Translator-Lucyferase
Editor-Alysia
Jiang Yue Lou was sitting in the car escorting Minister Zhou and was a little distracted. He didn’t want to take this task, but the matter was confidential, and Bai Jinbo wanted someone he could trust for this mission.
Looking at this old man with white temples sitting next to him, Jiang Yue Lou thought to himself that building the railway was also for the well-being of the people of Jingcheng, and so this was also important. He lost his resentment and, putting the opium matter aside, for the time being, he focused on observing the surroundings.
Suddenly, he heard a “bang” and saw a red beam swiftly pass in front of his eyes, and in a matter of seconds, Minister Zhou was killed, right under Jiang Yue Lou’s nose.
Mayor Cai was furious and ordered Bai Jinbo to close the case within three days. Once the murderer is caught, a public trial must be arranged.
The suspects were already known. For the sake of confidentiality, only Bai Jinbo and the three-section chiefs of the police station knew about this mission. Jiang Yue Lou was in charge of the shuttle, Jin Dacheng of hotel security, and Feng Yu of catering. To prevent hidden dangers, each of them only knew part of the information.
Jiang Yue Lou knew about the pick-up time but not the hotel meeting room or the accommodation arrangements; Jin Dacheng knew about the meeting arrangements but not the personnel arrival time, and Feng Yu only purchased safe ingredients and supervised the chefs to prepare food and deliver it to the designated place and then to the hotel.
Excluding Feng Yu, who had no idea of the location of the meeting, only Jiang Yue Lou and Jin Dacheng were left.
“From 7:30 to 7:45 in the morning, where are you?” Bai Jinbo glared at the two suspects and asked them sharply.
Jiang Yue Lou thought for a while, “The office.”
Jin Dacheng also hastily replied, “I was on my way here.”
Bai Jinbo stared at Jiang Yue Lou and asked again, “Was there anyone with you?”
This question relieved Jin Dacheng, who responded first, “There was also a Xiaohui with me who was driving the car.”
He then looked at Jiang Yue Lou again, who just shook his head and his hands, indicating that he was alone.
Bai Jinbo stared at Jiang Yue Lou for a moment, sighed heavily, and patted his hands twice. Several policemen poured through the door to arrest Jiang Yue Lou on the spot.
“Between 7:30 to 7:45 in the morning, the police station office made a phone call through the Qingming Road exchange, which is used in all the buildings around the Jing’an Hotel, including the Broadway building where the killer was hiding.”
Jiang Yue Lou understood that he had become the only suspect, the mole who had warned the killer in this case. It was only then that he realized all the moves made against them by this mysterious mastermind. This man had been trying to set him up since the opium den incident. He probably also knew him and Chen Yu Zhi very well. That’s why he sent Liu Li, who looks like Keying, to the clinic.
The most hateful thing was that looking at the well-planned ambush today, this mysterious man could have easily killed him, but decided not to. Instead, he treated him as his plaything, moving him around like a pawn in his perverse game.
Jiang Yue Lou was grateful that he had maintained his sanity and had not been carried away by anger. Now he could control his emotions very well. Sadly, he hadn’t had the time to tell Chen Yu Zhi about it.
During his arrest, Jiang Yue Lou didn’t resist. He quietly looked at Bai Jinbo, sending him a message with his eyes. He was planning to fight back and he would need the best possible cooperation for that.
The case of Minister Zhou’s assassination was thus resolved and the prisoner, Jiang Yue Lou, was to be put on a public trial the following day. On the eve of the trial, Chen Yu Zhi came to find Chu Ran.
Chen Yu Zhi went straight to the point, “Are you going to the public trial tomorrow? What are the arrangements for the thirty seats in the auditorium? Are there any available?”
Chu Ran shook his head, “Four of these seats are assigned to newspapers, and the others are for representatives of various industries. Our newspaper got only two, for me and our editor-in-chief. ”
At that moment, Chen Yu Zhi couldn’t care less about the decency between men and women. He grabbed Chu Ran’s wrist and implored, in a mournful tone, “Help me.”
This time, the person on trial was Jiang Yue Lou, and Chu Ran was also very sad. She believed that such a person could never be a traitor, and she knew that Chen Yu Zhi’s heart must be in terrible pain right now. But how can she make her newspapers agree to allow Chen Yu Zhi to come with them?
As she hesitated, Chen Yu Zhi continued to beg, “I don’t know what outsiders think, but I know very well that Jiang Yue Lou would never do such a thing. I’m worried that if he is triggered by a public trial and suffers an emotional attack, his career as a police officer will be ruined and he will be convicted of this crime. I know we shouldn’t involve you in our affairs again and again, but I have no choice, please…”
He didn’t finish what he was saying when he was abruptly interrupted, “Do you have any medicine for diarrhea?”
“What?” Chen Yu Zhi was stunned.
