"You may not know what it means to single-handedly destroy an Against the Light rebel base."
"We usually describe someone like that with just two words: God of War!"
"Back then, Director Lan Yan wiped out Star Engraving Mayflower in a single day, while Brother Qian destroyed six Against the Light bases in three days after joining. They were evenly matched."
Chen Fu bragged about Qian Yuliu's "glorious achievements" while eating, and Le Yu was thoroughly pleased to hear it. He glanced at Qian Yuya's calm, placid expression and deliberately asked, "By the way, Chen Fu, do you know what happened to the Lin Family afterward?"
"The Lin Family?" Chen Fu froze slightly, and his tone immediately fell. "They seem to be selling off their property. Lin Xue, who was still studying, also dropped out. They're probably planning to leave Star Engraving Prefecture."
"How tragic. Their family was ruined, and they were forced to leave their homeland." Le Yu sighed, prompting Chen Fu to stare at him with wide eyes.
Anyone could say that, except Le Yu. After all, Le Yu was the chief culprit behind the Lin Family's ruin and exile. Although everyone knew that Le Yu had merely acted on orders, and that the root cause was the Lin Family's suspected involvement with Against the Light activities, the common people's simple sense of justice would blame the executor for the crime.
When a weapon killed someone, the weapon did not have to take responsibility. But when a person killed someone, that person naturally had to take responsibility.
Le Yu's tone was light and cheerful when he said this, making it seem as though he were gloating from the sidelines. He was practically begging to be beaten, and even Chen Fu's fists were itching to harden.
Le Yu's good mood was genuine, however. Upon hearing that the Lin Family was preparing to leave Star Engraving Prefecture, he knew that Yin Yinyin and the others must have been looking after them. Lin Xue and Gao Jin were too impulsive, too young, and too weak. If they honestly returned to their hometown to grow sweet potatoes and study for a few years, preserving themselves for the future, then when White Night truly ruled Morning Wind District, these young people with impeccable backgrounds and shining records would be the ones to rise.
Le Yu turned to glance at Qian Yuya and found her expressionless, revealing none of her joy or sorrow. He did not take it to heart. After all, there was an outsider present. Qian Yuya had to maintain her image, but perhaps deep down she wished nothing more than to reunite her late parents and brother as a family.
After three rounds of drinks, Chen Fu had also emptied his usual stockpile of gossip about Qian Yuliu and rose to leave. Once Le Yu saw Chen Fu off, he returned to find Qian Yuya already clearing away the dishes. He coughed and said, "Although Chen Fu is my colleague, he has no filter. Most of the things he said just now were fabricated solely to smear me. I'm not that kind of person."
If someone who did something bad was detestable, then someone who did something bad yet absolutely refused to admit it was contemptible. The former was a true villain; the latter was simply a shameless bastard.
Le Yu suddenly remembered that there had been a period when he found villains who openly committed evil deeds incredibly charismatic: "I'm the one who killed them." "Why don't you obediently go die?" "Only by secretly stealing electric scooters can I make a living."... To keep Qian Yuya from admiring his misdeeds, Le Yu put on an innocent face as though he were about to send Chen Fu a lawyer's letter. Anyone who heard it would be furious, and anyone who saw it would want to punch him.
"I understand what you mean," Qian Yuya said calmly.
Le Yu's spirits rose. Is she angry? Is she angry? Is she angry?
"Your situation is even worse than I imagined." Qian Yuya spoke while washing the dishes. "Even your colleagues see you this way. People outside must be inventing even more nonexistent misdeeds and pinning them on you."
"Huh?" Le Yu blinked. "Actually, they aren't exactly fabricated..."
Qian Yuya said, "You're only one member of the Statistics Department. The Statistics Department isn't the same as you. Besides, how could one person have done so many things? You're simply the bird that gets shot for sticking its head out. Because your reputation is so great, people dump all the dirty work done by the Statistics Department onto you. That person is clearly your deputy, and he clearly helped you when you carried out missions, but when he recounted everything, he left himself out, washed away all his own guilt, and pushed every responsibility onto you."
That's because he was bragging about me! He pushed all the credit onto me! And when a normal person hears Chen Fu praising me so wildly, shouldn't their first reaction be, "Qian Yuliu is so heinous that the people resent him," or "Qian Yuliu is shamelessly boasting"? How did you hear, "My brother was pitifully pushed forward as a target"?
"Don't worry. I've come to understand it now." Qian Yuya turned to look at Le Yu and said seriously, "You wanted me to understand that even your most capable deputy sees you this way and slanders you, so you have no one to rely on in the Statistics Department. You can't turn back and can only keep making one mistake after another, right? I understand your troubles now. Although I'm still ashamed to have a brother with such a vile record, I'll support you in secret."
Le Yu opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but ultimately closed it again.
