Republic of China, 1922: Rise from the Post-Zhili-Fengtian War

Gu Cheng walked up to Zhao, the adjutant, and looked down at him: "Tang Yulin sent you to kill someone and cover it up. How many accomplices does he have? What other tricks is he planning to play? Confess honestly, and maybe we can spare your life."

Zhao, the adjutant, was deathly pale, but he stubbornly remained silent.

Mu Haisheng stepped forward, grabbed his collar, and shouted sternly, "Master Gu is asking you a question, how dare you not answer?"

Gu Cheng raised his hand to stop Mu Haisheng and said calmly, "There's no need to force him. Take him and these people back to the regimental headquarters and interrogate them overnight. Once we get them to talk, Tang Yulin's crimes will no longer be able to be hidden."

He turned to look at the surviving scoundrels and said in a deep voice, "You people have committed many evils and deserve to be severely punished by military discipline."

But Tang Yulin wanted to kill you to silence you and cover up his crimes. Today, I am sparing your lives not to forgive you, but to make you publicly testify against Tang Yulin's evil deeds and pay for the blood debt you owe!

The thugs kowtowed repeatedly, chanting, "Thank you, Master Gu, for sparing our lives!" and "We will definitely testify against Brigade Commander Tang!"

Gu Cheng said no more, and ordered in a deep voice: "Take everyone into custody, clean up the scene, and bring them back to the regimental headquarters tonight! Keep them under strict guard, interrogate them separately, and make sure to record every single word of the evidence that Tang Yulin instructed the murders to cover it up!"

"Yes!" the guards responded in unison, and immediately set to work, escorting Zhao, the adjutant, and the soldiers back to their unit.

…………

Inside the hall of the temporary camp of the 11th Mixed Brigade, the lights were on and the air was thick with the smell of alcohol.

The eight-immortal table was laden with meat and vegetable dishes, and several jars of strong liquor were empty. Tang Yulin leaned back in his armchair, his face flushed from the alcohol, and his tone was full of arrogance and pride.

Several trusted subordinates sat on either side of him, drinking with him and flattering him, making Tang Yulin beam with joy.

"Brigadier, your move was brilliant!" A subordinate approached with a wine glass, his face full of flattery. "Sending Lieutenant Zhao to silence them en route will be a secret. Once those bastards are dead, even if Gu Cheng has immense power, he won't be able to touch you! Then you can tell the outside world that they fled to escape punishment and even killed each other. Who will be able to find any flaws?"

Tang Yulin chuckled, unscrewed his snuff bottle, took a couple of puffs, and squinted comfortably. "Of course. Gu Cheng, a mere brat, dares to challenge me? Does he really think he can rule Jinzhou with his mere garrison regiment? What a joke! When the brothers were helping Commander Yu conquer the land, he was still a baby!"

He picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. "Once this matter is settled, I'll bring your sisters-in-law from Fengtian and settle them down in Jinzhou."

"Those fertile plots of land that guy surnamed Gu owns, and the grain supply routes outside the city—I'll take them over little by little, slowly squeezing him out. Then Jinzhou will be the domain of our 11th Mixed Brigade!"

"The brigade commander is brilliant!" everyone echoed, raising their glasses in a toast. "Once we've established a foothold in Jinzhou, we can petition the commander-in-chief to expand our defense zone. Your future will be limitless!"

Tang Yulin laughed triumphantly: "Hahaha, you guys have good taste! Gu Cheng is just making a living off Feng Delin's name. Now that Feng Delin himself is in trouble, what kind of trouble can he cause?"

Once Lieutenant Zhao returns and reports that the cover-up was successful, we'll begin our operation, starting with his outer defense zone!

As he spoke, he glanced at the night outside the window, his brow furrowing slightly. He said impatiently, "Speaking of which, why has that bastard Zhao been gone for so long? He should have been back reporting by now. Did something go wrong on the way?"

His subordinate quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Don't worry, Brigade Commander. Lieutenant Zhao is efficient and you promoted him yourself, so there won't be any problems. Maybe he was delayed on the way, or maybe burying the body took some time. He'll definitely be back with good news soon."

Tang Yulin nodded, thinking he was just overthinking things. He picked up his wine cup again, about to drink another cup, when suddenly a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall, accompanied by soldiers shouting in panic, "Fourth Master, Fourth Master... something's happened!"

A soldier on duty scrambled into the hall, forgetting even to salute, and blurted out, "The sentry on the city wall reports that Gu... Gu Cheng is leading a troop of men, heading towards the Jinzhou garrison from the outskirts of the city. They're also carrying quite a few people, and they look... they look like our men!"

"What?!"

Tang Yulin's wine glass crashed to the ground with a loud bang, spilling wine everywhere. His smug expression froze instantly, replaced by disbelief, astonishment, and gloom.

He jumped to his feet, rushed to the soldier, grabbed him by the collar, and demanded, "What did you say? Gu Cheng led his men back? And he's holding our men captive? Was it Lieutenant Zhao? Where are those bastards?"

The soldier, breathless and pale from being gripped, stammered, "They...they're Gu Cheng's men. Among those they're escorting are civilians and soldiers from our brigade. They were too far away to see clearly if it was Lieutenant Zhao...The sentry said they came from the direction of the mixed woods on the outskirts of the city. They look like they just finished fighting!"

"A mixed forest?!" Tang Yulin's heart sank, and an ominous premonition instantly swept over his body.

The mixed woods was the very place he had ordered his adjutant Zhao to lead men to silence them!

Gu Cheng personally led his troops back from there, along with their men. It's obvious that Deputy Zhao's plan to silence them has been exposed! Those soldiers who caused the trouble might have been rescued by Gu Cheng!

"Useless! All of you are useless!" Tang Yulin trembled with rage, shoving the soldier to the ground and roaring, "That good-for-nothing Zhao Quancai! He can't even handle a simple matter like murder to cover up a crime, and Gu Cheng even managed to get hold of him!"

His subordinates were also flustered, looking at each other in bewilderment, no one daring to utter a sound—they had just been praising Tang Yulin's plan, and in the blink of an eye, such a big blunder had occurred, no one dared to offend him.

Tang Yulin paced back and forth, and the atmosphere in the hall instantly plummeted to freezing point.

The arrogance he had displayed moments before had vanished, replaced by a sinister and ruthless demeanor. He gripped the snuff bottle tightly with his fingertips, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

"Gu Cheng...you actually dared to scheme against me!" he hissed, his voice filled with venom. "Looks like I'll teach you a lesson you won't believe you!"

He abruptly stopped, turned to his subordinates, and sternly ordered: "Immediately assemble the entire brigade's elite forces, seal off all entrances and exits to the garrison, set up machine guns, and be on high alert!"

Send two more trusted men, disguised as civilians, to immediately scout out the outskirts of the Jinzhou garrison to find out if Lieutenant Zhao has been arrested and whether those ruffians have confessed!

"Furthermore," Tang Yulin's eyes turned cold, his tone ruthless, "go and arrest Zhao's family members and keep them under strict surveillance! If Zhao really confesses, I'll skin him alive and wipe out his entire family!"

"Yes! We'll take care of it right away!" The subordinates didn't dare to delay and quickly responded, turning around and leaving in a hurry.