CHAPTER 86: CHAPTER 85: A JUSTICE PARTNER DRIVEN BY INTEREST

When Yin Minghong walked into the room, he glanced at the corpse lying on the floor, which still hadn’t been cleaned up.

The next second, he shifted his gaze away as if nothing had happened and clasped his hands together, speaking calmly, "Greetings, Young Master."

"Mm." Le Yuxin sat on the sofa chair and nodded lazily.

At this moment, Le Yuxin had already changed back into normal clothes, and Qing Lan, wearing a veil and a sheer black dress, sat beside him. If this had been according to Zhengwei’s usual routine, he’d definitely have kept swapping identities with Qing Lan, just to protect himself and keep enjoying the thrill of "cross-dressing fraud," but Le Yuxin wasn’t afraid of death and had no interest in it.

More importantly, the underpants Zhengwei wore while cross-dressing were so tight they made his balls hurt. "How the hell could he walk around in those?"

Yin Minghong didn’t say a word after arriving. Soon, a commotion erupted outside, and Boss Huo and his men, tied up from head to toe, were dragged upstairs into the room. The moment he saw the corpse of Yin Yinyin on the floor, Boss Huo immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed, "Young Master, Young Master, I swear I had nothing to do with this guy!"

"Really?" Le Yuxin spread out his hands, feeling like his nails were getting a bit long. He casually handed his hand to Qing Lan beside him, who took out a nail clipper as naturally as could be and started trimming his nails.

"I heard you got rich off the trucking business, bought a big house in Xuanzhu County, registered your name with the Association, and you even have a shot at becoming one of the Eighty-Eight at this year’s Silver Blood meeting—on par with the Jing Family. Guess I should start calling you Boss Huo myself."

Boss Huo’s voice was choked with tears and snot, as he sobbed, "Young Master, please, I really, really had nothing to do with this, I... I just—"

"You said you had a good ’product’ to sell, you said it was totally safe. I bought it, paid for it, and then what? I trusted you, and this is how you treat me?"

"No, no, Young Master, I swear! This man had no way to hurt you, I took all his weapons, starved him for three days and nights, and your guards checked him, too—"

"So what, are you saying I killed him and then tried to frame you?"

Le Yuxin suddenly grabbed a light musket from the guard next to him and shot Boss Huo in the leg, blood spraying from his thigh!

As Boss Huo screamed in agony, Le Yuxin said coldly, "What exactly did I do wrong that you disrespect me like this? You couldn’t even bother calling me Vice President Jing!"

Aside from being master of Red Moon Fortress, Zhengwei also held the honorary vice-president title of the Jing Family Commerce Association. While it was only a nominal position with no real power, it symbolized his legitimacy to become Patriarch.

"What’s the matter, you think I’d get kicked out of the Jing Family soon and end up dead in a ditch, so you decided to side with my dearest relatives? How much did they pay you to risk your neck sending me a white-haired assassin?"

"No! No!" Boss Huo argued loudly, suddenly thinking of something and saying, "Someone knows who he is! One of my men knows who sent the assassin! Young Master—Vice President Jing, give me a chance, please, just give me a chance!"

Le Yuxin’s expression didn’t change at all, and Mi Die nodded at Boss Huo, who then turned and yelled, "Quick, bring him up! Vice President, let me send a man to the cells, he’ll bring you your witness!"

"Fine."

Ten minutes later, Boss Huo’s subordinate returned with someone Le Yuxin knew very well.

"G-Greetings, Vice President Jing." Feng Zhen kneeled down next to Boss Huo. He was nervous, but his face wasn’t full of terror like Le Yuxin had seen before—he actually had a maturity way beyond his years. "I was in the same cell as the assassin. He—"

"Hold on." Le Yuxin suddenly raised his hand and cut him off. "Why were you in the same cell with ’new tea’? Aren’t you Boss Huo’s man?"

Feng Zhen nodded calmly, "Vice President Jing, the period from collecting to boiling the new tea is when accidents are most likely to happen—self-harm, secret plots to riot, even accidentally snatching someone you can’t afford to offend. I’m here to adjust the mood, prevent accidents, and record everyone’s situation so they can be processed better. When needed, I act as the first ’rebel’ and ’obedient one’ so everyone else sees the cost of resistance and accepts their fate."

Simply put, he was a professional plant. "Others might be wine shills, tea shills, auction shills, or bootlicker shills—he was a trafficker shill."

