An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 172 On what grounds... should we negotiate?

There were five vehicles in total: two SUVs, two vans, and one sedan. They lined up and headed towards Shiliuyuan. Chen Biao was driving the sedan in the middle of the convoy, while Xu Penggang was alone in the back. There were only the two of them in that car.

Jiang Zheng sat in the passenger seat of the black SUV at the head of the table, glancing casually at the rear through the right-side rearview mirror.

The main force consisted mostly of Jiang Zheng's men. As for Xu Penggang and Chen Biao's men, they mostly stayed on duty in various parts of the manor as usual, without any special personnel changes, in order to avoid making too much noise and alerting the enemy.

Of course, those people were completely unaware of Chen Biao's group's plan to escape tonight.

In a sense, they are about to play their last role in deceiving others, and after tonight they will be completely abandoned and discarded by Xu Penggang.

The car weaved through the pomegranate grove. The surrounding tree trunks were strong and powerful, with branches stretching out in all directions. The grayish-brown bark was rough and cracked, and the leaves had long since fallen.

They arrived at the small gate in the northeast corner without any major setbacks. This exit was the most remote and narrowest compared to the other exits in the manor, allowing only one vehicle to pass at a time. Xu Penggang and Chen Biao had never used this gate before when they traveled.

The black SUV was the first to stop in front of the black iron gate, which was rusty and had little paint left. The four cars behind it also stopped one after another. Jiang Zheng rolled down the window and briefly greeted the people who had gathered around the car: "I'm taking some people out to run some errands."

The leader replied respectfully, "Going out so late?"

Jiang Zheng glanced at him coolly and retorted, "What? Do I need to explain myself to you now?"

The man's face instantly contorted with panic, and he hurriedly said, "That's not what I meant, Brother Zheng, please don't misunderstand..." His apology was interrupted by Chen Biao's gruff shout: "Open the door!"

The man looked in the direction of the sound and saw Chen Biao's fierce and impatient face. He quickly took a few steps back to make way and ordered his men, "Hurry up and open the door for Brother Biao and Brother Zheng. Be quick about it!"

The iron gate, barely two meters wide, was quickly pulled open from both sides. Jiang Zheng looked ahead and casually raised his left hand to signal the driver that they could start the car.

The engine started, and the car set off again, but it was forced to stop again after only a few meters... "Whoosh—thud," several sudden sounds came in succession, and by the time they reacted, the tires of the first two SUVs had been completely destroyed.

What followed, unsurprisingly, was a chaotic battle. In the darkness, the clanging of bullets hitting the car body echoed continuously, sharp and piercing, accompanied by sparks flying everywhere.

In the chaos, Chen Biao appeared to have gotten out of the car and been shot in the shoulder. Jiang Zheng casually fired at the air opposite him, retreating as he fired, and stealthily circled around to the black sedan behind him, opened the door slightly, and slipped inside.

In the dimly lit carriage, the person whose face was wrapped in gauze struggled to open their eyes. Upon seeing this, Jiang Zheng asked directly, "Do you want to live?"

Seeing the man nod, Jiang Zheng jumped from the back seat to the driver's seat the next second, reversed the car, and sped back towards the pomegranate orchard he had come from.

Lu Feng dodged behind the wall, narrowly avoiding a bullet that grazed his face. The bullet struck the stone wall in front of him, sending shards of stone flying and hitting the tip of his nose.

Lu Feng heard Xiao Han behind him urgently remind him, "Captain Lu, someone drove off in a U-turn!"

Lu Feng had just seen it too; Jiang Zheng was driving. "Never mind that for now, deal with the others here."

……

The car headed directly towards the villa. Along the way, Li Yasong seemed to be half-awake, occasionally regaining consciousness for a few dozen seconds before falling unconscious again. During one of these moments, he woke up and asked, "Why...why...did you save me?"

Jiang Zheng drove with his eyes straight ahead, going very fast, and answered casually: "I'm just saving myself. Do you really think I'd stay there and fight those cops for Xu Peng? As long as I'm alive, I can always fight back."

“Besides…”, he tilted his head slightly and glanced at me, “If I don’t take you with me, how am I supposed to know how to escape this situation where we’re surrounded by enemies?” “When…did you realize…something was wrong?”

"The first time he pushed you out, your face was covered up so I couldn't see your features, but... I have my own way of recognizing you." Jiang Zheng kept it a secret.

The black sedan stopped in front of the villa. Jiang Zheng picked up a water bottle from the center console storage box, unscrewed it, and splashed it on the face of the person in the back seat. "Wake up, we're here. Talk to me."

Li Yasong wiped his face and began to negotiate with him: "I can tell you where the secret passage Xu Peng just built is, but you have to take me with you."

“I can take you into the secret passage, but after that, we will go our separate ways.”

Li Yasong insisted: "I mean, from now on, including after we exit the passage, you have to take me with you."

Li Yasong had his own considerations. He was just an accountant, practically powerless. Even if he was lucky enough to escape tonight, the police would lay a trap for him after today. He could hide for a day, but not for the next.

But if he followed Jiang Zheng, the situation would be very different; he actually admired the man's abilities.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zheng smiled coldly, his voice carrying an unspeakable danger: "What makes you think you have the right to negotiate with me now? When we're on the verge of survival, why should I agree to take a drugged piece of trash like you with me?"

Li Yasong laughed, with a kind of audacity unique to desperados, "Then come and wait to die here with me. Anyway, for me, it doesn't make much difference whether we enter the secret passage or not. The ending is the same, so why bother?"

Jiang Zheng slammed the door shut and got out of the car. He then went to the back seat, pulled Li Yasong out of the car, and cursed under his breath.

It can be considered a compromise.

According to Li Yasong's description, Jiang Zheng led him into Xu Penggang's bedroom. The bed was covered with blankets, but it was empty and no one was there.

Jiang Zheng reached out to touch the blankets, which were still warm—he hadn't been gone too long.

Seeing this, Li Yasong asked with a smile, "What do you think we should do if we run into him in the secret passage later?"

Jiang Zheng wasn't in the mood to answer his question. He simply looked at the closet in the bedroom and asked, "Where is it?"

……

This secret passage is very small and well hidden, and the entrance is on the second floor. Few people would place the entrance to a secret passage on the second floor. Normally, the basement is the most convenient location, and the first floor is the second most reasonable.

Xu Penggang's ideas were always different from ordinary people. When he finally saw the truth, even Jiang Zheng had to exclaim, "Ingenious design!"

There is a very narrow mezzanine between the study and the bedroom, and most of the walls are solid. The wooden cabinets are nailed directly to the wall and integrated as one piece. Only the back panel in the lower right corner can be removed.

Once opened, you can see a circular passage leading downwards, seemingly bottomless, somewhat like a sewer manhole on the street. The inner walls of the passage are lined with iron steps, requiring you to climb down using both your hands and feet.

If Jiang Zheng wasn't mistaken, the medium connecting the second floor to the first floor was a marble load-bearing column in the luxurious lobby on the first floor.

After all, when Lu Feng and his group came in and tried to find the secret passage in the basement and on the first floor, no one would have thought that those "innocent load-bearing pillars" were standing openly in the middle of the room.