Everyone is a Versailles Master
Before dawn, everything was shrouded in a gray haze; even the chirping of insects was silenced, and the surroundings were eerily quiet. Both sides held their breath, fearing that a single misfire would ignite another bloody battle. The robber gestured to his accomplice to retrieve their leader's corpse.
As Qingcheng pondered how to escape, she happened to notice Captain Pang making a gesture to the officers behind him in the darkness. This subtle movement went unnoticed by the robbers, who remained immersed in the joy of their impending escape.
Just as his accomplice was about to touch the corpse, a gunshot rang out. The horse neighed, raised its front hooves, broke free of its reins, and pulled the cart overturning the cart and the accomplice. The accomplice was instantly tackled and subdued by the surrounding military police.
The situation suddenly changed. Before the robber could think, he habitually fired eight shots into the crowd. Just as his gun left Qingcheng's head, another bullet accurately pierced the robber's temple. Qingcheng only felt a flash of golden light, and then her face felt sticky, and a strong smell of rust filled her nostrils.
Immediately following, a deafening ringing in her ears made her feel like a soulless puppet as the police officers pulled her aside. The surrounding commotion unfolded like a pantomime around her. Her stubborn courage finally gave way at this moment. With a throbbing pain in her stomach, she crawled on the ground, gasping for fresh air and feeling the exhilaration of surviving a near-death experience.
With just two shots, almost all the bandits were taken care of. Captain Pang is really amazing! Qingcheng struggled to sit up and leaned against the wall, wiping the bloodstains from her face. Her clothes were wet and sticking to her body, making her feel uncomfortable. She could only look at the medical team to distract herself.
The wounded around her were carried away one after another, and a familiar person walked past her on a stretcher.
"Little Li!" Kiyosumi reached out to stop the stretcher, but her lower body seemed to have lost all its strength, leaving her weak and unable to exert any force.
"He just fainted from fright, he's fine." Hearing the man's assurance, Qingcheng finally let out a long sigh of relief, clutching her chest.
Wait a minute, that voice sounds so familiar. Qingcheng lifted her dirty little face and saw the man she didn't want to see right now—Gao Junxiao. Qingcheng immediately turned to face the wall, trying to minimize her presence. Her clothes were so inappropriate; it was too embarrassing.
"What do you mean there are monsters outside? What are you afraid of? Weren't you being pretty reckless just now?" Gao Junxiao was still in the mood to joke, but Qingcheng pretended not to hear him and started picking at the plaster on the wall.
Gao Junxiao squatted down and tried to straighten her several times, but failed. Perhaps in a hurry, he subconsciously pinched Qingcheng's chin, making her turn her face to look at him. Gao Junxiao narrowed his eyes and looked Qingcheng up and down.
Unexpectedly, he, who seemed like a gentleman, dared to overstep the bounds in public. Just as she was about to lash out, Qingcheng caught a glimpse of Gao Junxiao's eyes, and her heart skipped a beat. The man's bright eyes held seven parts worry and three parts tenderness, making her unable to bear to blame him.
Her gaze returned to the hand clutching her own, and a smile appeared on her clear, delicate face. She said in a teasing tone, "Supervisor Gao, you're quite skilled at flirting with respectable women."
Gao Junxiao probably realized that his actions were inappropriate, and immediately coughed a few times to make an excuse, saying, "I was just checking if you had any disfigurement."
"You fired the gun." This was a statement of fact, and the man didn't deny it. Qingcheng closed her eyes in surprise. Gao Junxiao's helpless look made her want to regain some face, so she said in a pretentious tone, "Oh well, so what if I'm disfigured? I'll never get married anyway."
"You're overthinking it. How could that be? Besides, you're not disfigured," Gao Junxiao said hesitantly, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes.
Qingcheng covered her face to prevent the man from seeing the childlike mischievous smile on her face, and said resentfully, "She's old, her dowry is meager, and apart from being tall, she has no other talents except for writing. Even if she's disfigured, it's just bad luck."
