Chapter 66: The Assassination

"A beauty pageant?'

'Dream on! I'll take you there later.'

'Great!'

'There are so many courtesans in the ten-mile Bund, you'll have your fill...'

'Great!'

Zhang Yong was very eager.

Beauty pageants in this era should not have any technology or harsh practices.

They were all original, right? No obvious processing or modifications. Let's see how beautiful the beauties of this era really were.

Unfortunately...

Before he could finish eating, the phone rang.

It was Li Boqi. He knew that Zhang Yong was eating at the Kang Le Western Restaurant.

Zhang Yong hurriedly answered the phone.

'Team leader...'

'Have you finished eating?'

'Almost...'

'Come back. Something's happened.'

'What is it?'

'I'll tell you when you get back.'

'Yes!'

Zhang Yong promised.

He hung up the phone. He explained the situation to Zhu Yuan.

This kind of thing is common. They both work for the government. There are too many unexpected events.

'It's a real shame...'

'Next time, tell me the results of the beauty pageant.'

'Read the newspaper yourself.'

'Okay!'

Zhang Yong said goodbye and left.

As he walked out the door, he saw Liu Xi. She was waiting for him nearby.

She looked puzzled.

Is there something wrong?

Why didn't you say anything just now?

You left in such a hurry. What happened in between?

He walked over.

'Tomorrow morning, are you free?'

'Not really.'

'My goods have already arrived at Tianzi Wharf, and I must collect them tomorrow. My next customer is waiting.'

'Beauty, you're being a bully!'

'Just tell me if you'll do it or not.'

'I'll do it. But I want 20% of the profit. Cash on the spot.'

Zhang Yong responded.

Western medicine, he definitely wanted it.

Whether it was for self-defense or to be resold to the Red Party, he needed it.

No matter how much, he wants it.

Price is not an issue.

By constantly arresting Japanese spies and accumulating wealth, an effective closed loop can be formed.

No matter how much wealth is plundered, it will ultimately have to be converted into physical goods. Weapons and medicine are the two most important things. One kills the enemy. The other saves lives. Indispensable.

'You might as well go rob!'

'Then go find someone else. I'll pretend I know nothing.'

'Okay, I'll give you 20%!'

'Next time, order more! Two boxes is too little!'

'I get my goods from Bayer in Germany. There are a lot of formalities involved in getting them here from Europe, okay? And I don't have that kind of money.'

'How much does a box cost?'

'Five hundred US dollars.'

'I'll give you ten thousand US dollars sometime. You get twenty boxes.'

'You need to hurry. It takes three months to get there. It also takes time to make an appointment to pick up the goods.'

'You seem to know a lot about this business?'

'No. I've just started. So you're an original shareholder. If we become rich in the future, you'll also have a hand in it.'

'You're a crook!'

'You must find time to go to the docks tomorrow. I'll wait for your call at the hospital.'

'Okay!'

Zhang Yong nodded. He agreed.

Liu Xi then turned and walked away. Her graceful figure disappeared into the darkness.

Could she be a female spy?

Suddenly, it didn't feel like it.

If she were a Japanese spy, it seems a bit naive to try to get me involved in this way.

As everyone knows, this kind of thing is an open secret within the Guomindang. No one cares.

Power is meant to be used, and it expires after a certain period of time.

Even Boss Dai himself is desperately using his power to line his own pockets, right?

As the leader of the secret service division of the Lixing Club, what's wrong with using my position to get some Western medicine? If I don't do it, someone else will. If I don't do this, I'll do that. What's wrong with making a little extra money...

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The Kong family even sold opium! It was high-purity foreign opium imported from India...

So, this kind of thing is not a problem.

On the contrary, if she's not a female spy, that would be intriguing.

What does she want with so many forbidden drugs? Is she just trying to make money by selling them? Or is she doing it for some organisation that can't get drugs openly?

Haha, interesting...

I hurried back to the office with my men.

Li Boqi was not in the office. Upon enquiry, I learned that he had gone to the Songhu Garrison Command. So I turned to the Garrison Command.

