Chapter 249 - 243: Jingzhe

Chapter 249: Chapter 243: Jingzhe

Xin Republic Calendar, fourth year. The seventeenth day of the first month. The Awakening of Insects.

The early spring sun was warm, blanketing the old flagstones of Vermilion Bird Street in a quiet light. Moisture seeped from between the bluish-gray stones, shimmering like a thin layer of gold. Even the Chastity Archway in the center of the street, a relic from a past dynasty, seemed to glow with a gentle luster from its broken stone pillars.

The Lantern Festival had just passed, and it was a rare, beautiful day. Pedestrians were sparse on the street, and faded red paper still clung to the storefronts. A vendor leaned against his carrying pole, dozing. The sweet scent of malt candy drifted through the air; everything was placid to an almost unreal degree.

Near the end of the street, a handsome young man in a white suit stood under the wooden sign of the Da Guangming Hair Salon.

He had a tall, straight posture and wore a pair of round, brown sunglasses. With elegant, long-fingered hands, he casually flipped through a newspaper. The sunlight glinted off his lenses, reflecting the flickering headlines.

Just a few steps away, scattered in and around the small tea stall next to the salon, were seven or eight sturdy men in short jackets. They spoke in low tones, but their gazes never strayed far from the man in the white suit.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE—

Fu Juemin turned a page, his eyes scanning the print. Suddenly, a series of respectful greetings reached his ears:

"Madam Ding!"

"The Madam is here."

He looked up, letting the newspaper fall to his side. Madam Ding now stood before him, followed by Big Cat and Kitty, and a withered old man with half-lidded eyes who leaned on an ebony cane.

Madam Ding gave him a slight nod, then turned to the side and ordered, "Take Elder Feng to the tea house to rest."

Several men from the Qinglian Gang stepped forward at once, politely guiding the old man toward a two-story tea house nearby.

Before the old man shuffled away, he made a point of raising his eyelids to give Fu Juemin an almost benevolent smile, which gave him pause.

"Aunt Ding, what’s this old geezer doing here?"

Watching the old man enter the tea house, Fu Juemin adjusted his round, brown sunglasses. His tone was casual. "Last time at Xuanwu Platform, he took the money but refused to lift a finger. Aren’t you worried he’ll swindle you again?"

Madam Ding shook her head. "You’ve misjudged Elder Feng. This time, he came of his own accord."

"Oh?"

Fu Juemin raised an eyebrow, but quickly let it drop. He didn’t seem particularly concerned.

He gestured with the newspaper in his hand, changing the subject with a light sigh. "I was bored while waiting for you, Aunt Ding, so I was flipping through the papers. I just saw it—the recent issues of the *Da Xin Daily*, the *Xin Republic Daily*, and even papers like the *Xilin Chunshen*, are all filled to the brim with attacks on Li Mingyi."

"A few prominent ’great scholars’ have all but crucified him as a ’national traitor’..."

"Smear their name, then make your move. That’s the Xin Republic’s old playbook."

Madam Ding frowned. "Once they’ve dealt with Li Mingyi, Chen Huaijin’s pen will be aimed at Mr. Wen next. At us."

Fu Juemin didn’t reply, simply handing the newspaper to a subordinate behind him.

He narrowed his eyes. His gaze traveled past the solitary archway in the middle of the street, toward the hazy distance at the other end.

Madam Ding dismissed her attendants, leaving only Big Cat and Kitty. She drew closer to Fu Juemin and stood at his side, her voice low. "If you calculate the time, Li Mingyi should be on the move.

To get him out of the city, we’ve set up three decoy routes."

"The first route starts at the Wen Mansion. It will move with the student protest march toward the North Railway Station."

"The second route begins at Guangci Hospital in the French Concession, turns onto Pudong Road, then Mashan Road, passes Zhen Nan University... then leaves by water from Wild Crossing."

"The third route."

She paused. "Is this one. The one we’re guarding. It turns from Samantabhadra Street into the Old Town, passes the old freight yard on Fangbang Middle Road, and goes through Xiaopi Lane..."

Her voice was calm, but every word was distinct. "Finally, it enters Vermilion Bird Street and exits through Tongji Gate."

Fu Juemin turned to look toward the end of the long street.