Chu Ran explained, “The only way I can get you in is to find a way to make the editor-in-chief temporarily unable to go”.
Chen Yu Zhi understood and immediately nodded, “Yes, I will get it now.”
If some people were worried and embattled*, others still had time to go to Tianyun Garden to listen to opera without any worry.
Zhan Jun Bai was walking in the backyard, and suddenly heard the voice of the leader of Tianyun Garden in a room next to him, so he stopped and listened through the carved door.
He heard the class master say in a surly voice, “Boss Yu, I’m not trying to be condescending, but you haven’t been on stage for quite some time and today, all of a sudden, you want to perform. But I can’t arrange it at the moment. Our Tianyun Garden this month was supported by Boss Su alone. He is now the star performer in our courtyard, and all of us depend on him for food. ”
He said he didn’t want to sound patronizing, but there was sarcasm in his words. Zhan Jun Bai didn’t hear Yu Tang Chun retort, but only the troupe leader, who was still talking, “To be honest, we now have to follow him on everything because he is the main singer. Your wing should also belong to him. Since he is interested in your courtyard, you should give it to him. The backroom is quieter, so you can move there to recover from your illness. ”
Zhan Jun Bai frowned as he listened. Qiu Ming could read his master like an open book when he looked at him. He was about to speak up but stayed silent as Zhan Jun Bai raised his hand, signaling him to be quiet.
He overheard Yu Tang Chun’s response to “Sure.”
But the troupe leader wasn’t finished yet, and he pushed his luck just a little bit further, “You’re not going to sing anyway, so it’s a hassle to move all this stuff around, so why not leave it there as a congratulatory gift for Boss Su?”
Yu Tang Chun finally emotionally reacted and his voice was tinged with anger, “Many of my outfits are gifts from our guests and a token of their appreciation. I’m sorry but I can’t let him have them.”
His master already had no patience, and his attitude was now even worse, “Yu Tang Chun, you are now an idler in the troupe. You can’t carry on with your wounded shoulder and I am already taking care of you by giving you food so don’t force me to expel you.”
Zhan Jun Bai, who was still at the entrance of the courtyard, finally couldn’t listen to him anymore and walked into the courtyard with a light smile on his face.
The troupe leader was visibly astonished to see him, and immediately changed his face and said in a cheerful tone, “Director Zhan, how nice of you to condescend to come here? Please, I will guide you to your private room and I will ask Boss Su to come on stage and sing for you. ”
“I was originally invented by Boss Yu to come over and listen to him singing today, but now I have just heard the troupe leader saying that he couldn’t schedule his play…”
The class leader immediately changed his tune, “What! No! Not at all… I’m mainly worried that Mr. Yu is not well enough…”
“I understand, but now I have all this free time, and there is nothing else to do tonight, so ask that boss of yours, this Su, to be ready to sing, and he will stop when I leave,” he said with a guilty conscience, but Zhan Jun Bai seemed to agree with him after hearing him.
The troupe leader immediately nodded and bowed down again and again before quickly standing down.
Yu Tang Chun slightly yawned at Zhan Junbai as an apology, “Sorry, I didn’t have time to inform you, I’m to blame for not communicating well, it’s mainly because I was so bad during the rehearsal this afternoon when I tried to sing, that…”
Zhan Jun Bai drew the person out before he could finish speaking, saying, “Then don’t sing, and accompany me to the play.”
This was the first time that Yu Tang Chun sat in the audience to listen to other people sing and he wasn’t used to it.
Unlike him, Zhan Jun Bai was feeling comfortable, commenting while listening, “His singing is far inferior to you.”
Yu Tang Chun’s heart grew more and more uneasy. He had deliberately invited this person today. Initially, he only wanted to tell Zhan Jun Bai about his situation as a test to see how important he was in Zhan Jun Bai’s eyes, and to see if he still felt indebted to him for saving his life so that he could return to the Zhan Mansion and carry out his revenge plan.
But Yu Tang Chun had not expected Zhan Jun Bai to seek justice for him in this manner. The man on the stage had been singing for three hours, and his voice was tired. After ten years of practice, if he sang any longer, his voice would be ruined in one night.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Director Zhan should forget about it; the troupe leader also has his problems. There are dozens of people working in the courtyard, who have to eat. ” Yu Tang Chun still couldn’t help but plead for mercy.
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“There are some people who don’t have enough brains to learn from their mistakes unless they are taught a lesson,” Zhan Jun Bai said coldly, staring at the stage.
Yu Tang Chun couldn’t stand it anymore, he got up and solemnly bowed to Zhan Jun Bai, “Please, I’ll ask Director Zhan to stop the play.”
Zhan Jun Bai glanced at Yu Tang Chun and rushed out of the door and shouted, “Stop the play ——”
Only then did Yu Tang Chun breathed a sigh of relief.
“I did it for you, not for him,” Looking at Yu Tang Chun, Zhan Jun Bai said slowly, “You should move back to the Zhan mansion.”
