Xihua suppressed the fear in his heart and quietly touched the wall and retreated into the yard. 【Read full text】
When Jia Le came back, he saw her walking in the yard. His expression changed slightly, and he forced a smile and said, "Is it boring in the house?"
Xihua grinned: "A bit."
Hao Yuan looked up at the sun. The sun has already passed the zenith, and in another hour, the Villa will take action. Now, Cao Guangjiu and Gou Chengxuan have probably arrived somewhere outside the villa and are anxiously waiting for Zhang Guangtian's group of people. As for Shi Weng himself, he will not go: he wants to be completely separated from these things.
"Treat us as white gloves?" Hao Yuan thought the master's metaphor was wonderful. Even white gloves come with a price, though. To do great things, you have to survive first.
He looked at the two green iron trees at the gate of Wanbi Bookstore a few dozen steps away. The door of the bookstore was tightly closed - today was the closing day, and the Ghost Festival was a big festival. Zhao Yingong let all the staff in the bookstore know. Holidays, there are no labor laws these days, and there is no concept of rest days. Having a holiday can also make everyone relax.
With fewer people, there will be less trouble. Otherwise, it would take a lot of effort to uniform the clerks and workers inside, and there might be too many casualties. Hao Yuan did not shy away from killing people, but being burned to death in a fire and being killed by his people were two different things.
The weather is very hot in the afternoon, and this is not a busy city. There are almost no people on the deserted streets. There are only a few vendors selling watermelons and tea stalls dozing lazily under the pergola. Hao Yuan had already investigated these people in advance, and they were all members of the Oolong Club hired by Zhao Yingong. They are protecting the entire perfect bookstore outside. The large team of Oolong Club gathered in several restaurants and teahouses on this street.
Although there were many more people from the Wulong Club gathered around the bookstore than he did, Hao Yuan was not worried. The people who attacked the club wanted money, so they used blunt weapons instead of sharp weapons in the fights to avoid killing people and making it difficult to clean up.
The people under him are different. This time they are preparing to go in with a white knife and come out with a red knife. Although there are few people, the will is strong enough. As long as a human life is lost, Oolong Society will be unable to withstand it.
last night. Hao Yuan's men have already climbed over the wall here in advance and have taken control of the second shop as a starting position. Others were blocking the passage in the alley at the back door of Wanbi Bookstore. They were all dressed in black, with black cloths on their heads, black veils on their faces, and ordinary people's clothes underneath. When the time comes, you can throw away your coat and weapon and pretend to be a good citizen.
Hao Yuan looked at the door of Wanbi Bookshop again. The facade of Wanbi Bookstore is entirely made of stone. The arched door sits on three levels of stone steps. This architectural form is not new to Hao Yuan at all: it is just a simplified version of the European style.
The door has been covered with a row of door panels. According to Xihua's intelligence and the on-the-spot investigation by the people he sent, it seems that the weather-beaten door panels are all made of high-quality wood. And the size is very thick. The upper and lower slots of the inlay are cut directly into the stone door frame. Once it is put together, iron bolts will be added to reinforce it. Not to mention a few people smashing the door with ordinary tools, they just use hammers and axes to break the door. They may not be able to split quickly. I'm afraid I'll have to use a door hammer.
Don't tell me that there is no ready-made big wood in this place. Even if there were, it would be difficult for more than a dozen people to hit each other with a piece of wood. As for other methods, it is even more unfeasible: the wall of Wanbi Bookstore is very high, more than two feet by visual inspection. The bottom is a stone wall foundation, and the wall is made of lying bricks. It is difficult to dig holes or climb over walls.
The only way to rush in is to break open the door. Hao Yuan decided to use the simplest and crudest method to achieve his goal this time: directly use gunpowder to blow open the door.
The gunpowder is hidden in the place where Xihua is placed - the courtyard is actually not far from here. A small bag of gunpowder is enough to blast open this strong door.
Today is the Hungry Ghost Festival. Buddhist services are held in every temple, and in wealthy families there are also Buddhist scriptures and recitations. In four villages and eight towns, in and outside the city, there are people who perform high-sheng and gun-fire all day long. An explosion would not attract much attention, and combined with that, a large number of high-altitude cannons would be fired nearby as cover. You should be able to fool it.
Everyone thought that Hao Yuan wanted the gold in Wanbi Bookstore. After all, there were too many places to spend money. But Hao Yuan is more interested in the archive documents that were transferred to the bookstore.
The Master was very interested in everything about the "Australians" and mentioned many times in his letters to him that if possible, he would try to seize some of their own archives.
The number of archives was extremely large, and it was impossible for Zhao Yingong to transfer them all to Wanbi Bookstore in a hurry. It must be the most important and confidential material.
According to the information provided by Xihua, the core part of Wanbi Bookstore is the kindergarten. Although this kindergarten has been out of use since the villa was built, it has always been the most heavily guarded place in Wanbi Bookstore, second only to the courtyard where Zhao Yingong lives. According to Xihua. All the houses in the school were designed and built by Zhao Yingong himself. Not only are their shapes different from ordinary houses, but the materials used are also very sophisticated.
