When he left, the sky had not yet turned completely dark. He Ruming had spent over a hundred taels of silver on food, drink, and girls, and stuffed another five hundred taels in bank notes, finally obtaining the pass he wanted. He Ruming looked down considerably on Qian Dingchu's drunken, dream-like state. On the other hand, the silent Zheng Wenjie surprised He Ruming somewhat. If it were in the past, with a guy like Zheng Wenjie around, He Ruming would never have made his request so bluntly. But that was the past; the current situation was that Beiyang had effectively collapsed.

This government, huddled in Beijing and supposedly national in scope, had now become a group of cowards who only knew how to shiver. That high-ranking Beiyang military officers could issue a pass to He Ruming in such a situation proved their attitude toward the future even more.

As a mid-level official of the Beiyang government, He Ruming should have felt grief, hesitation, and even despair before the collapse. However, he now had more important things in his heart. Ever since he was thrown into death row by the Manchu Qing government and nearly had his whole family beheaded, and then released, people coming to visit and give gifts—because of his son-in-law Chen Ke—had been, if not an endless stream, at least bringing considerable gift money. He Ruming had thoroughly seen through things; life and death were fated. The only thing he could do was to take responsibility for his loved ones.

Leaving the Eight Great Hutongs, He Ruming got into the carriage borrowed from the government and headed straight for the south of the city. Parking outside a residence, He Ruming got out openly and knocked on the door. Servants brought out large and small bags of things from the back.

The south of the city was Beijing's poor district. This residence couldn't be called luxurious, but it wasn't something the poor of the south city could afford either. When the door opened, Fourth Master Chang stuck his head out. Seeing He Ruming, Fourth Master Chang was startled. "Lord He, why have you come?" After saying this, Fourth Master Chang glanced at the troops standing guard at the street corner not far away and hurriedly invited He Ruming inside.

"Councilor Chang, have you been well recently?" He Ruming asked with a smile as he walked.

"Lord He, don't make fun of me," Fourth Master Chang laughed. Quite a few people lived in this residence, especially many children. The bags in the hands of the servants following He Ruming contained a lot of food; the smell of meat, vegetables, and steamed buns made the little guys stare at the bags, unable to move their eyes away. Some little guys couldn't help but put their fingers in their mouths. A few little guys couldn't help but cry, "Mom, I'm hungry, I want to eat."

Fourth Master Chang stopped and looked at He Ruming with a troubled expression. He Ruming smiled, "These were gifts brought for Councilor Chang originally. Fourth Master Chang, how you want to dispose of them is up to you."

"Lord He, these people are all from our carting guild. You have saved lives; the adults and children have been hungry for two days," Fourth Master Chang said excitedly.

"Then Councilor Chang, you go ahead," He Ruming smiled.

Fourth Master Chang didn't say much more. He first led He Ruming's servants to distribute the food to everyone, and then asked people to help the servants move the rice and white flour from the carriage inside and distribute it to everyone. Amidst a chorus of thousands of thanks and the laughter of children, Fourth Master Chang first let these people from his carting guild go back to their rooms to eat. Only when the courtyard was quieter did he enter his own inner room.

He Ruming had brought his own wine and food. The servants had already set it up and then retreated to guard the door. He Ruming and Fourth Master Chang sat opposite each other. After drinking a cup of wine first, He Ruming asked, "Councilor Chang's carts haven't been returned yet?"

Fourth Master Chang sighed, "Lord He, if it were before, if you came to my place, even if you whipped me, spat in my face and called me useless, I would still have to kneel and beg for your help. But in this current situation, I've accepted it. People have three years of good luck and three years of bad luck. Right now, I only hope the war ends quickly so I can start over."

He Ruming appreciated Fourth Master Chang's attitude. If it were someone else, let alone what they thought in their hearts, they at least couldn't say such spineless words. A few years ago, Fourth Master Chang started a carting guild and established a loan relationship with the bank. Fourth Master Chang dared to act, and with many connections, he built up a huge carting guild in one or two years. He also imported diesel engines from the People's Party and established a tractor brigade. This was like trading a bird gun for a cannon; he made a fortune in short- and medium-distance transport.

