Zhu Shiqing could no longer remember how many times he had walked in and out of this conference room. Over his three years working in Jiangning County, every fixture and furnishing in the county government office had become etched into his memory.
Pushing the door open, he found that all the clutter had been cleared out. The vast room held nothing except a long office table. Behind it stood two chairs, occupied by the two middle-aged men he had seen outside earlier.
Just inside the entrance, two armed guards stood at attention with rifles. To the right of the long table was a smaller desk, where a clerk was acting as a recorder, scribbling and copying without pause.
A single chair sat before the long table. Zhu Shiqing walked forward at an unhurried pace and sat down. Only now could he clearly make out the appearances of the two men. The one on the left, much like Diao Yuxiu, had a round face, round eyes behind spectacles, and a somewhat flat nose. The one on the right was leaner, with dark skin and a ramrod-straight posture, looking very much like a former soldier.
The lean man's gaze was slightly gentler, his expression not nearly as stern. He began with a proper introduction of who they were:
"Zhu Shiqing, today is merely a routine inquiry. The purpose is to root out corrupt officials who truly harm the national interest and enrich themselves off the war. There is no need to be nervous. Simply answer what we ask. Beside me is Commissioner Tang from the Inspection Division; I am Commissioner Nie."
The bespectacled man took the lead in questioning. "Name."
"Zhu Shiqing."
"Section."
"Civil Affairs Section."
"Superior."
"Xu Gang."
As the rapid-fire questions and answers went back and forth, Commissioner Tang seemed to recall something. He suddenly raised his head, scrutinized Zhu Shiqing from head to toe, and asked with a hint of curiosity, "You're the kid the Fuxing Society just took away?"
Zhu Shiqing gave a slight nod.
The two commissioners exchanged a glance, but without pursuing the matter further, they dropped the subject and continued their interrogation.
Yet Zhu Shiqing was certain there was a story behind it. Could it be... that some organizational friction existed between the Control Yuan and the Fuxing Society? He did not have to ponder long; it was bound to exist. As a specialized agency answering directly to Chiang Kai-shek as its supreme leader, the Fuxing Society frequently bypassed hierarchy, overstepped authority, and flouted protocol.
The recent shooting of the county administrative staff, for instance, was undeniably an affront to the Control Yuan's authority.
"Your problems are not small," Commissioner Tang said, glancing down at the papers in his hands and adopting a snide, mocking tone.
Just as Zhu Shiqing was organizing his words to deflect the remark, Commissioner Nie suddenly cut in: "Zhu Shiqing, you don't need to overthink it. Tell us truthfully what you did and whose instructions you were following. We won't wrong an innocent man, nor will we let a culprit off."
Commissioner Tang felt somewhat annoyed by the sudden interruption, but he had no choice but to pick up the materials and stick to the case at hand.
"Several people have confessed that you're very close to Diao Yuxiu. Some even say you act as his alter ego, that all matters, big or small, must pass through your hands. Is that correct?"
"I did handle a great deal of work for Diao Yuxiu, mostly clerical, along with some civil affairs matters. But everything was done in accordance with Diao Yuxiu's instructions. I am merely a clerk, only three years on the job; I hardly qualify as Diao Yuxiu's alter ego."
"So you're saying all those documents reflected Diao Yuxiu's intent?" It was not that Commissioner Tang disbelieved him; rather, he was deliberately trying to make things difficult for Zhu Shiqing. "Just a moment ago, he confessed that all of this was your fine handiwork."
"If the Commissioner believed him, then why have him dragged out?" Zhu Shiqing replied evenly.
Commissioner Tang was momentarily left speechless. Losing face and unable to vent his temper directly, his voice grew sharper and his pace quickened as he pressed on: "Your superior Xu Gang fled—you can't deny that, can you? As Xu Gang's right-hand man, there's no way you don't know how much money Civil Affairs embezzled over the years!"
With that, Commissioner Tang held up another ledger from the table with supreme confidence. An audit had clearly already been carried out. Given Jiangning County's mess of an account book, if even half of it balanced, it would be by the grace of Buddha.
"I know about county affairs; how would I know about the money?" Zhu Shiqing did not bat an eye, his tone even turning slightly flippant. "Why ask me instead of the Finance Section? The finance section chief is still sitting outside right now. If you think there's an issue, why not bring him in and confront him face-to-face?"
"All right, all right, Old Tang. Stick to the facts; don't bring your temper into this," Commissioner Nie intervened again, curbing Commissioner Tang's simmering rage.
Anyone else coming in would have begged for mercy. Yet this Zhu Shiqing, who clearly had serious problems hanging over him, spoke with utter righteousness instead.
Commissioner Tang was fuming. The previous person questioned had been a clerk too—why hadn't Old Nie protected him like this? Yet when it came to this Zhu Shiqing, Nie contradicted him at every turn.
"Now that Xu Gang has fled, do you know where he might have gone?"
"I don't."
"If you don't give him up, you're the one who'll be convicted."
"Xu Gang is Xu Gang. What does he have to do with me? You can't catch the man yourselves, so you're making trouble for a young person?"
"You'd better watch your attitude! These things passed through your hands. Even if you're not the mastermind, if I want you convicted, it's just a matter of a word from me." Commissioner Tang erupted once more, his mustache twitching with fury and his round head flushed red from rush of blood.
Zhu Shiqing did not respond to his outrage. Instead, he turned to Commissioner Nie beside him: "Commissioner Nie, may I ask: when problems arise in a locality, must the entire administrative system be wiped clean?"
"Naturally not."
"Then, in your investigative experience, does corruption lie with the principal officials or with the grassroots clerks?"
"With the principal officials, of course. If the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be warped."
"I have no more questions," Zhu Shiqing said deliberately, enunciating every word.
Commissioner Nie merely smiled and replied, "Zhu Shiqing, you may return. As I said at the start, we will investigate the specific details. This matter is not only about falsified affairs and accounts in Jiangning County—huge sums of national defense funds have vanished into thin air, and national defense projects have failed to finish on schedule. These concern vital state affairs; we dare not be remiss.
"We will note your situation for now. Once we combine it with testimony from others later on, if there is no issue, you will not be wronged."
Zhu Shiqing nodded, offered a polite "Thank you," stood, and left.
The moment the conference room door closed, Commissioner Tang exploded.
"Old Nie, what's your game? Choking me off at every turn! How come I didn't see you being so benevolent earlier?"
Nie merely shook his head in exasperation. As he gathered the materials on the table, he casually crumpled the file on Zhu Shiqing into a ball, then dismissed the recording clerk and the guards at the door.
"Do you even know who this Zhu Shiqing is?"
"Who is he? I checked his file; there's nothing impressive there," Tang muttered at Nie's prompt, quickly racking his brains to see if he had overlooked some detail.
"Sun Beifeng of the General Staff is his uncle!"
"Sun Beifeng? You mean Old Smoker Sun? Wait, since when does Old Smoker Sun have a nephew named Zhu?" Commissioner Tang nearly jumped out of his skin, his eyes going wide. "Wait, Old Nie, why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Commissioner Nie shook his head helplessly. "Old Smoker took him in. And I kept smoothing things over for you, my friend! You insisted on giving him a hard time; what was I supposed to do? Sun Beifeng's backing is something neither of us can afford to cross. Weigh that for yourself."
"Then what do we do now? You son of a bitch, you even gave him both our surnames!"
"What can we do? Act like nothing happened, and let him go immediately."
Commissioner Tang let out a shaky breath and muttered, "Thank goodness you were here. If Commander Cheng loses his temper... even if we survive, we'd lose a layer of skin."
Chapter 14