"Most people were new to being trafficked. They had no idea what to do, and with him working inside, he could help set the mood and guide rookies on how to survive their first abduction trip."

"Live and learn. Every shady business has its own secret skills."

"How’d you end up working for Boss Huo?" Le Yuxin asked with interest.

Things were way off track now, but nobody dared interrupt the Young Master’s amusement. "The last guy who did is currently laying cold and quiet on the floor."

"I used to be ’new tea’ too," Feng Zhen said honestly. "I refused to let some boss buy me to be his slave, so while the others were plotting escape, I ratted them out. Boss Huo appreciated my work and made me one of his men. After that incident, we realized the importance of planting people among new tea, so I stayed in the job."

"I see..." Le Yuxin nodded slowly. "Alright, continue."

Feng Zhen glanced at Yin Minghong next to him and said, never one to shy from drama, "The one who ordered the assassin to attack Vice President Jing was the Second Boss."

Yin Minghong frowned a little but didn’t refute it immediately. He only bowed to Le Yuxin with clasped fists.

"Last night, the assassin stayed in Second Boss’s room, hosted as a guest. I’ve been watching the white-haired assassin these days, and the only time he slipped out of my sight was when he was in Second Boss’s quarters."

"Today, Boss Huo wanted to leave Red Moon Fortress, but it was Second Boss who stopped him, making him sell the assassin to Vice President Jing."

"This morning while chatting with the assassin, I intentionally probed him. He didn’t show any anxiety at all—instead he told me, ’wait and hope’—so he clearly believed he could leave Red Moon Fortress, maybe even rescue all the new tea prisoners."

"Most likely, the assassin and Second Boss were working together. After the assassin killed Vice President Jing, the Jing Family would destroy Boss Huo, and all the new tea would go to Second Boss, who could keep or release them as he pleased."

"I could tell the assassin was someone with a sense of justice. His real motive must have been to save the ’tea leaves.’ As for Second Boss’s agenda, I trust Vice President Jing can judge for himself."

Feng Zhen touched his forehead to the ground and said respectfully, "I don’t know how Second Boss and the assassin came to trust each other. We really did catch the assassin by accident. Maybe there was something on him proving his identity, and Second Boss noticed."

That was when Boss Huo suddenly had a revelation and shouted, "I remember! Second Boss took the assassin’s bundle! There must be evidence of their scheme in there!"

The room suddenly became tense. Mi Die and Lisan each blocked a doorway and a window, sealing off both exits. The other guards eyed Yin Minghong, hands on their musket grips, watching him like hawks.

Just then, someone started clapping.

"Excellent analysis, great observational skills, and a knack for human nature," Le Yuxin said with a laugh as he applauded, "Working under Boss Huo really is beneath you."

A faint blush appeared on Feng Zhen’s cute, elegant face. He lowered his head and said, "Thank you for your appreciation, Vice President Jing."

"However," Le Yuxin’s tone suddenly changed, "it would be a bit hasty to have Second Boss executed on your word alone. In the Jing Family, we value openness and justice above all else. If we kill, we do it cleanly and with clarity. Second Boss, bring the bundle they spoke of. Lisan, go with him."

"Yes." "Yes."

After Yin Minghong and Lisan left, the room fell silent again. No one dared speak. Normally, that kind of silence would feel awkward or unbearable, but Le Yuxin suddenly realized, "This feeling... is actually pretty good."

"If I don’t talk, nobody dares talk."

"Anything I say, everyone goes along with."

"This feeling... is pretty damn good."

"But why did I always have this vague sense... something was off?"

Not long after, Yin Minghong and Lisan came back holding a package. Le Yuxin raised his brows and said coldly, "Open it. Let’s see what’s inside."

Swift Blade Boots, a map, a light musket... As each item spilled out, Le Yuxin’s mood soured. "I just wanted to check something—never thought I’d get the worst answer."

"Everything’s actually here!"

"This meant Yin Minghong never prepared any escape package for him at all!"

"Even if the assassination succeeded, without Swift Blade Boots he’d never escape!"

"From the start, he’d always treated me as a throwaway pawn!"

Just as Le Yuxin seethed with rage, ready to order Yin Minghong hanged, he noticed something. He calmed himself and said, "Let me see those Swift Blade Boots."

Lisan handed Le Yuxin the boots. Le Yuxin studied them for a moment, and his anger vanished, his mood lifting.

