Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 412 411 The Tracks of Civilization

Xu Liansheng is the behind-the-scenes boss of the Intestineless Auction House.

Feng Xiuhu's expression shifted between light and dark.

Did Xu Liansheng lie to him?
Think carefully, what did she say at the time?

She said, "...From our current quarters, number four onwards, are reserved for business people like myself who have considerable wealth."

It can be both the truth and a lie, depending entirely on how one interprets it.

Thinking of this, Feng Xiuhu couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat—recalling all this time, he couldn't be sure how many other similar things Xu Liansheng had said.

click.

Feng Xiuhu lit a cigarette and calmly informed Fang Youliu of the fact: "Xu Liansheng is the owner of the bidding agency."

After a moment's thought, Fang Youliu quickly connected the dots.

His expression changed slightly: "The shipyard's design drawings were leaked from her."

"I'm afraid it's more than that."

Feng Xiuhu stared at the cigarette ash on the ground and said in a deep voice, "I now even suspect that the theft of the design drawings was planned and executed by Xu Liansheng."

Fang Youliu immediately understood, his eyes lighting up: "An owl-man?"

Feng Xiuhu nodded: "Yes."

“We previously suspected that the police department used the pretext of searching for criminals to blockade Iron Anvil Reef, and then took the opportunity to steal the blueprints.”

"The truth may be that the police station was just a cover, and Xu Liansheng secretly assigned Ye Liushuang to steal the map while the police station was on duty—owls are naturally more suited to this than ordinary people."

"The difference between the two is that in the former, the one who wanted to steal the map was the government office, while in the latter, the one who wanted to steal the map was Xu Liansheng."

Fang Youliu thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "This guess is reasonable. Given the way the government does things, even if they wanted to obstruct the construction of the shipyard, they wouldn't resort to such underhanded tactics as stealing the blueprints. Doing so would not only be risky, but would also give the Duke of Da Guo a legitimate reason to launch a direct attack, which would ultimately be detrimental to the political struggle."

"Now it's different. The government not only didn't steal the map, but it also won an unclaimed item at auction, which is equivalent to getting a free benefit."

"But what if the mastermind is really Madam Xu..."

Fang Youliu looked up at Feng Xiuhu and asked, "So here's the question: what benefit does she gain from doing this? And what is her motive?"

Feng Xiuhu flicked off the cigarette ash. He had been pondering this question as well, and finally came up with a seemingly plausible guess.

"Perhaps it's revenge? Wasn't her husband killed by the Duke of Daguo? So it's reasonable for her to try everything to go against him."

Fang Youliu reminded her, "If that's really the case, and everything Madam Xu did was out of personal resentment and to take revenge on the Duke of Da Guo, then where does Third Master fit into her plan?"

He asked himself and answered, "At least for now, Third Master has no effect on her, so why is she taking the initiative to come to him?"

Feng Xiuhu disagreed with Fang Youliu's statement: "What kind of talk is that? Can't the two of them be in love with each other? I think Shunzi is a good match for her. Even if Xu Liansheng is not a widow, she is still a virgin. Shunzi is more than a match for her."

Fang Youliu asked in a low voice, "Let's not talk about whether she's a good match or not—you yourself said that Madam Xu deliberately targeted the Duke of Da Guo to avenge her deceased husband. Since she's so loyal, why would she take the initiative to contact Third Master?"

Feng Xiuhu was stunned, not expecting the flaw to appear here, but he still stubbornly insisted, "One thing at a time, avenging my ex-husband and finding a second spring in life are not contradictory." He himself didn't quite believe this, but Fang Youliu's angle of questioning was so good that Feng Xiuhu had actually been convinced.

Fang Youliu smiled awkwardly, knowing that he had to go along with Feng Xiuhu: "That's true. Anyway, it's not just Madam Xu who's going against the Duke of Daguo. The government office has also been arguing with the Duke of Daguo."

Mentioning this, Feng Xiuhu frowned again: "That's right, I also think the presence of the Qianyu City government office is too strong."

Fang Youliu was taken aback, not understanding what he meant: "What do you mean by having too strong a presence?"

Feng Xiuhu pondered for a while: "I mean, in terms of going against the Duke of Daguo, the Qianyu City government has been too proactive and too aggressive—I always feel that something is not right."

Fang Youliu still didn't understand: "What's wrong with it? Although the President and the Duke haven't officially broken ties, everyone knows that their struggle has never stopped. If the government doesn't oppose the Duke, are they going to oppose the President?"

Feng Xiuhu shook his head and said, "That's the problem. This isn't the style of the President."

There are some things that Fang Youliu knows that Feng Xiuhu doesn't.

From Gu Zhili, Feng Xiuhu learned a lot about the President and the Duke of Daguo—such as the Duke of Daguo and Wei Su'e, a couple who were only superficially together.

As the wife of the Duke of Daguo, Wei Su'e was secretly causing trouble for him. Everything she did was spontaneous and not at the behest of the President.

The reason is simple—Wei Su'e sensed that the Duke of Daguo harbored rebellious intentions, so in choosing sides, she chose her own brother, the President.

However, at the same time, Wei Su'e felt that the Grand President's methods of suppressing the Grand Duke were too mild and not aggressive enough, which is why the Grand Duke was able to continuously expand his influence in all aspects of Xuan Kingdom in a slow but steady manner.

That's why Wei Su'e decided to hinder the Duke of Da Guo in her own way.

It was under these circumstances that the Marriage Temple and the Barefoot Temple approached Wei Su'e.

When the Western Church entered the Eastern Continent, these two temples were greatly affected, which is why they were the most resistant to the Western Church.

However, since Xi Jun had not spoken and had tacitly approved the entry of the Western Church, they couldn't just go up and fight them to the death.

The appearance of Wei Su'e was exactly what these two temples wanted. Not only did she share roughly the same goal as them, but she was also a close associate of the Duke of Da Guo, a position that was simply impeccable. Thus, the two sides hit it off immediately.

Getting back to the main point, Feng Xiuhu mostly heard about the twists and turns of this story from Gu Zhili. Gu Zhili was only recounting what she had seen and heard, and she was, after all, speaking from Wei Su'e's perspective.

From Feng Xiuhu's perspective, using the word "gentle" to describe the president is actually a rather one-sided view.

While pondering, Feng Xiuhu came up with a better way of putting it and explained it to Fang Youliu from a different angle.

"You're from the Academy of Arcane Arts, so the power struggle between the Eastern and Western continents doesn't affect you much. So, as an outsider, do you think the Western continent's influence on the Eastern continent is good or bad?"

Fang Youliu nodded without the slightest hesitation: "Of course it's a good thing."

He said earnestly, "Civilization is a continuous process of progress, and this is an inevitable law of the times."

"Whether it is the struggle between nations or the clash between faiths, everything that is happening now will become history, and the only traces left are the tracks of civilization's progress."

"The Western Continent brought an advanced industrial system, that's a fact. And no matter who wins or loses in the end, civilization doesn't care about that when it's advancing, because the tracks have already been left."

(End of this chapter)