Chapter 646: Changes

This was all Wang Yan could do about Wang Zhaoming's matter; any more would cause a major incident.

In fact, even if the Red Party knew this intelligence now, there was nothing they could do. Because Wang Zhaoming was currently the Vice President of the Kuomintang, and the only target he needed to convince was the Baldy. If the Red Party went to tell the Baldy that his "Number Two" was about to defect, would the Baldy easily believe it? After all, no one would ever think that the number two figure of a national government would actually defect to the Japanese.

In the Kuomintang, although Wang Zhaoming was somewhat sidelined, he was not without real power, nor was he without supporters; he still had a say. But on the Japanese side, he was kneeling to be their grandson; a person with a normal brain would not want to do this.

But Wang Zhaoming did exactly that...

Perhaps it was because he was resentful of being under the Baldy, or perhaps his brain really snapped, and he vainly attempted to save the country and the people through this method, realizing a higher life pursuit. These motives were irrelevant; the point was, he betrayed the country.

If the Baldy didn't believe it, it would be very difficult to find exact evidence to prove that Wang Zhaoming had the intention to defect. Did he really think the Baldy wasn't monitoring him? If the Red Party took unauthorized action to sanction Wang Zhaoming, it would be an act of infighting for power during a national crisis. The Baldy would definitely not say a word, first negotiate with Japan, and then carry out "internal pacification before resisting foreign aggression," fighting the Red Party to the end. This was extremely unrealistic.

So, they could only prepare early so as not to be caught off guard. In this kind of matter, knowing is much better than not knowing.

This matter ended here, and Wang Yan would no longer pay too much attention to it, because it was really dangerous...

After attending the banquet, he had Wang Man Chun pass the 50,000 check to Minami Tada Yoko, and had someone send two antiques to Omura Akihiro, to be passed on to Iwai Eiichi.

Whether it was Minami Tada Yoko or Iwai Eiichi, both were very necessary investments. Not to mention Minami Tada Yoko, the special service head; although Iwai Eiichi was also a special service head, he would be the Consul General of the Japanese Consulate in the future, wielding great power.

Minami Tada Yoko was later designed by Ming Lou and killed by Ming Tai. But for Iwai Eiichi, unless it was really a life-or-death moment, there was actually no need to kill him. Because for the current situation, killing a single Japanese person would have an impact, and it might be a big one, but for the war, it didn't solve the problem. After all, they were a systematic organization; one died, and another would just take over the position. They might do worse than the former, or they might do better, and there was also a process of getting to know the successor, who might not be as easy to deal with as the current one.

Unless they killed the Japanese Emperor, wiped out the current cabinet ministers of the military government, and replaced them with a group seeking peace and stability, it wouldn't work. Obviously, that was unrealistic. Therefore, maintaining a good relationship with these powerful Japanese was a must.

Besides this, Wang Yan continued to play his "joke" in a low-key manner, as if he were worried that the two parties would settle scores with him for attending the Japanese banquet, minimizing his presence as much as possible. He didn't even pay much attention to the Qinglian matters, letting those people toss and turn.

However, the world is unpredictable; things change, and there are always unforeseen emergencies.

This afternoon, Wang Yan was doing research and scholarship with those teachers and students from Datong University. He had already won their respect.

Wang Yan was knowledgeable, learned things quickly, could draw inferences, and occasionally had flashes of inspiration that could solve practical problems encountered in the research of Datong teachers and students. He was also impeccable in his treatment of them; besides the already high salaries, there were cooks brought from restaurants making meals in various ways, and his attitude was approachable; he had never bullied or humiliated these people. As for the various "isms," ideals, reactionary, or anti-Japanese remarks they occasionally mentioned, he always just smiled and let them pass.

Whenever Wang Yan was not around, they would discuss privately with pained expressions. This should have been a scientist, a scholar, a revolutionary, a person who contributed to the country and nation, not a French Concession Chinese detective and Green Gang leader with ambiguous relations with the Japanese.

Just as a group of people were discussing enthusiastically, Qi Si trotted in: "Brother Yan, Brother Shi is looking for you. I saw his expression wasn't right; something might have happened."

Wang Yan nodded to show he knew, greeted the Datong teachers and students, and followed Qi Si out, meeting Shi Changxing, who was a bit anxious.

"What happened?"

Shi Changxing let out a long breath: "At noon, Du Yong was assassinated in Hong Kong. After the news came back, that old thing Feng Nairong gathered others, still at the Guangsheng Tea House, demanding you go there yourself to give them an explanation. Liu Yitong is there pacifying them."

