Courtyard House: A Start with Black Gold Swallowing 100,000 Silver Dollars

"Ha! You little vixen, so you went through all that trouble just to avoid that beating?"

Li Wenguo suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

By the way—she deliberately provoked Dong Haitang, not only because she resented those eight slaps, but also because she wanted to tear apart the rift between him and his wife, forcing him to hesitate and not dare to really hurt her.

"But do you really think my wife's harsh words can strangle me?"

"She's her husband's everything, and the moon in my palm. I can touch her whenever I want, coax her whenever I want. Does she dare to say 'no'? Does she dare to challenge me?"

Before he finished speaking, he had already loosened the buckle on his belt, making a crisp "click" sound.

"Aren't you... afraid she'll turn on you and won't let you near her?"

Mitsui Miri's face suddenly turned pale, and her voice tightened.

Dong Haitang's face and figure were in no way inferior to hers. She had originally thought Li Wenguo would cherish and pamper her, but who would have thought—

"I've told you this before: I'm the only one who matters to her. Even if she's Captain Dong, who's all-powerful in the secret service, she'd still have to bow down to me. You've been with me for so long, don't you understand my temperament? You've lost all sense of reason."

He walked around behind her, his steps steady.

"Oh, I almost forgot—someone was patting their chest the other day saying, 'This is the last time, enjoy it!' Now it's your turn to taste that for yourself."

"Hmm? Did you say that yourself?"

He chuckled softly close to her ear, his breath so hot it made her tremble.

"you--!"

Mitsui Miri felt a lump in her throat, her fingertips trembling with shame and indignation.

How confident and arrogant I was back then, but now it feels like someone has ripped open an old wound, leaving it bloody and exposed before my eyes.

……

An hour later.

Li Wenguo tightened his belt, reached out and untied the rope around her wrists, then locked her alone in the narrow room on the east side.

"Just a heads up, this isn't the end—your formal trial won't start for another three days. As for the remaining two days... we'll continue slowly."

As he was leaving, he uttered a sentence as lightly as if brushing off dust.

"It doesn't matter, it's already rolled into a lump of mud anyway, rolling it for a couple more days is nothing new."

She tilted her chin up and laughed candidly, "I quite like it."

Even if you lose the battle, you can't lose your spirit. People who are used to being arrogant would rather grit their teeth and hold on than show weakness under his nose.

"Hmph, with their death approaching, they've already learned to put on airs?"

Not seeing her begging for mercy on the ground, Li Wenguo felt a sense of emptiness and turned to leave.

Upon reaching the door, he tossed out the order to Wen San: "These next two days, prepare chicken soup for her, keep warm water on hand, and provide her with all necessary toiletries. No one is allowed to visit her."

"Even Captain Dong won't do?"

"No!"

How could that possibly work?

Dong Haitang probably wanted to devour her alive! If she were to take over the interrogation, she would probably be whipped and branded with hot irons before she even opened her mouth—how could she possibly play around for the next two days?

"Yes, Master Li!"

Wen San bowed his head in response.

Because of the Boxer Rebellion treasure map case, all the secret agents of the Second Bureau are under his command. At present, his power is second only to Director Kang and is on par with Chang Binghui.

Li Wenguo returned to Dong Haitang's office.

I just had a fight, so I need to hurry back and smooth things over.

A harmonious family is the foundation of all prosperity!

Besides, the two children are still young. If he were to take his anger out on them, his heart would ache—she really is capable of doing such a thing.

After coaxing him for more than two hours, the last hour was spent using a cane to subdue him completely.

The two then went home to rest.

It was nearly four in the morning.

During the day, he had to see Song Caidie off to the ship, and he didn't return to Lixing Society until the afternoon.

But as soon as he stepped into the gate of the Lixingshe Society in the afternoon, he encountered something completely unexpected—

Mitsui Miri was redeemed.

That's right, it's Fujiwara no Mamoru's.

It was the same man who witnessed her being taken away last night.

He also has another identity that no one dares to mess with: a Japanese diplomat stationed in China.

Excluding the warlords in Northeast China, Fujiwara was the highest-ranking Japanese official in China.

Once relations are broken, at best it could lead to a diplomatic crisis, and at worst it could set the country on fire—the Party-state wouldn't dare to even breathe loudly.

Li Wenguo is even less likely to resort to force.

Hearing that she was about to be escorted back to China, he spat angrily: "Damn it! I was careless! I should have stuffed her into my spatial storage long ago—what I redeemed was just a substitute. Once the ship sails out to sea, then..."

However, while that's the theory, there are obstacles everywhere when it comes to actually taking action—the police station is currently extremely busy, and even Niu Dali often doesn't get home until 10 p.m. So, do you think he can disappear for a day or two without anyone noticing? He'd probably be stripped of his badge that very day.

"Forget it, she's just a woman in the end. She used to be completely at my mercy, I could make her come and go as I pleased. Could she possibly turn the world upside down?" Li Wenguo quickly put the matter out of his mind.

As for Mitsui Miri, even if she were to return, she would never set foot in Kyoto again—her secrets had already been exposed, and she could only leave for another place to settle down.

At that moment, inside a black sedan heading towards the embassy district.

"Ms. Mitsui, what are your plans for the future?"

Ambassador Fujiwara turned to the side, speaking in a calm tone.

"I will first return to Tokyo to see my father, and after a short rest, I will immediately head north back to the Northeast to await my teacher's orders."

Mitsui Miri's voice was low, and her brows showed signs of weariness.

Li Wenguo's blow was like a blunt object striking her heart, cracking her once sharp and confident exterior. She needed to return home to calm down, to have her blade tempered again before returning to draw her sword.

