Fox Has No Malicious Intent

"So turns out they're one of our own!"

"Then... I won't hustle them. I'll just go buy some of the Yang Family's saccharin black tea and matcha."

Ansheng nodded with a face full of sudden realization; after listening to Lin Ying's introduction, he understood what kind of people they were on the other side.

That group of guests who looked suspiciously like they were from Japan were actually members of the Lin Clan from the Ming Dynasty, later dispatched by the Emperor to go abroad and enlighten the four seas, and they've been out there ever since.

"In a certain sense, they don't really count as Japanese either. It's just that place got invaded, and the clan members of the Thirty-Six Surnames of the Min People all joined the resistance."

"Right on the eve of being found again, this branch of the Lin Clan was persecuted to the point they almost got wiped out..."

Lin Ying's expression stayed calm as she lightly shook her head.

"That's evil!" Ah Qing's face was full of righteous anger as she cursed bluntly.

"And then?" Ansheng's expression turned odd as he asked Lin Ying about what happened to the Japanese Lin Clan afterward.

If he remembered right, Old Lin had once said that the Japanese Lin Clan were the best at corrupting people's hearts, and were also one of the big bosses of the sex industry, holding vast resources in their hands.

"Then, when our ancestors and uncles fought their way into the city, they went and found them all and gave them support."

"Their power might not compare to the eight giant zaibatsu propped up by American capital that can cover the sky with one hand, but with Celestial Soldiers and Generals behind them, they still wield immense influence..." Lin Ying smiled as she said to Master Fuli:

"You should have seen in foreign media, they say over there the navy has this news about selling the body but not the art. That business is actually related to the Japanese Lin Clan. Once you're used to mountain delicacies and rare flavors, it really is hard to go back to eating husks and chaff..."

The Seventh Fleet and its affiliated bases had long since been completely corroded by the Japanese Lin Clan.

On the first day new recruits report in, the Lin Clan's steward will show up and hand them ten grand in cash. Take it and you're friends; everyone in the camp is your brothers and sisters.

Don't take it, then you're off alone playing the white lotus. There's no place for you in the barracks with the insanely bad living conditions. As for couples' housing, even following the procedures as fast as possible still takes at least a year.

See, don't say I'm being mean: a detached house outside the camp goes for four thousand a month before tax.

Even a hero is stumped without money. When it comes to turning "disobedient troublemakers" into mincemeat, the Japanese Lin Clan has plenty of experience.

The Lin Clan that was once persecuted, now that they've flipped the table and become the masters, they don't even use sickles to harvest the chives anymore—they use combine harvesters on the troublemakers. It's practically an assembly line operation by now.

No money? Then go sell your ass.

The landlord's house doesn't feed freeloaders.

The logic is what it is, but because there were still kids present, Lin Ying didn't spell it out all the way.

She only talked about corruption, and about people who refused to be corrupted being driven into prostitution by the cost of living.

As for the whole "harvesting chives" part, Lin Ying didn't state it outright, just hinted at a few points.

"As expected of Old Lin!"

Ansheng stared at Lin Ying in amazement, giving her a straight thumbs-up: "Even asses can be sold wholesale!"

"....." Ah Qing's expression twisted; the black lines over her head were already tangled into a mess.

From the compulsory education she'd received, a person finishing school might not end up rich and powerful, but as long as they were willing to work, they definitely wouldn't starve, and might even have spare cash for leisure.

If society can't even guarantee that much...

Ah Qing vaguely sensed a blind spot, but for the moment couldn't put her finger on exactly what was wrong.

After all, by the time the history books got to this era, it was already at the stage of "Dare to make sun and moon shine anew."

...…

The black business van drove forward without stopping according to on-site control regulations to take the wedding shuttle.

The business van kept going until it parked on the road by the garden next to the banquet hall.

Master Fuli's status was exalted; his banquet seating was arranged indoors in the very core position, with nothing but Lin Clan elders or certain high-level figures in sight around him.

"Fox Grandmaster, have some candy!"

Ansheng had just entered the banquet hall when he saw a little girl in a puffy dress come running up with a giggle.

Lin Tongshu handed the candy to Ansheng, then hugged Lin Ying's arm, sweetly calling out, "Great-Grandma."

"Oh right, just now my dad said there's something a friend of Grandmaster Lin entrusted that has to be handed over to Grandmaster Fox..." After politely greeting everyone, Lin Tongshu bent down, and from under her puffy skirt pulled out a wooden box.

"?"

Seeing Lin Tongshu hiding something under her skirt for the first time, Ah Qing's eyes went wide as she slowly popped out a question mark.

"This thing... can be hung under the hem of a skirt?" Ah Qing said in utter shock.

"Little Tongshu, show your Sister Ah Qing how you can hide a machine gun in your skirt."

Ansheng's expression lit up; seeing the look of shock on Ah Qing's face that was exactly the same as his own back then, he couldn't help but laugh.

"How could I possibly have something like that..." Lin Tongshu shook her little head like a rattle drum, indicating she did not.

"But if it's handguns, I do have two. And three weighted shock rounds—do you want them?"

Normally speaking, Lin Tongshu wouldn't keep dangerous items under her skirt.

But at a banquet, security inevitably has gaps, so to avoid being forced into a helpless situation, and to have at least some fighting power if something happened, Lin Tongshu had brought some toys today.

"Xiaolan, can I pick her up and shake her a bit?" Ah Qing stared at the little fox, dumbstruck.

"You'll have to ask the kid about that..."

Ansheng shrugged, then opened the wooden box Lin Tongshu had handed him, looking curiously at what was inside.

When the wooden box was opened, there was only a single slip of paper, written in handwriting so rushed it looked like it had been scribbled.

[A talk in the Stone Coffin. —Earl.]

"Hm?"

The moment Ansheng saw the slip of paper inside the box and had just made out the words, the paper suddenly self-ignited and burned up completely, making it impossible to read what had been written.

"Stone Coffin?" Ansheng looked at Lin Ying.

The wooden box had been sent in Grandmaster Lin's name; whatever was recorded inside should have something to do with the Lin Clan.

"A codename for a temporary shelter." Lin Ying gave the inside of the box a strange look and said:

"It's directly underneath the Lin Industrial Museum, a facility for management to evacuate to in emergency situations."

"Let's go take a look. Ah Qing, you stay here in the banquet hall with Sister Dalin and little Tongshu and wait for me." Ansheng turned to Ah Qing and gave her a reminder.

Eleanor, the Earl, every time brought information that was either about Mayflower or downright outrageous.

For the sake of Ah Qing's worldview, Ansheng decided to have her wait in the banquet hall for a while while he went to check things out.

Lin Ying picked up Master Fuli and headed out without taking any vehicle; walking less than five minutes, she entered the museum through the front door, went into the monitoring room, opened a hidden door and took the manual hydraulic elevator down into the Stone Coffin.

Pushing open the thick civil defense door, as soon as they stepped inside, Ansheng saw Eleanor, white-haired and red-eyed.

"Master Fuli, the Mayflower higher-ups have secretly planned an assassination targeting your ass."

"The moment you sit down to eat, they're going to take a rolling pin and ram it straight up your big butt..."

"Target depth: at least ten centimeters. And they're planning to pin the blame on Unknown Nebula Exploration Company."

Sitting on a simple wooden chair, Eleanor looked at Master Fuli and laid out the action Mayflower had planned.

"?"

Ansheng looked at Eleanor and slowly popped out a huge question mark.

"What you just described counts as an assassination?"

"Sounds to me like you misheard 'rape-murder' as 'assassination.'"

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