Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

Muto clutched his heart with a sense of righteous indignation. His assistant quickly poured him water, adjusted the temperature, brought out sugar cubes, inspected the entire package, and reported the batch number. Muto nodded, and the assistant opened the package and used special tweezers to pick up two cubes.

"Alright, Qingxuan, stop fooling around." Okamura Neiji stepped in, pulled Aoki Qingxuan to his side, and gave another person a wink, signaling him to go to a corner.

"Hey, Taikoo Sugar, Tamura-kun, give me one. The highest meeting of the puppet state of Manchukuo didn't even have a proper tea ceremony."

Muto Nobuyoshi's assistant was completely baffled by Aoki Seigen: "You want to take advantage of the Commander-in-Chief's sugar cubes too?"

Tamura wasn't sure, so he looked at Muto. After Muto finished taking his medicine and drinking water, and his heart condition had eased, he said, "Give him a piece of sugar, just a sugar cube. Anyone else who needs it can take it too."

Muto has a strange habit: he adds sugar cubes to his water, and he only buys Taikoo products. He insists on new packaging every day, and before opening it, he has to verify the batch number. After confirmation, his assistant opens it, and then he has to use tweezers to remove the contents.

After taking them, close the cabinet in front of everyone and lock it in the cupboard. Take two more pieces when you pour out a cup of water.

Any sugar cubes that aren't used up in a day can be disposed of by the assistant.

Because it's not needed after one night, a new one must be opened the next day.

Chen Jiehua handed the cup to Tamura's assistant, who habitually tweezed a piece and put it in.

Chen Jiehua took it, took a sip, squinted his eyes to savor the taste, and swallowed.

Nobuyoshi Muto, Seishiro Itagaki, and Neiji Okamura chuckled and shook their heads. What a clown.

After the brief incident, the meeting officially began.

Aoki Seigen suddenly seemed like a completely different person; his mood improved dramatically after eating a sugar cube from the Commander-in-Chief.

The meeting was already halfway through, and Aoki Seigen hadn't interrupted, objected, or argued with anyone.

It was a bit hot, and His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief drank a few extra sips of water.

After finishing a glass of water, I asked my assistant for a refill, following the same procedure: two sugar cubes.

Chen Jiehua held out his water glass, indicating, "Please refill my glass too, and add a sugar cube."

This time, the assistant didn't ask the commander-in-chief; he simply gave him a piece.

During the break in the meeting, Okamura Neiji turned around and asked, "Qingxuan, why do I feel like this sugar cube can adjust your mood?"

"Uncle, what did you say?"

"I said your mood has stabilized ever since you drank Commander Muto's sugar water. Could sugar water really regulate emotions?"

"Uncle, you are joking. You know Qingxuan best. Qingxuan actually has a very good temper, but even dragons have their scales, and so does Qingxuan. Qingxuan's scale is that he cannot be humiliated."

"They've probably forgotten what happened in Shanghai last time. Shimazu Hisanosuke is Qingxuan's cousin. Qingxuan can't tolerate being humiliated by his cousin, let alone by that bug Doihara."

"They're the kind of people who never learn from their mistakes; they're asking for trouble."

"Yoshi~"

Indeed. Tamura, who had been eavesdropping, returned with a smile and whispered in Muto's ear what he had overheard.

"So be it. I see."

But then Muto got even angrier. Doihara knew perfectly well that Aoki Seigen was his Achilles' heel, so why did he still cause trouble?

I'm furious!

As expected, an accident occurred, and Muto's heart started hurting again.

Continue taking your medication and drinking water.

The meeting continued, and in the latter half, Aoki Seigen got so bored that he fell asleep.

Due to disagreements over policy directions, the Japanese, as is customary in its internal debates, engaged in a heated argument between Seishiro Itagaki and Nobuyoshi Muto, who held differing opinions. Meanwhile, Commander-in-Chief Nobuyoshi Muto suffered another heart attack; his personal medicine bottle was empty!
Muto could only drink the water in the cup to relieve himself.

The assistant immediately and quickly poured water for Muto, and habitually added two sugar cubes.

Muto took two sips, and the pain intensified.

The assistant asked where the medicine was kept and then went downstairs to get it.

Muto was in so much pain that he curled up on the ground like a lobster.

Kenji Doihara sensed something was wrong and quickly ordered the guards to carry the Commander-in-Chief downstairs, then called the hospital to send an ambulance to pick him up.

A moment of chaos ensued at the meeting.

Everyone was anxiously watching the ambulance leave through the window, and no one noticed that Aoki Seigen was still snoring.

"Qingxuan, come downstairs." Okamura Neiji returned and woke Aoki Qingxuan.

"Huh? The meeting's over?"

"His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief suffered a heart attack and went to the hospital. The meeting will adjourn for now."

"Oh fine."

At the hospital, Nobuyoshi Muto died despite attempts to resuscitate him for heart disease.

Chief of Staff Seishiro Itagaki considered that if the news were leaked, it might trigger unrest in the Red Russians and Zhang Xiaoliu's Northeast Army in China, which would be detrimental to the Kwantung Army. Therefore, he kept the death a secret and only sent an urgent telegram to the Army General Staff Headquarters to solicit opinions on how to handle the situation.

Most of the staff in the building rushed to the hospital, and Chen Jiehua took the opportunity to return to the conference room and put the remaining seven sugar cubes from the first layer into his spatial storage.

On his way to the hospital, Chen Jiehua made a gesture to Jin Zhenji by the roadside.

Kim Jung-hee and Jo Yi-wook evacuated before martial law was declared in Shenyang, returning to Shanghai via Tianjin.

In the hospital, the generals argued endlessly about whether or not to perform an autopsy.

"An autopsy? Why is an autopsy necessary? Was there some kind of murder?"

"Your Excellency fell ill three times in a short period of time today. According to the usual pattern, it is at most twice a day, so Your Excellency only prepares two pills a day."

"It's hot, and you two made him angry again, so it's normal for him to retaliate once more, right?"

"This is the first time Aoki Seigen has angered the Commander!"

"Bullshit! You bedbug Doihara, you're framing me and shirking responsibility. Anyone with eyes at the scene can see that you deliberately orchestrated this incident. You know I have a bad temper and can't stand being humiliated, so you deliberately humiliated me to provoke the Commander and trigger his first attack. You're so vicious!"

"I don't!"

"You do! Otherwise, why would you bring a gun into the conference room against the rules! Why didn't you let Major Shimizu finish speaking! You're trying to silence him!"

"I don't!"

"You are guilty! Admit it! You traitor, Kenji Doihara! Teacher, Aoki Seigen requests the immediate arrest of Kenji Doihara; he is a prime suspect in murder!"

"Military police, please arrest Mr. Doihara and put him in solitary confinement to await investigation."

Now even Seishiro Itagaki believes Seigen Aoki's words. Kenji Doihara's behavior is abnormal and unusual, which is indeed too strange.

Kenji Doihara, Kenji Doihara, you colluded with the American Navy to blow up the Yamato. Who are you colluding with this time to plot the assassination of Nobuyoshi Muto, the commander of the Kwantung Army? Let's see how you get away with it this time.

You really can't blame me, who told you to give me such a helpful assist? Your teamwork was just too perfect.

Chen Jiehua returned to the hotel and lay on the bed reviewing the situation. There were only two loopholes: one was the box of tampered sugar cubes in the warehouse. As long as no one investigated, it wasn't a big problem, and even if someone else ate them later, it wouldn't cause any major issues. "I ate two myself, didn't I? Nothing happened." (End of Chapter)