CHAPTER 99: CHAPTER 98: IS ZHENGWEI A GOOD PERSON?

With a creak, the door of the gynecology clinic was pushed open forcefully.

"Minghong!"

Yin Minghong, clutching his left shoulder, was taken aback when he saw the spirited girl in a tight white shirt. He asked in surprise, "Qingmei, weren’t you at home? Why are you here?"

Mu Qingmei raised her eyebrows: "I knew nothing good would come from Jing Zhengwei calling you out. You definitely wouldn’t have gone home to deal with your injury! I was right to wait for you at Sister Hong’s!"

Mu Qingmei had grown up with Yin Minghong as siblings. It was over ten years ago, during the height of the slave system and the intense class struggle between trade associations and workers, with constant riots and suppressions. Broken families were numerous, and children like them, displaced and homeless, often banded together for survival, much like Bai Yulan and the Black Flag.

However, they were relatively lucky to have encountered cadre members that White Night sent to Xuanzhu County to test operations. Under the care of the White Night Walker, they successfully learned and grew, naturally joining White Night as they matured.

While listening to Bai Yulan and their conversation, a thought suddenly occurred to Yin Minghong: ’If Bai Yulan had met White Night back then, would everything have been different?’

But Yin Minghong also knew that on the land of silver and blood, their kind of fortune was rare. What Bai Yulan faced was the reality that most people had to accept.

Unlike Yin Minghong, despite being a woman, Mu Qingmei’s talent in combat techniques was the best among all the boys and girls, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her a genius. The organization had previously suggested Mu Qingmei go to Yanjing for further training, but she refused to leave, insisting on staying in Xuanzhu County.

White Night, however, didn’t assign any position to Mu Qingmei, only asking her to continue honing her skills, treating her as a hidden ’trump card’. As a result, Mu Qingmei had a leisurely life, occasionally helping Yin Minghong at home.

"I got injured, so of course, I need to find the Medical Officer..."

"I can also use the Scenic Battle Technique!" Mu Qingmei said, hands on hips: "I may not have taken the Medical Bureau exam, but my level is definitely better than those in the bureau. No cat at home isn’t tamed by me. You lie down and let me... You’re seriously injured!?"

When Yin Minghong stepped from the darkness into the brightly lit clinic, Mu Qingmei finally saw his black clothes were burned to a dark red, and his left hand had a large cut, still dripping blood as they spoke.

Mu Qingmei panicked, wanting to touch him but not daring to, her hands fluttering, not knowing what to do, as if afraid he might fall apart at her slightest touch.

"Calm down, Qingmei. Most of the blood on him isn’t his own." Wen Hong, dressed in a white coat, yawned lazily from the inner room, calling out: "Don’t come in yet, throw the clothes in the trash, they stink."

Yin Minghong was a bit stunned: "I can still wear this."

"Wear my ass, with so many holes. Going out in that, people might pity you as a shirtless beggar and toss you some money. The cost to mend it would be enough to buy a new one. Do you plan to patch it yourself or have Qingmei do it?"

Mu Qingmei patted her chest confidently, "I can mend clothes!"

"You could earn enough carrying sacks at the docks to buy this pretty boy a new suit," Wen Hong said irritably: "Take it off and come in to lie down, surely an old dog like you isn’t afraid of a little pain?"

"What pretty boy? Minghong is so tanned..." Mu Qingmei muttered a few words, watching Yin Minghong remove his jacket and ’move’ into the inner room, sweating profusely. She quickly helped him onto the operating table.

Wen Hong turned on the light therapy lamp and put on gloves. After glancing at Yin Minghong’s injuries, she frowned slightly, "Major injuries on the left arm, chest, and abdomen... Jing Zhengwei doesn’t even spare men now? Such brutal abuse?"

"No... these are battle wounds."

"It’s rare to fight so intensely in Xuanzhu County... Want some boiling sleep soup?"

