Chapter Forty-six Red String

  Ying Zhenzhao's residence in the Huangpu District was not only heavily guarded inside, but also had agents from various factions such as the Xuantong, Qingtong, Red Gang and Green Gang lurking around the street outside the main gate. Every person entering or leaving this residence would be checked by the special agents inside, while being watched closely by the scouts outside.

  At this moment, a Japanese man with a cloth strip on his head with "Gion Sushi" written on it, carrying a wooden lunch box, was stopped at the entrance. The Japanese man spoke while constantly bowing, as if he had never seen such a scene before, and nodded repeatedly.

  At last, the guard let him go, and Koku's man, wearing wooden clogs, was led by the guard to Eijo's study. He pushed open the door, and when the guard had gone some distance away, he straightened his back, and his eyes shot out a sharp, hawk-like gleam.

  "General Oyamada, you've arrived." Kage no Sa said, wiping his sword.

  "Hey! Kageyama-kun!" Takemoto bowed his head slightly, "Kazehaya died."

  "Not bad, shot in the head, and then thrown into the Huangpu River."

  "Have you found the murderer?"

  "Not yet. From the analysis of the extracted bullets, it is inferred that the gun was from the black market and cannot be traced."

  "What a coincidence." Takimoto narrowed his eyes.

  Ying Sui stared at him, waiting for his next words.

  "Guess who I saw here two days ago?"

  "Who?" Kage's face grew even darker.

  "Huai - Jin" sounded gentle and slow, as if savoring this name and the person behind it.

  "Kaijin," Kage Sō said thoughtfully, "what did General Maeda mean by 'cunning'?"

  "Since Hua Jin is on the list of suspects for 'Quē', and He Shuqiang has revealed so many Yu Pei spies, she comes to Shanghai, and He Shuqiang dies. Isn't this a coincidence?"

  "It's indeed a coincidence," said Kage no Sato, finally finishing wiping his sword and revealing its cold glint, "and what's even more coincidental is that it was I who arranged for her to come to Shanghai."

  From Jiangwan to the city, the sky was already bright. A week ago, she received Qing Yeqing at Jiangwan Airport, and the other party was very excited. He thought that Huaijin's appearance meant unconditional support from the Wang government for this large-scale movement that had been brewing, but was Wang Zhongming really unconditional? Wrong, he had his own small abacus.

  The energy and raw materials of the country are exhausted, which has been evident for several years. Therefore, the guideline of "using the Tuo to control the Tuo, using war to nurture war" was formulated, and finally in the autumn of last year, the "Emergency Countermeasures against the Tuo Economy" was thrown out, aiming to plunder and seize various energy materials from the Tuo country. Even the people of the country know that the proverb "Su Hu is full, the world is enough", which has been circulating since the Southern Song Dynasty, this experimental area for plundering and seizing, is located in the rich Yangtze River middle and lower reaches plain, starting from Suzhou and Shanghai.

  However, economic exploitation must rely on military assistance. The Japanese Ministry of War and the Cabinet were already planning a Pacific war at that time, constantly transferring elite troops stationed in China back to Japan, so the Japanese army in China had no armed forces except for several major cities in the occupied areas, as well as the surrounding vast countryside and outside the occupied areas.

  Wang Zhaoming saw that Huaxia needed armed support, and since he formed the puppet Xuanwu government, his greatest wish was to have an army of his own. So, taking advantage of this opportunity, he approached Ying Zuocheng with what he called the "Clear Countryside Movement", telling Huaxia that it aimed to help stabilize the occupied areas, develop and obtain energy resources, but in reality, he could use this as a chance to build his own armed forces and gain various military supplies.

  Ying Ze saw through Wang Zhao Ming's small abacus, but didn't want to expose him because Wang's movement and the Hui National Military Department were indeed complementary. So he proposed that the "Clear Countryside Movement" could be carried out, with no interference from Hui in politics and culture, but militarily, it must involve leaders trusted by the Hui people, such as Huai Jin.

  These past few months, documents of this nature have been constantly arriving in her hands, until Ying Zuo personally sent her an official document stating that Qing Yeying will be returning to Shanghai soon and asking her to quickly contact him, gather the leaders of the Wang and Gui armies who are fighting against China, and formulate armed measures targeting the towns in the Su-Hu experimental zone.

