China by Edward Rutherfurd (latest novels to read TXT) 📗

“The trusses. They come this evening?”

“They do, Excellency.” He bowed again and went about his work.

It was late afternoon before he could go out in search of Fong again.

—

Fong was at his lodgings. He didn’t look too well. Shi-Rong wasted no time. “Tell me exactly what you have been doing since we parted yesterday.”

“I met some friends. We went out drinking baijiu,” Fong confessed sheepishly. Baijiu, strong spirits made from grain in the north and from rice down here.

“Then?”

“We went to a teahouse.”

“Were you drunk?”

“Not then. Later.” Fong shook his head sadly. “I slept until afternoon. My head still hurts.”

“Fool. Think hard: Did you tell anyone what I told you about Commissioner Lin?”

“No. Absolutely not. Never…”

“You are lying.”

“No.” Plaintively. He was lying.

“If word ever reaches Lin that I told you his secret,” said Shi-Rong, “then I’ll be finished. And if that happens, Fong, I’ll take you with me. I’ll destroy you. You understand? I may kill you.” He meant it. Fong looked frightened. “You know the irony?” Shi-Rong went on. “It turns out Lin didn’t have a hernia at all. A Chinese physician gave him acupuncture last night and the pain went away. The trusses are canceled. If you told anyone, make sure they know that right away.”

It wasn’t true, of course. But with luck it would kill the story.

His next errand was to get to Dr. Parker. If Parker never sent the messenger with the trusses, no one would see the package leave the hospital or arrive at Lin’s headquarters. Extra insurance against the story. He’d take the trusses himself, secrete them on his person, and get them in to his chief unnoticed.

Dusk was falling. He had to hurry. He got to Thirteen Factory Street and turned into Hog Lane.

The lane was usually deserted these days, so he was slightly surprised to see a small knot of men gathered halfway down the lane. As they saw him coming, they started to move up the lane towards the main street, bowing very respectfully as he passed.

Parker was still at the hospital. But when Shi-Rong asked him for the trusses, the missionary looked surprised. “My man just set off with them a couple of minutes ago. You must have met him, I should think.”

“Was he with a group of others?”

“No. Quite alone.”

Shi-Rong frowned and hurried out. He’d be lucky to catch the man now. He almost ran up Hog Lane.

And was halfway up it when, in front of him, a terrible apparition appeared. A figure was emerging from behind one of the boarded-up stalls. The old man was deathly pale. Blood streamed from his head. With one hand he tried to steady himself against the side of the stall. The other clutched his abdomen, from which blood was oozing. He’d been stabbed. Seeing Shi-Rong, he made a croaking sound. “Help me.”

“Did you come from Dr. Parker?” Shi-Rong cried.

“Yes. Please help me.”

But Shi-Rong had guessed it all now, with a horrible flash of clarity. If he was right, there was no time to lose. He turned and ran, panic-stricken, towards the main street.

◦

Things hadn’t gone the way Nio had planned. His first disappointment had come the night before.

“Your idea may work,” the pirate had said after Nio had told him about the delivery of the trusses. “Lin expects the delivery. The messenger tells the guards he’s come to see the commissioner in private. Lin will say yes, send him in. More discreet. Messenger gives him the package. He takes it. Before he knows what’s happening, the messenger’s hand is over his mouth, the knife’s in his heart. Nobody even knows what happened. Open the door, bow, close the door, leave.” He nodded. “Dangerous, but worth a try.”

“I can do it,” Nio said excitedly. “I won’t let you down.”

Sea Dragon stared at him in surprise, then shook his head. “The man who kills Lin will be a hero all along the coast. All over southern China.” He smiled. “Sea Dragon will be the hero. Not you.”

“But…” Nio’s face fell. “I was going…” A look from the pirate, however, told him it was more than his life was worth to argue. “You’re the boss,” he said sadly.

“First we have to get the package from the messenger. We take two, maybe three men.” The pirate looked thoughtful. “Where to do it? If we can be seen, it won’t work.”

“I thought of that,” said Nio. “He’ll come up Hog Lane. Lin had the stalls boarded up. It’s usually empty.”

“Good.” Sea Dragon gave him a nod of approval. “You grab the messenger. Knock him out. We push him behind the stalls. I take his place and carry the package to Lin.”

“Do we go with you?”

“No. The messenger is expected alone.” Sea Dragon considered. “You and the men follow. A little way behind, so nobody thinks you’re with me. Hang about near the gates, but not all together. Everything has to look normal. Wait until I come out.”

“And then?”

“If I walk out, do nothing. Once I’m round the corner, split up. Everyone go in a different direction, and we meet later, outside the city.”

“And if they’re chasing you?”

“Run after me. Pretend you’re trying to help the guards catch me, but get in their way, fall over, trip them, so I can get away. Then split up and meet later, the same way. Can you do that?”

They’d rehearsed the whole thing, twice, out at the camp in the morning.

“If something goes wrong, do what I say and be ready to scatter,” Sea Dragon ordered. “But I think it’s going to work.”

They got to the city early that afternoon. First they worked out their escape routes. Here, the commissioner’s decision to set up his headquarters in Thirteen Factory Street was helpful, since the street lay just outside the city walls, whose eight gates were shut at night. Even if darkness had fallen, they wouldn’t be trapped in the city, and there were a dozen paths they could take out into the shantytowns and