20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 808 Origin
The man who spoke was around thirty years old, with a mature appearance, deep forehead wrinkles, and a few bruises on his face.

When he spoke, he didn't look at Jiang Lianheng, but stared at the ground, occasionally glancing at his accomplices behind him, as if he was a little guilty, and hesitated several times before speaking.

This is understandable. Since he knows the meeting place, he must be a core member of Huo Laogui's gang, and probably holds a high position.

Everyone cares about their reputation, especially seasoned gangsters who value their reputation above all else.

Although we are currently at our wits' end, the thought of betraying and informing on him in front of all the brothers is still a difficult hurdle in my mind.

Jiang Lianheng saw through his thoughts and knew that this kind of person was a tough nut to crack, afraid of nothing but losing face. In order to get him to talk as soon as possible, he simply gave in to him.

“For the New Year, you guys drag those guys out and whip them. I want to have a good talk with him first.”

Hai Xinnian and the others nodded in response, and with a series of pig-like screams, they finally dragged the other four robbers out.

The room fell silent immediately, with only Li Zhengxi by Jiang Lianheng's side.

Sure enough, only after the door was closed did the person finally relax and begin to cooperate in answering the questions.

Jiang Lianheng asked, "What's your name?"

"Zeng Shouyi".

"Someone from inside the sect?"

Zeng Shouyi nodded slightly and said in a low voice, "He's the second-in-command under Brother Gui."

"Oh, West Wind—" Jiang Lianheng raised his hand and called out, "Go and get a stool for Second Master."

Li Zhengxi obeyed the order, turned around and went to the door to get a stool, then untied the hemp rope from Zeng Shouyi's ankles, binding only his arms, and made him squat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), while he himself stood behind Zeng Shouyi with his hands behind his back, always on guard.

Jiang Lianheng dusted off his woolen overcoat, trying to be patient, and asked, "Now that Old Ghost Huo is dead, tell me, when did the three of you start plotting?"

Zeng Shouyi shook his head, but said, "It's not three families, it's four families, plus Qin Huaimeng."

"Who?" Jiang Lianheng frowned, instinctively speaking disparagingly, "Qin Huaimeng, that rickshaw puller?"

In fact, he also knew that Qin Huaimeng was no longer the same as before. He had made a lot of money in business over the years and no longer relied solely on the rickshaw shop for a living.

But the Jiang family's momentum was simply too strong. They had been riding high for more than a decade, colluding with officials and businessmen, having connections in both the legal and illegal worlds, and had even reached the point where they could control everything.

Jiang Lianheng was just an ordinary person, and he had more or less all the faults of ordinary people.

Over the years, wherever he went, everyone fawned over him and flattered him. Even officials treated him with respect. Over time, he inevitably became arrogant and looked down on everyone. Although he was not so conceited as to be carried away by pride, he still had a somewhat arrogant attitude.

Take Qin Huaimeng for example!

In his early years, when he wanted to open a rickshaw shop, he had to seek out Jiang Lianheng to pay his respects. He had to beg countless people, say countless kind words, and spend countless amounts of money before he finally got to see Jiang Lianheng. Upon meeting him, he immediately knelt down three times and kowtowed nine times, calling him "boss" with the utmost humility, all in order to settle down in Fengtian, find a place to do business, and gain a foothold.

Jiang Lianheng simply raised his hand, and he would have food to eat in Fengtian.

Looking back now, almost ten years have passed since then.

Qin Huaimeng was always honest. He never missed a payment, and he never missed a day of buying fire and water insurance. Whenever he met Jiang Lianheng, he would always fawn over him, calling him "boss" repeatedly, and never uttered a single complaint.

Even today, Jiang Lianheng can still clearly recall his meek and submissive appearance.

This proves the saying: "A barking dog doesn't bite, and a biting dog doesn't bark."

However, Qin Huaimeng did not seem to be seen last night.

Zeng Shouyi explained, "He didn't need to lift a finger. He was the one who spearheaded and lobbied from beginning to end. I'm not too clear about the situation with Whistle Li and Lao Dou, but as for Brother Gui, we went to Nancheng to smash the kiln last night. Whether we succeeded or not didn't matter. The main thing was to show Qin Huaimeng. This was a pledge of allegiance to him."

The situation is largely the same as previously speculated.

Jiang Lianheng was puzzled and asked, "Qin Huaimeng's power doesn't seem to be much greater than yours. Does it make sense for you to pledge your allegiance to him?"

Zeng Shouyi looked embarrassed, as if he was having some difficulty speaking, and sighed, "He has the Japanese backing him up."

"you sure?"

"It's confirmed. The guns we had last night were the ones he gave us; they were all Japanese."

Jiang Lianheng frowned, subconsciously glancing at Xifeng, and asked, "I remember you seem to know quite a few rickshaw pullers, but I haven't heard anything about it lately?"

Li Zhengxi looked ashamed and shook his head, saying, "No, I've never heard anyone say that."

