Chapter Forty-Nine: The Trial Begins

  ōishi Shinzō was born in Akita Prefecture into a fallen samurai family as the third son. Due to his ugly face and short stature, he was disliked by his parents from an early age, and after only two years of schooling, he gave up his studies and returned home to work on the farm.

  Because I couldn't bear the hard work and whole day mixing with a group of rascals, cheating, stealing, robbing and snatching.

  Originally, someone as ugly and short as him with no culture would not even be wanted by the army which was ridiculed by the Japanese Navy as "horse dung".

  However, a person's fate often undergoes unexpected changes in the most unexpected way. Daisuke Kanbe, who was beaten half to death and locked up in a police station for stealing half a bag of rice, received a draft notice from the Japanese Navy while he was in his cell.

  It turned out that the year was 1905! Two older brothers of Nobu San Oishi were serving on the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet flagship Mikasa, and they made great contributions in the Battle of Tsushima on May 27, 1905, and were personally commended by General Heihachiro Togo.

  The two brothers, who were in high spirits, died together in the sudden explosion of the Mikasa ammunition depot on September 11, which killed a total of 339 people. In recognition of their great contributions to the country, ōyama Iwao specially allowed the only younger brother, ōishi Kanzaburō, to join the navy.

  So, Shinzo Oishi left his old home in Akita where he had lived for nearly twenty years and came to Sasebo. The first thing Masayuki Akiyama said when he saw him was "Do you want to go back to your old home in Akita?" Shinzo Oishi shook his head, and Masayuki Akiyama continued, "Then let's do our best."

  Later, when Akiyama went to the Naval Academy to teach, he also brought in ōishi Shinzō as an auditor. In the Naval Academy, ōishi Shinzō, who had spent his previous twenty years in a daze, suddenly became enlightened!

  In the days of following Akizuki Masayoshi, Oishi Shinzo was like a sponge, studying everything day and night without rest or sleep, his attitude as serious as hanging by his hair or piercing his thigh with an awl.

  ōishi Shinzō's performance earned the approval and admiration of Akiyama Shizen, who introduced him to Akashi Motojirō to learn espionage.

  Akiyama Makoto had already seen that he was studying hard, but the difference was too big, and staying in the navy could only make him a junior officer. However, this kid was clever and smooth, following Akashi Motojiro to learn espionage, and might become a good hand. As expected, Oishi Shinzō quickly emerged, rapidly becoming a new star in Japan's espionage world.

  Dai Ishi arrived in Shanghai and the first thing he did was rent a house on Avenue Joffre in the French Concession, not far from the SC Trading office building. For five days in a row, he holed up in the house and spied on SC Trading.

  After several days of careful observation of the SC Trade Building, Shinzo Ohta concluded that forced seizure was impossible. He then devised a plan to lure the snake out of its hole, with the first step being to provoke a war between Lu Yongxiang and Gao Yang, stirring up the waters first. After all, only when the waters are muddy can one fish in the muddy waters.

  Lu Yongxiang flatly rejected the Japanese request, not because he valued his sworn brotherhood with Gao Yang so much, but because he was very clear that he couldn't beat Gao Yang at all! He sneered at the many promises made by the Japanese, and as an old rivers and lakes, he wasn't so easily fooled by the Japanese! Taishi Shinzō decisively decided to get rid of Lu Yongxiang, support his useless son Lu Xiaoja to become a puppet, and also frame Gao Yang, a poisonous plan that kills two birds with one stone.

  Gao Yang sat on the sofa, lit a cigarette and smoked silently. Although he knew the Japanese plan, how could he break through? The court in Shanghai was about to try that Japanese spy, and if he was bitten to death, it would greatly damage his reputation! In this era, reputation is an important resource! When Mr. Sun had no soldiers or money, he was still elected as interim president, wasn't it because of his great prestige?

  "Origin?" There was no other way, so Gaoyang could only seek help from the origin.

  Yuandian showed Gaoyang some information about an item. "Real medicine?" Gaoyang shook his head and said in a somewhat strange tone.

  "Well, this is the one used in my time-space to interrogate natural person prisoners, not real medicine, but composed of nanorobots that can force memory neurons to make correct responses. Simply put, you ask what, he will answer what." Original point explained.

  "Huh? Is there such a good thing?" Gao Yang asked in surprise, his eyes wide with wonder.

  "Well, you should need it now. Just, the energy consumption points are a bit too much."

  "How much?"

  "8,000 points."

  "Are you kidding me?"

  "A grain."

  "Damn it."

  After a fierce inner struggle, Gao Yang still chose to manufacture a real medicine. Looking at the light blue capsule in his hand, Gao Yang asked doubtfully, "Does this thing have any aftereffects?"

  "Forcing a change in the neurons' reaction will cause severe damage to brain cells, and after 24 hours of use, they usually become vegetables, and in special cases, they die."

  "Oh..." Gao Yang quietly leaned on the sofa, his left hand propped against the armrest and supporting his head, while his right hand held a pill and turned it around. After a while, Gao Yang, who was bored with turning the pill, suddenly looked up at the clock hanging on the wall, then jumped up from the sofa in an instant, "It's over, it's over! I said why did I always feel like I forgot something? It's already past 10 o'clock and I haven't called Little Water Crystal yet, this is terrible."