If you want to temporarily store a large amount of files and belongings, this currently vacant kindergarten is the best place.
He looked at the map on the table again. This time, thanks to the information provided by Xihua: Wanbi Bookstore is simply a ** formation, and the internal structure is not built according to the general Chinese, Western and French styles at all. Corridors, doorways. The stairs are intricate. Even people like Xihua who have lived in the bookstore for a long time do not know the entire structure inside. But at least she knew how to enter the kindergarten.
If I didn't have this picture, I would have rushed in with my businessmen, and I'd be afraid that I wouldn't even be able to touch the door inside - the bookstore's internal passages are criss-crossed, and there are thousands of doors, and they are all locked on weekdays, without a key. It takes a lot of time to break down the door and break in.
With this map and the gunpowder pack to blow up the door, they can easily break into the school and seize the materials inside.
The first group of people who transported gunpowder had already returned. They were divided into small packages in bamboo tubes and stored in a north-facing room in the backyard. Ice cubes were also placed in the room to cool down.
"Are we going to send the second group of people to get the gunpowder now?" someone next to me asked.
The weather is very hot, and this is an urban area, so gunpowder cannot be transported with great fanfare. The gunpowder needed today can only be transported from the stronghold by small batches of ants.
"Go ahead. Be careful on the road!"
The second group of people transporting gunpowder was led by He Liu. In order not to attract attention, they did not move together. Instead, they went in groups of two or three and found their own way. Go to the stronghold and collect gunpowder together.
He Liu was the leader and the first to arrive. He knocked on the signal and entered through the back door, and the guard said everything was business as usual.
"What about the rest?"
"They are all patrolling along the courtyard wall. There are too few manpower left, and they have to take care of the entrance."
"Take me to see Jia Le quickly."
"You can go there by yourself. I can't kill anyone here. She is in the east courtyard of the main house."
"Okay." He Liu was very familiar with this place and went to the main courtyard minding his own business. There was only one nurse in the main courtyard. He knew He Liu and let him in with a little nod.
There is a moon cave door to the east in the backyard of the main courtyard, and you can enter the east side courtyard. He Liu walked in quickly and saw tea cups and snacks placed on the stone table in the middle of the courtyard, but there was no one there. Feeling strange, I quickly called out a few times, but no one answered.
He Liu secretly screamed that something was wrong, and hurriedly looked around. After turning half a circle, he suddenly saw Jia Le lying in the corner on the side of the courtyard wall, with strips of cloth randomly wrapped around his forehead, and there was faint blood oozing out. Shocked, he quickly took a few steps forward and helped her up. He called several times in succession.
Jia Le woke up leisurely and saw He Liu holding him. He struggled and said, "Quick, quick, tell Uncle Hao... Xihua... is a spy!" He fainted again.
"Have the people who went to pick up the second batch of gunpowder come back?" Hao Yuan suddenly realized that the second batch of people who went to pick up the gunpowder
"Not yet," the person next to me replied, "Do you want to urge me?"
At this moment, someone suddenly ran in, it was He Liu, looking very nervous.
"What's going on?!" Hao Yuan's expression changed. Now it was the last moment. He Liu's expression was so frightened. It was obvious that something was wrong!
"Something happened!" He Liu whispered in his ear, and Hao Yuan's expression changed drastically. He turned around and told his deputy: "You stay here and keep an eye on me. I'll come as soon as I can!"
Just as he was about to go downstairs, He Liu grabbed him fiercely: "Hao Da! You can't go! If you go, you will be trapped!"
Xihua has defected, and the location of the stronghold has been exposed. Within an hour or two, Zhao Yingong's men will definitely make a surprise attack.
"No, there are a lot of our things stored there. We need to transport them all away, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous!" Hao Yuan said anxiously. He had calculated everything, but he did not expect that Xihua would surrender and rebel again. In this case, this stronghold must be abandoned.
"I'll take someone to move it!" He Liu volunteered.
As a result, the manpower originally planned to launch the attack on Wanbi Bookstore would be reduced by at least a dozen people.
It is taboo to weaken the attack power, but it is also necessary to save the stronghold. Xihua's defection immediately put him in a dilemma. The leaders of his men surrounded him nervously, waiting for him to make the final decision.
"Give the order quickly, time waits for no one." He Liu urged anxiously.
Hao Yuan's mind was spinning like a windmill, thinking about the situation Xihua would face after his rebellion.
Xihua's defection brought about two problems: the plan to attack Wanbi Bookstore was exposed; and one of his strongholds in the city was exposed.
When Zhao Yingong received Xihua's report, his first reaction must be to strengthen the defense of the bookstore - he might send his own people here, or he might use the power of the government: ask the Yamen to send officials to protect the bookstore. To the Jin gentry, this is just a piece of paper. Film thing. Of course being a fast-handed government official doesn't count, but robbing a bookshop while holding a gun in the clear sky and in full daylight doesn't count. If you add the murder of a government official, you're going to get into a lot of trouble.