Zeng Shouyi said, “Boss Jiang, it’s normal that you haven’t heard of it. Qin Huaimeng is very low-key about this matter. Not to mention that Third Master doesn’t know, even on our side, Brother Gui only told me about it. The other brothers only have a vague understanding. When the guns were distributed yesterday, only a few of Qin Huaimeng’s trusted confidants delivered them. No one else knows the details.”

"When did you get the guns?" Jiang Lianheng asked.

“Yesterday afternoon,” Zeng Shouyi said, “we seemed to have arrived a little earlier than Whistle Li; it wasn’t even dark yet!”

Jiang Lianheng was taken aback and muttered to himself, "Goodness, you guys found out even faster than I did!"

Zeng Shouyi no longer concealed anything and frankly said, "Because this news came from the South Railway Warehouse, when Marshal Zhang was going to move his family property to the concession, the South Railway Warehouse was naturally the first to be notified, so they increased the number of soldiers and police to guard it in advance. In fact, before the Marshal's Mansion even moved the family property, our four families had already received the news in advance."

No wonder!
No wonder that when faced with the same turmoil in the Guanxiang area, Whistle Li and his men were much better prepared than the Jiang family!
Jiang Lianheng's expression immediately turned serious, and he pressed on, "So, the Japanese guy backing Qin Huaimeng is Old Chai from the military and police?"

Zeng Shouyi lowered his head, nodded, and said, "That's right, they have military and police backgrounds."

"Is this person... surnamed Takeda?"

"Takeda?"

Zeng Shouyi looked somewhat bewildered and said after careful consideration, "I'm not quite sure. This is a connection that Qin Huaimeng made. He wouldn't easily introduce it to us. I only know that there was an old Japanese man named Shiba who had contact with him, but his surname wasn't Takeda. I think his name was Saito Rokuro."

This name sounds familiar.

The words were right on the tip of his tongue, but Jiang Lianheng couldn't recall them for a moment.

Seeing this, Li Zhengxi couldn't help but remind him, "Brother, last early spring, we leveled the Qingqiu Society in the Xita area. The detective captain in charge of the case at the time was named Saito Rokuro, and there was another young one, but I can't quite remember him. Ask Dong-ge later, he'll definitely know."

Only after being reminded did Jiang Lianheng realize what was happening.

Although the Jiang family orchestrated the West Tower arson case last year, he himself remained behind the scenes and never personally met Saito Rokuro, so his impression of him is inevitably somewhat vague.

I thought the matter was over and done with, but I never expected that although Song Lucheng was dead, the Japanese behind him were still dissatisfied.

Logically speaking, the Qingqiu Society wasn't that important to Xiao Dongyang at all.

However, Saito Rokuro held himself in high esteem, considering himself a member of the "noble Yamato people," and he refused to allow himself to be mocked by the poor and ignorant Chinese. Therefore, for more than a year, he had been waiting for an opportunity to retaliate.

Back when the Qingqiu Society was still burning down, he had learned from Sheng Mancang that there were several Jianghu gangs in Fengtian who had long harbored grudges against the Jiang family and were potential targets for wooing, which could be used to deal with the Jiang family and dampen Jiang Lianheng's arrogance.

After careful consideration, Saito Rokuro chose Qin Huaimeng.

In his view, this low-key, somewhat shrewd and ambitious old man was far more capable than Whistle Li and others.

Just then, Qin Huaimeng's business grew bigger and bigger. If he continued to develop in the city, it would inevitably affect the interests of the Jiang family, which Jiang Lianheng would naturally not agree to.

Therefore, Qin Huaimeng had no choice but to take a risky approach and try to expand his business in the South China Sea Concession.

In this way, he inevitably had to deal with the Japanese old man Shiba. The two sides exchanged glances and flirted, each getting what they needed, and gradually they became like fish in a pod.

“I first heard Brother Gui talk about this back in the summer of this year,” Zeng Shouyi said in a low voice. “At that time, the Shanghai incident was in full swing, the city was always in chaos, and the students were also causing trouble, holding demonstrations every few days. The provincial government ordered martial law, and Lao Chai asked us to help arrest the students who were causing trouble. We heard that Boss Jiang didn’t want to get involved, so we agreed to the job. It was around that time that Qin Huaimeng said he had connections with the Japanese, and that he could… could…”

"Can you move me down?" Jiang Lianheng finished speaking for him.

Zeng Shouyi nodded silently, not daring to chime in.

"So, you all agreed back then?"

"No--"

Zeng Shouyi hurriedly explained, "Boss Jiang, to be honest, I've always disagreed with Brother Gui following Qin Huaimeng, but he won't listen to me. We're all sworn brothers, we've even kowtowed to Guan Yu. He said last night that he wanted to smash the kiln, and as the second-in-command, I can't back down at the last minute... If you don't believe me, you can ask them later!"

