The scene behind the door was quite simple. The newly appointed chief, Mi Yonghua, sat behind his desk. On two sofas set against the wall across from the desk sat an Asian man and a white man with a small mustache.
"What do you think you're doing? Who let you in here?"
Mi Yonghua had never seen Zhu Shiqing's face before. From his perspective, an enlisted soldier in blue drill fatigues had just kicked open his office door. "Get the hell out of here, right now!"
With a dark expression, Zhu Shiqing shifted his gaze slightly, scrutinizing the two men on the right. The Asian man was dark-skinned, wearing a bowler hat, and looked like a small, huddled lump on the sofa. Beside him, the white man was distinctly broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with heavy jowls sagging along his cheeks. Clamped between his right index and middle fingers was a cigar, wisps of smoke curling upward.
Unsurprisingly, both men were staring back at him in astonishment as well.
As for Mi Yonghua, Zhu Shiqing remembered him clearly. Still, for a fleeting moment, Zhu wasn't sure if he had misheard earlier or if the bastard had managed to get promoted behind everyone's back. That day in front of the train station, he had distinctly heard him addressed as deputy chief, yet here he was, already occupying the chief's office.
"Chief Mi, I am Zhu Shiqing, staff officer of the West City Military Training Corps headquarters. By order of Regimental Commander Sun Yi, I have come specifically to request the police bureau's assistance." Zhu Shiqing offered a mock salute and dropped Sun Yi's name—essentially using the military to pressure the civil administration.
"Assistance?" Though Mi Yonghua was furious ten thousand times over, what he wanted most right now was to have the useless cops in the courtyard shot—they couldn't even stop a single man! His gaze slowly drifted toward the two foreigners who were silently watching the spectacle. Forcing a smile back onto his face, he replied, "Ah, one of Commander Sun's brothers. Wait just a moment. Once I've finished receiving my guests, I will call you in."
Even before his words trailed off, Mi Yonghua shot Zhu Shiqing a meaningful look. Clearly unaware that Zhu Shiqing was here precisely to cause trouble for him, he still hoped Zhu Shiqing would play along.
Zhu Shiqing's expression remained stern, his feet seemingly glued to the floor. Looking straight at Mi Yonghua, he spoke word by deliberate word: "Chief Mi, Guang'anmen has already fallen. Soldiers across half the city are fighting for their lives, and in the blink of an eye, the city will plunge into utter chaos. Instead of mobilizing your police force to seal off the streets and reassure the civilians, you are entertaining guests here. Have you not been derelict in your duties as police chief?"
Mi Yonghua's face turned green, looking like a man constipated and unable to relieve himself. Just as he was about to speak, the white man beside him cut in ahead of him:
"Chief Mi, I need your guarantee regarding the safety of the British Legation. If this war causes damage to our British property or citizens, China will bear primary responsibility!"
Behind the heavily British-accented, clumsy Chinese, Zhu Shiqing looked toward the speaker. The middle-aged man looked equally sour. With that, he snuffed his cigar out hard on the desk, stood up, and turned toward the dark-clad man beside him: "Furthermore, Mr. Matsushita, I must warn you. Whatever Japan intends to do, you had best ensure your Japanese shells do not fly over British heads!"
Having said his piece, the "British gentleman" swept out in a huff.
Mi Yonghua hurriedly scrambled up, shuffled his legs out from under the desk, and bowed half-bent to see him off.
Hearing this, Zhu Shiqing understood that the Asian man before him was indeed Japanese, likely from the Japanese barracks in the Legation Quarter.
"Chief Mi, the Imperial Army has its own considerations regarding international affairs. There is no need for your worry."
It was another classic rendition of Japanese soldier pidgin Chinese. With that, the Japanese man also rose to take his leave. As he brushed past Zhu Shiqing, their eyes met, both catching a glimpse of the murderous intent in each other's gaze.
Once they were the only two left in the office, Mi Yonghua's long-suppressed temper finally erupted. He shoved his chair back with a loud clatter and slumped heavily into it. Glaring at Zhu Shiqing, he wanted to blow up, but held back part of his fury at the last moment, settling for a harsh, ill-tempered tone:
"Speak! What do you want assistance with? All my police officers are already deployed!"
"Who was the gatekeeper police officer in charge of the keys at Guang'anmen tonight? Is he back yet?!" Zhu Shiqing was just as blunt. He strode forward, planted himself on the spot the Japanese pig had just warmed, and casually crossed his legs.
With Zhu Shiqing acting this uncompromisingly tough, Mi Yonghua felt a twinge of panic. Running through the exchange again in his head, he only now recalled the detail embedded in Zhu Shiqing's earlier words: Guang'anmen had fallen. Startled, he leaped to his feet again to confirm:
"Are you saying the devils have already breached the city gates? That shouldn't be possible!"
Looking at the old rascal, Zhu Shiqing didn't care whether he was truly ignorant or merely playing dumb. He pressed aggressively, "Just tell me which gatekeepers held the keys at Guang'anmen tonight. The military suspects someone colluded with the Japanese from the inside."
