20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 502: The Righteous Group

When Jiang Lianheng and his companions arrived at the open-air theater in the backyard of the Great World, the place was already brightly lit with colorful lights and crowded with people.

From the advertisement column at the entrance, we can see that the theater manager invited an acrobatic troupe from Sichuan and Chongqing, thus attracting many tourists to watch.

The seats in front of the stage were nearly full, and there were many men, women, old and young standing in groups of three or five near the surrounding stair railings and in the corridors.

The show is about to begin and the voices are particularly noisy.

Under the guidance of Gao Libangzi, Jiang Lianheng walked through the bustling crowd, came to the end of the seats, and met the man surnamed Li again.

Liu Yansheng and others couldn't figure out the other party's intention, so they stood behind Jiang Lianheng, holding the back of the chair, and looked around warily as if nothing had happened.

When they met again, Mr. Li was obviously much more relaxed.

As soon as the two sides met, he frankly admitted his identity as a Korean and introduced himself: "I am Li Zaichun, Mr. Jiang, please take a seat."

Jiang Lianheng nodded and sat down. After a brief chat, he found that the other party seemed to be quite familiar with the situation of the Jiang family.

This is not surprising. After all, the Jiang family is a well-known underworld force in the three northeastern provinces. As long as you are willing to inquire, you will always get something.

Jiang Lianheng was just a little curious about why the other party wanted to find out about his background.

But just as I was about to ask, the theater suddenly fell silent without any warning.

When I looked up, I saw that the performance of the Sichuan and Chongqing acrobatic troupe had already begun.

Amid the noisy sounds of gongs and drums, an artist dressed in a theatrical costume and cloak, a mask on his face and holding a red fan quickly walked up to the stage and made his debut.

According to the introduction on the billboard, tonight's opening show is the so-called Sichuan Opera signature trick - face-changing magic.

One person has a thousand faces, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple, joy, anger, sorrow, greed, hatred, ignorance and resentment, all of which change suddenly in the blink of an eye.

But the artist on the stage was not in a hurry. He just stood there and looked around until all the audience could clearly see that he was wearing a black face. Then he nodded vigorously and changed into a white face in full view of everyone!
"Oh——"

Many people present had never seen this trick before. When they saw this, they immediately exclaimed in surprise, and then the whole room cheered and applauded!
Jiang Lianheng and Li Zaichun also clapped their hands.

Taking advantage of the noisy break, Jiang Lianheng tilted his head slightly and asked in a low voice: "Why didn't you admit that you are Korean before? Is the Jiang family so trustworthy?"

Li Zaichun nodded slightly apologetically: "Our identities are quite special, and we must confirm the other party's background before we can admit it. I hope Mr. Jiang will forgive us."

"Three Koreans are hiding in Shanghai and speaking Chinese. You are guarding against the Japanese, right?" Jiang Lianheng turned his head and looked at the stage again.

"That's right." Li Zaichun also said with his eyes fixed on the subject, "Mr. Jiang, I advise you to be careful. There are fake Chinese everywhere in Shanghai, even more than in Fengtian and Luda. Or should I say that many of the fake Chinese in Fengtian were originally Japanese devils sent from Shanghai."

"Sent from here?" Jiang Lianheng was a little surprised. "Isn't Shanghai the territory of France, Britain and the United States?"

"Yes, so the Japanese dare not be too presumptuous at the moment." Li Zaichun suddenly asked, "Mr. Jiang, have you heard of the 'East Asia Tongwen Academy'?"

"I haven't heard of it. Is it the school here?"

"To be precise, it is a school for Japanese people. Before last year, the East Asia Common Culture College only accepted Japanese students and prohibited Chinese from enrolling, visiting, or even approaching. The Japanese teach here so that their students can get completely accustomed to your country's language, food, culture, and customs. When those students leave the school, except for retaining the so-called 'Japanese soul', they look completely Chinese and cannot be distinguished at all."

"That's a spy!" Jiang Lianheng concluded on the spot.

"Well, I heard that Mr. Jiang has some problems with the Japanese. Shanghai is not Fengtian. You'd better keep a low profile and be careful here."

Hearing this, Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but shook his head.

He also wanted to be low-key and careful, or rather, he simply didn't want to wade into this muddy water in the foreign land, but he was just a person in the world and had no choice.

As he spoke, Li Jae-soon suddenly raised his chin and pointed to the stage not far away.

The next show has begun - human pyramid.

A dozen boys and girls stood on the stage, forming a human tower.

The audience held their breath, feeling terrified, but saw a little girl of about ten years old climbing to the top by stepping on the shoulders of her senior brothers and sisters.

Jiang Lianheng lowered his voice and asked, "Brother, why did you come to me? You can't just want to remind me to be careful, right?"

