Chapter 6 "False Evidence"

  Qin Guangcheng closed the door and pulled out a leather trunk from under the bed.

  As I opened the trunk, the first thing that caught my eye was a military uniform. It looked like it belonged to a British officer, but upon closer inspection, it didn't quite look like one either.

  Where did Qin Guangcheng get this set of military uniforms? Just as he was scratching his head in confusion, he heard Qin Guangcheng say:

  "It's a coincidence, two years ago I went to Shanghai for business and met a person of unknown nationality in the concession area who could speak Mandarin. He said he was British, and some kind of military officer, an ensign, yes, an ensign. He had broken military rules and was afraid of being punished by his superiors, so he slipped out of the army. He didn't have a single penny on him, only this military uniform."

  "Nonsense." Wang Hengyue laughed first.

  "I also know he's been fooling around there." Qin Guangcheng smiled and took out a piece of paper from under his military uniform: "And this, it's some British Army Academy graduation certificate, saying he wants to sell it to me together."

  Wang Hengyue took it over and saw that the top of the paper was written in English as "Graduation Certificate of Sandhurst Royal Military Academy of the British Empire". Wang Hengyue immediately showed a smile again: "Britain does have a Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, which is very famous, but who would call themselves like this on formal documents? It must be fake."

  Further down, it's nothing but excellent grades and approved graduation. The big English text is full of Chinese official jargon, with inverted syntax and ungrammatical sentences, obviously fabricated by someone who racked their brains. At the very bottom, there is a bright red seal, no idea if it was carved out of a carrot or not.

  The most bizarre thing is that the row for graduates was empty.

  Qin Guangcheng nodded at the "diploma": "Since it's a formal graduation, how can there be an empty space on the graduate's diploma? I took one look and knew it was fake. I didn't want to buy it, but thinking that it might come in handy someday, I spent a little money and bought both the military uniform and the diploma. Who would have thought that today it really came in handy?"

  Wang Hengyue quickly reacted: "Could it be that Big Brother Qin wants me to wear this military uniform and pretend to be someone I'm not?"

  "It's exactly this calculation." Qin Guangcheng nodded: "Every place is training new troops, and those with some foreign background, who slightly understand military affairs, are being wooed as treasures, regardless of whether they are useful or not. Our Ye Duolei is even more superstitious about foreign things, he can't distinguish between true and false, and since you also know a bit of foreign language, you can certainly bluff your way through."

  Wang Hengyue was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

  I was carrying a bag of counterfeit goods and somehow crossed over here, now I've even got a fake ID pretending to be an overseas student?

  Qin Guangcheng didn't care about anything else, took out a "Conqueror" pen and pointed at the graduate: "Write it down, I don't understand foreign languages, you can just fill in your own name here."

  Wang Heng's hand trembled with fear, his pen felt as heavy as a thousand catties, as he wrote down his own name.

  Qin Guangcheng blew on the seal, very satisfied, and let Wang Hengyue put on that "military uniform", looked left and right, praised without stopping, and handed the "diploma" to Wang Hengyue: "Isn't this a military officer returning from studying abroad?"

  Wang Hengyue looked at himself in the mirror, put on his military uniform, and wore a hat, which gave him quite a heroic air.

  "Just go to Yedu tomorrow, it's better not to wear this outfit too early, or it will be too showy." Qin Guangcheng smiled and reminded him several times.

  Wang Hengyue was embarrassed and scratched his head

  The next morning, Du Charlie was a man of his word and arrived early at the Qin residence. After listening to Qin Guangcheng's introduction, he found that Wang Hengyue had actually graduated from a British military academy, and couldn't help but praise him. However, he was also somewhat curious - if Wang Hengyue had grown up in the United States, why did he go to Britain for school? It seemed that the military power of the British Empire was still stronger than that of the United States after all.

  Qin Guangcheng had already prepared several sedan chairs and got on one of them, rushing straight to Ye Duole's place.

  The guard at the door was very familiar with Du Charlie, and when he saw Du Charlie coming, he didn't even ask any questions, but directly let him pass. Du Charlie gave a few more red envelopes to the guard, who then led the two of them in.

  "Everyone's leader, little brother has come to see you." Du Chali is familiar with the door.

  "Brother Du, please sit down, what good news do you have to share with me?" Seeing Du Charlie arrive, Ye Xuanbiao beamed with joy, and a high-ranking military officer didn't mind his identity, addressing a merchant as brother.

  Upon seeing Qin Guangcheng again, his smile was even more radiant: "Qin boss, last time at my mother's birthday celebration, that golden Guanyin statue of yours was truly eye-catching. My mother was very grateful."

  Qin Guangcheng smiled and nodded, stepping aside to make way for Wang Hengyue: "General, let me introduce someone to you."

  Before he could finish speaking, Ye Du glanced at Wang Hengyue's expression and his face immediately turned stern: "Brother Du, Qin Zhanggui, I considered you both as friends, but it seems that you're not being very righteous."

  "What did you come here to say, Lord?"

  "Look, look, another one deceived by evil words, even his queue is cut off! That's strictly forbidden by the imperial court. What a mess, what a mess! Come on, come on, throw this fellow out for me!"

  "Slow down." Du Charlie smiled and let the guard out: "General Dule, I'll introduce you to this one. This is Wang Hengyue, a young brother from America. His family has been doing business in America for generations, they're very wealthy. General Dule should know that Americans never keep their queues. Look at me, I've cut off my queue too, are you going to kick me out as well?"

  "Has Mr. Mei returned?" Ye Xuanbiao was slightly stunned, his face changed, and a smile reappeared on his face. He repeatedly clasped his hands: "So it's Brother Wang, I've long admired you. Is everything well with your respected father in the United States?"

  "Good, good!" Wang Hengyue cried and laughed, "Brother Wang"? Could it be that this Ye Douling recognized his own father?

  After a few people sat down and chatted for a while, Du Charlie suddenly asked: "I heard that the Governor is going to train new troops again?"

  "Could it be otherwise?" Ye Xuanbiao sighed and showed off: "As soon as Commander Zhao gives the order, Clock Taizong will inevitably push these things onto my younger brother again. My younger brother is really busy, with no time to eat or sleep. Where does this military pay come from? Where do the weapons come from? My younger brother is having a hard time sleeping at night, but what can be done to share the worries of the court?"

  He said, lest he neglect Wang Hengyue, this "big shot" from the United States: "Brother Wang, is your return this time for business? If there's anything I can help with, just say so."

  Wang Heng had not spoken yet, when Du Chali hastily said: "This time Shu Zhi's brother has come back to serve the imperial court."

  "Oh?" Ye Xuanbiao's eyes rolled around: "What does brother mean?"

  Wang Hengyue did not hide anything and said straightforwardly: "Join the army!"