Chapter 68 Conflict of Interests

Every day in Petrograd begins with the same view. ＂＂

While most people are still asleep, a morning sun leaps over the horizon and gilds the thick clouds that envelop the city when the warm currents from the Baltic Sea meet the cold currents blowing from the Barents Sea, creating the illusion of clear weather and then disappearing without a trace.

Fastening the laces of his running shoes, Wang Qingfeng ran out of the embassy. As the sun rises and sets every day, his habits are like the most precise clockwork, but only those who know him best will know that his personal life is the polar opposite of this immutable pattern: chaos.

For the most part, his personal life is irregular.

He would also change into civilian clothes and go for a jog in the park, or dress up and go out with an umbrella, or walk to the Neva River for a while, or take a tram out of the city, stroll in the forest on the outskirts, and it seems that for him, his life has never been constrained by his profession.

But in fact, he himself knows that this way of life of his is what his work has brought back.

He looked up at the sky.

It was a fascinating moment: the morning sun reflected the clouds in the sky, and then the bright flame of light fell to the west, and the outline of an opera house on the opposite side of the park suddenly became clear, and the magnificent gold-domed building of the opera house shone in the sun, and then it was all obscured by a gray canopy.

While he was jogging, he suddenly stopped at the corner of Peterstrasse. At this time, there were few vehicles on the street, and there were no pedestrians in sight, so he looked left and right, and for some reason, a sense of crisis surged in his heart.

The instincts of an intelligence officer led him to quicken his pace and run onto the park lawn that stretched parallel to the outer ring road.

Is someone stalking him?

Wang Qingfeng strode as he pondered, and soon the embassy appeared in his sight. Running shoes stumble across the pavement at a brisk pace. He caught another glimpse of what seemed to be someone following him behind him, he slowed down, the man slowed down, he quickened, the other party also quickened, and the man followed him closely.

"Someone is being followed, is it a Russian spy?"

His head buzzed suddenly, and another bad omen warned him. He had rarely had such an ominous premonition before, and what did that mean? Could it be that Russian spies are eyeing their activities in Russia?

No way!

Those movements were extremely secretive, underground, and not aimed at gathering Russian military intelligence, but ......

With a calm heart, he quickened his pace, sweating like rain for a while, and ran towards the embassy, only by entering there could he further analyze today's accident, and unexpectedly, when he approached the embassy, the person who was following him disappeared, apparently the stalker did not want to expose himself near the embassy.

In the public bathroom of the embassy, Wang Qingfeng hurriedly took a shower, and then hurriedly changed into clean civilian clothes. No sooner had he entered the upper hall when he was stopped by a Marine soldier. The duty of these soldiers was to defend the embassy, but they usually ran errands here, served as messengers and heralds.

"Sir," the soldier gasped,

"The Colonel told you to go to his office right away."

"Tell him I'll be there when I'm dressed."

"Immediately, sir."

The soldier's directness made Wang Qingfeng's heart faintly unhappy. In this small embassy, the intelligence work is divided into three parts, and it is natural that the intelligence department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regards this place as their home, this is their duty, and the one in charge of this part of the intelligence work is the first counselor of the embassy, and then the military intelligence bureau under the General Staff, and in charge of this part is the colonel in the mouth of the soldiers, the chief military attache in the Russian Empire. As for him, the head of the defense department of the embassy, the head of the intelligence station of the Imperial Intelligence Service in Russia, here, it seems a little weak. …,

While buttoning up his shirt and tying his tie, Wang Qingfeng muttered in his heart, God knows what Colonel Hu is going to do? In his opinion, that Colonel Hu, don't make trouble for him, he is already thankful, the competition between the Imperial Intelligence Agency and the Military Intelligence Bureau is fierce at once, especially for overseas agencies, the two sides may cooperate, but the premise of cooperation is to get more things from each other.

After carefully tying the bow tie, Wang Qingfeng walked out of the public bathroom and dealt with those well-dressed aristocrats in Russia, so he had to pay attention to his appearance from time to time, otherwise those Russians would divide the other party into the ranks of "nouveau riche", as an intelligence officer, Wang Qingfeng naturally noticed this detail at all times.

Up the stairs, Hu Kexun's office was five floors away, and outside his office door, Wang Qingfeng took a deep breath before pushing open the door and walking in.

"Director Wang!"

