How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

The soldier swallowed hard, suppressing his heart palpitations, and left with Zheng Peilan.

Zheng Peilan left, but the servants dared not make any further moves. The maid's body still lay on the ground, her intestines spilling out, her eyes wide open in death.

When they arrived at the council chamber, the bloodstains on Zheng Peilan's body had already congealed.

Commander Guo frowned; the stench of blood mixed with the foul smell was both familiar and repulsive to him. A soldier quickly whispered a few words in his ear, and as soon as he finished speaking, his brows furrowed even more.

"Zheng family girl, did you get the contract?"

“I’ve got it, please take a look.” Zheng Peilan’s voice was loud and clear, no longer trembling. She held up the crumpled contract with both hands.

The adjutant quickly took it and placed it on a tray, carefully unfolding it. Although it was stained with blood, the writing was still legible. Just as Zheng the comprador had said, he had rented the warehouse at the river and land dock to Suchuan three years ago.

The contracts on the tray were passed around and even went through in Hayakawa's hands.

Su Chuan frowned deeply and couldn't help but glance at Zheng, the comprador, but unfortunately, the other party's gaze didn't fall on him at all.

It's written in black and white, there's no denying it. Hayakawa Namio still forced a smile and said, "It's true I rented the warehouse, but I truly knew nothing about this opium. I hope the Commander will investigate thoroughly."

"Investigate thoroughly? What kind of investigation do you want!" Commander Guo was also furious. After all these tricks, the evidence was right in front of him, yet he still denied it. Even a saint wouldn't be so patient.

He smashed the teacup in his hand, splashing boiling water all over Hayakawa.

He frowned, resolutely refusing to admit his mistake.

"General Guo, the reason I chose this city as my base is because among so many cities, only your jurisdiction is relatively peaceful. I have come from afar for wealth, but I would never dare to oppose the local government. I know that even a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake."

"Heh," Commander Guo snorted coldly.

This Japanese person is not very skilled. He speaks Chinese fluently and doesn't need a translator, but unfortunately, he doesn't express himself well and ends up offending people.

One official scoffed, "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. So, Mr. Hayakawa, are you saying that you're the powerful dragon and we're all just local snakes?"

Su Chuan's brow twitched. "I wouldn't dare, I absolutely wouldn't have such an intention. I mean, I would never go against Commander Guo's wishes."

"Oh? So, according to you, where did this opium come from? It's neither Zheng's nor yours, so it's mine?"

"No, no," Hayakawa waved his hands repeatedly, "I know there's a party that doesn't get along with you. Maybe, just maybe, they're the ones who did it?"

"It's them? You mean Chinese people want to harm Chinese people?"

Hayakawa smirked, "What's impossible about that? Dragons have nine sons, and each one is different. Are you saying there aren't any bad guys among you?"

Guo Zixing could no longer contain himself and stepped forward to question, "Then how do you explain the death of Miss Ai Li, the star performer at the Jin Anna Ballroom?"

When Alley was mentioned, Hayakawa hesitated for a moment, but quickly covered it up.

"I regret that I couldn't grow old with Miss Eli."

Guo Zixing laughed in anger, "Really? Bring them up."

A moment later, several more young men with bruised and swollen faces knelt in the council chamber.

“General, they were the people from the Jin Anna Ballroom the night before last, and they all saw Ai Li.”

At this point, no one else knew what connection Alley had with the case.

Guo Zixing continued, "Assuming the opium in the warehouse truly belongs to Mr. Suchuan, how will he sell it after acquiring it? After all, goods that don't circulate in the market are all inanimate objects; only when they circulate can they be turned into stacks of money."

Then Jiang Shen also stood up, "You all know some of the people below, and perhaps your children are among them. Think about when they started frequenting dance halls and when things changed."

One official hesitated, "Perhaps... it was six months ago? Or even earlier."

“That’s right,” Jiang Shen gave him a thumbs up. “Miss Ai Li also got in touch with Mr. Hayakawa last year. If you count the time, we still had to wait for Mr. Hayakawa to persuade Ai Li to work for him, which was more than half a year ago, right?”

Hayakawa said, "I met Miss Ari last year, but I'm deeply in love with her, so how could I possibly hurt her?"

Guo Zixing laughed, "Aili is deeply in love with you, and wholeheartedly believes that you are different from other men, and would not look down on her humble background and being a dancer. You use her feelings to threaten her into working for you, mixing opium into cigars to coax those sons of the powerful and wealthy to smoke. Your first step in this gradual and ruthless process is to corrupt the descendants of the city's powerful and wealthy, making them your puppets, willing to be used by you for a puff of opium!"

Guo Zixing grew increasingly agitated as he spoke, "You're quite the schemer! You specifically target the sons of the powerful and wealthy, wanting to control power, military force, and money. I'd like to ask you, what exactly are you plotting?"

Everyone present was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat, only realizing what had happened after a long while.

Su Chuan's expression finally changed, and before he could recover from his shock, Guo Zixing punched him to the ground.

"You have wolfish ambitions. You have been operating in Sifang City for years, opening cotton mills to mislead people while actually oppressing the poor. On the other hand, you are also plotting to seize opium. Hayakawa Namio, your schemes with the people behind your country are obvious. What else is there to explain?"

Hayakawa broke out in a cold sweat, but feigned composure. "If you want to find fault, you can always find a pretext. Just because I'm a foreigner, you're assuming I'm guilty. All your inferences are just guesses."

"Really?" Guo Zixing took out the leather-bound booklet. "Does it look familiar? It's exactly the same as the one in your study."

"you…"

“That’s right, we’ve already searched your study. You’re good at hiding things, like a rabbit with three burrows. But we don’t have much of anything, just lots of people. A whole regiment of us can turn your place upside down.”

Guo Zixing handed over the booklet, and the more Commander Guo read it, the more alarmed he became, and he instantly erupted in a thunderous rage.

"Bastard!"

Hayakawa tried to argue, "It's just a leather booklet. My business has countless of them. She bought some too, wrote some strange things on it. Is that so hard to explain?"

"If it were just a regular notebook, that would be one thing, but it's rare to find one with the mark of your Hayakawa family printed on the inside."

The leather booklet was unfolded, and sure enough, on the last page, everyone saw a deep etched mark—the Japanese characters for "Hayakawa." Large families like theirs usually had their own totem; this was undeniable.

Hayakawa's efforts were in vain, and he finally slung his arm over her shoulder. He knew this booklet better than anyone; it was a blank booklet that Ai Li had pulled from his bedside during a time of intense passion. He hadn't originally intended to give it to her, but seeing that it was blank, he gave it to her anyway.

Unexpectedly, today's events will become the evidence used to bring him down. Su Chuan is filled with regret, wishing he hadn't taken matters into his own hands.

"Perhaps she stole it?" Hayakawa explained palely.

Unfortunately, no one was listening to what he was saying at this moment. The records here were filled with details of officials accepting and receiving bribes, and whether they were true or false, they would all be recorded in General Guo's mind.

They're too busy trying to exonerate themselves to defend Hayakawa.

Not to mention the Zheng family father and daughter huddled in the corner, watching coldly and finding it all rather amusing.