Li Zaichun laughed dumbly and said, "Of course not. I came to see Mr. Jiang mainly to ask you for a favor."

"You think too highly of me. I have no ability in Shanghai."

"No, the matter I want to ask you for help is not in Shanghai, but in the Northeast."

Jiang Lianheng squinted at Li Zaichun, thought for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Who are you speaking for now?"

Li Jae-soon did not reply immediately, but waited quietly for a while.

It was not until thunderous cheers rang out again in the open-air theater that he spoke: "Yi Lie Tuan, I am speaking to Mr. Jiang on behalf of the Goryeo Restoration Organization."

Righteous Regiment?
Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but frown.

Over the years, he knew a few Koreans in Fengtian, but they were all running dogs of the little Japan, and of course they had never heard of the so-called Righteous Regiment.

However, when I heard that it was a Korean restoration organization, and added the word "righteous and brave" in its name, I knew that it must be a violent group obsessed with assassinations.

The National Restoration Organization sounds intimidating, but Jiang Lianheng didn't take it seriously at all.

The so-called restoration organization is essentially a group of people who get together to find a safe and reliable place to settle down. They claim to represent all the citizens, but in fact it is an organization with a considerable degree of wishful thinking. They seek recognition from other countries and solicit sponsorship and investment everywhere.

Once it’s done, it’s called a government in exile.

If you lose, it will be treason and heresy.

Little Japan has conquered Goryeo for a long time. So far, no country has recognized Goryeo's restoration organization. Even if Beiyang acquiesces, it dare not provide open assistance, otherwise it would be tantamount to provoking Japan.

Jiang Lianheng groaned for a while, then murmured, "I don't want to get too involved in this matter. If I help you, it would be like offending the devils, which is too risky."

"I understand." Li Zaichun nodded and asked, "But, what does Mr. Jiang mean by 'I don't want to get too involved in this matter'?"

"I don't want to get involved in anything that's too close to the military and politics."

"Is this possible?"

"Impossible." Jiang Lianheng said succinctly, "So I try to stay away from it as much as possible. Since it's inevitable, I'll just stay as far away from it as possible." Li Jae-chun shook his head in a muffled voice.

On the stage, the little girl had climbed to the top of the human-shaped tower and was doing a handstand on it, winning applause.

"Mr. Jiang, what era is it now?" Li Zaichun said in a deep voice, "You can see that the leaders of the Hongmen in the south are all in high positions; the leaders of the Pao brothers in Sichuan and Chongqing are also high-ranking military and political officials; the Qing Gang in Shanghai has both black and white gangs; and there are the three major warlords in Zhili, Fengtian and Anhui. Which warlord leader has not recruited green forest bandits? The times have changed. Only those who integrate all forces, including soldiers, bandits and gangs, can finally climb to a high position in your country."

Jiang Lianheng turned around and smiled: "You are quite knowledgeable."

"I know your country very well. We also have the Yilietuan, and Japan also has the Black Dragon Society. How could the Jiang family, with such a large influence in Fengtian, stay out of it?" Li Zaichun said anxiously, "In other words, only organizations that can use each other with the government and are close yet distant can be called 'gangs'. Otherwise, they are just local hooligans."

Jiang Lianheng did not refute.

"Well, you are right. The Jiang family has become so poor now that it is impossible for them to stay out of this matter. But the question is, why should I help you?"

Li Jae-soon was speechless.

It is not easy to convince the Jiang family to take the risk of offending Xiao Dongyang for them. He has to show his value to the Jiang family.

During the debate, a third show was performed on the stage - soft skills.

But then a little girl with two braids came up, twisted her body into a shocking posture, then bent down, slowly got through a narrow cylinder, then stretched out again, and performed various soft skills to shrink her bones again.

Li Jae-chun pondered for a while, and suddenly spoke, but asked a question that seemed irrelevant.

"Mr. Jiang, are you coming to Shanghai on some errand this time?" He knew the power of the Jiang family, but was not clear about the purpose of Jiang Lianheng and others' visit.

Jiang Lianheng smiled and nodded, thinking to himself that this was right, this was the way to behave.

Having said that, he was not in a hurry to reveal the truth, but instead asked: "Why, if I have any errands to do, can you help me?"

"Of course!" Li Zaichun said solemnly, "As long as Mr. Jiang is willing to help us, my life belongs to Mr. Jiang. Unless it is detrimental to the restoration of Goryeo, I will do whatever Mr. Jiang asks me to do, no matter what happens!"

"Oh?" Jiang Lianheng was stunned. "If that's the case, then I have to ask you first, what exactly do you want me to help you with?"

"We want to..."

When the words came to his lips, Li Jae-soon suddenly hesitated.

