Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister

"Search?"

Aoyama Xiu Xin didn't believe a punctuation mark of it.

From the moment Yamamoto Hiroshi turned himself in, to the Criminal Division's people coming to search the Yoshinaga family, it all suggested that Zhongshan Akiyu had been startled into action.

"Yes, a search," Yukawa Jinichi nodded.

Listening to the noise upstairs, Aoyama Xiu Xin looked at him and asked, "Do you have a search warrant from the prosecutor's office?"

"This..." Yukawa Jinichi's complexion changed slightly.

He had just suddenly received orders from Zhongshan Akiyu under the pretext of investigating a case, leading men to the Yoshinaga family to search for some items, without ever having applied for a search warrant.

"It seems you do not," Aoyama Xiu Xin said expressionlessly, stepping aside, "In that case, Vice Minister Yukawa, you should leave with your men quickly."

If Mr. Nozawa were still alive, he certainly would have refused to cooperate without seeing a search warrant.

But Yehua Yiren was after all a woman, and with her husband just deceased and in a daze, she would have likely obeyed the police who came to her door without asking for a search warrant.

"Aoyama Criminal, we're all just trying to solve the case; there's no need to be so precise about it. I'm simply following orders; the search warrant just hasn't come through yet," Yukawa Jinichi said with a smile.

Aoyama Xiu Xin stood his ground, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Following orders? Whose orders? Police Chief Asai didn't issue such orders, did he? Then it must be your direct superior, Chief Zhongshan? But Chief Zhongshan is currently suspended, right? A man without an office still has the power to command you; ha, I'm curious, are you national police, or his private officers?"

"Idiot!" Yukawa Jinichi couldn't maintain his facade of amiability any longer. Pointing at Aoyama Xiu Xin's nose, he cursed loudly, "It's none of your business how I do my job, for whom I do it. Do you think you're still the lofty Assistant Police Inspector? You're just a Patrol Captain now, a rank below me! Is this how you speak to your superior? Get out now!"

"Slap!"

The downstairs Aoyama Xiu Xin, who wasn't used to putting up with his nonsense, raised his hand and delivered a slap.

"Ah!" Yukawa Jinichi screamed as he was sent sprawling to the ground, his head buzzing.

Mrs. Yanahara, frightened, covered her small mouth, her beautiful eyes wide with disbelief as she looked at Aoyama Xiu Xin.

He struck a superior for my sake?

Yehua Yiren felt a mix of admiration and emotion.

This is indeed the just Aoyama Criminal!

"Deputy Director!"

"Deputy Director, are you alright?"

The three men searching upstairs heard the commotion below and ran down, just in time to see Yukawa Jinichi covering his face on the ground and rushed to help him up.

"Bastard! How dare you hit me?" Yukawa Jinichi, now steady, pushed away his subordinates, pointing at Aoyama Xiu Xin with shock and anger, "Teach him a lesson!"

"Idiot, you just make one achievement and you dare to disrespect our Deputy Director like this."

The three subordinates, upon hearing this, hesitated no more and pounced towards Aoyama Xiu Xin, ready to show him what for.

"Ah! Aoyama Criminal, be careful!" Yehua Yiren cried out in alarm, unintentionally warning him.

Seeing the three shorter men charging at him, Aoyama Xiu Xin, whose physical abilities had inexplicably increased, lifted his leg and kicked the foremost one flying, then raised his fist to knock down the second, and spun with an elbow to overturn the third.

The entire process took less than 5 seconds; the three men who had been full of fight were now lying on the ground wailing.

Yehua Yiren was dumbfounded, her rosy lips forming an 'O' of shock, revealing her pearly white teeth.

Yukawa Jinichi was stunned. Only now did he understand how, two days ago, Aoyama Xiu Xin had managed to disarm Chongtian Koji and shoot him in return; this was no mere mortal.

"Slap!"

Another slap on his face brought him back to his senses from his daze, reflexively glaring with rage, but then his expression quickly cleared.

"Aoyama Xiu Xin, you..."

"Slap!" Before he could speak, Aoyama Xiu Xin slapped him again, "Now, do you realize what you did wrong?"

"Yes!" Adhering to the principle that a wise man does not eat the loss before his eyes, Yukawa Jinichi covered his face with his hand, suppressing the humiliation and anger within, and nodded submissively.

"Slap!" Aoyama Xiu Xin swung his hand again, like a tyrant in a TV drama scolding his subordinates, and he cursed furiously, "Idiot! Did you not eat?"

