20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 849 Intrigue and deception
"Jingle Bell--"

The city lights are just coming on at night.

The room was dimly lit, and a shrill bell suddenly rang from the desk in front of the blinds.

Qin Huaimeng raised his hand and pressed the phone, muttering a few words under his breath as if in prayer, before answering and asking, "Hello? It's me. How is the situation?"

The reply came through the receiver: "Master Qin, Jiang Lianheng is hosting a grand banquet at Juxianglou to thank all the relatives and friends who helped with the funeral today!"

"you sure?"

Qin Huaimeng immediately jumped up from his chair, his face extremely solemn, and the figures behind him also looked bewildered and uneasy.

The voice on the other end of the line continued, "Confirmed! The Jiang family has booked the entire restaurant. More than half of the merchants and gentry in the city are here, and many officials from the government have also come to show their support. With such a grand setup, it can't be wrong!"

"Didn't the Jiang family suffer any losses?"

"Uh, this..."

After a moment's hesitation, the person on the other end of the phone finally had to be honest about the situation: "It seems not. At least Jiang Lianheng and Manager Xue are both fine, and Wang Caishen and Li Laosan are also there with them. The others have gone home. It doesn't seem like they encountered any obstacles on the way."

Qin Huaimeng felt a little panicked, and then asked, "Surely the funeral procession couldn't have been completely unharmed?"

"It seems the Jiang family hasn't suffered any losses so far." The person on the other end of the phone sighed, then suggested, "Mr. Qin, how about I go back to the morgue and inquire again?"

"Okay, go and come back quickly, let me know if there's any news!"

After hanging up the phone, Qin Huaimeng slowly sat down, his brows furrowed, lost in thought.

The moonlight streamed through the window, its cool glow casting streaks on his face through the blinds, the interplay of light and shadow resembling the cuts and strokes of a knife.

Shou Yunzhang and the others stood up and crowded around, asking, "Master Qin, what happened? Jiang Lianheng isn't dead?"

Qin Huaimeng didn't reply, but just kept muttering to himself, "It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be like this..."

He knew that Jiang Lianheng would definitely be extra careful on the day of the funeral, and there would definitely be bodyguards accompanying the funeral procession.

He had also heard that there was a man named Bei Feng in the Jiang family who was not involved in online activities but was a legitimate military officer in the Fengtian clique. He was likely to lead guards to protect Jiang Lianheng's personal safety.

For this reason, he specifically instructed Lao Ye and others to prepare landmines and bury them in advance along the route of the Jiang family's funeral procession. If the landmines were triggered, everyone would rush forward and try to assassinate Jiang Lianheng in the chaos, which would not be entirely impossible.

Moreover, Zhao Guoyan, the most important gunner of the Jiang family, is still in the city. Even if he failed to assassinate Jiang Lianheng, he should at least have dealt another heavy blow to the Jiang family.

But the reality was that the Jiang family was completely unharmed; they returned exactly as they had gone.

There is probably only one reason for this outcome: Jiang Lianheng not only knew that he would launch a sneak attack, but he also knew exactly where he planned to attack.

Otherwise, there should have been some kind of commotion.

"Someone leaked information!"

Qin Huaimeng's face turned ashen, and he made a judgment based on his own assumptions.

"Huh?" Shou Yunzhang and the others looked at each other in disbelief. "This... it shouldn't be that bad, right? Master Qin, Lao Ye and the others are our loyal brothers. They've always been loyal to you all these years. No matter what, they wouldn't betray us at this time!"

"You can't see into someone's heart, anything can happen!" Qin Huaimeng retorted. "There are more than twenty people, who can guarantee that they are all tough as nails?"

No one spoke; no one dared to vouch for them.

"To put it another way, if it wasn't one of our own brothers who betrayed us, then who else could have leaked the news?" Qin Huaimeng continued, "Fengtian is only so big, and the Jiang family only has so many capable brothers. There was a war outside recently, and martial law was in effect in the city. The core members of the Jiang family were all in mourning. How could they have known the location of Lao Ye's ambush?"

Shou Yunzhang nodded and said, "Master Qin, if that's really the case, the situation will be very unfavorable for us!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than footsteps sounded outside the door.

Zhang Shuo pushed open the door, emanating a chill from his body, and walked over with a hissing laugh, saying, "Master Qin, Lao Ye and the others haven't returned."

"Wang Cheng hasn't come back either?" Qin Huaimeng asked.

"No!" Zhang Shuo shook his head firmly. "I just came from Ping'an Tong, and I didn't see a single person! How is Jiang Lianheng? Is he dead?"

