The Truth

Memories within his mind gradually cleared. He had clashed with Jiang Che, and later Yu Zongping had arrived to save him. He had insulted Jiang Che to avenge being stepped on earlier.

Then...

Then, a flash of white light had occurred, and he couldn't remember anything else.

That white light looked like a saber...

A saber?!

Wang Chengen was startled and quickly checked himself. He discovered his left arm was completely numb, his shoulder was a bloody mess, and he could feel constant pain.

His arm was gone!

"Awake?"

Jiang Che sat in front of Wang Chengen. Seeing him jolted awake by the cold water, he asked with a smile.

"Jiang Che! Jiang Che! Ah, you... you dare to capture me? Where's my brother-in-law?" Wang Chengen roared, looking at everything in disbelief.

"You're already tied up here, can't you see reality?"

"You... you..."

Wang Chengen's spirit immediately deflated.

"Do you want to live or die?"

Jiang Che got straight to the point.

"I want to live..."

Wang Chengen lowered his head. The pain in his shoulder clearly reminded him that if Jiang Che dared to cripple him, he could easily finish him off.

He didn't dare to gamble, nor did he have the ability to.

"It's good that you want to live. I was really afraid you'd harden your heart and refuse to yield even under torture," Jiang Che said, circling the other man with a spiked soft whip.

"You know the grievances between us, right?"

"I... I know I was blind and foolish back then, not recognizing your importance. I bought your family's fish at a low price. I... I'm willing to repay you ten times... no, a hundred times."

Wang Chengen quickly begged for mercy, not daring to mention the conscription matter, trying to gloss over it.

"Slap!"

With a dull thud, Jiang Che whipped Wang Chengen. The double pain made him grit his teeth, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"Grandpa Jiang... I... I'm truly sorry."

"Do you really think I care about what happened in the past? If you don't speak, I'll keep hitting you. I'm also curious how many more days you can live in your current state."

Jiang Che's expression was cold, making Wang Chengen panic.

Seeing Jiang Che's whip about to fall again, he realized Jiang Che must have found out about the conscription, that he was the one who caused trouble.

"I... I'll say it. What happened with you on the Conscription Register back then... it was me who messed with it. I was wrong, I was truly wrong, Grandpa Jiang, please spare my life."

"I have elders above and children below..."

"You don't know you're wrong, you just know you're scared."

Jiang Che stood in front of Wang Chengen, lightly flicking the soft whip twice on the other man's face:

"The feud between us doesn't seem that great, does it? Give me a reason why you specifically put me on the Conscription Register and sent me to die at the border."

"I... I..."

Wang Chengen's eyes darted around, not daring to look at Jiang Che. He wanted to cover himself but feared Jiang Che already knew everything and would whip him again.

"I sold off my property and went through great lengths to pull strings, but it was useless. Someone clearly gave special instructions. Don't tell me this was just a coincidence."

"Yes, yes, someone instructed me to do it, really. I... I even pleaded for you back then, but I didn't dare disobey that person's orders," Wang Chengen said, steeling himself and confessing directly.

"Who?!"

A hint of coldness flashed in Jiang Che's eyes.

At first, he had genuinely believed Wang Chengen was after his family property or simply disliked him. He had only said what he did because he had some doubts and wanted to trick the other man.

He hadn't expected there to be someone else!

He couldn't understand who he had offended.

Gou Buyi, before his death, had personally said someone had bribed him to kill him. The reason the other man sold him pork was partly greed, wanting to squeeze every last coin out of him.

Another reason was to frame him for theft by selling him meat.

This raised suspicions.

Wang Chengen's status wouldn't allow him to interfere with the military camp. Moreover, if he truly wanted to kill him, given the difference in their status and strength back then, he could have easily drowned him in the Qinglin River.

So, from that moment, he had already harbored suspicions.

And he had gradually deduced that the only person he had interacted with was Wang Chengen.

"The Gang Leader's Wife... Yu Min."

"Which Gang Leader's Wife?"

Jiang Che's brow furrowed slightly.

"It's... Kou Yuansheng's wife."

"Why would she instruct you to deal with me? Do you take me for a fool, deliberately trying to deceive me?" Jiang Che's eyes were dangerous.

He could confirm that he had absolutely no dealings with the Gang Leader's Wife that Wang Chengen had mentioned.

In fact, this was the first time he had even heard the name.

"Truly, if I lied to you, may I die a terrible death. My sister can also testify to this. It was my sister who introduced me to Madam Yu. She specifically instructed me to find a way to get you conscripted. Afterwards, she also gave me a hundred taels of silver as a reward."

Seeing Jiang Che's disbelief, Wang Chengen quickly swore an oath, his expression showing no signs of pretense.

Jiang Che's face revealed no emotion as he continued:

"So, the person who instructed Gou Buyi to kill me in the auxiliary soldier camp was also you, acting through someone else?"

"Who? Who is... Gou... Gou what?"

Wang Chengen looked bewildered.

Jiang Che fell into thought, his brow furrowed as he pondered the matter, but he couldn't recall any enemy surnamed Yu.

"Grandpa Jiang... I... I've told you everything. When will you let me go? If I don't find a doctor soon, I might actually die." Wang Chengen pleaded, swallowing hard.

"Wait a moment. Wait until someone pays to ransom you."

Jiang Che glanced at him and turned to leave.

"Master Jiang... Jiang Che, you... you're not a man of your word!"

In the cell, Wang Chengen roared.

Meanwhile, after Jiang Che finished interrogating Wang Chengen, Captain Chen followed closely to the military camp. He was currently arranged in a large hall, with Xu San'er and a few others accompanying him.

The gloom on Jiang Che's face quickly vanished, replaced by a smile:

"Brother Chen is truly wasting no time."

"Can't be helped, I'm just a hardworking soul."

Captain Chen shook his head.

Jiang Che smiled, signaled Xu San'er and the others to leave, then poured Captain Chen a cup of tea and asked with a smile:

"What brings Captain Chen here today?"

"Young Brother Jiang, you know the answer to that. What else could it be? Of course, it's to get those goods back for the Cao Gang, and also that brother-in-law of Yu Zongping. You name your price, and I'll help mediate."

Seeing that Jiang Che seemed to be in a good mood, Captain Chen got straight to the point.

Jiang Che tapped his fingers on the table, rhythmically, and after a moment, he shook his head:

"Captain Chen, you've given me quite the difficult task. You should know who ordered me to do this, and these goods... are very hard to move."