Yu Tang Chun achieved his plan, but he wasn’t happy in his heart. Taking advantage of someone who had genuinely treated him well would only leave him with a constant sense of regret, but he struggled only for a few moments before nodding.
The next day, the public trial officially began. The judge, who presided over it, was an older, elegant man, sitting on a table in front of the rows, located in the middle of the hall, with a clerk sitting on the side of the stage. Different representatives who had come to observe the trial were sitting on a few rows of chairs at the back of the hall.
Sitting in the press box, Chen Yu Zhi nervously listened to the trial. To his surprise, the first witness brought in turned out to be Song Rong.
Song Rong was in a very bad mood, he kept his eyes down, and did not dare to look at Jiang Yue Lou.
The presiding judge asked him, “Where were you at 7:40 on the morning of the murder?”
Song Rong replied, “At the police station, the car was ready, and I was on my way to inform the Section Chief that everything was set. When I arrived at the door of the office, I saw that he was on the phone, so I left. ”
Chen Yu Zhi looked at Jiang Yue Lou worriedly. He didn’t know that Song Rong would be a witness. He believed Song Rong would never betray Jiang Yue Lou, but now this person was standing against Jiang Yue Lou and what he said would only hurt him.
But Jiang Yue Lou was not devastated. He looked at Song Rong with piercing eyes and asked, “How are you sure that the time was exactly 7:40?”
Song Rong finally raised his head, “The training for recruits at the police station ends at 7:40. “As I was leaving, I ran into them after their class ended.”
Jiang Yue Lou nodded, “Okay. Then what was the content of my conversation?”
Song Rong froze. He shook his head as he tried to recall it, “I don’t know. To be precise, you didn’t speak for the few seconds I was there.”
“Okay, I have no more questions.” Jiang Yue Lou turned to the judge, “Your Honor, the reason why he didn’t hear me speak was that I wasn’t making a call, I was answering it.”
There was a faint commotion in the audience, and the presiding judge beat the hammer to remind the people present to keep quiet, and the interrogation continued.
Seeing such a calm performance from Jiang Yue Lou, Chen Yu Zhi heaved a sigh of relief, but Bai Jinbo didn’t. Since the beginning of the trial, he was paying attention to the expressions of everyone in the audience, and the words Jiang Yue Lou had said to him before the trial were still ringing in his ears:
“It is highly likely that the mastermind behind this will be present at the public trial. Even the most meticulous hunter might give himself away when he is complacent. Meanwhile, this will be the best time for us to fight back.”
Sure enough, when the jurors said that there was no way to prove whether it was an incoming or outgoing call. At that moment, a short-haired woman in the court looked very proud of herself and her eyes flashed with triumphant success. She even lifted her hair and changed to a more relaxed and comfortable sitting position.
Bai Jinbo stared at this woman fixedly, waiting for her next move.
The next witness brought into the bar was a policeman. He stated, “The autopsy revealed that the caliber of the bullet found in Minister Zhou Fanling’s body was 7.6mm, a special bullet issued by the police department.”
This revelation quickly rippled* across the audience, and everyone looked at Jiang Yue Lou in surprise.
The pen that recorded this court case stopped in Chu Ran’s hand. She originally believed in Jiang Yue Lou, but now that the evidence was in front of her, she didn’t know how to judge it for a while.
Chu Ran subconsciously glanced at Chen Yu Zhi beside her, only to see that the other person was not affected in the slightest, and was staring at Jiang Yue Lou with full concern. There was only trust in his eyes, and no matter how hard the evidence was, he could not be shaken by it.
“There is a mole in the police station, but it is not Jiang Yue Lou.” Chen Yu Zhi didn’t turn to her when he noticed Chu Ran’s gaze. He was still looking at Jiang Yue Lou with gleaming eyes and said these words with confidence.
Chu Ran was stunned. At this moment, she was finally convinced that she had completely lost.
The allegations were substantiated. The judge asked Jiang Yue Lou if he would like to plead guilty or not guilty, and the latter sneered, “Since the evidence is conclusive, does it make a difference if I plead guilty or not?”
The presiding judge didn’t want to pursue any longer and said, “We have confirmed that a crime has been committed. Minister Zhou Fanling was assassinated and Jiang Yue Lou was suspected of collaborating with the enemy. Now the verdict will be pronounced. Everyone, please stand up.”
The audience stood up, waiting for the result. The judge finally said, “In this verdict, the suspect, Jiang Yue Lou, will be sentenced to death, and the execution will take place immediately.”
Everyone was stunned by these words, except Mrs. Jiang, whose corners of her lips lifted slightly after hearing the verdict, and the light of victory in her eyes could not be hidden.
Catching this chance, Bai Jinbo immediately rushed towards her and shouted, “Grab her!”