There, at the far end of his vision, the ancient city gate loomed, its mottled bricks silently carving a line across the sky.

CLANG, CLANG—

The sound of a passing trolley car drifted from the distance, mingling with the faint clamor of the city.

Fu Juemin thought for a moment, then asked softly, "So, which route has the real Li Mingyi?"

"I don’t know."

Madam Ding shook her head. "Besides Mr. Wen, no one knows which route the real Li Mingyi is taking.

But the most dangerous route, without a doubt, is the third.

We’ve stationed most of our people here. I imagine Nan Xiangcheng has done the same."

Madam Ding let out a soft sigh, her gaze shifting to the nearby tea house. "The hired experts who’ve come to escort Li Mingyi through this final leg are all gathered on the second floor of the Dingqing Tea House.

The moment Li Mingyi’s car arrives, they’ll make their move.

I’ll have Big Cat and Kitty stick with you. When the time comes, you can send them in to help. That way, you’ll get some of the credit..."

Fu Juemin turned to look at her. After a moment, he smiled. "Thank you, Aunt Ding."

Madam Ding’s lips parted as if to say more, but she ultimately remained silent. Averting her gaze, she said gently, "Come upstairs with me. Mr. Wen is in the tea house; I’ll take you to see him."

"If Wen Zhiqiu is there, I’d rather not."

Fu Juemin politely declined with a smile. "I’m quite all right down here."

Madam Ding gave him a complicated look, but said nothing more. She simply nodded and led her men toward the Dingqing Tea House.

Fu Juemin stood by the street, a calm expression on his face as he mulled over what Madam Ding had just told him.

After a moment, he raised his head, looking up at the bright sun through his round, brown-tinted lenses. He let out a soft sigh. "What beautiful weather today."

"Director Gu said it’s supposed to rain today."

A deep, rumbling voice replied from his side.

Fu Juemin turned, slightly surprised, and looked at Kitty, who had spoken. "You saw Gu Shouyu this morning?"

This time, however, it was Big Cat who spoke. "Director Gu came personally first thing this morning to deliver a specimen jar—a limb from the Ape Demon. We just asked him casually when we saw him."

"He says it’ll rain, so it’ll rain?"

Fu Juemin let out a laugh and gestured at the sky. "Look at it. It doesn’t look the least bit like rain."

"Director Gu has never been wrong about the weather."

As if in answer to Big Cat’s statement, a few dark clouds began to drift slowly across the sky.

Fu Juemin clicked his tongue in disbelief, but then his expression shifted to one of sudden understanding. ’Oh, right. I almost forgot. He’s the Director of the Astronomical Bureau, isn’t he.’

He turned back to Big Cat and Kitty, asking with mock seriousness, "Gu Shouyu is that incredible.

Tell me, what if I invested in a radio station and had him do the weather forecast every day?"

"Whatever makes you happy, Young Master."

"Hah..."

...

On the old street, three figures ambled along with the sparse crowd.

As they turned onto Vermilion Bird Street, the one in the lead came to a silent halt.

The sky had unknowingly darkened a shade. Heavy, dark clouds had massed on the horizon, smothering the warmth and brightness of moments before.

"Today is the Awakening of Insects."

Fan Wuyan held out a hand, rubbing his fingertips together in the air as if to test the humidity. "It’s about to be the first rain of spring."

From where he stood, he had a clear view of the dark, ancient crenels of Tongji Gate in the distance.

His gaze swept slowly over the deceptively calm street before him. He spoke. "Have things been settled with Nan Xiangcheng?"

A burly, cloaked man behind him replied in a low voice, "That Nan fellow says as long as we help kill Li Mingyi, then even if Ji Shaotong gets away today, he guarantees he won’t leave Shenghai alive."

"He certainly knows how to strike a bargain."

Fan Wuyan gave the faintest of smiles. "He reaps the rewards, while we do the deed that will have the whole world cursing our names."

"Then how should I reply?"

Fan Wuyan gazed at the ever-lowering clouds, his tone perfectly placid. "Tell him fine.

But... it’ll cost him extra."

With that, he took a step onto Vermilion Bird Street.

The instant the sole of his shoe touched the flagstone, a cold, damp wind swept up from the ground, and the dark clouds roiled across the sky...

At that moment, it seemed as if the very last sliver of daylight was about to be snuffed out.