As for Li Wenguo? He was nothing more than a stumbling block on her path to growth—the more painful the fall, the more steady her steps; the harder she fell, the stronger her bones became; the deeper she stumbled, the clearer her mind became.

Of course, she would not hesitate to use any means to turn the tide if given the chance.

"That's good. I'll take this opportunity to go back and relax. I've been running around non-stop for the past few years, it's time to catch my breath."

Fujiwara nodded slightly.

"This time, we are very grateful for Mr. Fujiwara's great help."

Mitsui Miri expressed her gratitude once again.

"Haha, Miss Mitsui, you're too kind. The support the Mitsui family has given me over the years is far more significant than this little matter. If you can put in a good word for me with your father in the future, that would be the greatest reward for me."

This is the real reason why he went to great lengths to help.

Seeing that Mitsui Miri had retreated, Li Wenguo immediately turned his gun on Jingcun.

He found Sai Xishi, intending to use her as bait to lure the snake out of its hole.

This time, the preparations were even more airtight: every time Sai Xishi entered and left the hospital, her figure was captured by a camera. A thick stack of photos was personally handed by Niu Dali to that high-ranking official in the city, and then forwarded to the Japanese spy—no longer the light little piece of paper with an address written on it.

The credibility increased eight or nine times.

Jingcun believed it.

But this time he was unusually cautious. As the saying goes, a person bitten by a snake will avoid even a rope. In addition, his old wound had not yet healed, so he simply avoided going out and only sent his men to scout ahead.

That's why all the men they sent were intercepted by the Second Bureau's agents—some were killed, and others were captured.

Jingcun immediately realized: Sai Xishi must have been caught, and this was yet another carefully set trap.

Although he failed to catch Jingcun himself, Li Wenguo had a flash of inspiration and came up with a new idea—

Negotiate a deal with Jingcun!

They traded the map that Sai Xishi had for the one that Jingcun had gotten from Zhang Xiong'an.

Li Wenguo already has four images; he only needs this one more to unify the five images.

As for the other one? Even if it falls into Jingcun's hands, he still can't piece together the complete picture—he simply can't gather the missing pieces.

In the small courtyard.

"What? You want to trade maps with the Japanese? And I have to write a letter myself and deliver it to Yihe Village on Wang'er Mountain?!"

Yihe Village was the bandit stronghold that Sai Xishi had occupied for many years.

Upon hearing that Li Wenguo wanted to make a deal with the Japanese, she slammed her hand on the edge of the table, her eyes widening as she stared intently at his face.

In her heart, the Japanese devils were a blood feud—an irreconcilable hatred, even worse than the hatred of killing her father and stealing her wife.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been inspired to join the Red Party and vow to personally sever the throat of the Japanese pirates.

Now that he has heard that Li Wenguo is going to join forces with his enemy, how can he not be furious?

"That's right. Otherwise, I would never have gotten my hands on that map that Zhang Xiong'an gave to Jingcun."

Li Wenguo's tone was calm and expressionless.

Now, Sai Xishi is confined to the courtyard all day practicing martial arts and reading, with Binzi handling all intelligence communication. She has been quietly sidelined, and Li Wenguo's gaze towards her has changed—it's become blatant and unrestrained, and he speaks bluntly and without reservation.

"If I can't get it, I can't get it! You want me to write a letter to broker this deal? No way!"

Sai Xishi resolutely refused, giving him a cold glance. "Also, don't forget your own identity—we are both comrades. Don't let that bit of greed in your bones blind you and throw you off balance."

There was a clear barb in those words.

Li Wenguo heard it clearly, but didn't care at all—he was not the kind of person who could be exposed.

"I wasn't fooled. This picture is related to the whereabouts of a national treasure, something the country absolutely must take."

He stood up straight, speaking clearly and distinctly.

"Have you really forgotten your roots? If we dig up a treasure, the Party and the State will benefit, not our organization! That stuff will only make the Party and the State more powerful and ruthless, which will only make things worse for us! Right now, handing over a map will both shut up the little notebooks and prevent them from getting their hands on the whole map—isn't that the safest way to end things?"

Sai Xishi spoke with unwavering conviction and resolute determination.

"Reliable? What good is a map! You know how insidious those informants are—they're like mercury, spreading everywhere—what if one day a copy of the map is secretly made and sold to them? Who's going to cover that up?"

"Therefore, we must have the second map in our hands before we can truly lock it down."

Li Wenguo spoke calmly and firmly, not giving an inch.

"Locked up? Nonsense! I think you're after the Party and the State's official hat, trying to use this picture to exchange for an official seal and gold bars, aren't you?"

"You're not the same comrade you used to be. Back then, your eyes shone with light, and your spine was straight. But now? You reek of the filth that's been steeped in the dye vat of the Party-state!"

"I'm even starting to doubt—do you even deserve to call yourself 'a member of the organization'!"

Sai Xishi's gaze was like a knife, piercing straight at him.

Although she hadn't seen Li Wenguo much these days, the more she looked at him, the more suspicious she became: he spoke in circles, his smiles were full of hidden meanings, and his every move was unlike that of a revolutionary comrade, but rather like a seasoned old fox who knew how to manipulate people.

Looking back now, I really regret dumping all the tasks assigned by the organization onto his subordinates.

Want to take it back? No way.

The person delivering the intelligence was his man, and the contact, Binzi, was also his man.

Even the location of the dead mailbox keeps changing every now and then—she has no idea where the newest one is.

Li Wenguo had already firmly grasped the entire intelligence line.

She was essentially being strangled.