Seeing this, Jiang Lianheng first leaned back, waved to Liu Yansheng and others, told them to retreat to a distance for the time being, and then whispered to Gao Libangzi to comfort him: "Don't worry, even if I don't help you, I won't tell anyone about what you asked me to do. I swear on my son's name."

Li Zaichun nodded: "I heard that Mr. Jiang is a trustworthy person."

"Are you going to tell me or not? If not, forget it!"

"Talk about it!"

Li Zaichun quickly cleared his throat and pondered the instructions from the Righteous Group leader in his mind for a moment.

At this moment, the finale of the evening is being performed on the stage - tightrope walking!

I saw a little boy holding his arms up to maintain his balance, his left foot stepping on a rope as thick as a finger, and a white porcelain bowl on the tip of his right toe. He took a few deep breaths, then suddenly raised his leg, and saw the white porcelain bowl somersaulting through the air and landing right on a pile of bowls above his head. He retracted his neck, unloaded the force, and landed steadily. In the blink of an eye, the bowl was stacked about a foot high, causing the audience to cheer in unison.

Amid the noise, Li Jae-soon confessed all his requests to the Jiang family.

"Mr. Jiang, in the early spring of the year before last, a movement broke out in Korea. It lasted for nearly a hundred days, but was finally suppressed by the Japanese. The aftermath of that suppression still exists today. Many of our heroes are in trouble, but many others have fled to the border of Jilin Province or are trapped in the country. We are now trying every possible way to rescue them."

Jiang Lianheng turned his head and widened his eyes. "You don't want me to help you rescue someone at the border, do you?"

"No, no, no, there's no need to go through so much trouble." Li Zaichun explained quickly, "They have a way to cross the border. The problem is their identities, which may be a problem. Although they have fake documents, they can't withstand careful inspection. We hope that when they arrive in Fengtian, Mr. Jiang can use your power to provide them with cover and necessary financial assistance."

Jiang Lianheng did not interrupt and continued to listen quietly.

Li Zaichun said: "Considering the relationship between Marshal Zhang and the Japanese, we hope that they can avoid the provincial government's inquiry as much as possible."

"What do you mean? Are you worried that Lao Zhang will sell you out?" Jiang Lianheng suddenly found it a little ridiculous.

These Koreans seem to take themselves too seriously.

In fact, Marshal Zhang had no intention of paying any attention to them.

If the Fengtian Army really thought that the Koreans who came here were a trouble, they would have sent troops to expel them from the country long ago.

Today, Marshal Zhang has no need to show goodwill to the Japanese by capturing Korean heroes. He has plenty of bargaining chips to make the Japanese salivate.

Unexpectedly, Li Zaichun said: "No, we are not worried that Marshal Zhang will cause trouble for us. On the contrary, when Marshal Zhang's son went to Jilin Province to suppress bandits last year, he provided some arms support to the Korean patriots, but few people knew about this, and Marshal Zhang did not want to anger the Japanese."

"Hiss - since you can get support from Xiao Zhang, why do you still come to me?" Jiang Lianheng was puzzled.

"What we are worried about is not Fengtian and Zhang, but the Japanese devils mixed in with Fengtian and Zhang. Mr. Jiang, you should know how many Japanese advisers there are in Fengtian's military and political departments, right?" Li Jae-chun asked back.

It looked like the acrobatic show on the stage was about to end.

Jiang Lianheng hesitated for a moment and asked, "If I am willing to help, what can you give me in return, money?"

"We can provide you with any reward except money!" Li Jae-soon replied without hesitation.

Jiang Lianheng was stunned - Well, another bunch of paupers.

Although a little embarrassed, Li Zaichun's answer was quite serious: "We have limited funds now, I hope Mr. Jiang can forgive me."

"You have no money, but why do you go to the Great World every day?" Jiang Lianheng was deeply suspicious.

"Well... this is part of my job. Our 'Yilietuan' not only undertakes assassination missions, but also intelligence missions. If Mr. Jiang is willing to help us - no, if Mr. Jiang is willing to help our Korean nation - we can help you get rid of any difficult and annoying people at any time, and we can also share with you our intelligence in Shanghai, the three northeastern provinces, Korea and even Japan at any time!" Li Jae-shun said every word in a sonorous voice.

Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but raise his butt slightly after hearing this, tilted his head, and asked seriously: "Brother, do you keep your word?"

Li Zaichun turned sideways and said, "Mr. Jiang, this is not my personal promise to you, but the order of our leader and the oath of all members of our Yilie Group. Of course, the premise is that you are really willing to help protect our heroes hiding in the Northeast."

"Then you will be able to fulfill your promise, even if it means sharing intelligence or even helping me kill people?"

"Of course, as long as Mr. Jiang is willing to help us, then Mr. Jiang's enemies are the enemies of our Righteous Group!"

(End of this chapter)