Ding Jingman smiled faintly, “Feibai likes you. That day he came to ask me about you, and I was angry, so I couldn’t help but say that you actually liked Gong Shi. He was furious…”
Yu Yi hurriedly said, “Madam, A Ju absolutely has no such thoughts. She came back because she was worried about you…”
Tou Feiying angrily asked, “Brother, what’s going on?”
Meng Qing did not look at Tou Feiying who had burst into the room, leisurely picking up his coffee cup and taking a sip. Then he put down the cup and leaned back in his chair: “Feiying, are you here to find fault?”
Tou Feiying naturally denied it: “Absolutely not, but, brother, you recently…
“
At this moment, a clerk inquired, “Commander, there’s a telegram for you.”
Meng Qing had the telegram brought in and looked at its contents, unable to help but laugh. Tou Feiying, not knowing why he was laughing, asked, “Brother, is it good news? Did we win a battle?”
Meng Qing shook his head and placed the telegram on the desk, gesturing for him to read it himself.
Tou Feiying picked it up and saw it was a telegram from a certain country’s special envoy, which not only criticized his repeated retreats but also pointed out that radical elements had recently infiltrated a factory under his name, which actually belonged to their country’s military factory. These elements had stolen most of the raw materials and finished products, and then blown up the military factory. This was entirely due to his incompetence. The special envoy further stated that they would replace him with someone more capable and responsible.
Tou Feiying frowned and quickly read through it, looking puzzled at Meng Qing behind the desk: “Brother, this is such bad news. Why are you laughing?”
Meng Qing pointed at the telegram: “Look, ‘capable and responsible’, haha. If they were responsible, could they collaborate with traitors? What a joke.”
Tou Feiying stared at Meng Qing suspiciously: “Brother? What’s wrong with you? These past few months, you’ve been commanding the troops in a mess, not at all like before. If you continue like this…
Meng Qing said coldly, “If I continue like this, what will you do?”
Tou Feiying replied, “It’s not about what Feiying will do, but we’ll both be finished! If my brother continues like this, Feiying will have to take over the army and clean up the mess for my brother.”
Meng Qing retorted, “The fox’s tail is showing. You’ve long wanted to replace me, right? Was Gong Shi bought by you?”
Tou Feiying laughed coldly. He was not there for verbal sparring: “Brother, isn’t Zhang Qi taking people to the neighboring city today? With no one by your side, I’ve already surrounded this place. Just hand over military power. For the sake of brotherhood, I’ll send you to retire in the countryside.”
Meng Qing laughed, tapping the desk. Several military officers walked in from outside.
Tou Feiying turned back and saw Zhang Qi leading the way, realizing: Meng Qing had used his own strategy against him. There hadn’t been any gunshots outside his command headquarters – the ambush had likely been silently dealt with!
Seeing the situation deteriorate, Tou Feiying’s face turned ashen, pleading: “Brother, brother, forgive me!”
Meng Qing raised his chin, signaling Zhang Qi and the others to take Tou Feiying away. But Tou Feiying suddenly drew his gun, pointing it at Meng Qing: “Nobody move!”
“
Meng Qinghua Bank opened a safe deposit box in the names of these four children, converting half of Tu Feibai’s deposits and bonds into gold bars or silver dollars, storing them in the safe deposit box, and donating the other half to the Charity Institute, requesting that the institute manage the bank safe deposit box until the children reach adulthood.
Meng Qing sent people to inquire in both Wang Villages and found Qiangzi’s parents. They were initially surprised, and after hearing about Qiangzi’s situation, although they did not explicitly say anything, they appeared hesitant and sad.
Meng Qing understood they were worried about their future. How could such a poor family afford to raise a child who cannot work and only eats? When he sent Qiangzi home, he also brought a large box of silver dollars. Both elderly people knelt down, crying.
On the return journey, Meng Qing was unusually silent. Yu Yi asked him, “Are you still thinking about Qiangzi?”
Yu Yi did not respond, just looking at him, waiting for his answer. “
Meng Qing glanced at her, saw her serious gaze waiting for his response, then looked out the car window and laughed, “I think using other people’s money to do good deeds is quite thrilling.”
Back in Bincheng, Meng Qing began arranging for Tu Feibai’s family, sending Ding Jingman and Yu Tao’er to the countryside and leaving behind enough property for them to live on for the rest of their lives. While they could no longer live as extravagantly, they could still live comfortably.
Yu Tao’er protested, “Feibai, how can I get used to rural life? That broken place has nothing. There’s nowhere to go out and spend money. Even if you want to send us to a safe place, you should arrange for us to go to the city, somewhere like Qianhai…”
Meng Qing directly slapped a stack of bills across her face, “Want to go to Qianhai? Take the money and go yourself! Don’t ever say you’re Tu Feibai’s concubine again. Scram!”
Yu Tao’er covered her face and cried out, but upon seeing Meng Qing’s cold gaze, she immediately stopped crying, not daring to pick up the scattered bills, and obediently went to her room to pack.
After sending away Ding Jingman and Yu Tao’er, Meng Qing continued to intensify his efforts to destroy Tu Feibai’s army.
Finally, Tu Feibai’s troops were defeated and scattered.
Zhou Qianliu and Zheng Xiong’s troops subsequently arrived in Bincheng.
Meng Qing distributed money to the servants, telling them to find their own way. If they could carry anything from the house and wanted to take it, they were welcome to do so.
Yu Yi watched from the second-floor window as people gradually came out of the house, carrying bags of various sizes. After waiting a while upstairs and hearing no more movement, she slowly descended.
She found Meng Qing sitting alone in the living room, on the Western-style sofa chair where Tu Feibai used to sit when she first came to apply as a maid.
She asked, “When are you going back?”
Meng Qing countered, “Aren’t you not going back either?”
Yu Yi was puzzled, “Isn’t our mission not complete?”
“We’ve done basically everything, but…” Meng Qing pointed to himself, though Yu Yi knew he was referring to Tu Feibai, “I’ve healed his body. If I leave, he’ll come back.”
Yu Yi furrowed her brow, “But most of his troops are gone…”
“Tu Feibai is not simple. He’s a character. He didn’t get to where he is today just by meeting influential people. Although his power is currently lost, if we don’t put him in a desperate situation, we can’t be sure he won’t rise again.” Meng Qing pulled out a gun, pointing it at his own temple, “To ensure the mission is complete, it seems I’ll have to shoot him.”
Yu Yi inhaled sharply, involuntarily stepping back, staring at Meng Qing, “Are you going to… yourself?
Here is the edited article with irrelevant content removed:
Meng Qing’s mouth twitched, “What kind of joke is that? Do you know how much that would hurt?!” He turned the gun around and offered it to Yu Yi, “Find a hidden spot, I’ll switch back, and after I leave, you shoot.”
Yu Yi hesitated, not taking the gun. She had killed before, but those times were in critical moments – once to save someone, the second time for self-preservation. This time was different. Just after Meng Qing left Tu Feibai’s body, he would be disoriented, and she would be assassinating someone completely unprepared.