  In a flurry, he activated the time-space shuttle and returned to modern times. As soon as he took out his phone, he received several text messages in a row, all from Zheng Xiujing asking where he was. He quickly dialed her number back, and after connecting, Zheng Xiujing complained and pouted, while Gao Yang repeatedly comforted her and made multiple promises to make the girl happy. They chatted for nearly an hour before ending the call with Zheng Xiujing's concerned voice telling him to take care of himself. "Sigh." Lying on his bed, Gao Yang let out a soft breath, with a smile at the corner of his eyes, and whispered softly, "It feels so good to have a girlfriend."

  Two days later, in the space-time of 1925, the Shanghai Court held a trial for the case of Lu Yongxiang's assassination. This case received great attention from all walks of society, and on the day of the trial, more than 200 people from various circles, Chinese and foreign journalists, and representatives of various countries were present to observe. The presiding judge was Yan Xuesong, who had rushed over from Beiping, and had been invited by Gao Feng for a secret meeting that lasted for over half an hour the night before.

  Gao Feng, as the representative of Gao Yang, also appeared in the spectator's seat. Judge Yan Xue-song sat down at the presiding position, picked up the gavel on the table, and after three knocks, announced the start of the trial.

  The suspect Liu Jinxin, who was caught on the spot, was wearing a striped uniform and was handcuffed and shackled by bailiffs to the defendant's seat. His body had no obvious injuries, but his spirit was poor, and his eyes looked somewhat dull.

  For Gao Yang, who likes to use money to handle things, it's not a difficult task to spend some money to bribe the prison guard to give Liu Jinxin real medicine. Last night, the bribed prison guard forcibly gave Liu Jinxin the real medicine.

  In general, witnesses who accuse big shots like this are usually silenced, but this time the one who should have been targeted, Gao Yang, was given real medicine instead. The forces that could do such a thing either wanted to see Gao Yang suffer, like Lu Gongzi, or were indifferent and stayed out of it. That's why Liu Jinxin can stand in court alive today.

  After everything was ready, Judge Yan Xue-song sat up straight with a serious face and began to ask Liu Jin-xin "What's your name?" "My name is Song Tian-hao-er."

  "What?!" The whole courtroom suddenly erupted into a commotion. Previously, the suspect had always admitted that his name was Liu Jinxin!

  "Order, order!" Judge Sei slammed his gavel loudly. After a while, the scene finally quieted down, but there were still occasional whispers. In the back row, Shinji Ishizaki's mind flashed not with "Why didn't Matsuda Koichi follow the plan?" but with "Danger!!!"

  A nearly intuitive instinctive reaction made Shinichi Oishi's sharp senses aware that he was in danger. People like him who have been living on the line between life and death for a long time can feel the subtle changes around them. However, Shinichi Oishi remained calm and continued to pretend to be a newspaper reporter sitting in the spectator seat.

  At this time, Judge Yan also sensed that there was a big problem with the case. He adjusted his mood and continued to ask Matsuda Kōji, "Did you participate in the assassination of General Lu Yongxiang?" "Yes."

  Yan Xue Song paused for a moment and asked very seriously, "Who instructed you to do this?" Although he was told by Duan Daizong before coming that he should clear his relationship with Gao Yang, as a judge, upholding the dignity of the law is something he must do.

  Yesterday evening, when I met with Gao Feng privately, the other party did not make any excessive demands, only expressing the hope that at the beginning, Yan Xue-song would ask the suspect a few questions. Yan Xue-song looked over those few questions and didn't think there was anything special about them, just general inquiries, so he agreed to do it.

  Deep down, he didn't want this to be done by Gao Yang after all. After all, relying solely on the suspect's identification couldn't prove that Gao Yang was the mastermind behind it. However, this would become a pretext, a pretext for dragging several provinces in East China into war!

  Matsuda Kōji's mouth corners slightly rose, the blood vessels on his temples began to bulge, and a hint of struggling expression flashed in his eyes. The whole audience fell silent at this moment, quietly waiting for the name that would come out of his mouth!

  Sitting in the SC Trade office building, watching the live broadcast through a simulated robot, Gao Yang's mouth twitched as he picked up his glass and took a sip of whiskey. "Indeed, an excellent agent who has undergone rigorous training, still holding on."

  In the end, Matsuda Kōji couldn't withstand the powerful effects of the real medicine and blurted out a name: "ōishi Shinsuke."

  The courtroom erupted into chaos once again. Yan Xuesong let out a long sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead, as he had been genuinely worried that the suspect would mention Gao Yang's name. He banged his gavel repeatedly to maintain order in the courtroom. Once the courtroom quieted down again, Yan Xuesong continued questioning, "Who is Dashi Xin?" The previous questions were all requested by Gao Feng, now the normal interrogation began.

  "The person in charge of the Special Higher Police Department of the Empire of Japan." This time, Matsuda Kōji did not hesitate and quickly responded, but his eyes showed a slight sign of dilation.

  At this time, the Japanese Consul in Madrid, Takashi Kōya, who was sitting in the audience seat, jumped up and shouted loudly "This is slander! This is slander!" The expressions of the people present were different, but only the reporters were taking crazy pictures. Not only did they take pictures of Hiroji Matsuda, but more of Takashi Kōya, what a big news!