A Lonely Hero’s Journey 孤舟 Episode 35

Before being taken to prison, Gu Yizhong was forced to parade on the streets and was misunderstood and humiliated by the people of Suzhou. After arriving at Shizikou Prison, facing the guard's instruction to write a confession, he cleverly wrote a note, promising a large reward, and begged the guard to pass it on to Lu Zhaohe. After receiving the letter, Lu Zhaohe acted quickly and used the contact network of monk Yiren in the temple to pass the news to Haimo. Haimo was so worried that he urgently contacted Luo Wuqiang of the New Fourth Army while using his personal resources to go all out to rescue Gu Yizhong.

Yuqing returned to Suzhou with Zhou Zhifei. His old residence could no longer meet the needs of his status. Zhou Zhifei occupied Gu Garden in a grand manner and became a prominent figure of the Kuomintang in Suzhou. The house is bustling with people giving gifts in an endless stream, and the two large cabinets in the house are almost full of gifts, showing the prosperity of his power.

Haimo was worried and went to Yuqing, begging him to mediate and release Gu Yizhong. Haimo still habitually calls Zhou Zhifei by his old name, but Yuqing quickly corrects him, emphasizing that his name has been changed to Zhou Youren, and his status is no longer what it used to be. Although Yuqing recalled the past friendship at the card table and wanted to help, she knew nothing about Gu Yizhong's situation, let alone where he was imprisoned.

On the way home, Haimo met a newsboy, and his hoarse shouting attracted her attention. She bought a newspaper, which clearly published a missing person notice, but it was actually the code she agreed with the New Fourth Army. Soon, Director Lin and Chief of Staff Chen of the New Fourth Army arrived as scheduled. It turned out that Chief of Staff Chen was Gu Yizhong who conspired with Captain Zhang to rescue the New Fourth Army that night, and Commander Luo sent two people to support him because he had other important tasks.

After some inquiring by the underground party, they finally learned that Gu Yizhong was imprisoned in Shizikou Prison. In order to visit, Haimo disguised himself as a family member and tried to get close to the heavily guarded prison. In front of the prison gate, Kuomintang soldiers lined up like a loose line, and no one was allowed to enter without permission. Fortunately, a guard helped secretly. After collecting the bribe, he quietly led Haimo to the side courtyard. There were many family members of the detainees gathered in the courtyard. They stood on the balcony on the second floor. Where they looked, they saw Gu Yizhong, who was briefly released. Haimo's heartstrings tightened instantly, and his eyes were full of worry and determination.

Zhou Zhifei carefully arranged a Hongmen Banquet and lured Xie Wenchao, Wuxian County Governor Wang Zemin and a group of senior officials of the Wang Puppet Government to his residence. At the banquet, he greeted everyone with a smile on the surface, but in fact he hid a secret. After everyone relaxed their vigilance, he suddenly ordered to catch them all. Zhou Zhifei coldly revealed that even though he had accepted bribes from them, he could not do anything because they were all on Dai Li's blacklist.

At the same time, Haimo successfully visited Gu Yizhong with the help of the underground party. She brought a glimmer of hope and told Gu Yizhong that the underground party had hired a well-known lawyer in Shanghai for him, vowing to clear his reputation as a traitor. However, after Zhou Zhifei learned about the incident, he became worried and worried that Gu Yizhong would reveal the truth in court, so he went to the prison to interview Gu Yizhong in person.

Zhou Zhifei extended an olive branch to Gu Yizhong as a prosecutor and promised that as long as Gu Yizhong remained silent in court, he would try his best to defend him and strive for the lightest sentence. But Gu Yizhong stuck to his principles and categorically refused to conduct any transactions with Zhou Zhifei, angrily accusing Zhou Zhifei of being the real traitor. Facing Gu Yizhong's resolute attitude, Zhou Zhifei sneered repeatedly and threatened, "Just wait and see." A battle between justice and evil quietly unfolded in the undercurrent of Suzhou City.

In the solemn court, Judge Jin Jichang asked prosecutor Zhou Zhifei to accuse Gu Yizhong of crimes in detail. When Zhou Zhifei accused Gu Yizhong of killing the patriotic general Gu Xixing with his own hands, the whole court fell into an uproar. Gu Yizhong endured his grief and revealed the truth, but it was difficult to prove his innocence because no one was present at the time.

Gu Yizhong's self-proclaimed patriotic behavior and cooperation with the New Fourth Army seem even more feeble due to the lack of witnesses. Hai Mo was extremely anxious outside the court, looking through the wind and snow, staring at the door that decided Gu Yizhong's fate. The north wind whistled softly and snowflakes flew. Her face was covered with the moisture of melted snow and tears, and her heart was filled with worry and helplessness about Gu Yizhong's fate.