Madam Jiang’s expression changed in an instant. Not to mention whether she would be arrested for today’s incident; with his identity and criminal record, she would never see the light of day again, so she couldn’t be caught. She subconsciously drew her gun and fired, causing a huge commotion in the auditorium, with people screaming and running away.
There was such chaos in the courtroom that it became even more difficult to catch her. Bai Jinbo quickly commanded the guards to block the exit, and Chen Yu Zhi rushed to Jiang Yue Lou’s side at the first opportunity.
“It’s dangerous. Go hide!” Jiang Yue Lou rebuked, trying to push Chen Yu Zhi away.
Almost at the same time, Chen Yu Zhi saw Madam Jiang pulling her gun out and pointing it in their direction. Before he even realized it, he subconsciously stretched out his hand, grasped Jiang Yue Lou’s sleeve, and pulled him into his arms.
The bullet grazed Jiang Yue Lou’s clothes and passed over, it was a near miss. Jiang Yue Lou wasn’t injured, but his whole body completely froze. Just a moment ago, he saw the face of the shooter, which looked exactly like his mother’s in his memory.
It was indeed Mrs. Jiang who was shot just now. The ultimate goal of her mission was to kill Jiang Yue Lou, and even if the public trial didn’t go as she had expected, she could still get rid of him directly. But right after the shot was fired, Mrs. Jiang saw, beneath the shirt that had been ripped open by Chen Yu Zhi, the red birthmark on Jiang Yue Lou’s collarbone, the same as his eldest son, Kang Shengan.
At that moment, there was a red-light dot moving through the crowd, and in the confusion, Song Rong was the first to notice it, he knew it was the reflector sight of a sniper rifle.
Mrs. Jiang also arranged for a shooter outside the courtroom. She was meticulous and even had backup plans. This time, she made all the necessary preparations when she came to the trial. But now she deeply regrets it. Helpless, she could only watch the bullet being fired at her child, when suddenly, the witness, her son’s trusted subordinate, rushed forward and blocked the shot with his own body.
She almost killed her son. This terrible recognition made Mrs. Jiang suddenly lose her ability to fight back, and she was quickly restrained by the police.
Jiang Yue Lou was holding Song Rong, who was covered in blood. His entire body was trembling, and he was in a state of panic, constantly yelling Song Rong’s name.
“Yue Lou put the man down, I have to stop his bleeding first!” Chen Yu Zhi had no medical tools with him, so he could only stop the bleeding urgently by pressing the wound with his fingers while shouting “Someone, call an ambulance!”
“Boss…”, Song Rong, who had no more strength to speak, still tried to utter a few words, “I’m sorry, I…I… shouldn’t have doubted you…”
Jiang Yue Lou’s eyes were red, and his voice choked, “You did nothing wrong, they deliberately designed it, to divide us, you and me, hold on and when you’re better, we…”
But before he could even finish, the other person had already taken his last breath.
Zhan Jun Bai didn’t attend the public trial. After listening to Qiu Ming’s report, the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile, “Mother and son fighting each other is indeed a really good show.”
Qiu Ming stood aside and complimented, “It was beautifully designed by you.”
Zhan Jun Bai squinted at him, “Stop flattering me. You’d better think of a way to silence that Snake Lady in prison.”
Qiu Ming smiled sarcastically, “She won’t dare to rat you out. Her child is still in prison in Beiping* waiting for you to get him out. “This son means the world to her.”
“Don’t forget, Jiang Yue Lou is also her son,” Zhan Jun Bai said, turning over his palm. “Both the palm and the back of the hand are made of flesh* Who knows who she’ll pick?
Hearing this, Qiu Ming was a little panicked and was now pondering what else could be done to deal with this matter. When he was about to speak, Zhan Jun Bai hinted at him with his eyes to stay silent.
A little after, Yu Tang Chun came in with a bowl.
“I apologize for interrupting your business conversation.”Yu Tang Chun stopped at the door, “I didn’t know Qiu Ming was still there.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Zhan Jun Bai said, waving him in. “You should treat this place as yours, and there is no need to be formal in your own home.”
“I made you some soothing soup.” As he said, Yu Tang Chun walked in and put the bowl on the table. “You told me earlier that you were having trouble sleeping yesterday. This is a prescription Dr. Chen gave me before, it’s very effective for me, so I prepared some for you. “
Looking at the steaming bowl of soothing soup, Zhan Jun Bai felt warm in his heart, and his tone became unconsciously gentler, “Thank you, I’ll drink it right away.”
Yu Tang Chun didn’t stay long and went out after delivering the soothing soup. Qiu Ming looked at his back, feeling a little uneasy.
“Qiu Ming”, Zhan Junbai picked up the soup, blew it, and suddenly said, “Go and check out Boss Yu’s background.”
This was exactly what Qiu Ming wanted to do. He took command immediately, but couldn’t help but ask one more question, “Do you suspect there’s something wrong with Boss Yu?”