It was unlikely for the bank officials to come out and do business personally. Fourth Master Chang had a reputation for good character in the capital. So some people from the bank invested in Fourth Master Chang, and the business grew bigger and bigger. Fourth Master Chang wasn't stupid; in the local elections, relying on the help of these people, he got the status of a local councilor.

These good days weren't interrupted even when the People's Party withdrew from Beiyang territory and Beiyang expanded its army significantly. On the contrary, with the tractor brigade, Fourth Master Chang's business prospered. It wasn't until Yuan Kewen led the "Model Regiment" to rectify Beijing's "economic order" that Fourth Master Chang ran into bad luck.

First, the tractor brigade was "requisitioned," and then Fourth Master Chang's carting guild was forcibly closed because of "economic crimes" and hoarding. The evidence was the more than six hundred bags of flour found in Fourth Master Chang's carting guild. Fourth Master Chang ran transport; how could he not know the recent situation? These two hundred-plus bags of flour were prepared to pay wages to the people in the carting guild. How would Yuan Kewen care about any explanation? These bags of flour became ironclad evidence. If not for the status of "local councilor" and someone speaking for Fourth Master Chang behind the scenes, Fourth Master Chang would have been in jail by now.

Even suffering such a great disaster, Fourth Master Chang never blamed heaven or others, nor did he frantically look for help like a headless fly. This couldn't help but make He Ruming feel quite admiring. Of course, without such admiration, He Ruming wouldn't have sought Fourth Master Chang to do things.

After drinking two more cups of wine, He Ruming said, "Fourth Master Chang, I came this time because you know many brothers on the road. I want to ask you to help me find a few people who can climb walls and open a big gate."

If it were a few years ago, this request would certainly have surprised Fourth Master Chang greatly. Now hearing He Ruming's request, Fourth Master Chang didn't even blink an eyebrow. "Lord He, I'm afraid these people are hard to find. Many capable ones have gone to join the army. There aren't many eating this kind of rice in Beijing city anymore. Moreover, at this time, the brothers' asking price is inevitably too high."

"I don't think a high asking price is necessarily true. And those who can still eat this kind of rice now are truly capable. With capability, the price they want will definitely not be cheap. I need such people in the next two days; Fourth Master Chang can go find them." After speaking, he put a pass in front of Fourth Master Chang.

Fourth Master Chang put down his chopsticks; it seemed he was still struggling quite a bit in his heart. After a while, he said, "Lord He, I shouldn't ask what this matter is for. But I, Old Chang, have never done anything against my conscience. You looking for this kind of person at this time, I..."

He Ruming said seriously, "Fourth Master Chang, I, He Ruming, neither steal nor rob. But I have an enemy. If I don't find him now to clarify some things, I'm afraid I won't have a chance to find him after the city breaks."

These words clearly didn't move Fourth Master Chang. He Ruming simply said straightforwardly, "Fourth Master Chang, Chen Ke is my son-in-law; everyone knows that. If the People's Party can take Beijing, as long as I can help seek justice for Fourth Master Chang, I, He Ruming, will definitely do my best."

Hearing this, Fourth Master Chang knew he couldn't refuse He Ruming. Regardless of what he said with his mouth or admitted in his heart, if he could get back his carting guild, or even get back a part of his vehicles, Fourth Master Chang felt this favor had to be helped. As for what He Ruming wanted to use these people for, Fourth Master Chang didn't care at all. In such a chaotic world, Beiyang was about to finish. What was there that couldn't be done?

Putting away the pass, Fourth Master Chang said, "Lord He, if you are not busy tonight, we might as well go see two people."

Late at night two days later, He Ruming took three cars out of the main gate. After traveling for a while, He Ruming and a dozen people got out of the cars and began to walk. Relying on the Beiyang pass and the guidance of officers, they appeared at the back door of Sun Yongsheng's house. The patrolling troops had been transferred away for some reason. The surroundings of the Sun family were silent.

The two brothers introduced by Fourth Master Chang were extremely agile. They quietly flipped over the courtyard wall and gently opened the back door. He Ruming and a few others sneaked in and closed the door. Relying on the exquisite skills of these two brothers, the door latch was silently opened. He Ruming's subordinate made a gesture, suddenly turned on the flashlight, and rushed in. A moment later, the Sun family was under control.