"Sir!" Yukawa Jinichi raised his voice.

"Get out!"

"Sir!"

Yukawa Jinichi and his people scurried off disgracefully.

As soon as he left, he immediately called Zhongshan Akiyu, who was waiting for news, "Chief."

"How did it go, did you find the item?" Zhongshan Akiyu asked eagerly over the phone.

He hadn't planned to search the Yoshinaga family so soon, fearing it might spook their quarry, but now that he was under suspicion himself, he had to race against time.

Yukawa Jinichi, looking disheveled, said, "Please forgive my incompetence, Chief. Aoyama Xiu Xin arrived. That rude guy knew we didn't have a search warrant, and he even hit us, so we had to retreat."

"Useless!" Zhongshan Akiyu couldn't help but curse.

"Sir!"

Zhongshan Akiyu took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, "How long did you search for?"

"Over twenty minutes. We've practically turned the whole villa upside down looking for hiding places," replied Yukawa Jinichi, immediately assuring when he understood the implication, "If we couldn't find it, Aoyama Xiu Xin won't be able to find it either."

"Come back first." Zhongshan Akiyu hung up after saying this, rubbed his face with his hands, his expression changing unpredictably, and murmured, "Aoyama Xiu Xin."

Then he suddenly stood up, transformed into a 'desk-clearing master' and flung everything from his desk to the floor.

"Idiot!"

"Aoyama Xiu Xin! Fujimoto Ryosuke!"

...

The Yoshinaga family.

"Mr. Aoyama, thank you so much for today." Yehua Yiren thanked him with a grateful face.

From their recent conversation, she also understood that Yukawa Jinichi had bluffed her, and that he had ulterior motives to search her home without a warrant.

"It's only right. I can't stand the scum in the police station!" Aoyama Xiu Xin separated himself from them with resolute justice and then quickly shifted the topic, "Madam, do you know what they were looking for?"

Yehua Yiren hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "They suspect that besides the company's ledger, my late husband had a secret account book."

"Madam, is that true? This is very important for investigating Mr. Yoshinaga's murder!" Aoyama Xiu Xin quickly followed up, likely having grasped clues to the case.

Yehua Yiren gave a bitter smile, shook her head, and said, "I don't know. I was never involved in his business affairs before he passed away."

Then she seemed to recall something, and uncertainly asked, "The Chief Zhongshan you mentioned who sent those people, was it Zhongshan Akiyu?"

"Do you know him?" Aoyama Xiu Xin asked.

"I do not." Yehua Yiren shook her head, then added, "But my husband definitely knew him. I heard him mention that name, although I didn't know he was your colleague, Mr. Aoyama."

Aoyama Xiu Xin's eyes flickered, and after a moment of contemplation, he spoke gravely, "Madam, I must not deceive you, Zhongshan Akiyu is very likely the murderer of Mr. Yoshinaga."

"What?" Yehua Yiren exclaimed, standing up suddenly, her heavy chest trembling under her mourning dress, her face filled with disbelief, "How can that be? How is it possible? He's a policeman!"

"But according to our investigation, he is indeed the likely murderer. Unfortunately, he's too cunning. He found someone to take the blame for him, and it might be that we can only watch him get away with it," Aoyama Xiu Xin said with a mix of regret and anger, punching his thigh as he recounted the investigation from the beginning to Yamamoto Hiroshi's confession.

Yehua Yiren listened with a vacant look, and after coming back to her senses, tears streamed down her face, "Mr. Aoyama, isn't there any other way? Has my husband died in vain? Can't the murderer be brought to justice?"

Aoyama Xiu Xin's words, combined with Zhongshan Akiyu's ruse of searching her house under the guise of an investigation for the ledger, convinced her that he was the murderer.

"There might be a way, it all depends on whether you're willing to cooperate." Aoyama Xiu Xin, who'd just led Yehua Yiren to despair, gave her a glimmer of hope again.

Yehua Yiren, overcome with emotion, hastily wiped away her tears and knelt in front of Aoyama Xiu Xin, immediately confirming her willingness with nods, "I'll cooperate, I will! Please, Mr. Aoyama, help me."

As she finished speaking, she bowed deeply, sticking her rear high up. From Aoyama Xiu Xin's perspective, he could fully appreciate the curves of her back, waist, and hips.

What a lovely and charming lady indeed.