Zhan Jun Bai drank the bowl of soothing soup in one gulp, took a deep breath, and said, “I asked you to investigate precisely because I want to trust him.”
Only by checking it would be clear how much he can believe in his words and how much he can put his faith in him. For the first time in his life, Zhan Jun Bai wanted to trust someone. He only hoped that this person would not let him down.
Mrs. Jiang had been arrested, and the verdict was quickly revised. Jiang Yue Lou was acquitted, but afterward, he shut himself in his room, refusing to see anyone.
“I’m sorry,” Sitting on the other side of the door, Chen Yu Zhi was apologizing to him.
There was no reply, but Chen Yu Zhi continued to ask for forgiveness. He couldn’t tell how many times he had said sorry until, finally, the door opened.
Jiang Yue Lou stood, walked to him, bent down to look him in the eyes, and said, “You don’t have to say sorry, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
Chen Yu Zhi lowered his head as he didn’t dare to look at him, and said in a faint voice, “I couldn’t save Song Rong.”
Jiang Yue Lou couldn’t endure seeing him like this, so he just held Chen Yu Zhi’s face with his two hands, forcing him to raise his head, “It’s not your fault, you are a doctor, not a God, and you can’t save everyone. This is this woman’s fault, that woman…”
He couldn’t continue. That woman was his mother. He didn’t know what went wrong. Why would a mother who has suffered from opium persecute others with this drug? Why did his brothers have to die because of her? He almost lost his life. It was too much and he couldn’t face all of this right now. He could only flee and hide here, pretending that nothing had happened.
Because of Jiang Yue Lou’s absence, the interrogation was handed over to Bai Jinbo. But it wasn’t because no one else could do it. It was just that when Bai Jinbo was arresting Mrs. Jiang, he heard her shout “An’er” to Jiang Yue Lou. Kang Shengan was Jiang Yue Lou’s name when he was young, and only a few people knew it.
“Who the hell are you?” was Bai Jinbo’s first question when he interrogated Mrs. Jiang.
Madam Jiang stayed silent, she didn’t want to reveal her relationship with Jiang Yue Lou to anyone.
But in his heart, Bai Jinbo already knew the answer. As she didn’t want to reply, he decided to tell her a story instead.
“When I met Shengan, he was only fourteen years old. He was chased by debt collectors and had nowhere to hide. A large circle of people surrounded him and beat him up, but he didn’t admit defeat. Every time he was knocked down, he would get up again, throwing his fits to fight back, biting his teeth, still fighting. Those debt collectors could tell he was good-looking, so they decided to sell him to Eunuch Yin to get some money… “You know, the Eunuch Yin was that old man who had been in the palace for nearly sixty years, and what he liked best was handsome little boys.”
While telling the story, Bai Jinbo observed Mrs. Jiang’s expression. When he suddenly stopped talking, he saw her gritting her teeth and asking angrily, “Then what?”
“Then…” Bai Jinbo continued, “Then I bumped into them while they were dragging Shengan to sell him to that man and I don’t know why the way Shengan looked at him at that time… I couldn’t leave him alone. So, I helped him wipe out his debt and brought him home. My wife and I never had any children, so when Shengan arrived, my wife treated him as if he was her son. The only thing was when we were asking him about his past, his emotions were getting out of control.”
The storyteller controlled the pace of the story very well, deliberately leaving some time for Madam Jiang to imagine what her son’s life was like, waiting until she saw in her eyes the desire to hear more about it. Bai Jinbo finally continued, “To be sure those loan sharks would not pester him again and to help him escape his painful past, I changed his name. I wanted him to take my surname, but he refused. So, I asked him which the last name he wanted, and he said he would like to take his mother’s name —— Jiang!”
Mrs. Jiang could no longer control herself and cried hopelessly.
Looking at Mrs. Jiang, who was emotionally broken, Bai Jinbo finally asked, “Your surname is Jiang, isn’t it?”
Jiang Shengnan was immersed in his guilt and did not respond.
Bai Jinbo said again, “Your eyes are so similar to those of Yue Lou.”
Mrs. Jiang raised a pair of teary eyes, nodding heavily, and then smiled bitterly with a bit of sadness, “Retribution, this is all retribution…”
“You are his mother.”
Hearing this word, Madam Jiang gave a self-deprecating look, “Mother, am I worthy of being called that way?” After speaking, she shook her head sadly.
Seeing that she felt guilty, Bai Jinbo seized this opportunity to ask, “At this point, you don’t need to hide anything anymore. Tell us who is the person behind all of this.”
Yes, by revealing who was behind it, she could redeem herself, even just a little. She owed An’er too much, and even doing this would never be enough to make up for what she did to him. But she couldn’t tell that she had another child, a boy who grew up receiving all her love, but who was also implicated in his father’s opium business and ended up imprisoned and she needed San Ye’s assistance to save him.