Jiang Lianheng clearly didn't believe this nonsense, and immediately sneered twice, asking, "What, you don't want to bring me down?"

Zeng Shouyi lowered his head again, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly said, seemingly out of the blue, "I don't want to be a traitor."

Jiang Lianheng didn't say anything, tapped his fingertips on the kang table, then took out a cigarette case, put two cigarettes in his mouth, lit them, threw one on the ground, and winked at Xifeng.

Li Zhengxi picked up the cigarette and offered it to Zeng Shouyi's lips.

Zeng Shouyi bit down on the cigarette and immediately took a deep drag, only gradually slowing his breathing when it became too hot to handle.

Jiang Lian flicked his cigarette ash twice and asked casually, "Old Huo is dead. Of his core brothers, you're probably the only one left. The three outside all seem spineless. What are your plans now?"

“I don’t have any plans,” Zeng Shouyi said. “If I had any, I would only hope that Boss Jiang would grant me a quick death.”

"Don't you want to live?"

"I know I won't survive."

“That’s not necessarily true,” Jiang Lianheng said, exhaling a smoke ring without turning his head. “Nothing is absolute. I still need to see how much information you can provide me.”

Upon hearing this, Li Zhengxi was even more surprised than Zeng Shouyi—this was really not Jiang Lianheng's style.

Zeng Shouyi was also a little bewildered, and hurriedly said, "But... that's about all I know."

Jiang Lianheng didn't mind at all, and waved his hand, saying, "No need to rush, you can think about it slowly and carefully. Maybe you'll suddenly remember something that you think is useless, but it might be useful to me. You're the second-in-command, you should know more. You originally met at the South Railway Warehouse, but where exactly was it?"

"Warehouse No. 7".

"So that means Whistle Li and Lao Dou are all here, along with that Qin Huaimeng?"

"I'm not sure about that. I only know that Brother Gui told me last night that after we smashed the kiln, we should go to Warehouse No. 7 of the South Railway to lay low, and no one will dare to do anything to us."

"There are quite a few Japanese soldiers in that area now, right?"

Zeng Shouyi nodded and said, "There are definitely many. If you go there now, you might fall right into Qin Huaimeng's trap. Even if there isn't a trap, he has the Japanese backing him up now, so he probably won't be afraid. Boss Jiang, actually, there was no conspiracy in this whole thing from beginning to end. They are determined to confront you head-on."

"Boom boom boom!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a knock sounded on the door.

Hai Xinnian pushed open the door and whispered, "Godfather, Uncle Hu is here to see you."

"Perfect!" Jiang Lianheng immediately stood up, and as he went out to greet him, he waved his hand and instructed, "Xin Nian, bring some men in and keep an eye on him!"

Li Zhengxi also came over, and only after they left the room did he lower his voice and ask, "Brother, that Zeng Shouyi... are you really planning to spare his life?"

Jiang Lianheng stopped and immediately retorted, "Did I say that? I only said it might not be the case. It depends on his performance. At least in the current situation, he is more useful alive than dead. I not only want him to live, but I also want him to live well. I want someone to return his cotton robe to him, prepare a bowl of rice for him, and bring him a pot of wine if there is any."

"Brother, what's wrong with you...?"

"With a formidable enemy at hand, now is not the time to kill those who surrender. I must show the other fronts a way out."

Jiang Lianheng didn't explain further. As soon as he stepped out of the room, he saw Chuang Hu standing in the center of the courtyard, looking up at the Jiang family mansion, which was in ruins.

He had already heard that the Jiang family had been robbed last night, but he didn't expect the situation to be so serious.

"Tiger!"

"Master!" Chuang Hu suddenly realized, turned around, and asked incredulously, "Who...who did this?"

Jiang Lianheng waved his hand and said, "Never mind that for now, I actually have something to discuss with you!"

"What a coincidence, I also need to talk to you about something!"

"Please wait until I finish speaking before you talk about your matter."

Jiang Lianheng explained the ins and outs of the matter very briefly, and then ordered Chuang Hu to sneak into the No. 7 warehouse of the South Railway that night to investigate.

Seeing that the Jiang family had suffered a heavy blow, Chuang Hu finally stopped making excuses and readily agreed, which was rare for him. He only asked, "Should we go and check the warehouse?"

Jiang Lianheng nodded and said, "It would be best if you could get in, but don't force it. Be careful in everything you do, and don't get yourself into trouble."

Then he asked, "What brings you here?"

Chuang Hu sighed and said, "Oh, don't even mention it. My sister-in-law told me you were at the Zhongcun Photo Studio, but when I got there I couldn't find you. I ended up going in circles..."

"Spit it out!"

"Oh, the South Railway Hotel is hosting a banquet tonight, and many gentry and celebrities will be attending. My sister-in-law wants you to make preparations and make sure you attend in person tonight, so as not to miss any useful information. Also, it seems that the Third Madam has also found out some clues about the Japanese arms deal."

(End of this chapter)