Gao Junxiao's suppressed laughter reached my ears. He said in a half-joking tone, "In ancient times, Zhang Chang's eyebrow painting was considered a romantic tale. Today, I, a rough man, also want to learn the ways of the literati. Anyway, I'm old and have no savings. I have a lot of skills but no children to inherit them. Why don't we make do?"
"Pah! You filthy scoundrel!!! You're getting all worked up over me for being fat," Qingcheng said with an awkward laugh, "I can't possibly accept that. Let's just forget it. Inspector Gao, you're too kind."
"You were the one who was being polite first. Can you still move your legs?" Gao Junxiao asked, and Qingcheng immediately nodded. He pulled her up and reminded her, "Go wash your face quickly, don't scare your colleagues."
Following Gao Junxiao's gaze, Qingcheng finally saw her own bold gothic makeup reflected in the shop window. She was so frightened that she fell against the wall before barely managing to steady herself. My god! It was even scarier than a ghost.
What's even more terrifying is that her colleagues also came out of the building, peeking out as if they were looking for someone. Qingcheng quickly hid behind Gao Junxiao, tugged at his clothes and whispered, "Ah Xiao, do me a favor, help me cover up, just take me to that alley next door, there's a sink there."
"Okay, I'll cover it up for you." Gao Junxiao's tone carried a hint of helplessness, as well as a doting affection that he himself didn't realize.
The two hadn't gone more than a few steps when Captain Pang called out to them: "Brother Gao, have you seen a tall girl? I need to take her to give a statement."
"I didn't see it. Go look for it near the ambulance on the south side." Gao Junxiao pointed in a direction to Captain Pang without batting an eye.
"Hey, I came from that direction. It's strange, where did Miss He go?" Captain Pang scratched his head and looked around, but still went in the direction Gao Junxiao pointed.
As soon as Captain Pang left, the two of them couldn't help but laugh out loud, as if they were playing along with each other's little tricks. The bells of the Customs House on the Huangpu River rang out. As the bells gradually faded, the sky slowly brightened, and finally the brilliant sunlight dispelled the night.
Accompanied by Gao Junxiao, Captain Pang registered the basic information and released Qingcheng in less than 10 minutes. He then told Captain Pang that Liu Shengqi was being detained in the police station. Wasn't Liu Shengqi dead? Why was he still being detained?
Forget it, she didn't like prying into other people's work. Besides, this news should be given to Xiao Li to follow up on. Thinking of Xiao Li, Qingcheng sighed inwardly, wondering if he had taken any key photos yesterday. And those seniors upstairs shouldn't just watch without writing articles; they have such good material.
"Captain Pang, our reporter Xiao Li was carrying a camera when he went out. Could you please help us find it? It's all footage that Xiao Li risked his life to film. Please help us." Qingcheng waited until they agreed before shamelessly approaching to make the request.
Before Captain Pang could answer, Gao Junxiao spoke up to stop him: "You can have the camera, but not the photos for now. You'd better not write the article either, otherwise it will be a waste of time if it doesn't pass the review."
Qingcheng now suspected that the man had planted a bug in her brain, and said angrily, "Supervisor Gao, everyone earns a living by their own abilities. The camera and photos are my company's assets and tools for making a living. You're just smashing my livelihood to my face. That's not fair."
"Ms. He, to be fair, this case is quite complicated, and the perpetrator is very cunning. We refuse any media interviews until we get any substantial information from them. Please understand," Captain Pang interjected, speaking in an official tone between the two.
"Fine, you military and police are all one family. What can a commoner like me say? Goodbye." Qingcheng rolled her eyes at Gao Junxiao and then turned and left the scene.
After Qingcheng had walked away, Gao Junxiao asked Pang Minzhang with a puzzled look, "I kindly reminded her, what kind of attitude is this? She changes her mind faster than flipping through a book."
"What a fairy's attitude!" Pang Minzhang blurted out with a smile. "Brother Gao, how could you contradict Miss He to her face? Young ladies are all sensitive, and besides, it's not easy for Miss He to work and support herself."