Madam Jiang struggled for a while but still couldn’t say the name. She raised her gaze, looked at Bai Jinbo, and said categorically, “There is no one else, I am the one who planned everything, so just kill me.”
After saying this, she closed her eyes and would not utter another word.
Looking at Mrs. Jiang, who insisted on being the mastermind, Bai Jinbo felt completely helpless. They didn’t get anything from their plan for the trial, and he definitely couldn’t hurt Jiang Yue Lou’s mother to make her talk. He was in an impossible situation*. But the thing which was worrying him the most at the moment was what would happen when Jiang Yue Lou found out the truth and how he would face it?
Bai Jinbo wasn’t the only one facing a dilemma. Jiang Yue Lou leaned on Chen Yu Zhi’s shoulder and revealed everything to him. He told him about his past, how much he missed his mother, and also how his heart was torn and struggled the moment he saw her.
He then asked Chen Yu Zhi, “What should I do?”
This was the first time Chen Yu Zhi felt Jiang Yue Lou’s vulnerability. Even after losing each of his friends one by one, and despite battling mental illness for years, Jiang Yue Lou had always kept his head held high* and had never been overcome by adversity. But now, he couldn’t even sit up and was just leaning on his shoulder, with no strength in his voice.
Chen Yu Zhi was glad that he could be there for Jiang Yue Lou at this time, and yet he was also terribly heartbroken seeing him in that state. He stretched out his hand and patted Yue Lou on the back, coaxing him like a child, “It’s okay if you can’t decide right now, don’t worry, take your time. This choice can only be made by you. I know it will be very hard, but no matter what you choose, I’ll stand by you.”
His words made Jiang Yue Lou feel a little relieved, and his mood gradually stabilized, but then, Chu Ran suddenly arrived and she brought some news.
Someone sold the information to her newspaper, saying that Section Chief Jiang of the police department and the newly caught drug baron had a mother-child relationship. Although the news was temporarily stopped from being spread by Chu Ran, there was no guarantee that other newspaper colleagues would not receive such a revelation, so she came to inform them as soon as possible.
“I’m going to the police station”, was Jiang Yue Lou’s first reaction after hearing this.
“Someone knew about our relationship and deliberately used her to set me up, just to see a mother and son fighting against each other. The mastermind behind all of this is the real San Ye!”
After saying that, Jiang Yue Lou took the initiative to take a pill for emotional illness and asked Chu Ran to help find the person who sold the information.
At first, Chen Yu Zhi was still anxious, but now, seeing him handling things so methodically, he was slightly reassured. He grasped Jiang Yue Lou’s arm as he was leaving the house and said, “I’ll go with you.”
Jiang Yue Lou looked at him, and a sudden force surged into his heart. He nodded and replied “En.”
The two went out, hand in hand, and the moonlight stretched out their shadows, two long, slender shadows, standing together, and relying on each other.
The fact that the Snake Lady and Jiang Yue Lou were mother and son spread wildly in the police station and two guards were even chatting about this as they passed by Mrs. Jiang’s cell, “Did you know that the woman in that cell is Section Chief Jiang’s mother?”
“Really? How could a man like Chief Jiang, who despises such evil people, have such a mother? The director was training him to be the next director, but now he doesn’t even know if he can keep his position as Section Chief. ”
“It’s sad, isn’t it? The more difficult question is, what will happen when the Section Chief comes back? Whether she will be killed or released, he will inevitably be criticized by all parties. ”
They walked away and continued to talk, but the content of the conversation reached Madam Jiang’s ears, and hearing this, her pain and guilt deepened even more and she finally made her decision.
Bai Jinbo came again to Mrs. Jiang’s cell, but this time at her request.
“I will tell you what you want, but before that, I want to talk to you first.”
Bai Jinbo stared at Madam Jiang, wondering why she had suddenly relented, “Don’t try to fool me.”
Jiang Shengnan smiled, and raised her handcuffed wrists: “At this stage, what kind of tricks can I play?”
Bai Jinbo said nothing and looked at Jiang Shengnan, quietly waiting for her story.
“My name is Jiang Shengnan, I changed it myself. I’ve had enough of a life of endless suffering. I wanted to be like a man, even better than a man. It’s a pity, that, ultimately, all of this was in vain. My real name is Jiang Rushui, a pretty nice name, don’t you think?”
Staring at her, Bai Jinbo didn’t answer.
Jiang Shengnan smiled to herself, “On the day An’er’s father became addicted to opium, my peaceful and quiet life came to an end. Getting beaten and thrown out of the house in the cold quickly became my daily life. He even brought people to the house “to humiliate me” in exchange for two puffs of opium.”
Bai Jinbo’s expression suddenly changed a little. He didn’t expect Jiang Yue Lou’s past to be so heavy and difficult and there was a hint of pity in his eyes when he looked at Jiang Shengnan.
