"What do you think? Are these documents genuine? Is it as this Li Min claims? Has Wang's man, Hung Mien-lo, come to some arrangement with Wong Yi-sun?"
Nan Ho considered a moment, then gave a sigh. "This troubles me, Chieh Hsia. It troubles me greatly. As you know, latest reports indicate that there is some kind of struggle going on in the lowers of our City. The full extent of it we do not know as yet, though first indications are that it is of some considerable scale. In the circumstances, this message is of profound significance, for it provides us with a much clearer understanding of what is happening."
Li Yuan drew the ring toward him, then picked it up between his left-hand thumb and forefinger, studying it, troubled by something familiar about the design inset into its face.
"Maybe so. But what do we know about this Li Min? Where does he come from? And how has he come by the power to take on the rest of the brotherhoods?"
Nan Ho hesitated, then gave a tiny shake of his head. "It is a great mystery, Chieh Hsia. We have heard conflicting reports this past year. One story tells of a tall pai nan jen—a pale man—who killed one of the Big Bosses, Whiskers Lu, and usurped his position. Certainly Lu Ming-shao has been killed, but how or why has been hard to ascertain. As far as the usurper himself is concerned, it has been difficult getting any word of who or what he is. Either no one knows or no one wishes to say. Either way, our investigations have drawn a blank. As for this Li Min, we have no word at all. This is the first anyone has heard of the man."
Li Yuan set the ring down, then picked up the handwritten paper once again, his eyes drawn to the printed "chop" at the foot of the page and the bright red signature to its right. The top character, Li, was the same as that used by the son of K'ung Fu Tzu, and denoted a carp. The underlying character, Min, meant "strong" or "brave."
"Brave Carp," he said quietly, then set the paper aside. "An adopted name, I would say, wouldn't you, Master Nan?"
"It is possible, Chieh Hsia"
"If so, then might this not be the kind of name our friend, the Hung Moo who killed Whiskers Lu, would adopt?"
Nan Ho shrugged. "Again, it is possible, Chieh Hsia. But is this significant? Does it matter who Li Miryis? Surely the important thing here is Wang Sau-leyan's involvement? If it is true . . ."
Li Yuan raised a hand. At once Nan Ho fell silent.
"As you say, if our cousin Wang has tried to make a deal with Fat Wong, then that is indeed significant. But not as significant, perhaps, as what is going on right now in the lowers of the City."
He sat back, his eyes resting on the scattered files and papers a moment, then got up and went across to the open doorway, standing there, contemplating the afternoon sunlight, his back to his Chancellor.
"I must be honest with you, Nan Ho, I have never been entirely happy dealing with Wong Yi-sun and his "brothers." Given the circumstances it was a necessity, and yet my instinct has been against it from the first. I recall only too well my father's attempts to come to terms with the Hung Mun. And his failings in that regard. Failings which, to be frank, have colored my own endeavors."
Li Yuan turned back, looking at his Chancellor. "Which is to say, I suppose, that Hung Mien-lo's advances do not surprise me. I do not trust our friend, Wong Yi-sun. Moreover, I have known for some time now that my cousin Wang seeks to undermine me by whatever means possible. In the circumstances, some kind of alliance of self-interest has seemed to me not merely possible but inevitable.
"All of which is worrying, I agree, but not half so worrying as this matter with Li Min. I mean, why should a man we have never heard of before today go out of his way to attack a vastly superior enemy? And why should that same man, confidently assuming that he will emerge from this conflict triumphant, write to me in such terms, pleading necessity and assuring me of his loyalty? It makes little sense, wouldn't you say, Master Nan? That is, unless there is much that we do not know."
Nan Ho bowed his head. "It is strange, I agree, Chieh Hsia, but for myself I had put little store by the man's words. It was solely their context that interested me, and the light they seemed to throw upon a murky situation." He cleared his throat, then moved a little closer to his T'ang. "It might well prove that I have misread the situation, Chieh Hsia, but from what we know, it seems most unlikely that Li Min will prevail."
"Then what does he want?"
"To draw you into this conflict, Chieh Hsia. To win you over to his side and—by providing you with evidence of Fat Wong's duplicity— to get you to throw in your Hei against the United Bamboo, as you did once before against Iron Mu and the Big Circle."
Li Yuan laughed. "Then why does he quite explicitly beg me not to intervene?" He went across to the desk and picked Li Min's letter up, quickly locating the passage. "Here! I quote you, Master Nan. 'I most humbly beg His Most Serene Highness not in any way to be drawn into this conflict. . .'" He looked up at his Chancellor. "Is that not clear? Or am I to read his words some other way?"
"Forgive me, Chieh Hsia. I know how it reads, yet it makes no sense unless one interprets it otherwise."
"Unless Li Min really does think he can defeat his enemies. Unless he really is concerned that I might intervene on Fat Wong's behalf and turn the tables against him."
"But Chieh Hsia. . ."
Again the young T'ang raised a hand. "I am loath to contradict you, Master Nan, but for once my instinct is strong. Something is going on down there that we do not understand as yet. Something of profound and lasting significance to the future of my City. My gut instinct is to act, and at once, but without further information it would be foolhardy to commit myself. So that must be our priority: to gather information; to find out all we can about this Li Min— whatever it costs—and to monitor the situation down there closely. To that end I want you to instruct General Rheinhardt to mobilize a special force to go down there and find out what they can. And I want Rheinhardt to report back to me, personally, every hour on the hour."
Chancellor Nan bowed low. "As you wish, Chieh Hsia."
"Then go. There is no time to lose."
Li Yuan stood there a moment after Nan Ho had gone, deep in thought, staring at the lacquered surface of the door, then he turned back, looking across at the surface of his desk, his eyes returning to the ring. That design, like a pike turning in the water: where had he seen that before? He went across and picked it up again, trying to fit it on his finger and noting, as before, how narrow it was, as if made for a woman's hand. Yet it was clearly a man's ring, the rough-cast iron alriiost brutal in its yang masculinity.
pe glanced down at the signature on the paper, then looked back at the ring. A carp, a pike. The two things reminded him of his father's words that time, about the City being a carp pool without a pike. Well maybe that was it. Maybe that was the clue to it all.
A carp, a pike. For a moment longer he stood there, staring at the two things, as if to free their significance from the air, then, with a sigh of impatience, he turned and went out into the early afternoon sunlight, determined to enjoy it.
THE BITTER SCENT of burning silk hung in the air as Fat Wong made his way down the narrow steps, his tiny feet moving briskly, a handful of his men following after. The sound of fighting was close now, the rapid stutter of small-arms fire punctuated by dull concussions that made the whole deck shudder. Wong's face was set, his movements urgent. Time was against him.
At the foot of the steps he turned right. Ahead, twenty ch'i along, the corridor was blocked by a makeshift barrier, manned by his own men. Wong Yi-sun approached it at a run, waving the guards aside as he clambered up over the barrier and dropped down nimbly onto the other side, hurrying on, not waiting for his men. Farther up the corridor, in a large room to the left, a temporary headquarters had been set up. Going in, he went straight to the central table, pushing aside the men who stood there. Looking down at the hand-drawn map of the United Bamboo's heartland, he studied the position of the brightly colored squares on the hexagonal grid, taking the situation in at a glance.