Just as Zheng Ya stepped out of the courtyard and flew away, Fu Qingyao and Xu Qi were overcome with sadness. Qin Huairu, who was being humiliated by Lou Xiao'e, smiled throughout, but then stopped not far from the hanging flower gate in the middle courtyard and watched Zheng Ya leave, laughing.
Lou Xiao'e mistakenly thought that she was being mocked for her ignorance, and angrily turned and left.
"Pah!" Qin Huairu spat at Lou Xiao'e's retreating figure, then turned and walked out of the courtyard, tying her hair up with a red silk handkerchief as she went.
The person in the guesthouse on the third floor of Chaoyang Guesthouse saw Qin Huairu wearing a red silk scarf and quickly taking out a jade pendant from her pocket and hanging it on the top of the wooden frame on the window glass through binoculars.
The jade pendant reflected the dazzling light of the rising sun, giving a signal to those monitoring the situation from three miles away with binoculars, who quickly sent a telegram to the person in charge on the periphery.
Seventy miles away, in a karst cave behind Luojiatun, the sound of a telegraph machine rang out.
Upon receiving the telegram, the village woman painstakingly deciphered it, emerged from the sealed cave entrance, concealed the opening, and then jogged back to the village.
The middle-aged village chief noticed the village woman approaching, squatted down, and said to Old Lady Long, "Old woman, things over there are all arranged. What do you say?"
"Can't you let this old woman live a few more years?" Old Mrs. Long said resentfully and helplessly.
She was once the mistress of a high-ranking official in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. She survived the turmoil caused by warlords and relied on the family fortune that the official left her when he fled, which he could not take with him. She repeatedly bribed military officers and managed to live on safely.
Later, when the Japanese invaded, she became the mistress of a minor Japanese official and once again miraculously survived the Japanese invasion of China.
When the Nationalist army came to power, she resorted to her old tricks, seeking refuge in the arms of a junior officer to survive.
She was a shrewd person. When she discovered that the Communists had infiltrated Beiping, she secretly passed on intelligence to the Communists in order to gain merit and protect herself.
She won again, but she knew that her secrets couldn't withstand scrutiny. Plus, she was getting old and couldn't afford to cause any more trouble, so she donated all her real estate, more than a dozen courtyard houses, and received preferential treatment from the government, being recognized as a recipient of the "Five Guarantees" (a government-provided social welfare program for the elderly, disabled, and orphans).
She originally planned to live out her days in peace and comfort, and with her hidden wealth, living a beautiful life from then on would not have been a problem. Unfortunately, everything she had was already plotted against.
Unfortunately for her, she was caught hiding money and someone planned to kill her and rob her. In order to save her life, she confessed everything.
They wanted her to be an informant and provide them with intelligence.
She had no choice but to give in.
All of Old Lady Long's actions in harming the Zheng family were the result of the organization and arrangements made by the other party and their current associates.
The middle-aged man puffed on his pipe, and as the village woman massaged his shoulders, he exhaled a puff of smoke with satisfaction and said, "Old woman, do you have a choice?"
"Oh dear, you've already brought me to the countryside, how do you expect me to go back and help you with your work?" Old Lady Long pleaded for mercy, trying to avoid provoking Zheng Ya again.
The middle-aged man ignored her and said, "Old woman, you should know that we are not good people. Even Qin Huairu's son, Banggeng, was injected with poison by us."
If the pheasant isn't given an injection the next day, it will die.
We didn't even spare such young children, so how could we possibly care about the life or death of an old woman like you?
"Of course, unless you're of value to us, we won't give you a chance to live?"
"Fine, whatever you want me to do this time, I'll do it, okay?" Old Mrs. Long gave in. Better to live a wretched life than die!
The older people get, the more afraid they are of death. The middle-aged man said disdainfully, "Zheng Ya has already gone to India to deal with the biohazard crisis."
He couldn't possibly know that it was just a diversionary tactic, part of a double act.
With Zheng Ya gone, only Fu Qingyao, Xu Qi, and Wu Wei remained, lingering for a long time inside and outside Zheng Ya's courtyard house.
Our mission for you is to go back to the courtyard house and cause trouble, divert Fu Qingyao and the other two away, and even attract the attention of the security personnel at the planting base, so as to buy us time to infiltrate Zheng Ya's house and carry out our mission. Understand?
"Ah, I have no problem, but as you all know, Zheng Ya has developed drones that are all over the sky monitoring the movements inside and outside the Sihelou. You have no chance to sneak into the Sihelou..." Old Lady Long had already obtained a lot of information from them.
After all, the joint military and police operation on New Year's Eve resulted in the arrest of so many enemy agents and spies, which exceeded the expectations of various countries. An investigation was launched into this, and the existence of drones was discovered.
The middle-aged man said slyly, "Hmph, Zheng Ya is indeed very smart and capable, having developed drones."
However, drones are not invincible.
"One of your tasks during this trip back to the courtyard house was to destroy the drones with a powerful flashlight..."
"Ah, there really is a powerful flashlight that can destroy drones? You're not lying to this old woman, are you?" Old Lady Long felt that she was doomed to die this time. She was going to cause trouble in a suicidal manner, so it would be strange if she didn't die.
The middle-aged man waved his hand and said, "This is not your concern. Go back!"
"Sigh, I hope you can kill Zheng Ya, and don't let any of his family members go." Old Mrs. Long struggled to get up and leave. Perhaps if Zheng Ya's whole family died, she wouldn't have to die?
We're going all in, burning our bridges, it's a do-or-die situation.
The middle-aged man ignored her words and watched her walk away before asking, "How did Qin Huairu perform?"
"Hmph, Qin Huairu is too clever. She tried to take advantage of Lou Xiao'e's pregnancy with Zheng Ya to send a distress message in the gift box, but little did she know that it had already been intercepted by our people."
I think Qin Huairu would rather believe that Zheng Ya can save her and her child than believe that we will give them a way out. She might fail us at a crucial moment and ruin our plans. The village woman was contemplating murder.
The middle-aged man shook his head and said, "Don't do anything reckless. Qin Huairu is the key person for us to infiltrate Zheng Ya's house and plant biological weapons."
After all, Qin Huairu was the only one who could persuade Sha Zhu.
If Sha Zhu were to be tricked by Qin Huairu into putting drugs in the food at the planting base's canteen without Liu Lan's knowledge, he could drug everyone at the base.
In addition, Old Lady Long would cause trouble, making things even more complicated.
This is what gives us the opportunity to infiltrate Zheng Ya's house. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to plant biological weapons in Zheng Ya's house. Since the Indians couldn't kill Zheng Ya, we're the ones who have to kill him.
"If he doesn't die, our country will perish sooner or later; he must die!"
"Yes, I understand. So, what should we do about Wu Wei?"
He's the key person for us to obtain the Muchen Pearl, he can't die so easily!" The village woman worried that if the poison was successfully administered and everyone died, we'd never get the Muchen Pearl.
The middle-aged man chuckled sinisterly, "Heh heh, she's dead, so be it. Sometimes the dead are more useful than the living. Let's begin the plan."
"Yes!" The village woman immediately took action...
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