"What a joke! Her job is tough, but catching criminals is easy for us? You don't know what's good for you." Gao Junxiao said coldly, "I thought she was different."
Pang Minzhang chuckled and asked gossipily, "How is it different?"
Gao Junxiao's tongue seemed to be tied in knots. After thinking for a long time, he finally replied, "I can't quite put my finger on it... it's just... a little different from others."
"Oh! Then buy some gifts to appease him." Pang Minzhang patted Gao Junxiao on the shoulder, his eyes full of understanding.
Why do I have to coax him again? What sins did he commit in his past life? Gao Junxiao quickly changed the subject: "Let's not talk about her for now. Go back and thank Master Wu for me. If it weren't for his help in smoothing things over with the foreigners and getting Xiao Qinghua to act as our inside man, we wouldn't have been able to capture Liu Shengqi so easily."
"No problem, no problem. My brother Wu is a righteous man and can't stand these kinds of villains who bully men and women." Pang Minzhang replied cheerfully. "It's all thanks to you, Brother Gao, for your strategic planning. You found a corpse to impersonate Liu Shengqi and made those bandits run around in circles."
"That also depends on your cooperation, Brother Pang. How about we get together again in a few days? I'll host a feast and treat Master Wu to a meal," Gao Junxiao suggested with a smile. Sometimes, the friendship between men is just that simple.
“Sure, I’m available anytime. Now, please go back and rest. Come back tomorrow to interrogate the prisoners together.” Pang Minzhang punched Gao Junxiao, completely ignoring the difference in their positions.
"Forget tomorrow, let's do it now." Gao Junxiao pulled Pang Minzhang to the prison cell to get him out.
“Brother Gao, we’re not made of steel, we’re just mortals. Interrogating prisoners is physically demanding. If you’re not in good spirits, how can you possibly overpower them? Besides, it’s the weekend, you should get some rest,” Pang Minzhang patiently advised.
Pang Minzhang then handed Gao Junxiao over to the waiting adjutant, Lu, and instructed Lu Xian to quickly send his superior home. Gao Junxiao couldn't refuse the two and had no choice but to go home to rest. However, as he passed by Fuxing Park, he stared blankly at the flowerbeds amidst the bustling crowds, seemingly thinking of someone else through the flowerbeds.
The next morning, Gao Junxiao couldn't wait to rush to the prison and bring Liu Shengqi out for interrogation. Half a day later, Liu Shengqi had been beaten so badly that even his own mother couldn't recognize him. When Gao Junxiao brought him out, he was amazed. Why was he subjected to such severe torture before even being interrogated? Oh my, he was even wearing shackles. How professional!
Pang Minzhang, who was working with him, kindly explained that this bastard had pretended to faint yesterday in an attempt to escape from prison, and had seriously injured two of his brothers. Fortunately, he had specifically told the warden that this person was extremely dangerous and cunning. Warden Pang Minzhang had made two preparations in advance but failed to escape. He was caught and given a good beating, and even with half his life left, he still wouldn't behave.
Having been arrogant and domineering in his daily life, Liu Shengqi roared at the prison guards in his cell, "You blind black-skinned dog, get out of here!"
To deal with this stubborn scumbag, the prison guards didn't hesitate to use their batons to beat him. Fortunately, Pang Minzhang stopped the guards in time and had other guards help drag him to the interrogation room.
Before long, Gao Junxiao and Pang Minzhang entered the interrogation room one after the other. Unlike the traditional interrogators who were aggressive, they calmly sat down in front of Liu Shengqi and asked some unimportant basic questions. Of course, Liu Shengqi did not give a single normal answer; he was a complete scoundrel.
Judging from his demeanor, he was a seasoned veteran of the underworld, around forty years old. He wasn't very tall, but he was quite sturdy. His small, turtle-like eyes glared at them with resentment, as if he wanted to provoke Gao and Pang. Liu Shengqi even suggested that he smoke.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Pang Minzhang pointed at Liu Shengqi and cursed angrily.