How had she observed the wrong result, reasoned out the correct truth, and then arrived at an entirely different answer?
Sigh.
Le Yu let out a long sigh and went back to the second-floor bedroom to look through the treasured illustrated albums Qian Yuliu had left behind.
In the end, he had borne everything alone.
Two days later, at Twilight Gate, in a sudden shower.
Twilight Gate faced northwest toward Star Engraving Prefecture, while the eastern side of Star Engraving Prefecture was the harbor of Pearl Bay. Even geographically, it was clear that Twilight Gate was Star Engraving Prefecture's main traffic route. Although the other gates remained closed, causing considerable inconvenience, opening only Twilight Gate did ensure the prefecture's safety while maintaining the basic transport of supplies in and out.
Twilight Gate had two layers of barbicans, with a drawbridge outside the outer barbican. To pass through Twilight Gate, one had to cross three gate towers and three gates. According to the City Guard Department's arrangements, those entering the city queued at the outer barbican gate, those leaving queued at the inner city gate, and the inspectors checked identities and cargo inside the inner barbican.
Le Yu stood inside the inner barbican, looked up at the artillery towers and watchtowers beneath the curtain of rain, and asked, "If someone tries to break through the checkpoint, will the watchtowers and artillery towers help us subdue them?"
"How could they? The cannons and ballistae are all fixed in place. They can only be adjusted slightly, and their targets are inevitably aimed outside the city." Chen Fu said, "If someone really tries to force their way through, we'll have to deal with them ourselves. The director has already lifted our firearm restrictions. If some fool shows up, they'll just be giving us a target."
"What if the enemy has firearms too?"
"Th..." Chen Fu instantly fell silent. He stammered "th" for quite some time without managing to produce a single word, but his reaction left Le Yu rather satisfied.
Since the artillery towers and watchtowers could not attack inside the city, the strongest person in this barbican could do whatever he wanted.
Yesterday, Le Yu had gone to "Toothaches, Hemorrhoids, and Iron Strikes" to report two bad pieces of news to Yin Yinyin. The first was Lan Yan's high-handed demand to "inspect all cargo." The second was that he himself would be inspecting the cargo.
That was right. After thinking it over carefully, Le Yu realized that becoming an inspection officer offered him no advantages whatsoever. Lan Yan's demands were so clear that anyone could handle the assignment, and Le Yu had no way to manipulate things. Everyone in the team was loyal to the "power" of the Statistics Department. The moment they noticed anything suspicious about Le Yu, they would report it to Lan Yan, never mind that Ai Lili was Lan Yan's devoted fan.
Besides, just as people going through security hated the trouble, an inspection officer who checked everything so meticulously would certainly arouse public resentment. This position was nothing more than a scapegoat officer! No wonder Lan Yan had given him benefits before assigning him the task. This was the classic problem of being soft-mouthed after eating someone's food and short-handed after taking someone's gifts!
Yin Yinyin thought about it, however, and realized there was still room for maneuver.
According to Yin Yinyin's plan, he would arrange for two convoys to enter Twilight Gate at the same time. One would be a firearm transport convoy, and the other would be a sacrificial convoy.
He still had to discuss with the other White Night Walkers exactly how the sacrificial convoy would serve as cannon fodder, but the basic plan was this: once the firearm convoy entered the barbican, the sacrificial convoy would start causing trouble and stirring up a commotion. Le Yu would then go over and escalate the situation, drawing everyone's attention to the sacrificial convoy while the firearm convoy took the opportunity to pass through quickly.
Although this plan was extremely risky, with many unpredictable accidents, and required Le Yu to exercise minute control, it was indeed the most feasible transport plan available.
Yin Yinyin had one additional request, however: "When the sacrificial convoy causes trouble, you must treat them as viciously as possible. Insult them, beat them, curse them, and torment them with everything you have."
"Why? Isn't the sacrificial convoy made up of our own people?"
"But when they cause trouble while entering the city, the slightest mistake could get them shot by the City Guard Department. They might even be detained by the Judicial Department afterward. Rather than take that risk, they might as well let you beat them up, which would give them a chance to escape. The harder you hit them and the more viciously you trample them, the safer they'll be. As for their flesh wounds, don't forget that I'm a medical officer too. And the greatest price would only be the severe damage to your reputation."
"What do you mean, 'only'? There will be countless eyes watching at the city gate. If I beat people there, it'll spread through every street and alley by the next day!"
"Don't worry. Thanks to your efforts, your reputation is already in tatters." Yin Yinyin rarely praised Le Yu, but this time he did. "For you, this price is equivalent to no price at all!"
"For this plan, you're clearly the best person to carry it out!"
In simple terms, it was this: all the other White Night Walkers were honorable gentlemen, while he was human scum, so dirty work like rescuing fallen maidens had to be left to him?
Le Yu felt that Yin Yinyin was cursing him, but he had no proof.
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