  She could have waited until after the New Year to deal with it, but because of He Shuqiang's affairs, she was afraid that if there were any emergency situations, this could be used as a pretext. So she brought along the red-headed document and made preparations. In fact, her worries proved to be wise. After seeing He Shuqiang's list, she knew that the Japanese had already learned of the existence of "Qū", and perhaps she was being followed without knowing it. At the Jade Buddha Temple, she saw the interpreter for the Wang government and a suspicious-looking Japanese person who seemed familiar. All this put her in danger, so she rushed to Jiangwan Airport and the camp overnight, picked up Qingqi Xingyin, and gathered all the high-ranking officers of the puppet army stationed there, as well as the commander of the Japanese army's operations department against China. One tense meeting after another took place until a map was filled with pillboxes, artillery emplacements, sealed trenches, electrified fences, and armed camps...

  A week's deployment has come to an end, she finally had a handover in all aspects and can leave Shanghai now.

  "So, it's not a coincidence that Huaijin appeared in Shanghai, is it an arrangement by Shadow General?" Takamoto's tone was laced with discontent, as if his carefully crafted work of art had been dismissed by someone else's words.

  "Ei Sasuke narrowed his eyes, 'Either she's innocent or she's too clever...' He looked at Takamoto again, 'Remember what I told you last time, Takamoto-taisha. I don't want it to be Kagen.'"

  A sharp aura burst out of Takemoto's eyes, "My intuition tells me that she is not simple."

  "You are a man, a soldier, what you need is not intuition, but logic and evidence."

  Tombstone lowered his head, but his eyes couldn't conceal the killer's aura: "I will find out."

  There were still several hours before the train departed, so Huaijin took a stroll in the bustling city to relax her tense nerves over the past few days. Ahead of her was a small café run by a Jewish person, with a public phone booth at the entrance. She walked up and dialed Dong Ruoshao's home phone number.

  "Hello Mrs Wu, I'm Huai Jin, is Dong Zhiyu at home?"

  "Oh dear! It's Miss Huai, hello! Young Mistress returned to Xuanwu the day before yesterday, are you still in Shanghai?"

  "Oh, that's it, no problem, thank you Wu Ma, I won't bother you anymore." Huai Jin waited for the other party to respond, then bid farewell and hung up the phone.

  Has she returned to Xuanwu so early?

  Huajin was walking aimlessly on the pedestrian street, this trip to Shanghai was like a dream, and it actually solved two knots in her heart for many years. The avenged enemy who fell into the net allowed her to catch and kill him, and the benefactor who saved her life more than a decade ago let her find him again.

  In front of a bustling shop, Huai Jin raised her head to take a look and found it was a hundred-year-old silver building. The young ladies and wealthy madams were taking advantage of the New Year to add some fine jewelry for themselves or their family and friends.

  She also walked in, a piece of gold dazzling her eyes. As the saying goes, "In prosperous times, jade is hidden, and in chaotic times, gold is hidden." Especially when the circulating currency becomes more unstable and devalued, people with money would rather exchange their paper bills for gold and silver.

  Strolled around casually and saw a delicate red wristband on a quiet shelf, with a small white jade sheep tied to it, looking unique and lovely, my heart skipped a beat.

  The counter gentleman looked at her and saw that she was dressed with a good temperament, so he came forward: "Miss, you have a good eye for things. This is a beautiful jade, 'Hehe'!" As he spoke, he put on white gloves and carefully took it out. At that time, the silver shops in Shanghai also learned from foreigners, and the clerks began to wear white gloves when taking out jewelry.

  Hua Jin took a closer look, and the warm white jade was exquisite in its craftsmanship, indeed a top-grade item.

  "To be honest with you, Miss, this item is not cheap. Although the red cord may seem worthless, the jade sheep is actually made of top-quality Hetian jade. The craftsman who carved it, look," he said, flipping over the jade sheep to reveal a seal script signature on its back: Zhang Wendi.

  Few people dare to sign their names on jade artifacts.

  "I'm done," Huai Jin said calmly.

  The author has something to say: "Qingxiang Movement" and red-headed documents, there are foreshadows in Chapter 15 of "Sui Tang Yan Yi", interested mushrooms can go back and take a look.

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