“I couldn’t support it anymore and I thought death would be less painful, so I jumped off the bridge of the Jing river and floated endlessly in the water. I thought it would be nice to die like this and that everything would soon be over. Unfortunately, I didn’t deserve such mercy. I didn’t die and was saved by pirates instead. After being dead once, you see things differently, and when it comes to life, I discovered that if you are ruthless, you can live a lot longer. ”
Bai Jinbo frowned and asked, “So, you started following this path?”
“Yes, this world is ridiculous, isn’t it?” Jiang Shengnan nodded. “When I was devoted to my husband and my child, my life was miserable; but when I started treating life as a joke, and did all this evil stuff, being the Snake Lady who is feared by everyone and whose people shuddered just hearing the name, only then I got to have a free and happy life.”
“It’s not the world that is ridiculous, it’s you.”
“Am I? Haha, right, a mother who killed her son, of course, it’s ridiculous!” Jiang Shengnan smiled crazily and suddenly coughed up blood.
Seeing this, Bai Jinbo immediately shouted, “Someone, call a doctor!”
But Jiang Shengnan rapidly calmed down, and with difficulty raised her hands to wipe the blood on the corners of her lips and said nonchalantly, as if she was talking about something that had nothing to do with her life or death, “No need, I swallowed gold and can’t be saved”.
Only then did Bai Jinbo notice that one gold earring was missing from Jiang Shengnan’s ear and rapidly guessed right, “You decided to kill yourself because you didn’t want to make things difficult for Yue Lou?”
“I have already embarrassed him and I don’t dare to face him. I am a terrible mother. Director Bai, I am grateful for everything you have done for An’er. You’ve been a better parent to him than I ever was. ” Jiang Shengnan said, coughing again, her voice even weaker, “I want to make the last meal for An’er. Will you help me and let me use your kitchen?”
Facing the last request of a dying mother, Bai Jinbo was silent for a long while, and finally said nothing and just stepped forward to open the handcuffs on Jiang Shengnan’s wrist.
The kitchen prepared by Bai Jinbo was neat, the winter sunlight poured in through the window, and in front of the stove could be seen the busy figure of Jiang Shengnan, her head on the stove as she stirred the pot in which her son’s favorite soup was simmering.
It was this scene that Jiang Yue Lou saw when he arrived.
A strange feeling of longing* hung in the air between a mother and a son, one, hearing the footstep of the other, bowed her head several times to adjust her clothes but still didn’t dare to turn around, while the other, standing at the door, was staring intently at the person in front of him, reluctant to blink and yet not daring to come forward.
In the end, the mother was the first to give in. She raised her hand to straighten her hair, and turned around slowly, finally looking at him.
“An’er…” Jiang Shengnan’s voice was trembling.
Jiang Yue Lou struggled to stay calm and walked into the kitchen, but refused to look at Jiang Shengnan and instead said, coldly, “My name now is Jiang Yue Lou.”
Jiang Shengnan apologized, “I’m sorry,” feeling a little befuddled and embarrassed.
Jiang Yue Lou finally looked at her, and his eyes were just like ice, “You have been gone for thirteen years, and all you have to say is that you are sorry?”
Facing her child’s accusation, Jiang Shengnan could only remain silent. Her eyes became red, and she immediately lowered her head, not wanting Jiang Yue Lou to see her tears. Then she took a deep breath, and, trying to gather her strength, she turned around with the bowl of soup in her hands.
“I made you your favorite childhood food, yanduxian*, and you should drink it while it’s still hot.”
At this time, Jiang Sheng’s hand, which was holding the bowl, was shaking a little. She coughed uncontrollably, and some blood came out of the corner of her mouth, but she quickly raised her hand to wipe it off, so that she could turn around and hand the bowl of soup to Jiang Yuelou as if everything was okay.
Jiang Yue Lou was still blaming his mother in his heart, and his grievances and resentment reached a boiling point at the sight of the soup, so he ruthlessly raised his hand and knocked over the bowl, spilling the fresh bamboo shoots, ham, and soup broth all over the floor.
“I’m not that Kang Shengan kid anymore, now I’m Jiang Yue Lou and I don’t like eating that kind of thing anymore.”
The Snake Lady, who used to be all-powerful, was now like a child who had done something wrong, hanging her head and mumbling “I’m sorry.”
Jiang Yue Lou became even more furious when he heard this, “Other than sorry, do you have nothing else to say?!”
Jiang Shengnan immediately lifted her face and asked, trying to please him, “Then what do you like to eat now? I’ll make it right away. ”
This wasn’t what Jiang Yue Lou wanted to hear. He looked at Jiang Shengnan with disappointment and a cold tone, saying, “That won’t be necessary; whatever food you make, I won’t like.”
Jiang Shengnan smiled sadly. She could no longer stand, and with the help of the stove, she slowly sat down, “What can I do to make you forgive me?”
