"What did you say? What do you mean, beaten half to death? What do you mean, locked up in jail? What happened in Xinhai City?" The trembling voice was like a taut string, about to snap at any moment.
Anxiety spread like wildfire in her chest. She suddenly remembered that Cheng Muyun seemed to have stopped mentioning his return date in his recent letters.
Xu Zhuohua was busy assembling manpower and didn't notice anything amiss.
The details that had been deliberately ignored suddenly became clear, and a chill crept up her spine, making her feel cold all over.
"Tell me! Did something happen to Cheng Muyun? Did Zhou Minhai...?" Before she could finish speaking, a sob choked her throat.
"Zhou Minhai said that Cheng Muyun was smuggling weapons for foreigners. He didn't know where the evidence came from, but when Governor Cheng found out, he beat him half to death and put him in prison."
Xu Jixin spoke with his head down.
Xu Zhuohua gradually understood the whole story.
Zhou Minhai has never given up accusing Cheng Muyun, perhaps at the behest of the Si family, or perhaps because he wants to take revenge on Cheng Muyun.
One of the workers who had handled goods during a previous transfer told Zhou Minhai everything about Cheng Muyun's involvement in arms smuggling over the past six months.
Furthermore, Zhou Minhai followed the clues and found a considerable number of firearms and ammunition.
The Japanese weren't honest either; they found the guns Cheng Muyun had confiscated from them before and accused Cheng Muyun of having connections with reactionaries.
However, in order to protect everyone, Cheng Muyun refused to name a single person.
Cheng Yuguang had been spending time with Madam Cheng for some time, but now that Madam Cheng has returned to her hometown, he has begun investigating Cheng Muyun's affairs. He has probably discovered Cheng Muyun's connection with the organization and is furious.
The fifty-something-year-old Governor Cheng, armed with a spiked mace and a wet leather whip, tied Cheng Muyun to a pillar and gave him a severe beating.
Cheng Muyun fainted on the spot and was sent to the hospital. After being bandaged up, he was still unconscious when he was put into prison.
In fact, Cheng Yuguang did this to show Zhou Minhai that the prison where Cheng Muyun was imprisoned was also the prison where the Dongzhou Army held prisoners of war.
Although it was all acting, Cheng Yuguang was genuinely angry. He didn't kill Cheng Muyun during the fight, but Cheng Muyun was nearly killed.
Zhou Minhai happily returned to Nanjing to report back. Before his return, or rather, before the higher-ups gave their approval, Cheng Muyun could only stay in prison.
Xu Zhuohua's vision blurred into a hazy blur. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed heavily onto the blue brick floor. Her fingertips unconsciously picked at the moss between the bricks, a chill spreading from her palms as if dragging her into an endless ice cellar.
The letter I received three days ago is still lying in my sleeve; the ink on the plain white paper that reads "Take care" still seems to carry warmth.
At that time, she was preoccupied with how to expand Dongzhou's influence, and only glanced at the words "Don't worry" in the letter, assuming it was just Cheng Muyun's usual way of expressing his longing.
Looking back now, every word is like a poisoned needle—those "no need to rush back" that she took as gentle and considerate words, and the longing hidden between the lines, were actually carefully pushing her away.
Tears fell silently. All those plans for recruiting soldiers day and night, all that self-assurance, seemed so ridiculous in the face of the cruel truth.
It turns out that he was struggling alone in the whirlpool of Xinhai City, yet he still had to force himself to build a false sense of security for her; it turns out that those simple words contained an immense burden, which she was completely unaware of.
“Impossible! This is the only child left in the Cheng family. Cheng Yuguang wouldn’t go to such lengths!” Xu Zhuohua still didn’t believe it.
Xu Jixin looked at Xu Zhuohua with a sorrowful expression and a frown.
“It is precisely because Cheng Muyun is the last child of the Cheng family that Cheng Yuguang had no choice but to do this. If he didn’t take drastic measures, would the higher-ups feel relieved? It’s alright now, at least Cheng Muyun is locked up in his own prison. If he had fallen into Zhou Minhai’s hands, you probably wouldn’t have seen him again.”
Xu Zhuohua curled up on the cold blue brick floor, her fingertips digging deeply into the collar of her clothes.
A suffocating pain exploded in her heart; each breath felt like swallowing scalding iron filings. Astringent tears streamed down her face, leaving burning marks on her pale cheeks before dripping into the cracks of the blue bricks and disappearing in an instant.
"Never to see you again..." These words struck her heart like a heavy hammer.
She reached out, trembling, to grasp at empty air, a broken sob escaping her throat, "Second Brother... please stop... I beg you..."
His body convulsed uncontrollably, as if thousands of steel needles were piercing his flesh and blood, and being held and stirred back and forth.
Xu Jixin trembled as he squatted down, brushing away the messy hair on Xu Zhuohua's face with his fingers, the skin his fingertips touched was icy cold.
The moment Xu Jixin helped the person up, the slight tremor in his palm made his heart ache, as if he were supporting not Xu Zhuohua, but a wisp of a ghost that might dissipate at any moment.
He sighed, "Zhuohua, apart from his injuries, Cheng Muyun is not in any immediate danger. Even if something does happen, there's Governor Cheng and the Dongzhou Army, Chen Hede and Liang Shaozun are all there to help, so don't worry."
How could Xu Zhuohua not be worried?
Just like in history, Cheng Muyun will be smeared next.
It seems that things didn't get better even after she left Shinkai City.
Instead, it developed without any obstacles.
It seemed as if the fire was right in front of the tracks, and Xu Zhuohua was tied to the track car and being pushed into the inferno.
It was like a train whistle approaching; Xu Zhuohua was tied to the tracks, unable to move, and was about to be torn apart by blood and gore.
Helpless, she walked toward her own death.
However, she hadn't done anything yet. She hadn't trained her own people, hadn't fulfilled Xu Shinong's promise, and hadn't devised an escape plan for Cheng Muyun.
At this moment, Xu Zhuohua was so fearful, anxious, and helpless that her hands were trembling.
Xu Jixin felt really sorry for you. "I'll take you back to Xinhai City. Let's leave now."
Xu Jixin's slender hand had just grasped Xu Zhuohua's delicate wrist when she suddenly flung it away.
The moment she looked up, she saw that Xu Zhuohua's face was as pale as paper, her lips were tightly pressed into a cold, hard line, and the tear stains from her earlier breakdown had not yet dried. At this moment, her eyes were churning with a stormy sea, her unfathomable dark gaze as deep as the bottomless ocean.
"Second Brother, I want to clear the arms shipments out of the Eastbound Southbound Line. From now on, if arms shipments want to travel through the Eastbound Southbound Line, they can only pass through my hands and can only be escorted by my men."
Xu Jixin looked at Xu Zhuohua in disbelief, "I disagree!"
Xu Zhuohua took off the jade pendant from her waist, held it in her hand, and looked at Xu Jixin with a firm gaze.
"I am the young master, and everyone here must listen to me, including you!"
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