Chapter 441 - Chen Minggang's Domestic Affairs

"Master, go quickly! The fight's already started!" Zhou Qi urged frantically.

If the fight had already started, there was no need to deliberate—his little darling was suffering under his wife's cruel hands at this very moment. Imagining what the beauty's tender skin would look like beneath his wife's brutal fists, Chen Minggang felt a stab of anguish. He raised his hand and slapped Zhou Qi hard across the face.

Zhou Qi was completely unprepared. The blow landed solidly, nearly knocking him off his feet. He covered his face, not daring to make a sound.

"What good are any of you? Several grown men couldn't stop one woman?"

Though Zhang was a formidable fighter, Chen Minggang had deployed four or five men around the outer residence. Blocking her long enough to let Qiuhong escape should have been manageable.

"It's not that we failed to block her—it's that Fifth Master also came. We didn't dare..."

Fifth Master was Zhang's younger brother, a runner in the Fast Squad. Though Zhang Wu wasn't a squad leader, his elder brother held the Punishment Section clerk position, granting him considerable swagger. Even the squad leader had to show him some deference, let alone Zhou Qi—a mere hanger-on "doing public duty" without official establishment.

"Move!" Chen Minggang panicked and hurried his apprentice out of the teahouse.

Before they even reached the city gate, they spotted a commotion ahead—a large crowd approaching. Chen Minggang looked closely and couldn't suppress a groan. There was his principal wife Zhang, her skirt tucked into her waist, hair in wild disarray, clutching a washing mallet as thick as a child's arm. Behind her marched several women of various builds, each brandishing sticks or feather dusters, all looking positively demonic—more imposing than the Magistrate holding court.

At the center of the mob, dragged along and staggering by several sturdy women, was his "little sweetheart" Qiuhong. The beauty's face was smeared with black soot; probably from being dragged after falling, the skin on her cheeks was scraped raw. Dust and blood mixed into a grotesque mess, and her hair had been torn into tangles. She was barefoot—Qiuhong, being a prostitute, had bound feet. A woman with bound feet could barely walk without shoes, much less being dragged along.

The sight pierced Chen Minggang's heart. He nearly exploded, wanting nothing more than to rush forward and slap his wife several times. But outside the crowd, his brother-in-law Zhang Wu was leading several "public duty" hangers-on, obviously protecting his sister. Seeing this spectacle, every idle person in the county had emerged to gawk and jeer.

Chen Minggang seethed inwardly. This was making a complete fool of him in public! If the scandal blew up, how would it benefit their family? But he knew his brother-in-law was as pigheaded as his sister—a rash fool's temper. Confronting him now would only create a standoff, provoke more mockery, and accomplish nothing.

He choked down his rage, retreated to a street corner, and ordered Zhou Qi to go to the county yamen and find the Fast Squad head to disperse the crowd. He himself ran directly to his elder brother-in-law Zhang Shi's house to demand an explanation for the day's events.

Unexpectedly, this brother-in-law proved equally "unreasonable"—he had tolerated his brother-in-law's philandering for quite some time. Though he felt his younger siblings had gone too far this time, he held secret intentions of humiliating Chen Minggang. Not only did he refuse to help, he offered barbed remarks: "My brother and sister did go a bit overboard in this matter. But Brother-in-law, you should also consider whether your own footing is firm here."

"A real man has three wives and four concubines. Even if I take a concubine, what of it? What do you mean my 'footing isn't firm'?" Chen Minggang demanded angrily.

"Let me offer you some advice, Brother-in-law. You're over fifty now. Spend more effort on official business and leave some shade for your descendants. Cultivate my nephews well so they can fill your vacancy someday. Stop fooling around with rotten whores all day! Watch out for syphilis!"

This family truly had stiff necks. Chen Minggang was so angry he could vomit blood. Knowing that arguing was futile, he sneered:

"In this Lingao County, it's always your family's logic that prevails. But with your sister making such a scene, how can I maintain my standing before the Magistrate and Private Secretary? How will the gentry and commoners of the county view me? Slapping my own face wasn't enough—she had to do it for outsiders to see. If I lose face, doesn't your family lose face? Don't your nephews lose face?" He pointed at his own nose. "For those of us serving in the yamen, face comes first. Now that I've been made a laughingstock in public, how am I supposed to conduct business in the future?"

These words had some effect. Zhang Shi pondered; making such a public scene was indeed undignified. He reluctantly went to fetch his wife to help clean up the mess. Chen Minggang decided that returning home meant another round of quarreling, and going to Qiuhong's place would inevitably involve tearful complaints, so he simply went to sleep at the county yamen. He wondered privately: keeping Qiuhong outside the city had been done with utmost secrecy—how had it leaked?