“Forgive? Heh, so easy for you to say. From the moment you set foot on this path of no return, from the time your hands were stained with opium and blood, not only will I never forgive you, but neither will the world. You’ve been tortured and suffered so much pain as a result, and you've changed for the worse* to exact your vengeance on society by harming innocent people.”
The more Jiang Yuelou spoke, the angrier he became, pressing her harder, “Why did you come back? Opium destroyed our family! How can you be ready to destroy more families with the same thing?”
Confronted by her son, Jiang Shengnan couldn’t hold her tears anymore and she wailed, “I didn’t know it was you. If I had known, I would have never come back. “I’d rather you thought I was dead.”
“Someone is behind all of this and asked you to come back, right?”
Jiang Shengnan didn’t deny it and nodded slightly.
Jiang Yue Lou asked again, “He is the real San Ye, isn’t he?”
This was the only thing that she couldn’t say. Jiang Shengnan looked at Jiang Yue Lou’s eyes, tormented, and opened her mouth, but she couldn’t tell the truth and only said, “An’er, don’t force me. I can’t say it.”
After these words, Jiang Shengnan suddenly coughed violently, and blood gushed out of her mouth.
Seeing this, Jiang Yue Lou was a little frightened, he couldn’t help but get up and step forward, asking, “What’s the matter with you?”
“You still care about me,” Jiang Shengnan smiled, heartened, and took advantage of the situation to ask, “An’er, can you call me mother again?”
But Jiang Yue Lou still couldn’t give in and subconsciously took two steps back.
Jiang Shengnan laughed self-deprecatingly, “I am still delusional, take care of yourself, forget me, forget this terrible and incompetent mother that I was.”
These words finally made Jiang Yue Lou sense that something was wrong, and he hurried forward to grab Jiang Shengnan and asked eagerly, “What do you mean by that? What’s wrong with you?”
Jiang Shengnan, leaning in her son’s arms, smiled weakly and said her final words, “An’er, be careful of San Ye…”
Jiang Yue Lou was stunned. He couldn’t believe that his mother, who had just returned, had died in front of him, just like this. His mind went completely blank, and he couldn’t say anything. The whole kitchen was awfully quiet, only the yanduxian in the pot was still boiling and gurgling.
Chen Yu Zhi walked with Jiang Yue Lou in silence, heading in the direction of their home. When they reached the door, Jiang Yue Lou suddenly spoke: “Go back to your place, I want to be alone.”
This was the first time Jiang Yue Lou pushed him away. Chen Yu Zhi froze, looking a little hurt, but he knew that it was useless to say anything now. This type of pain couldn’t be alleviated with a few words.
Chen Yu Zhi agreed to leave, a decision he would always regret later.
That night, Jiang Yue Lou had a dream with his father and mother in it. It was back when his dad was not on drugs and always had a smile in his eyes when his parents were still in love with each other. His father was doing carpentry in the yard and his mother was chopping vegetables in the kitchen.
When was that? It should be around the time of the New Year. Yes, during the New Year, my mother would make some yanduxian for me, and then the family would go and play with fireworks after dinner.
His dream was filled with joy and laughter, but when he woke up, there was only darkness and silence around him. Only the cold moonlight cast on the wall reflected his own ridiculous shadow.
That’s absurd! Jiang Yue Lou stood up and blurted out a cruel laugh. His breathing became heavier and heavier, but the moment he opened the bottle of medicine for his emotional disease, he threw the bottle to the ground. The few remaining pills inside fell out and were instantly crushed to powder by Jiang Yue Lou. He raised his head to the moonlight, with scorching eyes full of revenge.
The next day, there was a massacre in Jingcheng. A family of four was murdered. The owner of this house was a loan shark named Yang Jing. The police found a watch at the scene of the crime, and several officers recognized it right away. This watch belonged to the head of the Inspection Section, Jiang.
Thank you for new chapter.💕
such a sad moments. When CYZ said he is sorry behind the door, my hurt ached for both of them. 💔
I mean my heart hurt for CYZ who feeling guilty at the same time for JYl for those sad moment.😣
Thank you for the chapter🌻
Everyone in JYL’s life is getting killed off one by one so it was kind of hard to read:/
As always, thank you for the translation:D
Right ?! And we all know that in the drama there were even more death to come for him 😢!!!! Sometimes I really wondered if the author really likes the characters she created 😅. Hope she’ll be nicer to them in the novel!!!!
This chapter was intense. I’m glad that, unlike in the drama, Song Rong’s death was more emotional, because we saw JYL cry for him and CYZ was blaming himself 🙁
I really loved this chapter, I can feel JYL’s pain and also CYZ’s feeling of helpnessless 🙁
Knowing what happens next from the Drama, I’m really scared to go on reading 🤣 (we reached this point T.T) but also I can’t wait 😍
Thank you so much for this chapter 😊