Courtyard House: I Have Countless Bodyguards

Liu Jianguo leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed intently on Liu San, his words calm and meticulous:

"You take thirty men and proceed in three steps."

First, thoroughly investigate all of Yuan San's background, including his activity patterns, his hideout, and his close associates—leaving no one out.

Second, find the right opportunity to "invite" him back to me.

He emphasized the word "please" as he continued:

"Take him to our safe house and interrogate him personally. I want to know whether this was his own greed or someone else instigating him. I want to know every word he says."

He paused, leaned back, and gave the final say, his tone chilling:

"Third, after investigating, if he's just a clueless idiot with no connections, let him disappear completely, making it an accidental double-cross. If he has someone backing him... find out his name, and then deal with him cleanly in the same way."

Remember, interrogation is the process, silencing is the result. From beginning to end, this matter must not be openly connected to me. Do you understand?

"Yes, my lord! Liu San understands! I will not fail in my mission!"

Liu San's spirits lifted, all the pent-up frustration in his heart vanished, replaced by a chilling, murderous aura.

Liu Jianguo said no more, his consciousness instantly sinking into his sea of ​​consciousness, connecting with the mysterious system light screen:

"System, summon 20 assassins! Identity settings: Liu San's distant fellow townsman, a retired soldier, who came to Beijing to seek refuge with him for a living. Automatically generate valid identification and a letter of introduction. Deployment command: Immediately proceed to the area outside Chongwen Gate and find those who do not unconditionally obey Liu San's commands."

[Command confirmed. Summoning 20 assassins... Identity information generated... Deployment location confirmed... Deployment in progress...]

Almost the instant the order was given, Liu San, through the unique spiritual connection among the assassins, clearly sensed that twenty calm and powerful auras were rapidly converging on his location.

Feeling reassured, he clasped his hands in a deep fist salute to Liu Jianguo, then turned and hurriedly left with firm steps.

Stepping out of the east courtyard, the biting morning wind made Liu San's mind exceptionally clear.

He thought to himself: The Lord has sent twenty more battle-hardened elites, plus the original ten core brothers (minus two wounded), making a total of twenty-eight brave and daring men.

Moreover, they are all veterans who have experienced the baptism of war. Their military skills, teamwork, and combat techniques are far superior to those of the rabble of thugs under "Cang Laoshu".

In a head-on collision, with 28 against 70 or 80, and with comparable equipment, the odds of victory are extremely high.

The lord is truly enraged. He not only wants revenge, but also to seize the territory of Gulou in one fell swoop, both to establish his authority and to expand his territory.

Less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn after Liu San left, a commotion arose from the moon gate leading from the front yard to the middle yard.

He Yuzhu shouted in his distinctive loud voice, interspersed with Yan Bugui's words of persuasion and the low, suppressed sobs of a little girl.

Liu Jianguo didn't want to deal with these trivial matters, but as the commotion grew louder, he strolled to the entrance of the hall, crossed his arms, and watched coldly.

Sha Zhu was wearing a faded old cotton-padded jacket, and the veins on his neck were bulging.

Clutching a crumpled letter of introduction tightly in his hand, he gestured wildly at Yan Bugui, who had come out upon hearing the commotion, his face as red as Guan Yu's.

Beside him, eleven-year-old He Yushui's eyes were swollen like peaches, her little face was red from the cold, her little hands were tightly clutching her brother's clothes, and her thin body was trembling slightly from fear and grievance, making her look extremely pitiful.

After listening to a few sentences of the argument, Liu Jianguo understood:

This silly boy couldn't hold his anger in any longer. He went to the street office to get a letter of introduction, intending to take his sister to Baoding to find their father, He Daqing, who had run off with the White Widow, and ask him face-to-face why he had abandoned them!

Liu Jianguo watched from afar, his mind perfectly clear.

He knew that since He Daqing could so heartlessly abandon his two young children and run away with someone else, he would never change his mind just because they came to his door.

Sha Zhu's trip is destined to be a humiliation for him. He will only get a cold shoulder, get angry, and make He Yushui experience the heartbreak of being abandoned by her family again. There will be no other results.

But he also knew that this kind of obsession involving blood ties and family ties couldn't be dissuaded by outsiders. Only when Sha Zhu himself hit a brick wall and suffered a bloody defeat would he truly give up.

Thinking of this, Liu Jianguo shook his head expressionlessly, turned around and went back to the east courtyard, showing no intention of getting involved in this matter.

Sure enough, that night, when it was already completely dark, the dim lights of every household in the courtyard were on.

Liu Jianguo was reviewing documents in his study when he heard Yi Zhonghai's deliberately raised, "concerned" voice coming from the Intermediate People's Court, which sounded particularly clear in the quiet winter night:

"Zhu Zi? Is Zhu Zi back? How did it go? Did you see your dad after all this journey?"

In that voice, seven parts were probing, and three parts were an undisguised expectation.

An awkward silence fell over the courtyard.

After a long while, Sha Zhu finally answered, his voice thick with nasal frustration and sounding like it was being squeezed out of his throat: "...Couldn't find anyone!"

These three words were spoken quickly and vaguely, clearly a complete lie.

Presumably, the brother and sister went through great hardships to reach Baoding, found the place according to the address, but before they could even see He Daqing, they were blocked at the door by that "White Widow" with her hands on her hips, and were kicked out with barbs and insults.

The immense disappointment, humiliation, and pain of being abandoned forced this usually carefree and foolish Zhu to resort to these three pale words to preserve his pitiful self-esteem.

Standing next to him, He Yushui probably didn't even have the strength to cry at this moment.

Although Liu Jianguo was inside the room, he could clearly imagine Yi Zhonghai's expression at that moment.

His face must have instantly filled with empathetic regret and sympathy. He quickly stepped forward, perhaps even patting Sha Zhu on the shoulder, and comforting him in his usual tone:

"Oh well, if we didn't find it, we didn't find it. Zhu Zi, think positively! What's the big deal? We still have your uncle here, and all the other men in this courtyard. Do you think we'd let you and your siblings go hungry?..."

However, deep within those seemingly sincere eyes, there was probably a genuine sense of relief, and even a fleeting hint of satisfaction at having achieved their goal.

With He Daqing, the biggest potential threat and "competitor," completely out of the game, the Sha Zhu siblings have no one to rely on in this world anymore and can only be more tightly bound to Yi Zhonghai's "retirement chariot."

The second step of his retirement plan has been successfully completed.

In fact, after a period of careful observation and several subtle probing attempts, Yi Zhonghai had basically figured out Liu Jianguo's bottom line:

This young Director Liu had no ambitions here; his stage was in the factory, and in higher places. He simply looked down on the trivial matters of this small courtyard.

As long as you don't provoke him or infringe on his interests, he's happy to have some peace and quiet, and even has a somewhat detached "it's none of my business" attitude.

This put Yi Zhonghai's mind at ease.

As long as Liu Jianguo doesn't challenge his authority as an "old man" or interfere with his most important "retirement" plans, he can completely tolerate the existence of this "independent kingdom" of the East Wing. Right now, what's causing Yi Zhonghai even more headaches and sleepless nights is his pioneering work...