Fang Wenjian arrived just in time. Seeing the commotion, he stepped in and knocked down the men charging at the wagons with a flurry of punches and kicks.
"The soldiers are beating people!"
The fall hadn't hurt them one bit, but they shrieked at the top of their lungs!
As the situation began to spiral out of control, Zhu Shiqing circled around the other side of the convoy toward the rear, grabbed Lin Hongwen from the tail end, and pointed at the chaos ahead. "Lin Hongwen, did you arrange this?"
Lin Hongwen retorted angrily, "What kind of nonsense is that? I'm the Director of the Transportation Department. If something goes wrong, won't I be the one taking the blame in the end?"
Zhu Shiqing had only asked because anyone daring to risk their neck leading a clash against government troops usually had someone pulling the strings. Despite the dense crowds and endless wagging tongues at Xizhimen, you couldn't find a single person on the entire street with the guts to confront the army.
Yet Lin Hongwen's words held truth—having trouble break out inside the city offered him no benefit whatsoever.
"You've knocked around Beiping all these years—you damn well better think of something!" Zhu Shiqing felt as if he were punching cotton when dealing with these common folk. Now that they had been incited, he was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
Lin Hongwen gathered his wits and followed Zhu Shiqing toward the front of the convoy. At the very rear, bringing up the tail, was an old military truck where Museum Director Ma Heng sat in personal command.
Ahead, the confrontation had deteriorated into shoving between soldiers and civilians, with underhanded blows flying back and forth. Lin Hongwen watched for a while, only to sigh, "This is worse than just letting me ship them out by train earlier!"
Zhu Shiqing pursed his lips, finding himself somewhat in agreement. It seemed that if the government wanted to get anything done, operating in secret was indeed better; trying to explain everything to the public only backfired.
"As things stand, there's still one way." Lin Hongwen abruptly turned his head, a hint of ruthlessness gleaming in his eyes as he looked at Zhu Shiqing.
"What way?" Zhu Shiqing felt a chill run through him under that gaze.
Lin Hongwen enunciated every word: "Zhu Shiqing, if you trust me, I'll handle it. If you don't, you can just keep standing here like this."
"Do it! As long as you don't shoot or hurt anyone, do whatever you want!" Zhu Shiqing said anxiously.
Having received permission, Lin Hongwen spun around and sprinted toward the rear of the vehicles. He circled around, stepped back onto the mouth of the street at Xizhimen, and while the crowd was still swarming the convoy, broke into a wild sprint!
Peering through the narrow gaps in the crowd, Zhu Shiqing tracked Lin Hongwen's movements. Just as he was wondering what the man was up to, a furious roar shattered the air!
"The Japanese are in the city! The officials are all fleeing to Deshengmen!"
"Deshengmen has been opened! The Japanese took Yongdingmen!"
...
Hearing this, Zhu Shiqing was struck speechless. The old bastard's trick was actually to concoct rumors himself? Fighting poison with poison?
Yet with Lin Hongwen yelling at the top of his lungs, even though the mob didn't scatter in an instant, they stopped what they were doing and stared dumbly at this fat ball of a man barrelling past.
Lin Hongwen's playbook wasn't that simple. As he ran, he slapped the shoulders of several guards at the tail of the convoy. The soldiers caught on quickly. Taking the lead, they sprinted toward Deshengmen, tearing off their military tunics on the spot and casually tossing their rifles onto the wagons!
Seeing this, how could the surrounding crowd not lose their minds?
In an instant, the entire crowd dispersed. Some bolted straight toward Deshengmen; some rushed home first before fleeing there; and some ran so frantically they tumbled and were trampled underfoot like a brutal Thai massage! Civilians in the distance who hadn't taken part saw the massive stampede and didn't bother asking questions—grabbing their bundles or hoisting bags over their shoulders, they joined the rush!
In a flash, the entirety of Xizhimen Street stood deserted.
Lin Hongwen circled around shouting a few more rounds before returning out of breath. Seeing the convoy slowly start moving, he shot Zhu Shiqing a smug grin.
A few young men were still scattered here and there—the ones Fang Wenjian had just floored. Lin Hongwen recognized them at a glance as members of the Yimeng Society. When their eyes met his, the men were terrified and scrambled away.