Mi Yonghua was a Beiping native himself; he knew just how formidable Guang'anmen's defenses were. He couldn't help wondering why that Jap had paid a sudden visit tonight, strutting around and putting on airs in front of him. Clearly, the Japanese had anticipated breaching Beiping all along!
"Captain Ma! Captain Ma, get your ass in here!" Hurrying over, Mi Yonghua yanked open the office door and bellowed down the hallway.
The mentioned Captain Ma hastily straightened his police cap and entered the office, asking softly, "What is it, Chief?"
"Let me ask you: who were the gatekeepers on duty at Guang'anmen tonight? Where are they right now? Who held the keys?" Mi Yonghua was somewhat portly. He stood with hands on his hips, panting slightly as he spoke; by his frantic movements, he was genuinely panicked.
"Chief, Han Bangzi and his crew were managing Guang'anmen today. The keys were in Han Bangzi's hands."
"Where are they now?"
"I heard the Japanese fought their way into the city. They probably died in the crossfire!"
"Bullshit! You lot usually dodge the Japanese faster than rabbits. Once the guns went off, wouldn't they have run for their lives? They're definitely still in the city. Take your men and find them right now!"
"Wait, Chief, on a dark and windy night like this, with the Japanese still assaulting the city, where am I supposed to look? Besides, Han Bangzi and his bunch belong to President Lu. How would I dare touch them?"
Mi Yonghua leaned one palm against the desk, his rage mounting with every word until he lashed out with a hard slap across the man's face. "Son of a bitch, you useless piece of trash! What the hell do I keep a detective squad captain like you around for? Get off your ass, take your men, and search! I want them found—alive or dead, body or corpse!"
Only then did Captain Ma leave in dejection. Mi Yonghua turned back to face Zhu Shiqing, his expression somber as he said, "It is my failing. I've been too lax in disciplining my subordinates, making a fool of myself before you. Please, Staff Officer Zhu, convey my regards to Commander Sun when you return. Ask him not to file a complaint against me with the garrison regiment. As soon as the police bureau has results, we will contact you immediately. I, Mi, thank you in advance."
"Chief Mi, just how many men from the Yimeng Society have infiltrated your police bureau's ranks? Looking at the state of things today, I'm afraid your title of chief is nothing but an empty shell, all show and no substance," Zhu Shiqing said with a touch of flippancy, shocking Mi Yonghua so much that his eyes went wide.
"You know about the Yimeng Society?" Mi Yonghua took two steps toward Zhu Shiqing. "Who told you?"
"Does Chief Mi remember that truckload of national treasures?" Zhu Shiqing smiled faintly. "Did the brothers we let go fail to report to Chief Mi?"
Mi Yonghua's vision went dark for a second as he realized the identity of the man before him. Now the masks were off between them. No longer putting on airs, Mi Yonghua slowly returned to his seat, his tone turning frosty: "So it was you. Well, thanks to you, I didn't strike it rich, but I did get promoted."
Though outwardly calm, Zhu Shiqing's words struck Mi Yonghua right in his sore spot. The young man had hit the nail on the head: Mi only knew that the brothers tailing them that day had been caught, but what those men had actually confessed to Zhu Shiqing had never been disclosed to him—not a single word!
Yet he couldn't ask, because when it came to loyalty and faction, those men belonged to Lu Hong, president of the Yimeng Society; they were merely wearing police uniforms.
As for Lu Hong, Mi Yonghua, and Lin Hongwen, the three appeared to form an ironclad triangle on the surface, but behind each other's backs, they jockeyed for power and wealth without yielding an inch. It was a textbook case of paper-thin brotherhood, and ordinarily, they took care not to provoke one another.
Zhu Shiqing stood up and twisted the knife further: "Chief Mi, striking it rich is a trivial matter. But if the gatekeepers truly opened the city gate, you, as police chief, will never be able to absolve yourself of blame. I know that in times of war, everyone wants to rake in some cash for a rainy day. But this is a matter of state. If the label of traitor colluding with the enemy gets pinned to your head today, forget keeping your seat as chief—you might well be dragged into the street and shot tomorrow!"
"Wait, what does that have to do with me?" Mi Yonghua slapped the desk several times in a panic. "If those useless cowards at the gate really did it, that's Lu Hong's responsibility! I knew nothing about it!"
"Do you truly believe Captain Ma will be able to track those men down? When an investigation comes down, won't it land squarely on your Beiping Police Bureau? Even if you flee, the reputation of being a traitorous arch-hanjian will follow you, Mi Yonghua, for the rest of your life!"
Zhu Shiqing's stern rebuke flushed Mi Yonghua's cheeks crimson, his index finger trembling against the desk. Truth be told, he was merely greedy for money and clinging to power; when it came to actual collusion with the Japanese, he genuinely lacked the guts. As a local, the last thing he wanted was to be cursed by generations of his fellow townsfolk.
"Then tell me, what should I do?!"
Mi Yonghua twisted his mouth, staring at Zhu Shiqing with pleading urgency in his eyes.
Chapter 72