Chapter 2722: The Capital (Part 78)

Min Zhanlian saw the man's resolve wavering and knew the will to survive had already taken root. He pressed his advantage deliberately. "I imagine you're just a lackey following orders, scheming for a few coins. Why throw your life away for such loyalty? You think your little plots are so clever? I'd wager your master already knows everything."

This was pure bluff on Min Zhanlian's part. Zhou Ruolan had remarked earlier, "I suspect the upper and lower ranks aren't of one mind." Combined with the visitor who had been killed the day before, all signs pointed to Liu Sha being not merely disloyal, but harboring schemes of his own.

He hadn't expected such an immediate reaction. The moment the words left his mouth, Liu Sha's cheek twitched involuntarily. Now certain he'd struck a nerve, Min Zhanlian leaned in close and spoke in a low voice:

"You killed that visitor. That was the worst possible move! Even if your master can't turn on you immediately, once things settle down, he'll certainly investigate. What will you say then? I know you must have ways to dispose of the body and erase all traces, but once trust is broken, I'm afraid it can never be restored..."

Though Liu Sha struggled to keep his expression neutral, Min Zhanlian—an old hand in the Jianghu—had already glimpsed the panic flickering in his eyes. He was right! The killing was exactly what his instructors had called a "stress response"—an impulsive act without careful thought. That panic likely stemmed from having his scheme exposed.

One hundred thousand taels of silver—indeed enough to make a man risk his life!

"You're really with the Kun?" After a long silence, Liu Sha finally spoke.

Min Zhanlian reached into his clothes and drew out a gleaming blue revolver.

"A Seven-Star Chain Pistol. You know what this is."

Liu Sha fell silent, then spoke weakly: "Very well. All my scheming was for nothing!" He slumped as though every ounce of strength had drained from his body. After a long moment, he opened his eyes and said, "I'll tell you the truth. I genuinely don't know Manager Leng's whereabouts—I wasn't the one guarding the hostage."

"What were you in charge of?"

"The ransom," Liu Sha said, his voice feeble.

"The one hundred thousand taels—that was your idea, wasn't it?"

"Yes. What my master wanted wasn't money." Liu Sha's words came with difficulty.

"What was it?"

"Negotiations!" Liu Sha shook his head.

Min Zhanlian drew a sharp breath. This was growing more complicated by the moment. Liu Sha's scheme was audacious. According to him, the condition his master had proposed for releasing the hostage wasn't a ransom at all, but rather a meeting with the Kun's top leaders.

"Who is your master?"

"Since it's come to this, I may as well tell you: the Minister of War, Lord Wang Yehao."

Min Zhanlian knew something of the capital's officials, but this Lord Wang made no impression on him. Ever since Wang had stepped down from his positions as Governor-General of Liangguang and Governor of Guangdong, he was no longer a priority target for the Foreign Intelligence Bureau.

"Do you still have the original letter sent to Delong?"

"I destroyed it."

"Can you recall its contents?"

"Roughly. The letter stated that kidnapping Manager Leng had been a last resort. At a critical moment of life and death, they'd had no choice but to take such drastic measures. They simply requested that one or more of the Kun Senate's top leaders meet at a secure location to negotiate."

"That's all?"

"There were also some courtesies—essentially saying that war would harm both sides, while peace talks would benefit everyone."

No wonder the masterminds could afford to bide their time! Min Zhanlian thought. For a matter this significant, even with wireless telegraph capable of sending messages a thousand li in an instant, negotiating peace with the court would still require days of meetings and deliberation in the Senate before reaching any conclusion. Liu Sha had been exploiting precisely that gap.

According to the original plan, after kidnapping Leng Ningyun, Liu Sha was to arrange for Leng's personal token and a letter to be delivered to Delong Bank. At this point, Liu Sha had made his move—swapping out the original letter and replacing it with a ransom demand for one hundred thousand taels.

Then he had positioned himself in Tongzhou, secretly directing his subordinates to monitor Delong and Heliansheng.

He had chosen Tongzhou for three reasons: first, he'd traveled here before as a fortune-teller and had built a minor reputation, making him half a local; second, it wasn't far from the capital and allowed him to maintain remote control; third, with Heliansheng surely turning the capital upside down in their search, it was wiser to lie low elsewhere and avoid having his flaws discovered.

No wonder Delong had hung out the cloth strip signaling agreement to the terms but received no response. Min Zhanlian thought: Indeed, everyone had their own agenda.

"Since Delong agreed to pay the silver, why not hand over the hostage?"

"Because the hostage isn't with me," Liu Sha said with a bitter smile. "Someone else is guarding him. Damn it all!"

So the separation of ransoming and guarding had been beyond Liu Sha's expectations.

"How did you conceive this scheme? Besides, even Delong might not keep one hundred thousand taels in reserve at the bank."

"It was Little Eunuch Yang's idea."

He had learned from Little Eunuch Yang that Delong had just taken in nearly one hundred thousand taels from over a dozen palace eunuchs. The money was definitely there. So he had conceived the idea to intercept it.

"So Little Eunuch Yang also gets a share."

Liu Sha nodded weakly. "Exactly."