Quilts and mattresses were hung on the windows and doors, and the lights in the room were finally lit.

Sun Yongsheng's parents, brother, nieces, and nephews, the whole family was there. He Ruming's subordinates were extremely ruthless; the adults had bloodstains on their heads and faces. Everyone was gagged, tied up, and piled on the ground. He Ruming sat by the table, looking down at the Sun family.

"Grandpa Sun, it's been a long time," He Ruming said through gritted teeth, revealing a fierce light in his eyes unknowingly.

The Sun family all knew He Ruming. Since He Ruming was released, the He family had sent people to inquire about He Qian's matter. Since then, the two families had no more dealings. The Sun family never expected that the in-laws of Sun and He would reunite in this way.

"I came this time for two things. The first thing is to tell you that I want to take my sister's ashes away. Our He family member is still our He family member; from now on, she is no longer a member of your Sun family." After He Ruming finished saying what he had wanted to say for a long time, he could no longer suppress his agitated emotions. He closed his eyes with rapid breathing, and it took a good while to calm his emotions slightly.

"The second thing, I want to ask... I want to ask clearly, how exactly did my sister die." He Ruming had said this sentence countless times in his heart through gritted teeth, but when he really said it in front of his great enemy, He Ruming's throat choked up. He wanted to understand the sequence of events more than anyone else, but he suddenly felt that he was afraid to hear the truth of the matter. After all, it was He Ruming himself who decided to marry his sister to the Sun family.

Even knowing that He Ruming absolutely didn't break in with good intentions, hearing this question, the adults of the Sun family showed fear on their faces. Their mouths were gagged, but they tried their best to shout.

"People are like bitter worms; they won't do without beating. Take these little ones and the servants out. Leave Grandpa Sun, Grandma Sun, and these two Young Master and Young Mistress of the Sun family," He Ruming ordered.

After his subordinates followed orders, two other subordinates of He Ruming pulled Sun Yongsheng's brother up, forcibly pressed his arm on the table, pulled out the iron rod at their waist, and smashed it down. Although his mouth was firmly stuffed with cloth and strangled with hemp rope, Sun Yongsheng's brother still let out a not-too-small sound under the severe pain. Several big men held him down firmly so he didn't struggle free. And Sun Yongsheng's brother's hand curled into a ball like a chicken claw, and several smashed fingers were twisted and curled up strangely.

He Ruming lowered his head with great pleasure and asked Grandpa Sun, "Grandpa Sun, do you want to continue watching, or tell me how our sister died? Your young master has plenty of bones on his body. We have this whole night; we can break these bones slowly."

Grandpa Sun's eyes almost turned blood red. The old man emitted an indescribable spirit, which made He Ruming find him more and more unsightly. He got up and kicked Grandpa Sun in the head. Under this kick, Grandpa Sun's head hit the ground heavily.

He Ruming didn't care too much. He said coldly, "My sister was definitely killed by you. Even if you don't tell the truth, you don't have to think about living. If I can't find out the reason today, I don't care. Your Sun family, young and old, will all pay for my sister's life. If you tell the truth, I will release those little ones."

Grandma Sun was still calm. Hearing He Ruming's clear words, she tried hard to make a sound. It wasn't an effort to call for help, but an effort to express something.

"Let her speak," He Ruming ordered.

The cloth ball was taken out of her mouth. Grandma Sun panted for a moment before saying with difficulty, "He Ruming, do your words just now count? Do you, do you dare to swear a poisonous oath?"

He Ruming sneered, "Now you are willing to tell the truth? Fine, heaven above, as long as the Sun family tells me the truth, if I, He Ruming, still want to kill those two children of the Sun family, I, He Ruming, will die a bad death and go to the Tongue-Plucking Hell after death."

Old Mrs. Sun didn't believe this. She gasped and said, "Who believes this? Swear on my daughter-in-law Sun Qian."