Qin Huaimeng pondered for a moment and said, "He's drinking at Juxianglou right now!"

"What?" Zhang Shuo's eyes widened in shock, followed by a hint of disdain. "Old Ye and his group had more than twenty men in total, and they even planted landmines beforehand. They still couldn't kill Jiang Lianheng? What about the others? Wang Caishen and Li Laosan, surely they should have killed a few of them?"

Everyone remained silent.

Zhang Shuo gradually understood, then sneered, "Master Qin, I told you long ago, you should have left this to me. Old Ye is already so old—"

"Alright, alright!" Qin Huaimeng raised his hand to interrupt, then pressed on, "When you came back just now, I told you to take a quick trip to Bagua Street, did you go?"

"Of course I went."

"Where is the Jiang family's cannon still?"

"Yes!" Zhang Shuo nodded and said, "Zhao Guoyan has been leading people to keep watch at 'Songfeng Zhuyun' all day today, and he's also been sending people to keep watch at Ping'an Tong 207 from time to time. Those tough guys from the Jiang family are with him too. I was wondering why Lao Ye and the others haven't gotten the job done yet, even though the Jiang family has already split up their manpower?"

Qin Huaimeng muttered, "I now suspect that there is a mole on our side."

"It's definitely not me!" Zhang Shuo said nonchalantly. "You know, I've been with you the whole time!"

Qin Huaimeng frowned and said, "I didn't say it was you. What I meant was, even if some of Lao Ye and the others are still alive, they probably won't come back."

"Then we should skin them alive!" Zhang Shuo suggested angrily. "Master Qin, how about this, while they've only recently been buried, I'll take a few men and dig up the Jiang family's ancestral graves to deflate Jiang Lianheng's arrogance and see if he still has the heart to drink there!"

"Alright, alright, what's the point of digging up someone's ancestral grave at a time like this?"

Shou Yunzhang picked up the thread and then reminded him, "Master Qin, as the ancients said, 'The wise do not seek luck in dangerous situations!' Don't blame me for being a jinx, but if Wang Cheng and the others betray us, the situation will be alright, since they don't know anything. But Lao Ye knows too much. If he is captured alive, he might implicate you... I think it would be safer for you to change places as soon as possible."

Qin Huaimeng nodded and said, "That makes sense."

“Then call Takeda Shin!” Zhang Shuo pointed to the desk by the window. “Master Qin, didn’t he say last time that he could provide you with a safe place?”

Without him saying anything, Qin Huaimeng walked over on his own.

After a short wait, the call connected, and Takeda Shin's voice came through the receiver, still as polite as ever. Qin Huaimeng took the opportunity to ask him if he could get the protection of the Japanese consulate as he had mentioned last time.

Takeda Shin was silent for a moment before speaking: "Mr. Qin, if you want to obtain the consulate's asylum, you first need to prove that you have sufficient value."

"I know, but things have gone a bit wrong right now, and I'm not sure yet—"

That's your problem!

Takeda Shin interrupted abruptly, then asked, "When we met at the Manchuria-Mongolia Cultural Association last time, you told me that the day of the Jiang family's funeral would be the day Jiang Lianheng would die. I even specially prepared landmines and firearms for you. And what happened? The Jiang family is having their funeral today, isn't it?"

Qin Huaimeng's throat tightened, and he nodded, saying, "Yes, the Jiang family is holding a funeral today."

"But I heard that Jiang Lianheng is currently hosting a banquet at Juxianglou."

"Mr. Takeda, plans can change in an instant. I need your help now. You must ensure my safety first before I can go all out!"

Takeda Shin sighed and said coldly, "Mr. Qin, I think you have a misunderstanding about our cooperation. You have to take a gamble and win before I can ensure your safety. That's a consulate, not the prison of the Japanese police department. If you want asylum, you have to provide me with value first, so I can have an explanation."

"I know, look at me, I'm working hard too!" Qin Huaimeng hurriedly asked, "Didn't we agree last time to strive for long-term cooperation? What specific intelligence do I need to provide to meet your conditions for asylum?"

Takeda Shin thought for a moment and said, "You should at least fulfill your promise from last time as soon as possible and take the lead in transferring those seventeen shops to our expatriates."

"no problem!"

"Okay, I'll wait for your news."

Hello?

Qin Huaimeng hurriedly called out a couple of times, but Wu Tianxin had already hung up the phone, leaving only a series of noisy static sounds in the receiver.