"You didn't arrange for anyone to take action on your own, did you?"

"Brother Yan, with such a big matter, how would I dare to act without your order? Besides, you know our brothers; if we really wanted to do it, Du Yong wouldn't be alive."

This was the truth. Their actions couldn't be called "assassinations" because they were always thunderous strikes. They would prepare various plans, block escape routes, use submachine guns and hand grenades, relying on powerful firepower to commit violence, and they hadn't failed once so far.

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "Then it must be the Japanese or those Green Gang members who defected to the Japanese who did it. Look, these people are so bad; they have nothing to do but frame me and cause me trouble."

Given the current situation, when Du Yong was attacked, the first thing people suspected was him. If it was done by the Japanese, the purpose was to create a rift between him and the Kuomintang. After all, Du Yong didn't die, and being able to hold him accountable so quickly, or even saying he didn't suffer any substantial harm, meant he would definitely seek revenge on him. Once the matter blew up, it would be hard to end, and in the end, forced by the situation, Wang Yan would only be tied deeper and deeper to the Japanese. If it was those subordinates of the dead ghost Zhang Xiaolin, the purpose was to destroy Qinglian and plunge it into internal strife so they could take advantage.

No one could precisely control the progress of some events; even someone as awesome as Wang Yan couldn't, and neither could the Japanese or the Chinese who defected. Assassinating Du Yong but not killing him was considered a "leisure move." The general purpose was as analyzed above, but whether it could succeed and whether things would develop that way was another matter.

There were rarely strategies that were interlocked, because there were too many variables in the middle. People were not prophets and couldn't see the future. Taking one step and seeing three was not that easy to understand.

Wang Yan continued: "I won't go. What's there to say to them? I'm not hostile to the two parties; surviving in the cracks is what I'm famous for. That old thing Du Yong has a friendship with Chiang Kai-shek; do I dare touch him? Do you think Du Yong doesn't know? Or Feng Nairong and the others don't know? They're just looking for an opportunity to make trouble. With empty words, do you think they'll believe me if I say we didn't do it?"

"Then what should we do? We can't really carry this pot, right? These people are secondary; what if the people from the Kuomintang side back Du Yong and cause trouble?"

"It's fine, it won't get to the point of fighting to the death for a while, what's there to fear? Like this, in a while, you go and tell them that we didn't do this. Regardless of whether they believe it or not, get the words out first. Also, contact our people in Hong Kong. Tonight, point a gun at that old thing Du Yong's head and tell him that this is what Wang Yan did. Although Du Yong is not worth worrying about, he does have some hard connections in the Kuomintang; killing him isn't worth it. Just scare him into being honest. Go arrange it."

Du Yong didn't lack that bit of intelligence; he would definitely think it wasn't Wang Yan who attacked him, but he couldn't find trouble with the Japanese either. If he really had that ability, he wouldn't have run to Hong Kong. So, adhering to the principle of utilizing everything, since he had encountered an assassination, he couldn't be assassinated in vain. He just happened to use this matter to make a fuss, disgust Wang Yan, aggravate the internal contradictions of Qinglian, accelerate the disintegration of Qinglian, and protect his basic foundation.

If Wang Yan really fought against that group in Qinglian, he would be falling into their trap and fulfilling others' wishes.

His business was so big that in large ports like Hong Kong and Guangzhou, there were naturally branch companies. Sometimes, goods from Europe went directly to these two places and were sold to the Liangguang region from there. At this time, there were a lot of monsters and demons, and naturally, there were relevant personnel to deal with extortion and blackmail. Doing business couldn't be purely doing business, not to mention Wang Yan, who was a Green Gang leader, started as a hooligan...

"Brother Yan, high! Truly high! I'll go arrange it." Shi Changxing gave a thumbs up, turned around, and trotted away. After a few steps, he turned back and ran over: "Brother Yan, there's one more thing. The people in Chongqing said a major from the Military Statistics Training Office named Tian Biao came looking for us, saying he knows you, and asked us to pass on that for the sake of the slight friendship in the past, he wants to beg you to take him along to make some money and live a good life."

"He still has a bit of human touch..." Wang Yan shook his head and smiled: "Then send him some goods and let him sell them himself. Tell the brothers in Chongqing that they can contact him more; this person is okay."

"Okay, this time it's really nothing. Leaving, Brother Yan."

Watching Shi Changxing run out to get in the car and leave, Wang Yan took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, had Qi Si help him light it, and asked: "Understand what's going on?"

"Understand. Whether it was done by the Japanese or those subordinates of Zhang Xiaolin doesn't matter to us. The problem lies with whoever it is, then solve that person's problem."