"No, I can’t sleep yet." Yin Minghong took a deep breath, relaxing his entire body: "I haven’t organized tonight’s records yet... If I forget important information, it’d be bad."

"Then bear with it." A warm glow enveloped Wen Hong’s hands as she massaged Yin Minghong’s wounds. Mu Qingmei watched anxiously from the side but didn’t interrupt.

"Tell me what happened tonight. If you faint later from the pain, I can help record it."

Yin Minghong nodded and began recounting what happened after boarding Jing Zhengwei’s car. Through recollection and narration, it seemed the pain from the light therapy lessened.

Wen Hong listened intently. Once Yin Minghong finished, she asked, "So your wounds are from..."

"Fighting Black Flag, Bao Long, and Old Man Wu," Yin Minghong said just as Wen Hong pressed harder, drawing a sharp breath from him: "Black Flag and Bao Long, naturally strong, but surprisingly, Old Man Wu, who is nearly in his grave, turned out to be the most treacherous. His sudden sleeve sword and foot blade got both Mi Die and me hurt somewhat."

"What about the fleet?"

"Later, Jing Zhengwei checked the real accounts, picked out a few crew members who often ’damaged’ goods, and executed them. The rest had half their wages reclaimed, but the fleet continues operating, and the crew has half a month of rest, with Jing Zhengwei appointing a new captain."

"What about the slave trade?"

"He didn’t say, but he probably doesn’t plan to continue."

Wen Hong, while kneading Yin Minghong’s flesh back together, mused: "Jing Zhengwei’s behavior... is very strange."

"Yeah, I find it strange too." Yin Minghong focused his entire spirit on thinking, trying to withstand the pain: "If he only wanted to remove a few captains instead of destroying the fleet, why punish the crew? He clearly doesn’t want to continue the slave trade; why kill the crew who previously ’damaged’ goods? Doesn’t he know this would make them disloyal?"

Wen Hong, deep in thought, shook her head: "You’re thinking logically, but in reality, those crew members, influenced by Black Flag and others for so long, couldn’t possibly be won over by Jing Zhengwei unless he allowed them to continue making money from the slave trade."

"Since he can’t use kindness to win them over, why not use thunderous force to intimidate? Moreover, this shows his determination; even if the Silver Blood Association found out later, Jing Zhengwei could easily dissociate himself."

"However," Wen Hong shifted the focus: "Jing Zhengwei is still odd."

"Yes, too odd. I can’t understand why he rejected Bai Yulan’s suggestion," Yin Minghong said: "Could it be that Jing Zhengwei’s ’secret force’ has other intelligence pointing to Bai Yulan or his plan as unreliable?"

Thinking exhaustively yet to no avail, he sighed: "The waters of the Jing Family are too deep. Only now do I realize Jing Zhengwei has such a secret force... we must stay vigilant."

Wen Hong nodded: "The waters of the Jing Family are indeed deep, with many demons and monsters, yet everyone drinks from it... White Night wants you to keep undercover under Jing Zhengwei."

At this moment, Mu Qingmei, who had been listening on the side without a chance to speak, finally couldn’t help but say, "Could there be a possibility that Jing Zhengwei is actually a good person? He couldn’t morally accept the slave trade, so he refused Bai Yulan, removed the captain, and killed those crew members?"

Wen Hong and Yin Minghong were taken aback simultaneously, looking at Mu Qingmei with incredulous eyes.

After a while, Wen Hong turned away, covering her mouth, her shoulders slightly trembling, while Yin Minghong couldn’t hold back even with his mouth covered, bursting into laughter, causing his wound to split open:

"Hahaha Qing Mei, when you suddenly say things like this, I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic or truly naive... Hahaha, oh my, it hurts, I’m split open!"

Mu Qingmei, annoyed, sat aside and stopped talking, and Wen Hong seemed to have halted her laughter as well, continuing to treat Yin Minghong: "By the way, the assassin has sent a letter."

