Black Flag Army

Di Xiong successfully led away dozens of Qinglonghui gunmen, allowing Wang Shitou and his men to escape. However, he was relentlessly pursued by the Qinglonghui gunmen. He ran out of bullets and was forced to throw away his bulky rifle. He only held the pistol in his hand. A rifle bullet hit his left leg, causing him to bleed profusely. Every step he took was painful, and he walked slower and slower. Every household on the street closed their doors and windows tightly, as no one wanted to get into trouble. Di Xiong was somewhat desperate when he saw the pursuers approaching. He didn't know that two pairs of beautiful eyes were watching him from the window.

When passing by the back door of a small house, the door was unexpectedly opened, and a young girl said to Di Xiong anxiously: "Brother Di! Come in and take shelter!"

With the help of the lights in the courtyard, Di Xiong found that the person who spoke was Lan Jinchun. She seemed to have just washed her hair, and her wet short hair shone with an attractive luster under the light. Di Xiong quickly entered the courtyard and said "thank you".

Lan Jinchun immediately closed the door, and the dozens of pursuers did not notice him and walked straight through the door. There was a faint fragrance of plum blossoms in the backyard. Di Xiong put away his pistol and followed Lan Jinchun through the courtyard into the brightly lit living room. There was a set of mahogany furniture in the living room, and in the middle was an eight-immortal table. Di Xiong saw Lan Jinping, wearing a light yellow dress, sitting at the table playing the erhu, and seemed not to hear the gunshots outside the window. The erhu played a cheerful rhythm, like the "Spring River Moon Night" that Di Xiong had heard in later generations. Originally, Di Xiong suffered a defeat tonight and was very depressed, but after listening to the sound of the erhu, he felt much better.

Di Xiong didn't want to interrupt the music of the piano, so he bowed to Lan Jinping, sat down without saying a word.

Lan Jinchun came over with a cup of tea. Seeing Di Xiong bleeding from the wound, he was very surprised and quickly took out gauze, bandages and wound medicine to bandage him. Di Xiong said, "Thank you! I can do it myself!"

Lan Jinchun insisted on bandaging him. She smiled and said, "It's a rare opportunity to do something for Brother Di!" The corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, and she was smiling even when she wasn't smiling. Her pure and beautiful face was extremely attractive to men. She was very skilled and quickly finished the bandage.

Di Xiong asked, "What is this place? Is this your home?"

Lan Jinchun said: "This is my sister's home. My sister and I live together."

Di Xiong said: "Your sister should live in General Lu's mansion. The Lu mansion cannot be so small, with only two small courtyards."

Lan Jinchun didn't say anything, but turned around to look at his sister. The piano music had stopped. Lan Jinping said to Di Xiong, "Why are the people from the Qinglong Society chasing you?"

Di Xiong told the truth and described the process of the sneak attack on Zhang's house. Lan Jinping listened quietly and sighed, "You acted too impulsively. You only have a few dozen people under you. How can you touch Zhang Ade? Zhang Ade is many times stronger than you. Zhang Xun, Yuan Dahua and many other governors of the Beiyang government have friendships with him. When General Lu was the director of the law enforcement department, he knew that he was a royalist but did not dare to touch him. Now is not the time for you to show off. You should focus on preserving and developing your strength. You should not do stupid things like a snake swallowing an elephant."

Di Xiong said: "Of course I understand the principle of a snake swallowing an elephant. I also want to grow quietly, but others will not let you go just because you are weak. For example, the boss of East Asia Textile Factory, Ichiro Yokota, relies on his wealth and power to suppress us in the textile market and wants to put Weili Company to death. We have no choice but to fight back. Only by provoking a conflict between the two major gangs in Beijing and letting them fight to the point of losing both sides can we survive in the cracks."