The muscles on He Ruming's face immediately stiffened. Fire seemed to spew from his eyes, and his teeth creaked. However, He Ruming still squeezed out the oath from between his teeth, "If I don't keep this oath, the Sun family's daughter-in-law, Sun-He, will not rest in peace underground!"

Old Mrs. Sun actually had no other way. Since He Ruming dared to do this, he would naturally not let the Sun family go. Now the People's Party had surrounded Beijing like an iron barrel outside the city. And Sun Yongsheng's life or death outside Beijing city was unknown. What did killing a few people inside Beijing city count for? No one would really handle this case at all. And after the fall of Beiyang, who would dare to touch the father-in-law of People's Party Chairman Chen Ke? Even if she didn't believe He Ruming's oath, Old Mrs. Sun had to make a final effort. At least the Sun family couldn't be without descendants.

After hesitating for a moment, looking at the several masked big men pointing daggers and steel knives at her, Old Mrs. Sun knew that calling for help was useless. She finally steeled her heart and began to say, "He Qian committed suicide by taking poison."

"Bullshit!" He Ruming cursed in a low voice, "My sister is a girl who stays at home. Where did she get the poison? If she really got poison, she would have poisoned you two old bastards to death!" Speaking of this, He Ruming suddenly realized that his angry words were really a slander against He Qian. He had projected his mood of wanting to kill the Sun family onto his sister. But this was not the time to explain. He Ruming stood there angrily, not knowing what to say.

Grandma Sun gave a bitter laugh, "This is fate. If He Qian really poisoned us to death, that would have been fine. Now it wouldn't bring disaster to the family. At that time, your He family became criminals sought by the court, and the whole family was thrown into prison. Moreover, the rumors outside were vivid, saying not only would your He family be executed, but even our Sun family would be implicated. But He Qian traveled thousands of *li* to Anhui and saved my son back. Hearts are made of flesh; I originally wanted my son Yongsheng to divorce He Qian, so our Sun family would have no more involvement with the He family. This would be considered settling accounts. But Yongsheng was unwilling. After he left that day, I went to persuade He Qian, begging her to have mercy and save our Sun family. This divorce letter didn't need Yongsheng to write; it was the same if we wrote it. But He Qian told me something about the People's Party being powerful. As long as the People's Party continued to win battles, the court wouldn't dare to do anything to the He family and the Sun family. Instead, if the People's Party lost the battle, the court would really take action against the He family and the Sun family. Such treasonous words..."

"Bullshit!" He Ruming scolded again this time, but his voice was not as murderous as before. These were indeed words He Qian could say. If she didn't have such insight, He Qian would definitely not dare to travel thousands of *li* alone to Anhui to save Sun Yongsheng.

Regret also appeared clearly on Grandma Sun's face, but she knew that begging at this time would probably be useless; it would only stimulate He Ruming's anger more. She continued, "I originally just wanted to persuade her to agree not to be a member of our Sun family. Hearing this at that time, I was furious. How dare a daughter-in-law speak to her mother-in-law like this? In a rage, I poured a cup of poisoned wine and placed it in front of her. At that time, I said, if she really felt she was a daughter-in-law of our Sun family, then drink this wine. Or sign the divorce letter and make a clean break with our Sun family from now on. Whether the He family can escape this calamity depends on the He family's own fortune."

"And then?" He Ruming's voice couldn't help trembling.

"I was furious at the time. After saying these things, I went out. After a while, I felt I shouldn't have done that. But Lord He, we had no choice at that time. Even if we forced He Qian to sign the divorce letter and sent her away, others would only say our Sun family was hiding He Qian. At that time, no one would think our Sun family and your He family had cleared ties. This could only let He Qian leave by herself!" Speaking of this, Old Mrs. Sun wanted to cry aggrievedly.

He Ruming said coldly, "Dare to cry, and I'll continue beating!"

Grandma Sun reacted quickly; she put away her crying tone instantly. She continued, "I sat for half the night, thinking back and forth with no solution, so I wanted to go find He Qian to talk about this matter again. I was prepared to kneel and kowtow to her, asking her to let our Sun family go. Sign the divorce letter and leave by herself. We really had no choice. But when I got there, He Qian had already drunk the wine! Boohoo..."

This time Grandma Sun really started sobbing in a low voice.