Zhou Qi and the several men stationed outside Qiuhong's house were all trusted lieutenants he had used for years, extremely reliable. Not only were their lips sealed tight, they handled affairs dependably. Though Zhang Wu muddled along in the Fast Squad, his understanding of worldly matters matched his sister's—that of a rash fool. The Fast Squad head, Fu He, didn't look out for him; he only let Zhang Wu cause trouble in the county for the sake of appearances, never calling upon him for actual cases. Zhang Wu had no popularity within the Fast Squad either; only a few "public duty" idlers flattered him.

Fu He and his subordinates would absolutely never offend Chen Minggang for someone like Zhang Wu by acting as spies on Qiuhong. Even if they knew something, they wouldn't tell him—there was no benefit in it.

He summoned Zhou Qi for detailed questioning about recent days. Zhou Qi bore the title "apprentice" but was actually over thirty, having followed Chen Minggang for more than a dozen years. Chen Minggang was extremely fond of women, yet remarkably, Zhou Qi never looked sideways, never casting eyes upon his master's women. This earned him high regard.

Zhou Qi reported that they had taken turns patrolling outside disguised as stall vendors and had seen no suspicious characters coming around or asking questions. He also called in the old couple living with Qiuhong—servants who both attended to her and served as guards and supervisors.

The old couple had been beaten bloody. They entered wailing and complaining, revealing nothing useful. Chen Minggang had to produce some silver, telling them to clean up first and tend to Qiuhong's recovery; he would visit her tomorrow.

Though the case remained muddled, Chen Minggang's fury didn't subside. He immediately sent men to secretly detain the few idlers surrounding Zhang Wu, locking them in a countryside house for interrogation under torture: who exactly had passed the news to Zhang Wu?

Though Chen Minggang was a Revenue Section clerk, he possessed considerable skill in tormenting people. He tortured the idlers half to death, and they confessed immediately.

It turned out the news had reached Zhang Wu's ears when he went to drink tea at East Gate Market the day before yesterday—the rumors were vivid and detailed. Zhang Wu immediately dispatched men to investigate. Upon seeing Zhou Qi and other Chen Minggang confidants active in the vicinity, he believed it seventy or eighty percent, leading to today's drama of the amazons making their scene.

The news had originated from East Gate Market—this surprised Chen Minggang somewhat. But upon reflection, it made sense. Business in the county seat had grown sluggish; many people had shifted their consumption to East Gate Market. When it came to well-informed ears, that was the place.

"What was Zhang Wu doing at East Gate Market?" Chen Minggang pressed.

"Heard—heard," the battered idler managed, "that there are many merchants in East Gate Market, but they never pay the customary fees. Fifth Master Zhang felt this broke the rules and left the brothers with no money to spend, so he went to investigate the situation..."

Chen Minggang thought: This Zhang Wu truly values money over his life! Are the Australians easy to deal with? He really dares reach into a pot of boiling oil to fish for money! I need to distance myself from him quickly. If the Australians explode, I might be implicated in the destruction! Remembering the Gou brothers' fate, he couldn't help but shiver. He began to harbor deep doubts about his plan to use the Australians.

While this farce unfolded in the county, the observation post on the watchtower outside the West Gate witnessed everything clearly. The observer was a local, but the Transmigrators had taught him to record every important event in a daily log.

After his shift ended, this log was sent to the intelligence department for analysis. Zhou Botao received the report, and a smile curved at the corner of his mouth.

Zhou Botao was a veteran. His childhood dream had been to become a great detective, so after his discharge, he worked as an assistant police officer for a few years. Later, seeing no future in it, he switched to an investigation company—what passed for private detective work.

However, private detective work had nothing to do with criminal investigation. His main tasks were gathering information and taking covert photographs. After a few years, he had actually learned some useful tricks. His participation in the transmigration was entirely accidental—he had been commissioned by Chang Shide's wife to catch this strictly-acting "philanderer" in the act. Later, discovering that Chang Shide was involved in some "Transmigration Company," he joined as well.

Upon arriving in the New World, his veteran status should have landed him an officer's position in the New Army. But Zhou Botao had no interest in military games and volunteered for the Public Security Team. After system adjustments, he became head of the Political Security Bureau's Action Division.

The news about Qiuhong's whereabouts had been released on Zhou Botao's orders to his subordinates. His Action Division had already developed a dozen plainclothes agents; spreading information was one of their primary tasks. When necessary, they could also execute kidnapping and arrest missions.

This particular instruction had come directly from Ran Yao. Ran Yao's meaning was clear: since the next step involved dealing with Chen Minggang, and this person had accumulated abundant black materials, they might as well release one piece first to disrupt his position. The Security Bureau understood Chen Minggang's domestic affairs thoroughly. Sure enough, as soon as the news broke, chaos erupted.

"Old Chen Minggang's got a fire in his backyard—wonder if he'll panic completely." Zhou Botao muttered to himself, then reported the situation directly to Ran Yao.

"Should we add more fuel? Make it burn hotter?" he requested instructions.

"Is there more black material we can use?"