Lan Jinping frowned and said, "Being targeted by Yokota Ichiro is indeed a headache. Even President Yuan was afraid of the Japanese. Even if you were forced to launch an attack, you could have fought more beautifully. However, you made three major mistakes in this operation, which led to the failure of the plan. First, you attacked the enemy with a small number of people. The enemy had more than 50 gunmen defending the high-rise compound and three machine guns. You only had more than 20 gunmen to attack it, which was too unlikely. Second, the intelligence collection was not detailed. The headquarters of the Qinglong Society was only 300 meters away from the back door of Zhang's house, but you didn't know that you chose the back door as the main attack direction. Zhang Ade was the benefactor of the Qinglong Society. Zhang's house was in danger, and they couldn't help but rescue him. As a result, they almost wrapped you up. Third, as the boss of the gang, you actually lured the enemy yourself. It was too reckless. Although you took the lead, you didn't know that if you had an accident, the Xihe Society would be destroyed."

Di Xiong was invigorated after hearing this, and asked quickly, "In Sister Lan's opinion, how should we deal with Zhang Ade?"

Lan Jinping said: "Zhang Ade can't stay at home all the time. If we kill him outside, there will be chaos in the mansion. It will be much easier to take advantage of the opportunity and steal his wealth. Today's failure is a painful lesson for you, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. You will be smarter in the future."

Di Xiong said excitedly: "Since the establishment of Xihe Club, I have tried my best to find a suitable military advisor, but I have never been able to find one. Now it seems that a military advisor has been found, and that is Sister Lan. The analysis just now is something that none of my subordinates can say."

Lan Jinping smiled and said, "Brother Di, you are too kind. I am just a woman. How can I be a military advisor?"

Di Xiong said: "There are women who are stronger than men. In ancient times, there were Hua Mulan and Tang Sai'er, and in modern times, there are Wang Cong'er and Qiu Jin. If Xihe Society wants to become stronger, it needs the help of outstanding talents like you."

Lan Jinping said, "Brother Di is well-versed in history and knows all about ancient female generals. He has no discrimination against women, which makes me feel very relieved. No wonder Xiuling always praises you whenever she mentions you. It is her luck that Xiuling can meet you. Didn't you wonder why I didn't live in Lu's mansion? Because General Lu's second and third wives couldn't tolerate me, saying that I was a prostitute and a vixen. They and other concubines teamed up to frame me and humiliate me. General Lu was very embarrassed to be caught in the middle, so he bought me a small house and asked me to move out. I am now called a concubine, but in fact I am just his lover. General Lu has always been mean and ungrateful. Now he is in favor and has a good life. He has no worries about food and clothing, and can even support his sister's education. Once he falls out of favor in the future, he may be driven out of the house and live on the streets. When the time comes, I will go to Brother Di and hope that he can give me a meal."

Di Xiong said: "Today you sisters saved my life. As the saying goes, a drop of water should be repaid with a spring. No matter what troubles you encounter in the future, I will do my best to help you."

Lan Jinping smiled and said, "Speaking of trouble, my sister has a problem right now and would like to ask you for help. You won't refuse, right?"

Lan Jinchun said anxiously: "Sister! How can you make demands right after helping someone? Isn't this a favor?"

Di Xiong said, "Sister Lan, if you have any instructions, just tell me."

Lan Jinping said, "When my sister Jinchun was studying at a girls' middle school, she was spotted by three men, all of whom wanted to take her as a concubine. Jinchun didn't like any of these three men. One was Dong Huailiang, the personnel director of the General Police Bureau; one was Duan Hongjia, the nephew of Duan Qirui, the chief of the army; and the other was Feng Tianneng, the adopted son of Feng Guozhang, the commander-in-chief of the garrison army. Can you solve this problem?"

Di Xiong asked, "Sister Lan, do you want me to assassinate them?"

Lan Jinping said, "That's not necessary. I just want to reject them, but I lack a reason. Director Dong is fine. With General Lu's face, he can be easily dismissed. But General Lu can't afford to offend the two Beiyang bosses behind Duan Hongjia and Feng Tianneng. If you and Jinchun are engaged, I can reject them openly. Of course, the engagement I mentioned is fake, and it's just a shield to protect Jinchun."

