Tonight was destined to be an unsettled night.
Initially, Li Mo hadn’t leaned toward thinking that the person the Meng family wanted to kill was himself. But once that notion took root, combined with the remarks Meng Jinze had spoken to him at the banquet, he couldn’t help letting this sense of crisis govern his fear.
Furthermore, if it were true that the Meng family had discovered his objective in infiltrating Huo Jingsi’s side and wanted to help Huo Jingsi eliminate him, then everything suddenly made sense.
At this juncture, Li Mo could no longer anesthetize himself with the mindset of taking things one step at a time. To speak bluntly, his loyalty to his Boss didn’t run deep enough for him to willingly lay down his life; his greatest aspiration was actually to retreat unscathed after executing his mission, with retaining his precious life ranking above all else.
Yet right now, although this was merely his own conjecture, his life seemed to have been placed right up on this trading table.
“Still thinking about what just happened?” Huo Jingsi reached out to pull him into his embrace, while his other hand laid his phone aside and covered the back of Li Mo’s hand to grasp it entirely. His gaze toward the car window turned sinister: “Don’t be afraid. I’ll make them pay the price they deserve.”
Li Mo slowly relaxed within his embrace, resting his head against the other man’s broad shoulder. Rubbing against it gently, he spun a lie in a soft murmur just as he had countless times before: “I’m not afraid. Staying by your side, I’m not afraid of anything at all.”
Upon hearing this, Huo Jingsi gripped Li Mo’s hand even tighter. The look he cast toward Li Mo was flooded with heartache; then, pressing his face against Li Mo’s head, he mimicked his action and rubbed against it lightly.
If not for marrying him, perhaps Li Mo would never have had to live through such days of terror and panic in this lifetime.
When all was said and done, encountering such an incident left Huo Jingsi feeling both consumed by guilt and ablaze with fury.
He loathed the despicable schemers for their plots, while feeling even more that he had failed to protect Li Mo properly.
Crouched deep within Huo Jingsi’s embrace, Li Mo drew a deep breath. Back at the assassin training academy, his instructors had taught him the primary rule of assassination: regardless of the time, no matter the circumstances, one must maintain absolute composure.
Moreover, if anyone ought to be feeling terrified right now, it should logically be Huo Jingsi, who lived day in and day out within such an environment, where even the person sharing his pillow might be an assassin dispatched by goodness-knows-who.
Yet for reasons unknown to Li Mo himself, perhaps it was because his days over the past two years had been far too comfortable, it caused him to feel an unshakeable sense of unease over the slightest ripple of trouble.
Even so, life still had to go on. He still had to represent Huo Jingsi in heading down to District Sixty-Nine for disaster relief and rescue operations.
Furthermore, he had an indispensable reason to go this time: following yesterday’s banquet, the aristocrats had benefited from the Huo family’s favors, resulting in endless streams of donations flowing out of their pockets.
Right now, Li Mo was tasked with taking these funds and representing Huo Jingsi at the disaster zone to completely resolve the issues plaguing District Sixty-Nine.
Once the disaster situation in District Sixty-Nine was brought under control and the event was reported and publicized through Huo Jingsi’s subordinates, the flow of ballots in the hands of the common people during the gubernatorial re-election would become thoroughly explicit.
Li Mo mentally tallied the days on his fingers, figuring that by all accounts, he ought to get down to committing murder soon.
If he didn’t kill him now, once Huo Jingsi genuinely ascended to the position of governor and he tried it then, he would truly be walking a road to certain death with no way out.
Although the assassin’s code dictated taking assignments without asking questions and simply executing the target, deep in Li Mo’s heart, he surmised that his Boss’s motive for wanting to kill Huo Jingsi was precisely to prevent him from claiming the governorship.
Therefore, as long as he exercised caution over the next few days, he should still be able to preserve his own life.
No.
Not should, but must.
He could not die; he had to survive!
The following day, news of the assassination attempt against Huo Jingsi and Li Mo at the entrance of the banquet hall swept through the streets and alleys of the empire.
Countless citizens flooded public forums demanding enhanced protection for the Director and the Director’s spouse. Particularly in the case of Li Mo, beneath posts of that nature, numerous commoners raised their voices for him, urging the deployment of extra personnel to safeguard this “Civilian Light” in their hearts.
Consequently, Huo Jingsi dispatched over a dozen people to accompany Li Mo to District Sixty-Nine, personally escorting him to the spaceport.
And that was only on the surface; in secret, he had assigned another dozen-plus operatives bringing the total to thirty bodyguards protecting Li Mo’s personal safety. To top it all off, Adjutant Liu was accompanying Li Mo throughout the entire journey.
Adjutant Liu served as a presence akin to a “personal bodyguard” by Huo Jingsi’s side, which clearly demonstrated the immense importance Huo Jingsi attached to Li Mo’s safety this time around.
Li Mo was left somewhat amused and exasperated by this grand array, feeling as though Huo Jingsi was acting like a foolish monarch wasting the nation’s wealth and people’s toil merely to win a single smile from his favored consort, while he himself played the role of that favored consort.
He was confident that if it were feasible, Huo Jingsi would have preferred to trail along with him himself.
However, the next day Huo Jingsi was scheduled to attend the Imperial Parliament in his capacity as Director of the Zhaohui Base and son of the imperial marshal, leaving him completely bogged down with no way to break free.
“Remember to message me to report you’re safe when you arrive over there,” Huo Jingsi urged, lifting Li Mo’s hand.
“Got it, got it. You’ve already said that at least ten times.” Li Mo patted the back of his hand in return as if soothing a child, his tone breezy and light: “Besides, with so many people around, nothing’s going to happen. Just set your mind at ease, handle your work properly, and wait for my return.”