Yin Minghong no longer had the mood to laugh, sighing: "But there’s still no reply from Yanjing..."

"Don’t worry, the assassin has set a meeting time for three days later, we still have time."

"Three days later?" Yin Minghong was slightly taken aback, frowning: "I thought he was a rather impatient person, setting the time three days from now... means he might not be available these days."

"I haven’t found any sighting records of the person with white hair either."

"It’s normal, people like them would never let others see their features."

"Alright." Wen Hong took a step back and turned off the phototherapy light: "In the next couple of days, get more sunlight and don’t move around unnecessarily, avoid eating spicy foods that are too heavy."

Mu Qingmei asked curiously: "Is there even such a concern about eating spicy foods?"

Wen Hong nodded: "After eating spicy food, the elimination process takes too long, which might cause the wound to split... By the way, a newcomer has recently arrived at my place, though he only grasps a bit of the Lingxu Battle Technique, he excels at tracking and surveillance tasks in the outer city, and is even willing to carry out assassinations. You can entrust tasks to him."

"Really!?" Yin Minghong, sitting up, looked delighted, this might be the best news he’s heard in recent days, he really lacks a trustworthy assistant.

But he then asked in confusion: "Such a good assistant isn’t exactly available to me, right? Aren’t the priorities of other White Night Walkers higher than mine?"

Someone like Yin Minghong, who is already settled as a cadre in the Jing Family, has a very low priority in the resource allocation of White Night — because it’s really hard for him to advance further, after all, even if Jing Zhengwei were dead, he couldn’t possibly rise to power, unless he had a father-son relationship with Jing Zhengwei.

Therefore, the White Night branch would tilt its resources towards the lower-level White Night Walkers in other associations, striving to bring them closer to the power core and weave a web hidden beneath the nose of the Silver Blood Association, increasing the possibility of overturning Silver Blood Association.

Wen Hong shrugged: "This newcomer specifically hopes to work under you, White Night can only respect his wishes."

Yin Minghong heard this without feeling pleased, just strange: "Why? Does he know me?"

"He didn’t know you before, but he thinks supporting you will help him achieve his goals."

"His goals are related to me?" Yin Minghong felt very strange.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door outside, three long knocks and one short, Wen Hong laughed and said: "Speak of the devil, here he is, you should meet with him."

"But it’s true that his goal is related to you, because he... correctly speaking, he has a feud with Jing Zhengwei."

Wen Hong went out to open the door, momentarily returning with a young man completely hidden under a black cloak.

He slightly bowed, respectfully greeting: "I greet Mr. ’Deceitful Needle’ and Miss ’Flower Needle’. I am the newcomer operative of White Night, codename ’Frost Needle’."

After greeting, Yin Minghong directly asked: "You have a feud with Jing Zhengwei?"

"An irreconcilable vendetta."

"Can you elaborate? I’m just asking, it won’t affect my assessment of you. If it’s inconvenient—"

"There’s nothing to hide." The young man took off his hood, revealing a handsome yet haggard face: "Actually, ten days ago, I was just a servant in Jing Zhengwei’s mansion."

"At that time, my name was Rong Yao."

...

...

Early the next morning, Jing Mansion dispatched three cars.

Le Yu sat in the car in the middle, the driver was Li Sang, Mi Die sat in the front passenger seat, he and Qing Lan sat in the back seat.

Since getting into the car, Le Yu has been sighing and feeling downcast, even Qing Lan, who was holding coconut milk, couldn’t help but lean towards him and quietly ask: "Young master, you’re unhappy about returning to Jing Garden today?"

Le Yu glanced at her, not wanting to answer.

In all fairness, Jing Zhengwei really has no reason to be unhappy.

But for Le Yu it’s different—

After all, in Jing Garden lies someone who in name, blood, and even interest is ’dad’.

So annoying, am I going to call him dad for the first time today?