The Garrison Command was in Longhua. It was very large. It was heavily guarded.

At least one regiment of soldiers was stationed there. There were numerous guard posts.

Although I had a document from the Secret Service Division of the Lixing Society, I was repeatedly interrogated. My weapons were also confiscated.

At this moment, the Secret Service Division of the Lixing Society did not carry much weight in the face of the Garrison Command.

The military bigwigs were still not afraid of the Li Xing Society for the time being.

This was the reason why Boss Dai was very depressed. He had not yet been able to instil fear in most of the military leaders. Even some of the police leaders were not afraid of him.

For example, the Jinling Police Department was just paying lip service to Boss Dai. The head of the police was called Li Shizhen. He also did not take Boss Dai seriously.

In the final analysis, the Li Xing Society was not powerful enough.

After three years, the influence of the military rapidly expanded, and not many military leaders dared to disobey the military.

This kind of police headquarters, the military can come and go as they please. Whoever dares to intercept them will get a slap. Whoever interrupts them will be in trouble. If anyone is unwise and tries to obstruct the military, they will be shot dead, but it will be a meaningless death.

Sure enough, I found Li Boqi here. He came first with Cao Mengqi.

Cao Mengqi stopped Zhang Yong.

'What happened?' Zhang Yong asked curiously.

'Vice Commander Yang was assassinated,' Cao Mengqi replied, 'but he's not dead. But his injuries are very serious.'

'Which hospital was he taken to?'

'Ci Ji Hospital.'

'Who was in charge of his protection?'

'The Garrison Command. Commander Qian arranged it himself.'

'Oh.'

Zhang Yong nodded thoughtfully.

Vice Commander Yang was assassinated. This is no small matter! No wonder Li Boqi immediately called him back.

Did the Japanese do it?

Zhang Yong didn't think so. The Japanese didn't seem to have any reason to assassinate anyone.

This Vice Commander Yang was the target of their strategy. What good would it do to assassinate him? Unless the commander of the 59th Army was replaced. With someone the Japanese wanted.

Did the Red Party do it?

Definitely not.

The Red Party didn't play around with assassinations or kidnappings. Zhou Enlai had forbidden the underground party from engaging in such despicable tactics. Violence was only used against traitors within the party. Vice Commander Yang was not a traitor to the Red Party.

Was it the gangs?

Was it political opponents?

It was hard to say. I guess Li Boqi couldn't tell either.

Sure enough, not long after, Zhang Yong met Li Boqi together with Cao Mengqi. Li Boqi had a gloomy face and cold eyes.

It was already late at night, and he was called in a hurry, and the attitude of the people from the Garrison Command was not good, which made him very unhappy. Boss Dai's name really didn't carry much weight here. The Garrison Command completely treated them as tools. The deadline was to solve the case. They were being told what to do directly. It was no wonder that Li Boqi was unhappy.

'Team leader...'

'Have you found any hidden Japanese in the garrison headquarters?'

'No.'

'Keep moving around.'

'Yes.'

Zhang Yong led the men back and forth through the garrison headquarters.

They went everywhere they could. Within a 150-metre radius, they did not find any sign of the Japanese. However, this did not rule out the possibility that the Japanese had committed the crime.

Perhaps it wasn't the Japanese who did it.

Perhaps the murderer was hired by the Japanese invaders.

Finally, they arrived at the north side of the garrison headquarters, which had a vast area.

'Sorry. Please go back!'

'Over there is...'

'This side is the prison. You don't have permission to come in here.'

'Oh...'

Zhang Yong and the others were stopped.

They were stopped by military policemen belonging to the garrison headquarters.

The leader was a military police major. It belonged to an independent military police system. The first commander of the Guomindang military police was called Gu Zhenglun.

'Pop!'

'Pop!'

Suddenly, there was gunfire inside.

Zhang Yong's eyes darkened.

What's going on?

'None of your business. We're executing Red Party members.'

'What?'

Zhang Yong frowned inwardly.

Executing Reds?