With that, he lifted his chin and took the initiative to press a kiss to Huo Jingsi’s lips, saying, “I’m heading out.”
“Go ahead.” Huo Jingsi returned the kiss twice before loosening his grip around him.
Li Mo turned and boarded the aircraft, walking into the private compartment. Once he confirmed he was entirely alone, he immediately used the back of his hand to wipe at his mouth, spitting out a couple of imaginary ptoo ptoo sounds.
Only after finishing that did he seat himself in his chair, smiling and waving goodbye to Huo Jingsi outside through the cabin glass.
This exact moment was captured by a photographer staking out outside the cabin as proof of their deep affection, and the photograph would be published in tomorrow’s headline newspapers alongside news of Huo Jingsi’s devotion to his spouse.
Meanwhile, after Li Mo’s departure, Huo Jingsi received the preliminary investigation results regarding the previous night’s assassination attempt.
Following the failed assassination, the operative had decisively shot and killed himself. Adjutant Liu had brought the corpse back, and when Huo Jingsi had men investigate the individual’s background, they discovered that his identity records had been registered as deceased within the empire’s system long ago, while all other relevant information that shouldn’t have been there had been thoroughly scrubbed clean. Without even thinking, he knew it was the handiwork of Meng Jinze.
Staring at the message on his phone, Huo Jingsi instinctively tightened his fist.
The next day.
At ten o’clock in the morning, legislators from various districts of the empire arrived punctually at the parliamentary hall in the center of District One, preparing to attend the session.
Accompanied by Secretary Wen, Huo Jingsi arrived at the venue five minutes early. Whether by pure coincidence or feigned encounter, he happened to cross paths with Meng Jinze right at the entrance.
Trailing behind Meng Jinze was a tall, sturdy adult man his younger brother, Meng Jinchi.
Meng Jinchi was a man of few words, whereas Meng Jinze was eloquent and articulate; in a certain sense, the two brothers complemented each other well.
“What a coincidence,” Meng Jinze took the initiative to greet him. “Lord Huo.”
Though smiling, his tone exuded an air of provocation that instantly rubbed people the wrong way.
Huo Jingsi cast a sideways glance at him. The fire burning in his heart had yet to dissipate to this moment, and catching sight of this primary culprit only fueled his wrath further. He had zero desire to entertain this man, yet just as he attempted to walk right past and ignore him, he was blocked in his tracks.
“The meeting doesn’t start for another five minutes.” Meng Jinze stepped a bit closer to him. “No need to be in such a rush, Director.”
Lowering his gaze, Huo Jingsi locked his gloomy, unfathomable stare onto Meng Jinze’s eyes and came to a halt.
With parliament occupied by the Meng family’s influence, Meng Jinze moved through this space like a fish in water, and Huo Jingsi indeed had to afford this “young master” a modicum of face.
“Chairman Meng.” Huo Jingsi’s tone carried a hint of impatience. “I don’t have the leisure to exchange idle chatter with you, so you’d better save us both some time.”
Hearing his words, Meng Jinze nodded with mock solemnity, looking as though he agreed entirely, yet continued unbothered on his own accord: “I heard that Lord Huo and your esteemed spouse survived an assassination attempt last night. I merely wanted to come over and check on Lord Huo you two weren’t injured, I trust?”
Talk about pressing on a sore spot.
Huo Jingsi knew Meng Jinze was doing it on purpose.
“We came through safe and sound. Disappointed?” Huo Jingsi raised an eyebrow.
“How can you say that?” Meng Jinze immediately chimed in. “Seeing that you’re both safe is something I’m nothing short of overjoyed to witness. I just wanted to remind Lord Huo and your esteemed spouse to exercise utmost caution the next time you step outside.”
Meng Jinze paused briefly before shifting his tone: “Lord Huo has cheated death so many times, you’re bound to be blessed with good fortune afterwards, so I’m not worried. But if something were to happen to our ‘Civilian Light’, Mr. Li Mo, the Director would certainly owe the common people a reasonable explanation. It would be rather unfortunate if certain individuals decided to seize the opportunity to make a fuss, claiming the Director failed to provide adequate protection.”
At that, Huo Jingsi’s expression darkened by another degree. Meng Jinze tossing out these阴阳怪气 (sarcastic and insinuating) remarks right in front of him to deliberately bring up Li Mo felt to his eyes like nothing short of an outright provocation—
“Meng Jinze, don’t think I don’t know what kind of intentions you’re harboring!”
Lowering his voice, his tone brimmed with threat.
“Hey, hey, hey, hold on now, these words… aren’t meant for me.” Smiling like a tiger hiding a knife, Meng Jinze displayed zero fear toward his threat. Stepping right up to his ear, he reached out to pat Huo Jingsi’s shoulder, dropping his voice as he delivered the line—
“These are words you ought to take and ask your pillow partner, Mr. Li, and ask him what kind of intentions he harbors toward you.”
Having said that, he turned as if to leave, but was intercepted mid-turn when Huo Jingsi grabbed him firmly by the wrist. Having undergone grueling physical tempering in the imperial military, Huo Jingsi’s grip strength was not something to scoff at. As he applied pressure with his palm, he rendered Meng Jinze utterly incapable of breaking free.
In a low, gravelly voice, he demanded: “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t mean anything by it. It’s simply out of our past friendship that I wanted to come offer you a reminder.”
Meng Jinze hissed softly; Huo Jingsi’s grip was so powerful that it drew a tight frown across his brow. A fleeting flash of distortion crossed his face, but he swiftly rearranged his expression, slowed his pacing, and stated: “If you genuinely wish to secure the position of governor, then you’d better pay close attention to that—”
“Mr. Li.”
With that, he cast a deeply meaningful look at Huo Jingsi before turning and striding into the parliamentary hall.