I brought Meng Jiangnan back to the hidden room were in before. There were less than half of his men there when we returned. I assume they left to go and save him.
Meng Jiangnan quickly called for his men to return.
I ripped the sheet on a folding screen off, and snapped it into two lengths of timber. I then nailed the screen-sheet to cover the hole I created before.
"Now that you know my identity, I trust that you will patiently listen to me for a bit, yes?"
"Yes, yes, of course."
His assassin guards found it difficult to accept the situation seeing how he treated me with the utmost respect all of a sudden. Boss Meng seemed to be treating me more courteously than his own biological father.
I told them about the warriors being killed in a government vicinity today.
Meng Jiangnan revealed a grim look on his face when he heard it, and communicated with the girl named Cai Die using his eyes. The young girl immediately understood what that meant and sent everybody out, including herself. When she left, she snuck a glance at me.
I gave her a smile. The young girl blushed and ran out with her head down. How cute~, now I really want a maid to take care of me. But it's pointless to even wish for it. If shiyi finds out, hehehe……
"Can you tell me now, Boss Meng?"
"I am truly sorry about that, Master Ming. I truly do not know the details."
Huh? You sent everybody away only to tell me you don't know? I juggled it in my mind… That's not right. You sent them out so that you wouldn't look bad, didn't you?
"It is as you said, Master Ming, it was the work of the Black Winds Thirteen Wings." Meng Jiangnen confirmed my conjecture, "However, they did not notify the League of Assassins about the job, and we did not offer them the job. It was something they accepted on their own accord."
That's how it is?
"So your group didn't send them on the job, but rather, they took the job themselves?" I blinked my eyes, "That doesn't make sense. You have a branch in the capital, so why would they need to accept the job themselves? That's a high risk decision. In the assassination circle, assassins take jobs from well-known customers, and not strangers, right? Isn't that the rule?"
"I agree. To be honest with you, I was furious when I first found out they were behind the hit. I once called their leader over to reproach him, but they insisted on completing the mission. I threatened to remove them from the League of Assassins, but they wouldn't listen. Even I cannot understand why."
"……"
I fell into deep thought.
While this case is strange, it's answered the question in my mind. I told you the League of Assassins wouldn't go and pick a fight with the imperial court, and throw themself into a crisis. It's stupid. While the evil sects wield great power in the pugilistic world, as soon as it comes to fighting the imperial court, they all hide and zip their mouths because they know that no matter how strong they are in the pugilistic world, they can't bring the imperial court down. Consequently, they won't challenge the formidable foe that the imperial court is.
Don't think for a second that the Black Winds Thirteen Wings are hot-shots and having a blast after the last few days. The imperial court will eventually be able to dig up even their deepest secrets if they decide to. It's just a matter of time.
I looked in Meng Jiangnan's direction: "Aren't you afraid that the imperial court will target you if that's the case?"
Meng Jiangnan smiled bitterly and said: "Who said that I'm not afraid? Those in this industry are most afraid of being targeted by the government. That is why I have increased our intel collectors recently. I have not dared to let my guard down, which is why I offended you before, Master Ming. Please forgive me for that."
I waved my hand to indicate I didn't mind.
If that's the case, then it makes sense. However, the location of the Black Winds Thirteen Wings has become a mystery again.
"Boss Meng, can you get in contact with them on my behalf?"
"Um….." Meng Jiangnan revealed a grim look, "I think you would already know the rules of our line of work. The information I have is a secret to even the leader of the League of Assassins. I cannot tell you how to communicate with the Black Winds Thirteen Wings."
I angrily retorted: "Hmph, boss, are the women of your household made of gold or something?! You won't even let me contact one!" *
Meng Jiangnan revealed a clumsy smile: "I, I'm really sorry, how about I give you someone else. Is Cai Die any good?"
You actually had a response for that?
This fatso truly is unbelievable.
After the two of us finished our "evil young master getting angry because he couldn't get the girl at the brothel" act, Miss Cai Die's cheeks were bright red. She looked very cute.
Boss Meng finally apologised with a smile: "Jokes remain as jokes. As this is a rule, I cannot tell you."
I raised my hand to stop him from continuing.
"Don't worry, Boss Meng. I won't ask the impossible of you. I just want you to do me, Ming Feizhen, a favour. Go and contact the Black Winds Thirteen Wings. It'll suffice if you just contact them on my behalf. I don't care what it is they do, nor do I want to bother with them, but I don't want to have to deal with nuisances while completing my job at Liu Shan Men. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Meng Jiangnan paused for a moment, then laughed and said: "Hah, I was wondering what the matter was. Now I know that you have business at Liu Shan Men and want me to say something to them. I shall let them know, and tell them to 'take care'. Easy. I will tell them to do Master Ming a favour, what do you think?"
"That would be for the best. I should get going now."
Well, we can consider the arrangements complete now. All we have to do is wait for them to take the bait now. Boss Meng and I exchanged looks and smiled at each other as I left his teahouse.
Glossary
*Ming Feizhen was basically saying "are they like your precious daughters that you stuff gold inside and therefore unwilling to share" and he was surprised Meng Jiangnan could actually play along by providing an actual response to it. As you can see, the joke makes literally no sense, hence his surprise