"Give it to him." Gao Junxiao said to Pang Minzhang nonchalantly, his emotions not affected by Liu Shengqi's arrogance at all.
Pang Minzhang hesitated for a moment, then waved for a prison guard to light a cigarette for Liu Shengqi. Liu Shengqi took a slow drag of the cigarette, exhaled a round smoke ring with the air of a victor, and then asked, "It's true what they say, a tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs. Which of you two is the presiding judge? I guess it's the officer on the right."
"That depends on how many laws you've broken," Pang Minzhang said coldly, suppressing his emotions.
"Breaking the law?" Liu Shengqi suddenly burst into wild laughter without warning. "What law is there in this world? Who can recognize those strokes written on paper?"
"Whether you can read or not won't affect your confession. We suggest you talk about the murder case near Huanyufang." Gao Junxiao opened his notebook and began to guide you.
"What crime? I told you there's no law in this world," Liu Shengqi said disdainfully, picking at his ear. "But a few days ago, there were two annoying little flies buzzing around behind me every day. I found them disgusting, so I killed them."
Pang Minzhang immediately extracted the key information: "So you admit to killing two people..."
“It’s a fly,” Liu Shengqi interrupted Pang Minzhang, uttering each word clearly.
"Liu Shengqi, don't think we can't do anything to you just because you don't confess." Pang Minzhang slammed his hand on the table and shouted angrily, while Liu Shengqi smoked his cigarette and looked away, pretending not to hear.
When the two sides were deadlocked, Gao Junxiao closed the interrogation record and said to Liu Shengqi with a half-smile, "As expected of the toughest one in the family, you are the only one of your eight brothers and sisters who has survived until now. You are afraid to go down and face your parents, aren't you?"
Liu Shengqi's expression shifted slightly. He took a deep drag of his cigarette, but still pretended to be mute and ignored him.
"In the second year of the Republic of China, you took advantage of your trip back to your hometown to forcibly take your cousin, a fellow villager, and killed her husband and children, a family of five. This was the first time you were wanted by the authorities." Gao Junxiao slowly listed his previous crimes.
Liu Shengqi glared and retorted, "It's just a family of five. These days, human life is worthless, and there are even more cases like this. You only arrest people like me who have no power or influence. Would you dare to arrest those landlords and rich people? Besides, I spared that woman's life because we're relatives. She should thank me instead of reporting me to the authorities."
His twisted logic was so bad that even the prison guards around him could hardly stand it anymore, clenching their fists as if they were about to rush up and beat him up at any moment.
"The Liu couple were honest people when they were alive, but because of you, Grandpa Liu died of anger, and Liu Wushi had no one to take care of her and starved to death at home. Out of respect for the dead, the village head still paid for their burial in the ancestral grave. But you repaid kindness with enmity and led people to slaughter the entire village. After that, you couldn't stop and continued to commit crimes." Gao Junxiao continued speaking with a calm expression.
Gao Junxiao brought up his parents' deaths again. Liu Shengqi threw away his cigarette butt and yanked the handcuffs, making a clanging sound as if he was desperately suppressing his anger. He said viciously, "They all deserved to die. If even one of them had given my mother a bite to eat, she wouldn't have starved to death."
“No one has an obligation to support your mother,” Gao Junxiao said firmly. “Everyone is short of food. Even if there are kind-hearted people in the village, who would be willing to save the mother of a bully? Your parents are being dragged down because of you. No matter how much you deny it, the fact is that you are ‘unfilial.’”
"What facts? The facts are that those with guns are the masters, and those without are the slaves. So what if you're not filial? I'm not doing enough. If I do it any bigger, you two little brats will have to call me Commander." Liu Shengqi kept raising his voice, and after he finished speaking, Gao Pang and the other man couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Gao Junxiao was too lazy to ruin his dream. Ignorance is bliss, and Liu Shengqi had underestimated the power of a warlord. Gao Junxiao suddenly changed the subject: "So what if you're always so glamorous? Your name isn't on the family tree. You're still just a nobody."
