she's a spy, then she must be a dormant spy," Zhao Manxiong said. "Let's just keep a good eye on her."

Since there was no further evidence that Li Huamei was harming the Transmigration Enterprise, she continued to live her little life and dream her little spring dreams as a surveillance target and a lead for counter-espionage work.

It wasn't until more than a year later that Qi Feng first submitted an application to marry Li Huamei—according to regulations, for a Senator to marry a naturalized citizen or a native, they had to apply to the Senate's General Office, which would then instruct the Political Security Bureau to conduct a background investigation.

Wang You's information wasn't quite accurate. Strictly speaking, Li Huamei was not yet Qi Feng's wife. Though the two were already cohabiting and Qi Feng introduced her as his "wife," the Senate had not yet formally approved the marriage.

As a result, the background investigation on Li Huamei was placed back on the agenda. This time, the Political Security Bureau quickly discovered new clues.

The Senate's power along the Guangdong coast was growing daily, and the Portuguese increasingly had to defer to them. Consequently, the Senate's influence in Macao had become extremely great, and intelligence channels had become smooth. Coupled with significant advances in the Senate's photography technology, the Macao Station of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau soon sent word: Li Huamei's photograph had been recognized.

The information came from the Portuguese. Among the Portuguese in Macao, Li Huamei was not a mysterious figure at all. Intelligence showed that her real name was Li Chun. More than one Portuguese confirmed that Li Huamei was the "maid" or "follower" who had constantly accompanied Li Siya. Moreover, the time Li Chun had disappeared from Li Siya's side coincided precisely with the time Li Huamei had "naturalized."

With this, the long-standing suspicions of Zhao Manxiong and his colleagues finally had a definite answer: Li Huamei was indeed someone from Li Siya's group.

Once this breakthrough opened, the accumulated surveillance materials instantly connected. Their understanding of Li Huamei reached a new level. Zhou Botao immediately ordered an investigation into the "Li Huamei-Li Siya Case."

Li Huamei held a position in the Southeast Asia Company and spent the year sailing. After returning to Lingao, she was in a semi-cohabiting state with Qi Feng. Under these circumstances, upgrading surveillance on her was tantamount to monitoring the Senator himself—and his quite sensitive private life at that. Zhou Botao found this extremely tricky.

Since there were many inconveniences in Lingao, Zhou Botao focused his efforts on the times she went to sea. Without doubt, Li Huamei had to contact Li Siya regularly. At present, they had intercepted and inspected all letters mailed to her from outside and found nothing suspicious.

Then her only opportunity to contact Li Siya was when she was overseas, especially when docked in Macao.

Hard work paid off. After a few months of monitoring, they quickly intercepted correspondence between Li Siya and Li Huamei. Some of these letters were in Macao; more were transited through Indian merchants in Goa.

However, the content of the letters was deeply disappointing. The correspondence between the two Lis read less like communications between spies and more like business exchanges between a boss and a sales manager.

In her letters, Li Huamei reported the cargo load of each voyage and profit situation after sales, various account transactions, and demand for goods and price trends at each port of call. She also reported on merchant ships from various countries arriving at and departing from ports. Li Siya's letters mostly ordered her to purchase or transport certain goods, instructed her to make payments or collect debts in certain places, and sometimes provided various information. The two appeared to be exchanging commercial intelligence.

Similar letters were common in the archives of the British, Dutch, and other East India Companies from the 17th to 19th centuries. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the content.

Of course, if Li Siya's main activity was piracy, then this intelligence would be extremely useful. But ships flying the Senate's flag had never been attacked by Li Siya. As for her attacking other nations' merchant ships, that had nothing to do with the Senate. Moreover, there had been very little news of the Lotus's operations in recent years.

If anything related to the Senate, it was that the letters occasionally mentioned the Senate's current personnel changes and military movements. Li Siya also frequently asked her to provide specific news. But frankly, this information was all public knowledge that anyone in Lingao could collect with a little attention.

Judging solely from the content of the letters, the activities between the two Lis did not touch upon Senate interests, nor could they be considered harmful.

Of course, both the Foreign Intelligence Bureau and the Political Security Bureau knew that Li Siya had played a role in multiple incidents against the Senate. She fully deserved the title "Enemy of the Senate." If this were the past, the mere fact of maintaining contact with Li Siya would have been sufficient grounds to secretly arrest and interrogate Li Huamei—or Li Chun, as she was really named.

(End of Chapter)