Zhu Shiqing drifted over beside Lin Hongwen and remarked, half in praise and half in mockery, "Director Lin, you're too clever. Working with you seems like an easy way to end up on the losing end..."
Lin Hongwen shook his head. "Officer Zhu, you're still young. Once you become a high official in the future, you'll understand even better than I do!"
Regardless of the pressure the guards at Deshengmen would now face or the chaos these citizens would unleash over there, at this moment, the convoy was guaranteed safe passage out of Xizhimen. In an era where information flowed so poorly, such rumor tactics worked like a charm almost every time.
(They work just as well in an age of free-flowing information, for that matter.)
Once out of Xizhimen, the journey of relocating the cultural relics southward had officially begun. Haojiawan was about a one- to two-hour trip away, and Zhu Shiqing and Lin Hongwen chatted intermittently along the road.
"Director Lin, you certainly taught me a great deal today," Zhu Shiqing said with a smile.
"People don't teach people; circumstances do. Officer Zhu, you're still young," Lin Hongwen replied in all seriousness.
"Who do you think those men leading the trouble just now were?"
Lin Hongwen glanced sideways and saw Zhu Shiqing staring at him. Knowing the boy was hinting at something, he faked a couple of coughs and said slowly, "No idea."
"Could it be the Yimeng Society?" Zhu Shiqing laid the cards on the table.
At the mention of the Yimeng Society, anger simmered in Lin Hongwen's chest. Those bastards earlier were clearly petty thugs from the gang; knowing full well he was in charge of this operation, they had still caused trouble! It was at that moment Lin Hongwen faintly sensed that something was amiss with the Yimeng Society.
Earlier, the Yimeng Society had functioned merely as a gang doing shady deeds, which to some extent had allowed both Lin Hongwen and Mi Yonghua to reap some benefits.
Yet those benefits were predicated on Beiping remaining under the control of the 29th Army. Lin Hongwen knew this well: there was a time and place to line one's pockets. His earlier scheme to smuggle the relics had been based on that period of relative peace, which happened to coincide with the collective absence of top government officials.
Now, however, the Japanese army was at the city gates, and by all appearances the 29th Army would not hold out much longer. Lin Hongwen thus set aside his petty schemes. When the mansion was about to collapse, what good would it do even if he became mayor once the city fell?
After mulling it over for a moment, Lin Hongwen made a seemingly unrelated remark: "Officer Zhu, I'm not a good man—you know that. But I hate the Japanese just as much. What those people did today was a blatant attempt to plunge the city into chaos. You and I had our grievances before, but I helped you out today, so consider us even."
Zhu Shiqing nodded, then asked, "If the Japanese break into Beiping, what do you plan to do, Director Lin?"
"Hard to say." Lin Hongwen paused for a beat, then laughed jokingly. "Even if I serve as an official under the Japanese, I'll be a corrupt official! Haha!"
Zhu Shiqing was speechless. But on second thought, if the Japanese puppet government was filled with clever opportunists like Lin Hongwen, it probably wouldn't function at all. With that, he chuckled along with him.
Upon arriving at Haojiawan, Director Ma Heng got down to bid farewell to Zhu Shiqing and his party. It appeared their luck had held today; they hadn't encountered any Japanese troops along the way. Generally speaking, once they reached Mentougou, they would be safe. After exchanging pleasantries and words of concern, Zhu Shiqing watched the convoy slowly depart.
By the time they withdrew to Xizhimen, the sun was already sinking toward the west.
Entering the city this time, they didn't go through the gates. Instead, they were hauled up with ropes by the defending soldiers. After several bouts of chaos, the gates of Beiping could definitely no longer be opened lightly.
Their mission had been accomplished smoothly, but Zhu Shiqing knew in his heart that the real war was about to begin. Anxious to report back to regimental headquarters, he was just about to leave when Lin Hongwen called him back.
"Officer Zhu, Brigade Commander Ruan Xuanwu, who is guarding Zuo'anmen—he's the man backing the Yimeng Society from behind the scenes. Keep a sharp eye on him." Lin Hongwen pulled Zhu Shiqing close, whispering softly into his ear.
Zhu Shiqing stared at Lin Hongwen in stunned silence, then nodded.
Chapter 76