Ch. 8.2
It turned out that the secret emissary from j.a.pan who had come to sign the agreement to lease the naval port had been a.s.sa.s.sinated almost as soon as he had got off the train.
This emissary"s status had been special for not only had he been a lieutenant in the j.a.panese Navy, he had also been a trusted aide to the j.a.panese Naval Minister, Admiral Chikano.
The Coalition Army had provided tight security and had kept the itinerary of this emissary closely under wraps but the a.s.sa.s.sin had somehow infiltrated the armed escort, got close enough and fired three shots. All three shots had hit vital points, moreover the bullets had been smeared with poison. Despite being rushed to hospital on the spot, the injuries had been too serious and they had not been able to save the emissary.
The death of this special emissary and trusted aide to the j.a.panese Naval Minister caused a sensation among the local and foreign media. Students who had somehow got wind of the plans to lease the port immediately took to the streets to hold pet.i.tions and demonstrations.
Li Zhongnian now had to put out several fires¹: having to deny that he had planned to lease the port to the j.a.panese Navy, cracking down on the student demonstrators, dealing with the furious j.a.panese military and more pressingly, placating his other allies.
¹ 焦頭爛額 jiāotóu-làn’é lit. badly burned about the head (from trying to put out a fire) (idiom); fig. hard-pressed. If you"re not reading this post at MerakiTranslations, it has been stolen and reproduced without consent at bootleg websites.
For a time he was a.s.sailed on all sides, attacked from the front and rear.² Ensconced north of the Yangtze, Murong Chen wrote a lengthy circular telegram of more than a thousand characters, denouncing Li Zhongnian as a traitor to the country and threatening to lead his forces south to punish said traitor.
² 四面楚歌 sìmiàn Chǔ gē lit. on all sides, the songs of Chu (idiom); fig. be besieged on all sides; find oneself under fire from all quarters. 腹背受敵 fù-bèi shòu dí be attacked front and rear.
For a period of time, the atmosphere in Fuyuan city was grim. Coupled with several days of student demonstrations, it forced the army to declare martial law.
As the nominal chief commander of the Coalition Army, Yi Liankai was naturally kept busy. For days he left early and came home late and Qin Sang only saw him occasionally. He had a perpetual slight frown as though he had been pestered beyond endurance.
"Protest, protest — as if protesting will save the country!" he grumbled. "These students don’t know a d.a.m.n thing! Pasting leaflets everywhere, shouting slogans against the warlords and calling for power to be returned to the Cabinet. Fools! The Cabinet is so weak and ineffective nowadays. If each warlord didn’t do things his own way,³ we would long been destroyed in one fell swoop, yet these students still want power to be returned to the Cabinet? Hng! Is there even a single talent among those fellows?"
³ 各自為政 gèzì wéi zhèng each does things in his own way
Qin Sang was actually worried about something else. The papers had reported that more than ten students had been arrested by the Public Security Bureau. Trying to persuade him indirectly, she said: "The students are young and hot-headed so naturally they do things impulsively. Locking them up is going to attract a lot of unpleasant political criticism. After you’ve scared them a little, do let them go. Surely you"re not really going to find fault with a group of students."
"Since we"re nothing but unreasonable warlords, what do we care about political criticism?" Yi Liankai said derisively but in the end he sighed and added, "I used to take exception to Lao Er"s holding all the reins⁴. Only now do I realise that this position of command is a poisoned chalice."
⁴ 大權獨攬 dàquán dú lǎn centralize power in one person’s hands; have sole power; arrogate all authority to oneself. If you"re not reading this post at MerakiTranslations, it has been stolen and reproduced without consent at bootleg websites.
Qin Sang did not dare say much more for fear it would arouse his suspicions. It was only at night when she heard him put a call through to the Public Security Bureau ordering the release of all the students that she felt slightly relieved.
As luck would have it, she herself encountered another group of student demonstrators the next day on her way back from the Yi family home. The street was already narrow to begin with and when the enormous group surged forward, the car was inevitably stuck and couldn’t move an inch.
Qin Sang sat inside the car watching the indignant students. Hundreds of them were carrying banners and shouting slogans. Leaflets were fluttering down like snow and someone who saw her car kept pushing leaflets through the window.*
Unfortunately, someone else shouted: "This is a car from the city defence headquarters!"
The student demonstrators suddenly began surrounding the car aggressively; several started hitting and kicking the doors, others shouting for it to be smashed. The alarmed driver wanted to floor the accelerator and make a run for it but the car was wholly surrounded and could not move at all. Luckily this was a bulletproof car and with the doors locked, the interior was still safe except that the protesters were still hammering on the windows. The crowd sentiment was belligerent and could not be controlled for the time being. The one servant girl accompanying Qin Sang was frightened out of her wits by the scene.
Qin Sang never liked to take too many people along with her when she went out so there was only one bodyguard sitting next to the driver. This guard was carrying a gun but he was at his wits" end5 in such a situation and had broken out into a sweat. He cast a look at Qin Sang and appealed, "Madam!"
5 一籌莫展 yī chóu mò zhǎn can find no way out; be at one’s wits’ end; be at the end of one’s tether
"Don’t shoot." Qin Sang ordered. "They’re all students out there. We cannot risk hurting them accidentally."
Right at this moment, one of the protesters picked up a rock and smashed it against the window. The gla.s.s, being bulletproof, did not break although it cracked widely.
When those people saw that it had an effect, there was a clamour and they began picking up rocks and stones with which to smash the car. In a short time the gla.s.s was broken and several of them began reaching inside to try and unlock the doors which scared the servant girl into a crying fit.
The guard swung round to hand the gun to Qin Sang then turned away, pulled out a dagger and began wildly slashing and stabbing at those hands that were reaching into the car. Right in the midst of this chaos they suddenly heard a loud bang from afar. Several people screamed and suddenly they all scattered and fled.
Qin Sang asked, "Is it the guards from Public Security?"
The driver strained to see before answering, "Doesn’t appear to be them."
Qin Sang was thinking that besides the guards from the Public Security Bureau, the only other soldiers who could fire in public would be those from the garrison. If they started shooting, she feared that innocent people would be hurt so she said hurriedly, "Drive us there so we can have a look at who’s shooting."
"Madam, you had better go back to the field headquarters first." The bodyguard turned around and added, "It’s so messy out here. Madam will please go back to the headquarters now."
Without waiting for her reply, the driver started the car and rushed them back to the city defence headquarters.
12’s notes:
* Maybe a tiny inconsistency in the story? If the windows were rolled up as they seem to have been, how could they be stuffing leaflets through the window?