He Ruming stood there without saying a word. He knew He Qian's temperament better than anyone. Her maiden family suffered a great disaster, and her in-laws forced her like this; He Qian had no other way but to commit suicide. After all, marrying into the Sun family made her a member of the Sun family.

But He Ruming knew this was likely true, yet he didn't want to believe it at all. Thinking of this, He Ruming pointed at Old Mrs. Sun and cursed, "At this time you still make up lies to me. Do you believe I will kill your son right now?! Hmm!!"

"Master He, I didn't tell lies. I still have He Qian's suicide note here. You can look!" Old Mrs. Sun shouted hurriedly.

"Shout again and I'll kill you!" He Ruming shouted in a low voice.

Old Mrs. Sun hurriedly lowered her voice, "The suicide note is at the bottom of that cabinet over there. We have kept it all along!"

He Ruming ordered someone to open the cabinet, and sure enough, a large envelope was found under the cloth lining at the bottom. Opening it, it was indeed a stack of papers filled with writing.

He Ruming opened the largest sheet; it was a divorce letter. Below it was signed and fingerprinted. Not only were there signatures and fingerprints of the Sun family, but also He Ruming's familiar handwriting writing "Sun-He," with clear red ink fingerprints. He didn't expect He Qian to actually sign this.

Opening another letter, the header showed it was actually a letter to He Ying. He Qian's beautiful handwriting made He Ruming's eyes red. Thinking of his sister sitting alone at the table writing these things one night a few years ago, He Ruming's tears streamed down, sliding across his cheeks and hitting the letter paper.

Hurriedly wiping the tears off the letter paper with his sleeve, He Ruming's tears gushed like a spring. He bit the back of his hand hard to stop himself from crying out loud.

After a long while, He Ruming wiped the tears off his face and wanted to continue reading, but seeing the familiar handwriting clearly, He Ruming's tears blurred his eyes again. He simply put the letter into his bosom, and had Old Mrs. Sun's mouth gagged again.

He Ruming looked down at the Sun family. Finally obtaining relatively reliable news, the heavy burden in his heart was finally lifted by half, and his expression and voice became much clearer. "Surnamed Sun, I, He Ruming, might as well make it clear to you. If I let you continue to live, there will always be a thorn, a wooden stake stuck in my heart! So, I will kill everyone in your Sun family today!"

Hearing this, Old Mrs. Sun couldn't help but start struggling, trying hard to make a sound.

He Ruming laughed, "You definitely want to say I swore on my sister. But from the beginning, I said I want to take my sister He Qian back to our He family. She is no longer a member of your Sun family." Speaking of this, He Ruming unfolded the divorce letter in front of Old Mrs. Sun, "Let alone that everyone has signed this divorce letter; my sister is already not a member of your Sun family."

Putting away the divorce letter, although He Ruming's expression was not ferocious, it was as cold as a severe winter. "Surnamed Sun, it's not that I haven't thought about letting you go just now. It's just that my sister was forced to death by you; I am now completely sure of this. My son-in-law Chen Ke once said in their People's Party base area that women should be liberated and old ethics should be smashed. You knew my sister was such a smart person, such a person with backbone, that you actually couldn't do anything to her. So you used ethics to force her to death! You did this on purpose. You watched helplessly as she died! If my sister refused to submit like this, you would definitely have used other methods. My sister was such a person with backbone; she refused to be insulted by you, so she drank that cup of wine herself. Since my sister has nothing to do with your Sun family, your Sun family must pay for her life!"

After saying these words word by word, a look of joy appeared on He Ruming's face. That was the expression only one whose great revenge was avenged would have. He Ruming instructed his subordinates: "Do it, do it cleanly. Don't let them suffer."

The Sun family was wiped out, and it wasn't discovered until the third day. Neither the Beijing army nor the police station took this matter seriously. The People's Party outside Beijing city had already begun to show signs of attacking the city. Where would the Beiyang Army have time to care about such trivial matters?

More importantly, Yuan Shikai had only been lucid a few times in the past few days; most of the time was spent in delirium, convulsions, and fainting. The high-level officials knew that Yuan Shikai was about to die.