When mentioning "solve that person's problem," Qi Si showed his little white teeth, feeling quite sinister.

"A child can be taught! Let's go play at the Paramount tonight."

Qi Si hesitated and said: "Brother Yan, I think we'd better not go. Let's go home after eating. Others framed us; will someone turn around and assassinate us to frame Du Yong and the others? I think it's better to be careful; it wouldn't be good if something happened."

"What you said is not unreasonable, and it's very good to be able to think of this point. But you have to understand that at this time, if we hide, it's easy to give people the feeling of being a thief with a guilty conscience and being afraid of revenge. Although the 'shit basin' has already been buckled on, even if you take the basin, it's still stained with shit, but you still have to keep some innocence. The matter of me killing Lin Hongyuan hasn't settled down yet, and now comes the name of assassinating Du Yong, a senior in the gang. Moreover, Du Yong himself has some merit in resisting Japan and saving the country. If I make things difficult for him, I'll have to carry the name of a traitor, and it will be hard to mix in the future. In the world of the rivers and lakes, one cannot help oneself..."

Wang Yan flicked the cigarette butt in his hand, rubbed Qi Si's head, turned around with his hands behind his back, and walked slowly back to continue his research.

He said there was "human touch," of course, referring to Wang Tianfeng. He really didn't expect Wang Tianfeng to use connections to get Tian Biao back to Chongqing and even get him a position as an instructor. Perhaps he occasionally took students out to perform missions, but overall, as long as he wasn't so unlucky when Chongqing was bombed by the Japanese, there was basically no danger. In addition, he contacted him again to seek wealth. Not to mention making a lot, it wouldn't be a problem for his whole family to eat and drink well.

Wang Tianfeng still put in some effort. If not for this, like Tian Biao, who fought his way up from an ordinary little soldier and had a resume of participating in the previous two-party cooperation to rob the prison and poison Zhang Xiaolin, he would definitely have been transferred to another enemy-behind-the-lines Military Statistics intelligence station as an action personnel, rather than being transferred back to the rear to be some instructor...

At night, when it was time to get off work, Wang Yan greeted the Datong teachers and students, went out, got in the car, and left, with a clear goal: straight to the Paramount.

Qi Si, who was driving, was very nervous, without the slightest joy of going to the Paramount to find women for fun. Instead, he tossed the steering wheel and gear lever with one hand, driving the car with difficulty, while his other hand was free to hold a loaded pistol. As the car drove on the crowded street, his eyes scanned everywhere, not letting go of any suspicious person.

He used to be young and weak, and killing people relied on sneak attacks and assassinations. He remembered his first time killing someone very clearly; that was the year he was thirteen. A homeless man kicked and broke the leg of a little beggar under him and snatched the food he had begged back. He followed him all the way, and when he was fast asleep, he used a short dagger Wang Yan gave him for self-defense to slit his throat.

But being potentially assassinated was the first time. Now that life was happy, he didn't want to die yet.

Wang Yan didn't say anything. Although he was a bit overly cautious, knowing that he might be assassinated, being careful was always good. Although he seemed relaxed, he was also observing. Because at this time, people were almost all off work, and the street was very lively. Trams passed by one after another, cars drove by one after another, and the crowd was dense; it was a very lively Shanghai street scene.

Undoubtedly, this was a very good time to take action. The crowd was dense, the sound of gunfire would create chaos, and ending the battle in a flash and quickly mixing into the crowd would allow for a safe retreat.

However, Wang Yan wasn't that worried. His own strength was secondary; it was because this possible assassination wouldn't take his life at all, but was just to make him fight Du Yong to the death.

So far, he hadn't blocked anyone's way, so the value of him being alive was greater than the value of him being dead. Regardless of power or reputation, no one could replace him.

Finding a subtle balance in the chaotic situation and maintaining this balance for a long time was his "invulnerable golden body," his amulet for saving his life.

Besides, he decided to go to the Paramount on a whim today; it was impossible to arrange an assassination operation so hastily. And he made his way out by being able to fight and having accurate marksmanship; a hasty assassination operation couldn't threaten him and might even result in him catching a live one. So, currently, he was still very safe.

As Wang Yan expected, Qi Si was nervous for nothing the whole way. When they arrived at the Paramount, he was already sweating profusely. Maintaining high tension for a long time was not a simple matter.

Ignoring Qi Si's slight embarrassment, amidst the respectful welcome of the greeters, Wang Yan swayed into the Paramount... ===== CHAPTER 647 =====