Our Time: Unswerving until Death

Chapter 44
At the end of September in the lunar calendar, it is already late autumn, and the night is very cool. Today, as soon as it gets dark, there is a patter of autumn rain. The rustling sound can be heard in the streets and alleys. People pulling carts and carrying burdens, The supper stalls all returned home early, and the huge city of Beiping immediately fell into silence, only the lights in twos and threes were dotted.

Even the Forbidden City, which has been magnificent for hundreds of years, has lost its former luster in the pattering autumn rain. To the west of the Forbidden City, there is a royal garden named Xiyuan, but it is brightly lit, day and night. Not extinguished.

Three years ago, the "Zongshi Party" assassinated Lao Yuan on Donghuamen Street. Since then, Lao Yuan has been very careful in his daily life and travel. After living in Xiyuan, he seldom goes out.

Lao Yuan ate and lived in Ju Ren Tang in Xiyuan on weekdays, and even his office and living room were located here. However, Lao Yuan has a custom that when receiving visitors, he will meet the visitors according to their identity and importance. to decide where to meet.

If it is a confidant around him, he will be taken to the office for a secret talk. If it is just an ordinary regular customer, he will be taken to the room on the west side of the first floor of Ju Ren Tang. As for ordinary strangers or people with lower status, Ju Ren The "big round mirror" in the front yard of the hall is the meeting place for Lao Yuan.

Tonight, Yang Shiqi, Yang Chengzan, Liang Shiyi, and Xu Shichang were sitting in Lao Yuan's office in turn. What kind of expression is it, but I don't know what kind of thought it is.

But when things happen, we must deal with them, and we must make a quick decision. Time waits for no one. The people who can appear in this office are familiar with each other. Needless to say, Yang Shiqi is the chief counselor under Lao Yuan's account, first said: " Liu Laowu has already investigated clearly. Kawamoto Ichiro found two human traffickers and buried the child's body beside the Faguo Catholic Church. The burial was intentionally shallow. The wild dog smelled the smell and dug up the soil and was found. , what happened today.”

Yang Chengzan said, "Have you caught the two traffickers?"

Yang Shiqi shook his head and said, "It's silenced. The person was thrown into the Yongding River. The old five sent people to search, but they probably didn't find it. Otherwise, it's time to send someone to report."

A crystal chandelier hangs on the top of the office, shining brightly, shining alone, falling on the faces of everyone, obviously not good-looking, a moment of silence,
Lao Yuan still turned his back, couldn't see his expression clearly, and said nothing.

Yang Shiqi continued to report: "The old five said that Kawamoto Ichiro may not only have been buried in one place, but also people from Yingguo, Yuguo, and Meiguo. Don't catch Kawamoto Ichiro first?"

Liang Shiyi had dealt with the Dongyi people a lot, and he knew the nature of the Dongyi people very well, so he denied it: "There is no proof of death, so what if they are arrested? They will come to ask for someone tomorrow, and they might beat them up. It will be unreasonable for us. Can't be arrested!" "

Yang Chengzan disagreed and said, "Now it's just people from the Far country. Let Ichiro Kawamoto continue to stir up the flames. Tomorrow, you will be from the country of Ying, from the country of Mei, and from the country of Mu. So we must arrest them, and we must arrest them immediately. They come to ask for someone, let them take it, Let Lao Wu find an excuse to delay for a few days, anyway, it’s not like he won’t pay back.”

Xu Shichang sighed: "Treat the symptoms but not the root cause. If you catch them for a while, you won't be able to catch them forever. Today there is Ichiro Kawamoto, and there will be Jiro Kawamoto tomorrow. They want to use this dirty method to make foreigners isolate us so that we can agree to supplementary terms." , This is the real idea, so it doesn't matter whether you arrest people or not."

"What supplementary clauses?" Yang Chengzan asked in question. He has recently devoted himself to the "Emperor Building" movement, and has been a little slow to respond to changes in the outside world.

Liang Shiyi and Xu Shichang looked at Yang Shiqi at the same time.

Yang Shiqi went to Lao Yuan's desk, and found a piece of paper that was broken into seven or eight pieces and was completely stained from among a pile of documents. There was no seal on it, and it didn't even have a signature. Yang Chengzan.

Yang Chengzan read it silently. Isn't this the original 21? In an instant, he figured out the cause and effect, and couldn't help being angry. He pulled the paper into a ball and threw it into the wastebasket. He got up quickly and said, "It must be from Dongyi." Seeing Yuan Gongjun's constitution to save the country is imminent, he is afraid that he will fall behind our country in the future, and the ambitions of these small countries outside the region are clearly revealed, and Yuan Gong will not agree to it."

"You motherfucker!" Old Yuan Wu turned around, with a black face, and cursed, and then lost the rest of the text, and looked straight at Yang Chengzan.

In due time, Yang Shiqi and Liang Shiyi also realized the Dongyi people's strategy of killing two birds with one stone, but Liang Shiyi's face was full of suspicion, while Yang Shiqi nodded in agreement.

Xu Shichang looked at the crystal chandelier above his head at this time, his eyes diverged from the bright light, he lowered his head suddenly, closed his eyes, and leaned on the chair to rest his mind.