"These weren’t Yin Yinyin’s Swift Blade Boots."

"The color was close, but the size was way off."

"Yin Yinyin had tiny feet—these boots were at least two sizes too big."

"So Yin Minghong must have hurriedly put together a fake bundle using similar items once he realized something was wrong."

"And a closer look: no medals from Yin Yinyin or Qian Yuliu in the bundle. That meant all those things were still in the actual escape package."

At this, Le Yuxin put the boots down in high spirits, then asked, "Lisan, did Mi Die see any proof of the assassin’s real identity?"

Receiving a negative response, Le Yuxin glanced at Boss Huo and Feng Zhen. "Sorry, gentlemen, your testimony isn’t backed by physical evidence. I can’t accept it."

Feng Zhen’s face immediately shifted. "Vice President Jing, they probably hid the evidence! You’ve got to search Second Boss’s room—no, wait, Second Boss might have returned it to the assassin. But the assassin had nothing—so maybe he stashed it along the escape route. Search every inch of Red Moon Fortress—you’ll find something!"

Le Yuxin just waved his hand and shook his head. "I’m tired. Instead of believing this is some accidental plot by Second Boss and your ’accidentally caught’ new tea assassin, why not believe the assassin was planted here on purpose, as a blade delivered straight to my side?"

Boss Huo quickly added, "Vice President Jing, I have all kinds of business with the Jing Family—why would I ever want to hurt you? Please, just give me a chance, just one chance!"

"Right, right, I have a ton of property—a big new house I just bought—I’ll give it all to you to make up for this! Please, Vice President, I have a family to support—my daughter’s not even a month old, my mom can’t get out of bed—please, I’m begging you, have mercy!"

Le Yuxin said lazily, "Those new teas you traffic—aren’t they someone’s beloved child, a wife her husband adores, the breadwinner of a family too? You’ve destroyed so many homes, and you still have the nerve to plead for yourself?"

As soon as Le Yuxin finished, he realized everyone was staring at him, even Qing Lan looked shocked, like she’d seen a ghost.

"Ah, you all caught on?" Le Yuxin said sheepishly, "Honestly, tonight I was just looking for an excuse to get rid of you guys, Boss Huo."

"Wh-Why?" Boss Huo stared at Le Yuxin, completely bewildered, racking his brains and still not figuring out how he’d ever offended Zhengwei.

"He’d done nothing wrong, so why was this happening?"

"You really shouldn’t overthink it. It isn’t about money—what does your little fortune mean to me? It isn’t about the assassin, either. Why would you idiots send a killer here, right in front of me? I’m not an idiot—I do have some logic, you know."

"I just felt like being a justice partner for once," Le Yuxin said, spreading his hands. "Because I suddenly thought strangling a bunch of traffickers like you would make my flimsy sense of justice feel a bit more real."

"Watching you scum get punished for your crimes—’I really do get a kick out of it.’"

"You’re not being punished for the assassin, but because your evil deeds finally earned you divine retribution."

"Drag them all out and strangle them."

No one intended to go against the Young Master’s ’spur-of-the-moment order.’ The guards immediately started dragging out the sobbing, tied-up traffickers. If they resisted too much, one punch knocked them out—exactly how the traffickers had treated the ’new tea,’ the guards now treated them the same way.

"Vice President! Vice President!" Feng Zhen shouted in despair, "I’m just a kid! I’ve never killed anyone! I’m nothing like them!"

"I’m smart! I could do all kinds of things for you! I... I’m good looking too, and I promise I’d serve you with everything I have!"

"I was forced into this! Aside from working for them, what else was I supposed to do to survive? I don’t have any other way, Vice President Jing, please, I’m begging you..."

"Wait."

At the sound of Le Yuxin’s voice, both Feng Zhen and Boss Huo lit up with hope.

But before they could cry out their thanks, Le Yuxin said, "Before hanging Boss Huo, make sure his ass gets a good whipping. That’s all, carry on."

With the cries fading into the distance, Qing Lan handed Le Yuxin a peeled grape. Le Yuxin sat comfortably in his chair, feeling pretty good about things.

"If you hadn’t ratted them out and just escaped with the others, none of this would have happened..." Le Yuxin mused in his mind, his face breaking into a genuinely sincere smile,

"Life as the Young Master is just so full of righteous virtue, and fun."