Dressed in an army uniform, Hu Kexun pointed to an upholstered armchair next to the large coffee table, where he sat down and stared at the head of the embassy's "defense department" under him.

"Tell me everything you know about your activities here."

As he spoke, Hu Kexun looked at the chief of the defense department in front of him, in the past, he didn't pay much attention to the activities of the Imperial Intelligence Agency in Russia, after all, the intelligence of the two sides would eventually be reported by the joint intelligence meeting, and even the tasks they accepted were assigned by the joint meeting according to "functions", so there was no need to pay attention to it.

But recently, he noticed that the Imperial Intelligence Agency was carrying out unplanned activities, and at first he didn't notice it, until yesterday, he discovered a detail, in recent months, the activities of the Defense Service have been abnormal, and their monthly expenses have far exceeded the sum of the past few months.

"I want to ......"

Faced with Hu Kexun's question, Wang Qingfeng replied straightforwardly.

"The Military Attaché is not responsible for reviewing the actions of the Defense Division, and there is no direct reporting relationship between you and me, so if I need to report it, I will report it to the country, and if necessary, the relevant activity information will appear in the Joint Intelligence Conference, please forgive me......"

Faced with such a soft nail, Hu Kexun made a gesture impatiently.

"You have to know that between the two of us, abroad, there should be cooperation."

"Cooperation?"

Wang Qingfeng made a heavy drag,

"We do need to cooperate, but, Colonel, it seems, there are never any issues on which we have ever agreed!"

At this time, Hu Kexun's faintly angry eyes were a signal worth playing, and he did not reveal it, only slightly displeased. Wang Qingfeng, on the other hand, sat silently for a long time admiring his expression. He likes to see others express their inner world in this way, and from him, he can appreciate the exquisite expression performance of a professional intelligence officer.

Every intelligence officer is an extremely good actor, this sentence is really true, he clearly knows that Hu Kexun is testing him, he will not insist too much, in fact, his insistence is completely meaningless, at this time a civilian walked into the office with two cups of tea, put them on the table, after the civilian left the office, both of them picked up the teacup at the same time, as intelligence officers, they clearly know how to deal with each other.

"If you have any big action here?"

Hu Kexun's nonchalance question revealed an aggressive tone.

"So we need to know some news in advance, I think, I can provide you with some convenience in many places, you know, we also have our own network here?" …,

Wang Qingfeng shook his head.

"I'll let you know if you need to, but I hope you understand!"

At this point, Hu Kexun understood that even if he asked again, he couldn't ask anything, and then the two fell silent again, for Hu Kexun, he very much wanted to find out what Wang Qingfeng was doing, if it was a big deal, the Military Intelligence Bureau must not be excluded.

"You should know that if we can pool our resources, then we can achieve greater results?"

In the face of Hu Kexun's reluctance, Wang Qingfeng put on a stern expression that was just right.

"Well, maybe, but sometimes staying out of it is the best option."

"Still,"

Hu Kexun, who was reluctant, continued,

"If it comes to military incidents, I hope, we will not be left out, can you guarantee that??"

Hu Kexun's words made Wang Qingfeng think, and he sat on the chair and remained silent for a long time. And Hu Khoon was as patient as he was on this occasion, and he didn't open his mouth.

"I don't know, Colonel, if there's a military incident, I think you might, well, should be informed."

Finally, Wang Qingfeng reluctantly said that the military incident, at least from the current point of view, it seems that that the incident has not involved any military incident, although there is a great possibility in the future...... Suddenly, Wang Qingfeng thought of what happened in the morning.

"I was followed around 7:30 this morning. I want to ......"

"That's not my person."

Hu Kexun shook his head, and then he glanced at Wang Qingfeng and said.

"Well, though, if you're willing, we can look into it."

"I still don't bother with your help."

Wang Qingfeng's right eyelid slowly drooped, and then looked at Hu Kexun and said.

"You're busy enough, and things aren't necessarily easy in Central Asia."

His words made Hu Kexun stunned, and he immediately explained.

"Well, you should know that the military operations of the army in Arabia, we are only preparing for the laying of the railway in the future, and that's it!"

"Oh," Wang Qingfeng responded, just smiling but not speaking, then stood up and said.

"Alright, Colonel, if it's all right, I'm going to work, I have some unfinished work there."

After saying that, Wang Qingfeng withdrew from the office, and after he left the office, standing in the corridor, he smiled slightly, and then said to himself.

"Arab ......"

*J