"Little brother, you've done well. You've been in Jiangning County less than three years, and you've tied everything up neatly front to back. If we hadn't come to the scene ourselves—hmph."
A residence beside the county government compound had been converted into their temporary office. Zhu Shiqing was brought here, and before him was that "Division Chief Zheng."
"Have a seat."
The square-faced man beside him shoved a stool over to Zhu Shiqing.
Zhu Shiqing held his breath and calmly scanned the room out of the corner of his eye, spotting something amiss.
The supposed guards in khaki uniforms were gone, replaced by black-clad soldiers—three or four of them, lined up on either side of Division Chief Zheng.
"In reply, sir, major and minor county matters aren't for me to decide. All county affairs are set by the county magistrate, with section heads executing them. We lowly subordinates merely draft documents as they instruct."
Zhu Shiqing forced himself to appear calm, suppressing the tremble in his voice, and desperately recalled his uncle's words, seeking some courage.
The other man didn't respond directly. Instead, he opened the document Zhu Shiqing was holding and read:
"In April of the twenty-fourth year of the Republic, the New Life Movement had taken hold throughout the village–bao–jia system, with remarkable results. Wherever it reached, people cast off bad habits, and life was orderly."
"In July of the twenty-fifth year of the Republic, relief work for more than 3,000 refugees was successfully completed, and all household registrations were transferred here."
"In October of the twenty-fifth year of the Republic..."
Zhu Shiqing did not answer. Instead, as Division Chief Zheng read, he suddenly let out a scoff, set down the document, still not satisfied, and burst into loud laughter—but to Zhu Shiqing, it seemed more like a forced laugh.
"Do you know what such behavior was called in the past? Deceiving the sovereign and misleading those above. You say you were coerced by your superiors, but they could also pin a charge of colluding in villainy on you. Even if they couldn't execute you, they'd still skin you alive." Division Chief Zheng narrowed his eyes, then grew serious again.
"If I, Zhu Shiqing, feared death, I wouldn't have returned to Jiangning today."
Zhu Shiqing's mind had settled. Since the other side hadn't disposed of him directly but brought him to this relatively private place, they surely had another purpose—that was his confidence.
"Good! You don't fear death." Division Chief Zheng smiled faintly, then his face turned fierce, his eyes flashing with deadly intent. He bellowed, "Bring in two people!"
The black-clad man on the outside immediately took two people from inside the county government compound and led them out. Zhu Shiqing could only hear their struggling shouts from behind.
The next second, two tear-streaked men were thrown to Zhu Shiqing's right. For a moment, they crawled on the ground, bowing and kowtowing as they moved forward: "Spare us... we don't know anything..."
One of them was Zhao Qian!
Zhu Shiqing stood up involuntarily from the stool, his pupils widening. He stared blankly at the scene, then was pressed down by the black-clad man beside him.
At the front hall, Division Chief Zheng tilted his head, slowly drew a glossy black pistol from his briefcase, and handed it to the square-faced man beside him. "Bo Tong, you know what I mean."
Then he grinned.
The square-faced man understood and fired a shot at the two who had come forward.
The "Bang!" nearly shook the roof tiles off the courtyard.
The younger man beside Zhao Qian was immediately knocked to the ground. Blood from his chest gushed forth like a spring, and muffled sounds came from his mouth, but he couldn't say a word.
Terrified out of his wits, Zhao Qian turned to run at the sound of the gunshot. He hadn't taken a few steps when the square-faced man's next shot arrived.
"Bang!"
The bullet entered through the back of his head. Zhao Qian collapsed on the spot, falling straight toward Zhu Shiqing's right. Blood soaked through his clothes into the floor tiles and flowed to Zhu Shiqing's feet.
Zhu Shiqing's eyes went wide, his eyes bloodshot, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. He made no sound, only drawing ragged breaths through his nose, as he stared fixedly at Division Chief Zheng.
Outside the courtyard, crowds in the alley and within the county government office began to stir. The execution's gunshots seemed to foretell their doom.
But it was futile—like a mayfly trying to shake a tree. The commotion soon died down. The gawking commoners seemed to lose interest in watching; they scattered in a panic. Compared with seeing officials killed, they cared more about saving their own lives and avoiding involvement.
"You really don't fear death."
Division Chief Zheng clapped his hands, then ordered the two corpses dragged out.
Zhu Shiqing could no longer contain his anger and cursed: "You slaughter the innocent! You treat human lives like grass!"
Zhao Qian's death left Zhu Shiqing deeply disheartened. A clerk who had been on the job less than half a year, who had spent only his first New Year in Jiangning, now lay on this cold ground.
The two gunshots utterly shattered Zhu Shiqing's dreams and expectations from three years ago. Damn promotions, damn getting ahead in life.
The gun was the only hard truth.
Hearing Zhu Shiqing's rather theatrical cursing, the square-faced man barked coldly: "You brat, show some respect! The man sitting before you is Division Chief Zheng Jiemin! You have no idea how many people want to see Division Chief Zheng but..."
Zheng Jiemin? Zhu Shiqing realized he had run into a tough customer. His uncle had once said that the Fuxing Society was merely the outer organization of their intelligence outfit, with numerous members of mixed quality, mainly carrying out frontline assassinations and intelligence work.
Only senior and loyal members were qualified to enter the second-layer organization, the Comrades' Society; the Lixing Society was at the very core.
Members of the Lixing Society were all part of the Whampoa clique elite. Their backbone were key figures in Chiang Kai-shek's political operations, including mainstays like Dai Li and Kang Ze, and Zheng Jiemin was one of them.
"Bo Tong, don't say so much outside. I'm no big shot." Zheng Jiemin waved his hand to cut off the speech, then glanced at Zhu Shiqing. "To be honest, I admire you—not only for your professional competence but also for your courage."
Zhu Shiqing's anger was plain to see. Not taking Zheng Jiemin's cue, he made the atmosphere somewhat awkward.
Zheng Jiemin didn't mind and continued: "Actually, I don't have the authority to kill. You've probably heard the stories about the Fuxing Society. In this purge, we're only assisting the Control Yuan. We only make arrests; as for how they're tried and sentenced, that's up to them."
"Then why did you massacre the innocent?! He's only been here half a year!"
"What does that have to do with me?" Zheng Jiemin leaned back in his chair and laughed it off. "It's because of you that those old fogies at the Control Yuan will complain about me again. No one had to die today, but who let me discover a propaganda talent? You're not my cup of tea, but Kang Ze would certainly like you."
Kang Ze...
What Zheng Jiemin said was true. Kang Ze's rise was built on his advanced intelligence work and propaganda skills. In earlier years, he had served as director of the Political Department, commander of the propaganda brigade, and head of the China Daily newspaper. Now at the Lixing Society, Kang Ze was still in charge of public opinion and propaganda work.
For talent like Zhu Shiqing's, Kang Ze would be delighted to see it. As for assassination and infiltration, the Fuxing Society had specialized training classes. But when it came to cultural offensives and public opinion control, that was what Chiang Kai-shek lacked most now.
"How about it? Come work with us. Jiangning's affairs are small potatoes."
Zheng Jiemin smiled and made an inviting gesture.
Chapter 12