Yang Chengzan looked at Yang Shiqi, and said, "Mr. Xingcheng, Mr. Bu Wu is right, we have to find a solution once and for all."

Lao Yuan shifted his gaze from Yang Chengzan to Xu Shichang without making a sound, and then fell on Yang Shiqi again without stopping.

Yang Shiqi said: "The fifth brother has thought of a way."

Before Yang Shiqi could continue, Liang Shiyi sneered, "What can he do?"

Old Yuan said in a calm voice, "Xingcheng, continue talking."

Yang Shiqi said: "There is a young man named He Qi who just returned from Western countries not long ago. As soon as he arrived in Peiping, he was abducted by two traffickers and escaped. These two traffickers are the worst, let He Qi come forward to testify against Ichiro Kawamoto, in this way, they can be arrested in a fair manner."

Liang Shiyi asked suspiciously: "The common people think it was done by the Fa people, so why should they believe this young man's words?"

Yang Shiqi said: "Although this young man has just returned to China, he is quite famous. He is especially good at chess, and even Gu Rushui is not his opponent. A few days ago, he had a discussion with Professor Gu in Guanghe Residence, and he did not fall behind. So it was published in the Beijing News."

Liang Shiyi felt that if He Qi only met the above conditions, then He Qi's corrections did not seem to be convincing to the common people.

Yang Chengzan's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood the key point. He took Yang Shiqi's words and said, "The most important point, Mr. Xingcheng hasn't mentioned yet, is that this young man has a very close relationship with Mr. Taiyan's two disciples. That day I invited Professor Gu to go to Guanghe Residence, and I happened to meet him, he is a good-looking person, he can speak well, and what he says is insightful, but he is a talent, but I don’t know if he can be used by us.”

Yang Shiqi nodded and said: "That's right, he has a very close relationship with Mr. Taiyan's two apprentices, and he is just available. As for whether he agrees or not, Lao Wu has his own way, so we don't need to worry about it."

Lao Yuan Ting's brows stretched, he let out a deep breath, put his hands behind his back, went down the steps, walked up to Xu Shichang, bowed his body, leaned forward and said, "Bu Wu, are you tired?"

Xu Shichang opened his eyes suddenly, stood up and said with a smile: "Brother Xiang Cheng, I'm getting old, and it's autumn again recently. As soon as it's cold, my old problems will recur. I get tired easily. I'll just go back and rest later."

Lao Yuan straightened up and looked at the white-haired Brother Xu. He couldn't help recalling the scene when they first met 35 years ago. , but now he is in his sixtieth year, and his youth is gone, so he can't help but feel embarrassed.

Sighing: "A few days ago, Zhiquan came to me to ask for leave, saying that he wanted to rest, think about it, you have traveled with me, it has been decades, and you have not had a good rest, it is really difficult. I approved Zhiquan's leave, so I also approved Bu Wu's leave, go back and rest for a while, it's not time to take care of yourself, and many important things are still waiting for Bu Wu to discuss, how can we leave?"

Xu Shichang said with a smile: "It's not good to be old! Brother Xingcheng and Brother Yifu are less than one round younger than me, but their energy is far beyond my comparison. I'm old! I'm old! It's useless, let's go back and stay. Don't block the future of the next generation."

Lao Yuan thought for a while, but he didn't say some words after all. After taking a deep breath, he slowly walked upwards with his hands behind his back. When he passed by Liang Shiyi, he stopped thinking, looked back, sat down and closed his eyes again. Xu Shichang, who raised his spirit, said helplessly: "Brother Bu Wu, it's getting cold, don't take a nap, go back quickly." He patted Liang Shiyi's arm again, and said: "Yi Fu, you and Brother Bu Wu will drop by and send Bu Wu you personally." Fifth brother, go back, it's getting dark, he's old, his eyes are bad, I don't worry."

Liang Shiyi hesitated and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Yuan."

When Xu Shichang stood up slowly, he stared at the office, and finally looked at Lao Yuan who was walking with his back on his back. He sighed leisurely and said, "Brother Xiang Cheng, I'm leaving."

"Brother Bu, it's getting dark, go slowly." Lao Yuan waved his hand and watched Xu Shichang leave the room, and just returned to his superior position, his face became depressed.

"Xingcheng, I will do as you said, but after finishing the work, let the old fifth clean his hands and feet."

Yang Chengzan objected: "No, Kawamoto Ichiro's death is not good for us. We just need to lead the public opinion to Dongyi. After that, we can do it differently."

Old Yuan squinted at Yang Chengzan, poked his finger, and cursed angrily in dialect: "I call him a bad grandson, this bastard, bastard, bastard adds three levels, dozens of children's lives are exchanged for one life of his stupid grandson. It's cheap for him."

But I always felt aggrieved and uncomfortable in my heart. I was really puzzled, kicked over the wastebasket, and cursed viciously: "Damn it! Let the fifth child catch a few more and kill them together."

Yang Chengzan had no choice but to remain silent.

Yang Shiqi nodded.

"Today is not very serious, coded two chapters, forgive me! "

(End of this chapter)