"Damn it!" He put down the receiver, turned around and ordered, "Zhang Shuo, go contact Hou Er right now and tell him to notify Lao Dou to go to Bagua Street and Xue Street and get those slow-moving bosses settled as soon as possible. It'll be too late if we wait any longer!"

Zhang Shuo nodded, turned to leave, but then hesitated: "Master Qin, Jiang Lianheng didn't die this time. Will Lao Dou and the others still believe us and follow our arrangements?"

Qin Huaimeng asked, "Why do you think I would let them join the puppet regime?"

"With the Japanese backing them up, it'll be easier for them to cause trouble for the Jiang family!"

"Then why don't I let you join the puppet regime?"

Zhang Shuo was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"That's a hated job!" Qin Huaimeng said calmly. "Once you've started, there's no turning back. Once you become a traitor, you have to go all the way. Don't you see how many people Lao Dou and the others have offended in just half a month since they joined the puppet regime? Is there any way to make amends? They can only follow my orders!"

Zhang Shuo frowned: "Master Qin, then we still have no way back, do we?"

"I didn't go out on the streets to bully and monopolize the market!" Qin Huaimeng reassured himself. "I just want to do some business in peace. With people like Jiang Lianheng around, how can Fengtian's commerce prosper? If you want to get rid of Jiang Lianheng, who else can you rely on besides the Japanese?"

"Oh, so we're not exactly traitors after all?"

"No, of course not... That's different. I... I should say I'm taking a roundabout approach... Yes, that's exactly it!"

Perhaps because he was being insincere, or perhaps because his words were simply too absurd, Qin Huaimeng suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Cold sweat broke out on his back, and he quickly waved his hand, saying with even greater determination, "Go quickly, don't waste time here. I'll think of another way. We must get rid of Jiang Lianheng; not a single one can be left alive..."

His voice grew softer and softer, until it finally became a soliloquy.

Seeing this, Zhang Shuo didn't think much of it and went downstairs.

He walked to the entrance in the dark, first cracked open the door, and peered out carefully for a long time to make sure no one was around before slipping out through the crack like an eel and then rushing out of the courtyard.

The two-story villa behind him, located in Naniwa-dori Nichiro-ko, a former South Railway estate, looked inconspicuous. The house was dark and almost deserted.

In fact, this villa is also about to be demolished.

According to the Japanese plan, Sunrise Square would be transformed into the financial center of the concession, with all the original buildings demolished and replaced by buildings housing banks and government offices of various countries.

Construction is currently only halfway complete, and the surrounding area appears exceptionally desolate.

Zhang Shuo left the villa and walked a long distance to the west before the streets gradually came into light.

Several small taverns were open for business, their warm yellow lights illuminating the snow-covered roadside. From the second-floor windows, the laughter of geishas and the strains of off-key Japanese music drifted through the air. Even without drinking, one felt intoxicated just walking among them.

"Wow--"

The sliding door of the izakaya was open, and two Japanese geishas helped a drunk man out onto the street, bowing in thanks and wishing him goodnight.

The drunkard appeared to be Chinese, speaking with a Jiangnan accent, but not quite authentic, sounding somewhat mixed with other regional accents.

He walked out of the shop with a light, unsteady gait, turned back to wave to the two geishas, ​​and said goodbye with a thick lisp, "I'm leaving, I'm leaving, Sayonara!"

He then took out a cigarette from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and suddenly turned around, only to bump right into Zhang Shuo.

Zhang Shuo couldn't dodge in time and got his foot stepped on. He immediately grabbed the drunkard by the collar, glared at him, and cursed, "Damn it, are you blind?"

The drunkard was a coward; his face turned deathly pale, and he hurriedly covered his face with his hands, pleading, "Hey, brother, I'm so sorry, I was just being careless. Here, come on, have a smoke!"

"Go to hell!" Zhang Shuo had no time to mess around with him. He kicked him against the wall and cursed, "You're lucky you're in a good mood today. I don't have time to deal with you. If this were in the past, I would have fucking—be more careful next time!"

The drunkard patted the shoe prints off his clothes and quickly nodded apologetically, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"Fuck off!"

"Okay, okay, but..."

The drunkard pointed hesitantly into the distance, as if to say that they were both heading in the same direction.

Zhang Shuo glared and cursed, "I told you to get the hell out of here, do you understand?"

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving now!"

Having no other option, the drunkard turned and ran towards Sun Dew Square. As he ran, he looked back and saw Zhang Shuo walking in the opposite direction, quite a distance away. He threw away his cigarette, turned up his collar, and switched to walking. His expression suddenly became languid, and he no longer showed any signs of drunkenness...

(End of this chapter)