When they were almost at the camp, Liu Tiezhu stopped in his tracks.
"Buddy, come out and talk."
As his words fell, Zhang Tielin and his brother emerged from the dark corner.
"Do me a favor. Tomorrow, pass a message to Yang Hua for me—tell him to wait for me at the Apricot Blossom Tavern at noon."
With that, Liu Tiezhu pulled a few hundred-yuan bills from his pocket and stuffed them into Zhang Tielin's hand.
He was a newcomer and couldn't get into the Ming family's inner circle, so he had to rely on Zhang Tielin to handle this.
Zhang Tielin didn't stand on ceremony either. He took the money and quickly pocketed it.
"Brother Zhu, can you give me a more detailed description of what Yang Hua looks like?"
Taking money meant doing the job, but the Ming family had thousands of members, and many shared the same name. He needed to know Yang Hua's appearance to avoid any mix-ups.
Liu Tiezhu roughly described Yang Hua's looks and instructed him not to let anyone else know about this.
"Brother Zhu, rest assured, I'll get this done for you."
Zhang Tielin nodded, ready to head back and report to Jiang He about Liu Tiezhu's situation today.
"Wait, I've got another piece of intel here. You can use it to claim credit."
Liu Tiezhu stopped Zhang Tielin and revealed the matter of Jiang Tianliang's cooperation with the Li family.
Although he had no evidence on hand, several of the properties exposed by Chen Wenhai showed signs of the Li family's involvement. As long as the Ming family's higher-ups investigated, they were bound to find some clues.
Passing this to Jiang He was undoubtedly the best move.
Jiang He was aligned with the Ming family's Third Master, while Jiang Tianliang was aligned with the Second Master. The two were like fire and water.
Once Jiang He got this information, he would surely report it up the chain. Given the Third Master's style, he would definitely send people to investigate discreetly. If evidence was uncovered, Jiang Tianliang would be as good as dead.
This was the plan Liu Tiezhu had devised before killing Chen Wenhai—to crush Jiang Tianliang without lifting a finger.
After hearing this, Zhang Tielin was first shocked, then turned delighted.
Liu Tiezhu was right—if this was reported to Jiang He, it would be a huge achievement.
Coming back to his senses, Zhang Tielin asked, "Brother Zhu, what do I need to give in return?"
He was no fool and naturally understood that Liu Tiezhu wouldn't hand over such a big favor for nothing.
Liu Tiezhu replied, "From now on, as long as you keep your mouths shut, I guarantee the benefits won't stop."
Hearing this, Zhang Tielin nodded decisively.
"Also, don't mention me regarding the Jiang Tianliang matter."
"Figure out how to spin it yourselves."
With that instruction, Liu Tiezhu headed straight back to the camp.
Zhang Tielin wasn't stupid either; he understood what Liu Tiezhu meant. Even if Liu Tiezhu hadn't warned him, he wouldn't dare bring up Liu Tiezhu's name. Otherwise, Jiang He would start suspecting him.
After Liu Tiezhu left, Zhang Tieyan beside him said, "Big brother, can we trust his words?"
"Handing over such a big credit to us for nothing—I feel like it's a trap."
"Trap my ass. If he wanted to take us down, why would he beat around the bush?"
"This Jiang Tianliang thing—he's probably trying to repay us a favor," Zhang Tielin said.
He didn't realize that while Liu Tiezhu was giving them a favor, he was also using their mouths to eliminate Jiang Tianliang.
Liu Tiezhu had his own reasons for doing this.
First, if he went to Jiang He himself, it would indeed be a big achievement, but it would backfire. For one thing, as a newcomer, how could he have the resources to dig up such information? That would definitely raise Jiang He's suspicions.
Second, if this came to light, Jiang He would re-investigate his background. All the trust he'd built up would be wasted.
After careful thought, Liu Tiezhu decided it was safer to let Zhang Tielin handle it. That way, even if Jiang Tianliang wasn't taken down, the trouble wouldn't land on his head.
Zhang Tieyan said, "So now, are we on the same boat as Liu Tiezhu?"
"You'd like that, but Liu Tiezhu might not think much of us."
"For now, we just make sure not to offend him, and he won't come after us later."
"To survive in the Ming family, you have to learn to play both sides—that's how you last longer."
Zhang Tielin lectured Zhang Tieyan with a profound tone, then headed to Jiang He's quarters to report.
Meanwhile, Liu Tiezhu returned to his quarters, and Guo Lin immediately sidled up to him.
"Brother Zhu, did you hear about the big fight at Huaiyang Gou?"
At that, Liu Tiezhu perked up and asked, "Wasn't it already underway? Has something new happened?"
This was already a few days old. Based on his earlier judgment, the Ming family should have stepped in to clean up by now.
"That's right, something new did happen."
Guo Lin paused at this point. He glanced around to make sure no one else was eavesdropping, then lowered his voice.
"The Zhang and Li families fought tooth and nail for days, burning through a ton of manpower and resources."
"In the end, the copper mine they dug up was snatched up by the Ming family for a steal."
"It was supposed to be over, but on the way to transport the copper, the Ming family got ambushed by another group."
Ambushed?
Liu Tiezhu was taken aback and immediately thought of the Guo family.
Damn, this was more chaotic than the Three Kingdoms.
If it really was the Guo family, he'd have to reassess their strength. The Ming family were already masters of scheming, yet the Guo family could still pull off a "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind" trick on them. That meant the Guo family's intelligence was even sharper than the Ming family's.
"So they lost the copper shipment too?" Liu Tiezhu pressed on after snapping out of it.
Guo Lin nodded. "Lost it."
"From what my big brother told me, this group was well-equipped, with heavy machine guns."
"Their ambush point was right at Jinguapo in Huaiyang Gou."
"That place has only a narrow path, flanked by three-meter-high loess slopes—perfect for an ambush."
"In less than ten minutes, all of the Ming family's copper transporters were wiped out."
Liu Tiezhu felt another jolt of shock.
The Ming family's route for transporting the copper must have been pre-planned. For the ambushers to pinpoint Jinguapo so accurately meant they had inside information. It showed they had planted informants within the Ming family.
The Ming family's loss in this battle was no accident.
After mulling it over, Liu Tiezhu fixed his gaze on Guo Lin.
For him to share news like this openly couldn't just be for gossip.
"That 'big brother' you mentioned—is he someone inside the Ming family?"
Guo Lin nodded. "My big brother works in intelligence for the Ming family."
Hearing that, Liu Tiezhu understood.
"Brother Zhu, my big brother asked me to find out when you're free—he wants to buy you a drink."
Liu Tiezhu was caught off guard again but quickly caught on.
Now he got why Guo Lin kept hanging around him all the time.
He was sharing this intel to prove his own worth and to try to win Liu Tiezhu over.
Sure enough, no one who managed to hold their ground in the Ming family was simple.
Guo Lin's brother was no pushover either.