In an instant, Liu Shengqi's eyes widened in fury. He tried to stand up, but the prison guard next to him held him down by the shoulder, preventing him from moving. He pointed at Gao Junxiao and roared, "I'm not! Who cares about that lousy family tree!"
Gao Junxiao quickly caught his emotions: "Whether you care or not is not important. Nameless people only deserve to be forgotten in a corner. They won't even leave behind a bad reputation."
Liu Shengqi is now like an enraged beast, baring his fangs while also showing that his confidence has been greatly diminished, and he can only rely on threatening actions to gain a sense of security.
Bang--
A loud gunshot rang out outside the interrogation room. Gao and Pang exchanged a glance and then looked toward the door. At that moment, Lu Xian pushed the door open and reported, "Report, the bandit Zhao Dazao tried to resist the interrogation and was shot dead on the spot."
"Look at the mess you've made! Are you sure he's really dead? If he's not, hurry up and kill him as an example to others," Gao Junxiao scolded, frowning. As they spoke, a prison guard dragged a corpse past the door, leaving a long trail of blood in its wake.
"I'm sorry, I'll confirm it right away." Lu Xian said with his head down, then closed the door. Several more gunshots rang out from outside.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment, but Gao Junxiao, with a faint smile on his lips, casually brought up the topic as if chatting with an old friend: "Sorry, my men were a bit rough. Let's continue. Guess who will be the leader of your stronghold after you die? Want to make a bet?"
Liu Shengqi gritted his teeth, his face turning ashen, and the veins on his forehead throbbed slightly: "I'm not dead yet."
"Whether you live or die is not up to you. Why don't you confess where your stronghold is located, and we'll send some of our young brothers down to keep you company? It's a token of our goodwill." Gao Junxiao finally got to the crucial point.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t talk, some of your men have already confessed. You brought 7 people with you, making a total of 8. You first took the Beijing-Shanghai official road, and then switched to waterways to come to Shanghai,” Pang Minzhang added at the opportune moment.
"So you came from Jiangsu. Captain Pang, have you caught all the prisoners, except for that one accident just now?" Gao Junxiao asked Pang Minzhang, crossing his arms.
"Yes, it's all done. We also seized eight pistols and three cigarette bricks, weighing about ten pounds," Pang Minzhang said, glancing at the records.
"Heh, I really thought you came to redeem Xiao Qinghua, but it turns out you're just a peddler." Gao Junxiao looked at Liu Shengqi with disdain.
Liu Shengqi hurriedly denied it: "Sell my ass, I smoke it myself." However, his booming voice and appearance made him seem nothing like a heavy opium addict who hadn't smoked opium all day.
"Murder, arson, bullying men and women, opium trafficking. Any one of these is a capital offense punishable by a thousand cuts." Pang Minzhang deliberately brought up the crimes in front of him.
"They forced me into this. If they hadn't reported it to the authorities, how could I have been forced to live as a fugitive? How could my mother have starved to death? I massacred the village just so they would put my name back on, but they refused. They deserve it. I'll make them all regret it." Liu Sheng stubbornly resisted to the end.
This is utterly absurd! Instead of reflecting on his own mistakes, Liu Shengqi believes that he was forced into murder and arson by society.
But could such a combative person really suddenly raise a semi-armed bandit stronghold? Where did his weapons come from? Was robbery the only way to fund his operations? Gao Junxiao had a vague feeling that there were underlying causes and effects he didn't understand, or perhaps he was being guided by a master.
"If you don't confess, then wash your neck and wait for the execution," Pang Minzhang threatened.
"I'm not afraid of anything. I'll kill you all when I get out of here..." Liu Shengqi seemed to realize his slip of the tongue, and after that, no matter what questions they asked, Liu Shengqi remained silent.
This caused the interrogation to be unable to continue. Pang Minzhang, who was also interrogating him, couldn't help but want to beat him up, but Gao Junxiao stopped him. He was now basically certain that Liu Shengqi had someone backing him.