With the silver stored in Delong, it was as secure as a mountain fortress. Not to mention that one hundred thousand taels of silver weighed six or seven thousand jin—transporting it would require dozens of carts. Simply brandishing weapons in the city would be suicide.

So the silver had to leave the city. Only in the suburbs could they make their move.

"In that case, why was Heliansheng's silver cart intercepted on the road?"

"That was to test whether Qiwei was actually transporting silver to the estate."

"What if the bandits had actually succeeded in robbing it?"

"Those bandits were no match for Heliansheng," Liu Sha said. "I know Heliansheng's strength all too well."

"What about Liu Xiaobian and the eunuchs from Nanyuan among the bandits?"

"They were sent to monitor the bandit gang. Never expected they'd lose their lives!"

"In all these days since the letter was delivered, hasn't your master grown suspicious?" Min Zhanlian asked slowly.

"Suspicious? Of course he has. Why else would he have sent someone here?" Liu Sha gave a bitter smile. "Fortunately, except for hiding the hostage, I handled everything from start to finish. The informants outside are all my people, so I managed to keep him fooled."

He didn't bother hiding it. The dead man was named Wang Liang, sent by his master to inquire about the ransom.

"...I tried to deceive him, but somehow he'd caught wind of something. He made a scene here, threatened to expose me, and refused even silver to keep quiet. I had no choice but to send him on his way." A look of frustrated ambition showed in his eyes. "Give me three more days, and it would have worked! What a pity..."

"That's strange. Even outside the city, could you muster forces to attack? And even if you could, after taking the estate, with such treasure tempting everyone, could you actually control the situation?"

"Of course we couldn't attack by force," Liu Sha said with a bitter smile. "We'd take it by cunning."

"By cunning?" Min Zhanlian could barely contain his laughter. "And how would you manage that?"

"I don't know the details. Little Eunuch Yang would arrange it."

Min Zhanlian laughed outright. "You're a Jianghu man yourself. I don't know where the estate holding the silver is, but knowing Heliansheng's methods, it's probably fortified like an iron bucket. Even with several hundred bandits attacking, it might not be taken. And you believed a eunuch raised in the palace when he casually promised to 'take it by cunning'?"

"What choice did I have?" Liu Sha said helplessly.

Min Zhanlian studied his face. It was indeed full of resignation, but he still sensed Liu Sha wasn't telling the whole truth.

No matter, he thought. As long as the man was in their hands, they needn't worry about extracting the rest eventually. He asked again:

"After it was done, how much of the silver would Little Eunuch Yang receive?"

"He didn't want a single coin," Liu Sha said. "Just one condition."

"Was it to use you to eliminate Eunuch Yang?"

Liu Sha nodded.

"Since you've confessed everything, I'll give you a way to survive," Min Zhanlian said. "If you have any other important information, sharing it would greatly benefit your future."

"What benefit could there possibly be?" Liu Sha looked utterly disheartened. "I've worked for Lord Wang for over ten years, through wind and rain, licking blood off knife edges more times than I can count. From beginning to end, I was just a pawn to summon and dismiss at will!" He heaved a long sigh.

Min Zhanlian understood how such men thought. After loyally serving their masters for years, they gradually came to feel their contributions didn't match their rewards, and their minds turned crooked, hoping to make one big score and jump ship. But more often than not, heaven didn't comply. Compared to their masters, their resources were far smaller, and they had too many vulnerabilities. After much plotting, their schemes mostly came to nothing—and they even gave their masters a legitimate reason to dispose of them.

Especially when emotions involving a woman entered the picture. He recalled the Chiefs joking: When middle-aged men and women fall in love, it's like an old house catching fire—it won't stop until it burns to the ground. Taking a woman from a musician household had obviously stretched Liu Sha thin.

At this moment, whether the Australians or Wang Yehao were friend or foe no longer mattered to Liu Sha. He was simply consumed with resentment.

Since he was resentful, there was an opening to exploit. Min Zhanlian had him taken to a side room for detention. They could work on him slowly later. Even without knowing Lord Wang's background, his desire for peace talks was significant intelligence.

"Bring the woman," he ordered. "Everyone else, clean the house and bury the body. Make ready!"

Since this was Liu Sha's headquarters for commanding the kidnapping, other contacts might still arrive.

But the most urgent matter was transcribing the entire interrogation record neatly. He particularly emphasized the report concerning Yang Tianliang's plan to "take it by cunning"—whether true or not, Heliansheng needed to be prepared.

Shortly afterward, the woman was brought into the room. Her blindfold was removed. Upon seeing Min Zhanlian, she dropped to her knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly and begging for mercy. She kept insisting she was merely a musician's woman and knew nothing of Liu Sha's affairs.

"Don't be afraid," Min Zhanlian said gently. "Stand up and speak."

Zhou Ruolan helped her to her feet and offered a few comforting words. When Min Zhanlian saw that her expression had calmed somewhat, he asked, "What is your name?"

"This slave is called Ruijie."

"How many years has Liu Sha kept you?"

"Only... only one year," Ruijie said timidly. "But he's been coming to my family's establishment to drink for three or four years."

(End of Chapter)