Lao Mao stood up and walked a couple of steps in the small courtyard, bowed his head and thought for a moment before saying: "The work of verifying the news must be done well. But I have a premonition that what Kojima said is likely to be true, Japan should already be in chaos now."

  "The next step will definitely affect the Japanese army that invaded China. Don't forget, the Japanese have been educated in militarism, deifying the emperor, and brainwashing their soldiers into loyalty to the emperor. Now, the spiritual pillar of Japan, the Emperor of Japan, has actually been assassinated by a Japanese Army general. What do you think those Japanese soldiers will be like?"

  Lao Zhou and Zhu Laozong nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this.

  "We should convene an enlarged military meeting to study this matter carefully. Whether it's the Japanese army generals rebelling or Koiso Kuniaki plotting to seize power, both are good news for China. The more chaotic Japan is, the better. The Japanese Army Ministry is the limbs of the Japanese army, and the General Staff Office is the brain of the Japanese army. Now that Koiso Kuniaki has cut off the limbs and brain of the Japanese army, they're left with only a torso. Such a good opportunity is in front of us, how can we not grasp it tightly? I suddenly realize, Koiso Kuniaki is indeed a good comrade!" By the end, Mao's tone was tinged with irony, causing the three men to burst into loud laughter.

  Chongqing Street

  "Extra! Extra! Japanese Emperor assassinated, Tojo Hideki executed."

  "Extra! Extra! Japan is in internal turmoil, the anti-war situation has taken a major turn for the better, victory is within sight."

  A newsboy suddenly rushed onto the street, waving a freshly printed newspaper in his hand, shouting loudly as he ran.

  After this shout, more newsboys rushed onto the streets, holding newspapers and shouting loudly.

  This latest extra edition of the Minguo Daily was reprinted under the personal instructions of the editor-in-chief, and is a special issue dedicated to reporting on the attempted assassination of the Japanese Emperor and the speech by Koku Shō. Moreover, this reprinted special edition is free of charge; after the newsboys received the newspapers, they hawked them themselves, and whatever they sold was pure profit, so those newsboys were even more energetic than usual.

  Yang Sen heard the newsboy's extra, first disbelieving, then thinking that what was published in the newspaper couldn't be fake, rushed out of the teahouse and grabbed a copy from a newsboy.

  "Sir, you haven't paid yet." The newspaper boy said weakly as he looked at the man in military uniform in front of him.

  "Ah, oh, here you are." Yang Sen pulled out a handful of French currency from his pocket and handed it to the newspaper boy, then turned around and entered the teahouse.

  The newspaper boy looked at the wad of French currency in his hand, then glanced at the military officer who had already entered the teahouse. He wanted to say he didn't accept French currency, but he didn't have the nerve. Anyway, it wasn't as if he was selling something expensive, so he stuffed the wad into his pocket and ran off continuing to hawk his papers.

  Yang Sen was a junior officer in the Sichuan Army, who had fought for several years, always losing and running away. His colleagues around him changed one after another, but fortunately he survived.

  "Old Yang, what does the newspaper say." The several low-ranking military officers sitting together all looked at Yang Sen, someone said: "Brother Sen, read it to us, what's going on, did that Japanese Emperor really die?"

  The low-ranking officers of the Sichuan Army generally had a relatively low level of cultural literacy. In fact, most people didn't have much culture at all, and illiterates made up the majority. Among the five people at the table, only Yang Sen had attended a few years of private school and was considered literate.

  Yang Sen looked at the newspaper without saying a word, but his facial expression kept changing from delight to surprise, then to extreme joy, and suddenly he jumped up and said loudly: "Brothers, do you know? The emperor of Japan is dead! Do you know how he died? He was beaten to death! Haha, it's really the heavens' justice, and it was their own soldiers who beat him to death!"

  At this time, the storytelling in the teahouse also stopped. Others who heard the conversation gathered around, and someone shouted: "General, you'd better make it clear, how did he die?"

  Yang Sen laughed and replied: "He was beaten to death."

  His several brothers also became anxious, "Sen Ge, stop smiling, how did he die after all, how did he die?"

  Others also asked in a flurry, what's going on anyway.

  Yang Sen suddenly swept the teapot and tea cups on the table to one side, then stepped onto a stool and occupied the table, waving the newspaper in his hand loudly saying: "Brothers, fellow villagers, the newspaper says that Japan's emperor, oh, the Tenno, is dead. Do you know how he died? He was assassinated! Do you know who did it? It was a Japanese soldier, the newspaper says that the one who instructed him was Japan's former prime minister, Tojo Hideki, this guy launched the invasion of China by the Japanese devils. The newspaper says that when the old devil was in power, he lost the war and was dismissed by the Tenno, but this old devil wasn't satisfied with being kicked out of office by the Tenno, so he plotted a coup and found someone to assassinate the Tenno, and that's how the Japanese emperor died such an unjust death, it's really great!"

  Yang Sen's voice was loud and clear, with a thick Sichuan accent, and he would occasionally pause to pique people's interest. Finally, he said that when the Japanese emperor died, the people present erupted into enthusiastic cheers, shouting loudly in approval, even more lively than listening to storytelling.

  "Brothers, fellow villagers, it's not over yet, there are even more exciting things to come. The newspaper said that this rebellion was put down by the current Japanese Prime Minister, nicknamed 'Little Chicken', and Tōjō Hideki was also killed. Many high-ranking Japanese generals were killed, including big shots like Sugiyama Gen and Matsuoka Yosuke, with seven or eight of them dying in a bloodbath."

  Yang Sen had just finished speaking, and the crowd erupted in enthusiastic applause once again. People may not know who Tojo Hideki is, but as long as they hear that he's a great general of Japan, he must be an important figure. He died well, he deserved to die.

  "Dogs bite each other's fur, fine, let those little Japanese devour each other, better if they all die."

  "It's all, better off dead, there isn't a single good person among those little Japanese."

  "Some people say there's no good Japanese anymore." Someone raised an objection.

  At that moment, everyone cast angry glances at the speaker, but he didn't panic and continued: "I think that Prime Minister Xiao Jier is a good person. Look at him, when it comes to killing little Japanese people, he's really ruthless. I think anyone who kills Japanese people is a good person. It's just that this prime minister's name isn't very nice, why is he called Little Chicken? It's not elegant, not elegant."

  The people present burst into loud laughter at this point. The atmosphere in the teahouse reached its peak at this moment.

  The boss also ran over to join in the fun and said to the guests: "Today is a festive day, the tea house is offering big discounts, all teas are 20% off."

  Someone jeered: "Boss Cai, you're so stingy! With such a big celebration, you only gave an 8% discount. Can't you be more generous and just give it away for free?"

  "Alright, 20% off. And I've decided that all the profits for this month will be donated to the Anti-Japanese Salvation Association, to do my part in fighting against the devils."

  "Okay..."

  "Okay..."

  The teahouse erupted in thunderous applause once again.