The two agreed to suspend the interrogation and planned to continue it the next day. Pang Minzhang and Gao Junxiao both felt that Liu Shengqi's last words did not seem like he was just saying it out of anger. Pang Minzhang specially arranged for his men to be stationed in the prison before leaving with peace of mind.
“Brother Gao, I’m still uneasy. Why don’t you extradite this man back to the Songhu Command Headquarters as soon as possible?” Pang Minzhang said.
Not to mention Pang Minzhang's anxiety, even Gao Junxiao was uneasy: "Not only does applying for the extradition of prisoners take a long time, but we also have no control over what might happen on the way."
“That’s true. We can’t get anything out of him, so let’s just execute him to avoid any unforeseen complications,” Pang Minzhang continued to suggest.
“Okay, I’ll go back and write the application first. Let’s make a detailed plan.” Gao Junxiao was worried that someone might try to storm the execution ground, so he discussed it with Captain Pang for a long time before leaving the police station after noon.
As the afternoon sun reached its zenith, Gao Junxiao took Lu Xian to a roadside noodle stall and ordered two bowls of beef noodles to tide them over. Against the sunlight, he looked at the jewelry in the shop window across the street and thought of Miss He—no, I mean, Aunt He.
Meeting her must have been fate! He must have owed her millions of taels of gold in his past life. Thinking this, Gao Junxiao stepped into the department store alone. He didn't understand any of the fancy clothes and perfumes on the shelves. Wandering aimlessly would only waste time, so he went straight to the jewelry counter. Expensive things can't be wrong, right?
But when he actually arrived at the jewelry counter and faced with the dazzling array of jewels, he was at a loss. Giving a ring or bracelet as a gift would be too formal, while giving earrings or a necklace would be too frivolous. He was willing to give them, but Miss He might not accept them, since they were just friends. He racked his brains but couldn't think of a suitable gift that could both express his feelings and be polite.
Then, a set of fountain pens in the glass cabinet caught my eye. Black was too old-fashioned, pink was too young, purple was unsuitable, green was too tacky, and white, silver, and gold were all unremarkable. As for the mottled ones, my goodness, how could there be such a color scheme? You couldn't have come up with such a color scheme unless you were colorblind for thirty years.
Gao Junxiao asked the clerk with a look of disdain, "Do you have any other colors of fountain pens?"
"Yes, but the other colors are all custom-made. Is this for a gentleman or a lady?" the saleswoman asked patiently.
Gao Junxiao immediately replied, "Young lady."
"These are all our custom color swatches. The vibrant and lively colors are more suitable for young ladies, and they're all in this range." The saleswoman pulled out a notebook and showed it to Gao Junxiao.
"Isn't there a real one? I want to see the real thing." Gao Junxiao wasn't interested in looking at the color chart; he had no idea what the actual product would look like.
"I have some samples, let me show them to you," the saleswoman said, taking a black velvet tray from a low cabinet.
Gao Junxiao pointed to a white fountain pen with a bluish sheen and asked, "This pearl white one is nice. How long will it take to order?"
"Sir, you have excellent taste. Custom orders take about a week. This pen tip contains 50% pure gold, and the white body is painted using a special process, with sapphire and diamond microparticles added to the paint, making it exceptionally sparkly," the saleswoman enthusiastically introduced the product.
Gao Junxiao glanced at his watch and stopped him in time: "Okay, stop introducing yourself, just place an order for me and I'll go pay."
"I'm sorry, sir, this one and the other royal blue one are a set, they can't be sold separately," the sales clerk said with a troubled expression.
Gao Junxiao didn't even glance at it and said directly, "I bought them all, let's get the receipt."
After the transaction was completed, the clerk smiled broadly as she processed his order. After he paid, she reminded him, "Sir, since this is a custom order, you can have it engraved, such as the lady's English name."
"Can the design be engraved?" Gao Junxiao asked cheerfully, as if a thought had just occurred to him.
"Simple patterns can be engraved." After receiving an affirmative answer from the clerk, Gao Junxiao immediately drew a small flower on the paper, happily thinking that this would be enough to express his feelings.
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