Chapter Thirty-Four: The Photograph

  Dong Zhiyu waited outside the wall, feeling puzzled in her heart. Originally, she had thought about it for a long time and since Fu Qiusheng and Huai Jin both openly admitted to her that they had passed on intelligence to the Red Empty Party, it was possible to rule out any one of them being an organization mole. The current situation was complex, and since the outbreak of the war of resistance, especially after Wang Zhiming formed a cabinet with the Japanese in Xuanwu City, the legitimate Xuanwu government and the Red Empty government had begun cooperating openly and secretly. Although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone exchanged intelligence through various channels, which she had also heard about. In Shanghai, there was a Dan Feng Bai Lu Club, where the two parties and social underworld figures secretly exchanged or sold intelligence. She believed that Huai Jin's so-called "channel" must be of this nature, and following him would give her hope to find the organization.

  Tonight, she felt that something was fishy. The other party had come all the way here by rickshaw, and their behavior was very suspicious. Since her family's old mansion had been occupied by the Japanese and turned into a hotel, it had always been a place to entertain high-ranking military officers. But she didn't enter through the main door; instead, she sneaked in quietly by climbing over the wall. There must be something going on inside. What puzzled her was that after Huaijin entered the room on the second floor, the lights inside were quickly extinguished, and then there was no more movement. Who exactly was in that room?

  At the sound of the middle-aged woman's voice, both Makoto and Kaito were slightly stunned, then Kaito pressed the knife tightly against her throat: "Tell her you slept."

  Zhen Ji gently grasped the hand that was holding the knife and softly asked towards the outside of the door, "Xia Zi?" At the same time, he slightly shook his head at Huai Jin, "She has something to discuss with me, we agreed on it earlier. If I say I'm sleeping now, she'll be suspicious."

  "It's me. I've brought you the list of tomorrow's guests that you just asked for, Rei."

  "Please ask Xia Zi to wait for a moment, I'm taking a bath and changing clothes, sorry for the trouble."

  Huai Jin raised Zhen Ji's body and stood up straight, preparing to respond to any sudden situation at any time.

  "It's like that, so I'll come over again in a moment, but Takashi, your room is really dark, isn't anything wrong?"

  "Oh, the candle has burned out, I'm changing it now." said Makoto, pointing at the low cabinet.

  Huai Jin let go of the dagger in his hand, tilted his head towards the low cabinet, and Zhen Ji also got up on her knees, moved to the side of the low cabinet, rubbed a match, and lit the candle.

  The sound of wooden clogs echoed outside the door again, and the woman named Natsumi walked away.

  Zhenji gazed at Huaijin's eyes in the candlelight, deep and profound. She had observed her countless times from afar while singing and playing the guqin. Huaijin was a unique female military officer who would sit alone, sipping wine quietly, while other officers drank and made merry. Unlike many of them, her eyes did not gleam with bloodlust; instead, she seemed peaceful, exuding an air of detachment from worldly concerns. This puzzled Zhenji, as most officers here were willing to risk their lives for fame and wealth, or a small number for their faith in the Emperor. In contrast, Huaijin appeared to have no such convictions. Zhenji had seen many puppet officials with fawning eyes, but Huaijin gave her an entirely different feeling. From the first time she saw her until their repeated encounters here, although Huaijin was unaware of her presence, Zhenji found herself deeply entangled and unable to extricate herself.

  She yearned for him to cast his gaze upon her once, the first time her wish was fulfilled was when Huai Jin left Guang Zuo's room, at that time she really lost her composure, but Huai Jin who was in a precarious situation left with such ease. The second time, is now, her neck being pressed against by the dagger in his hand, for the first time being so close to her, close enough to see the shadow reflected in his deep pupils, able to smell the faint scent emanating from him.

  Is there anything else you'd like to know?

  Huai Jin thought for a moment, "Nothing else."

  Zhen Ji fell silent, she didn't know what Hua Jin would do next, was he going to kill her to silence her? Probably not, his attitude had already been very clear, besides, she didn't even know who he was, did she?

  Huaijin quickly went over the details of what had just happened in her mind. In fact, if Huaijin had really gone to sleep according to her own wishes, it would have aroused Xiaozhi's suspicion instead. But she seemed not to want to expose herself at all, which was very strange.

  "There is indeed one more thing you should know," Yu Jin added.

  "Speak without reserve."

  "You, why would you help me?" Professional habit forced her to clarify things that went against reason. For this geisha, the only chance to clarify was in front of her. If she answered vaguely, she would have to take action.

  Zhenji's two rows of long eyelashes trembled slightly like wings, she didn't expect Huaijin to ask this question, and indeed she was a clever and intelligent woman.

  "There is a book in the cabinet, inside there are several photos, you can take a look."

  Huaijin hesitated for a moment, then opened the low cabinet beside her. Inside, there was indeed such a book. She put down the dagger and took out the book. Between its pages were inserted several photos. The first one seemed to be a family portrait, with four people in it: a middle-aged couple, with a pair of young boys standing behind them. The boy was handsome and slender, while the girl wore a dark dress, her soft hair combed up from both sides, tied into a beautiful bow on top of her head. In the photo, she smiled sweetly, looking very happy. The second one was a joint photo of the two young boys, still filled with a joyful atmosphere.

  "This is my family. My father, mother, brother," paused for a moment, "They are all gone from this world."

  Huaijin raised his head from the book and looked at Zhendi.

  "My father and brother died one after another on the battlefield, my mother couldn't withstand the blow and also passed away...". Sanae's voice trembled slightly, steadied herself, "So, I'm an anti-war activist, I love the Yamato people, but I detest war."

  Huai Jin thought for a moment, "What does this have to do with you helping me?"

  "It's related, my home was destroyed by the war maniacs of the Ministry of War, Kageyama is a person from the Ministry of War, if you are his enemy, I will help you."

  Huai Jin felt a little incredulous. Usually, he thought that these geishas who only knew how to sing and dance every day, with their faces painted white, were soulless playthings for men. He didn't expect the woman in front of him to have such a painful story hidden in her heart, even willing to betray the military department.

  She casually flipped through the book and saw that there was also a photo on the last page. She thought it was another family portrait, but when she took a casual glance, she unexpectedly saw a woman in a cheongsam standing next to a teenage girl who looked like her. This wasn't what shocked her, though - the key thing was... Her mind suddenly went blank as she wondered how this could be possible. She flipped the last page back and forth again, and when she looked at the back of the photo, it indeed had two names written on it: Dong Ruoshao, Dong Zhiyu.

  The author has something to say: I added an album called "Broken Detective" on Weibo, and will gradually add some old photos related to this article. Interested girls can go take a look.

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