Lan Jinchun blushed and lowered her head, but when she heard it was fake, she raised her head again in disappointment.

Di Xiong said, "I'm sorry, I already have a girlfriend. I have to ask Bai Xiuling's opinion before I can answer you. Why did Sister Lan choose me to do this? You can just find a random man. Isn't it just acting?"

Lan Jinping said, "Can you just find someone to scare Duan Hongjia and Feng Tian? You are a gang leader. Although they are powerful, they are unwilling to get involved with gangsters unless it is absolutely necessary. Among the gang leaders I know, you are the only decent one. The other gang leaders are notorious guys. I dare not go to them."

Di Xiong said, "Okay! As long as Bai Xiuling doesn't object, I can help you with this."

Di Xiong noticed a Go box on the table and said with a smile, "Sister Lan can also play Go? She is really multi-talented."

Lan Jinping said, "I only know the basics. After Yuan Shikai became president, the Beiyang clique split into more than a dozen factions. The most powerful one was Duan Qirui's Anhui clique. Duan Qirui liked to play Go, and his officials followed his lead and learned to play Go. General Lu was also from the Anhui clique, so he naturally knew how to play Go. I learned from General Lu."

Di Xiong asked, "Can I ask Sister Lan for advice on a dish?"

So the two of them set up the chessboard, and after some pushing and shirking, Di Xiong played first with black pieces. When it came to the middle of the game, Lan Jinchun saw her sister frowning and sweat coming out of the tip of her nose. She was obviously in trouble, but Di Xiong remained calm. She thought her sister was going to lose, but it turned out that her sister won, although only by half a piece.

Lan Jinping smiled and said, "I should have lost this game. You made a mistake at the end and I took a piece of your chess. You didn't let me win on purpose, did you?"

Di Xiong laughed and said, "Why would I let you win on purpose? It's because your chess skills are so bad."

Lan Jinping stared at Di Xiong and said seriously, "You have great courage and a wise mind. You will become an excellent leader. I will seriously consider joining the Xihe Club."

After the gunfire outside subsided, Di Xiong said goodbye and left the Lan family, still going out through the back door because there were bodyguards and maids living in the front yard and it would be bad if they saw him.

Lan Jinchun looked at Di Xiong's departing back and said disappointedly, "It seems he has no interest in me at all."

Lan Jinping smiled and said, "Because he is very loyal to Xiuling, of course he won't have eyes for other women. You are too impatient. You are still young now. If you still like him in a few years, I will find a way to make the fake engagement real."

"Then what about Sister Bai?" Lan Jinchun asked.

Lan Jinping said, "Xiu Ling doesn't plan to marry him, you can rest assured about that. But you have to work hard too. Di Xiong has very few hobbies, it seems that they only have reading and playing Go. You have to learn Go so that you can have something to talk about with him."

Zhang Heilian's real name is Zhang Zhongyi, Heilian is just his nickname. Di Xiong placed the spirit tablets of the four brothers who died in battle, Zhang Zhongyi, Zhang Shan, Li Shi and Wang Hu, on the altar, lit the incense and candles, and then led the brothers of Xihe Society to kneel down together.

Di Xiong said, "Zhang Zhongyi and his men died before they could accomplish their mission. I swear here that I will kill Zhang Ade and avenge my four brothers."

The brothers behind him also shouted: "Kill Zhang Ade and sacrifice the four brothers with blood!"

The shopkeeper Wu Zhong suddenly said, "I know Zhao Qi, the cook of Zhang's house. Maybe we can seize Zhang's house without a violent attack."

Wu Zhong has always been against violence, but he now realizes that he is already a member of the Xihe Society and the fate of his entire family is tied to the Xihe Society. Now that this battle involves the life and death of the Xihe Society, he must stand up and offer advice.