"Remember," she said reassuringly, "it's not you we want, Steward Wong. Do as I say and you'll live. But relax. Shou Chen-hai must suspect nothing. He'll be back from seeing the girl soon, so run his bath and tend to him as normal. But remember, we shall be watching your every movement. At the least sign . . ."
The Steward bowed his head.
. "Good." She turned, double-checking the room, then patted the pocket of her tunic. The papers were inside—the pamphlet explaining their reasons for the execution and the official death warrant, signed by all five members of the High Council of the Yu. These would be left on Shou's body for Security to find. Meanwhile, friends sympathetic to the cause would be distributing copies of the pamphlet throughout the Lowers. More than fifty million in all, paid for from the coffers of the long-defunct Ping Tiao. Money that Mach had sifted away after Helmstadt and before the debacle at Bremen that had brought about the Ping Tioo's demise.
"Okay. You know what to say? Good. Then get to work. I want things prepared for when he returns."
She joined Erika at the desk in the tiny surveillance room. At once she picked up the figure of the Chief Steward as he made his way down the corridor to the main bathroom. Keeping an eye on what he did, she glanced at the other screens, once more appalled by the luxury, by the sheer waste of what she saw. Shou Chen-hai's family was no bigger than many in the Mids and Lowers, and yet he had all this: twenty-four rooms, including no less than two kitchens and three private bathrooms. It was disgraceful. An insult to those he was meant to serve. But that was not why she was here, for there were many who l$ed as Shou Chen-hai lived, unaware of the misery and suffering their greed relied upon. No, there were specific reasons for singling out Shou Chen-hai.
She shuddered, indignation fueling her anger. Shou Chen-hai was a cheat. And not just any cheat. His cheating was on a grand scale and would result in untold suffering: in children not receiving treatment for debilitating diseases; in good men bleeding to death in overcrowded Accident Clinics; in mothers dying in childbirth because the facilities promised by the T'ang had not been built. She laughed coldly. That ceremony earlier had been a sham. The T'ang's Chancellor had been shown around the new wards and operating theaters as if they were typical of what existed in the rest of the facility. But she had seen. With her own eyes she had seen the empty wards, the unbuilt theatres, the empty spaces where real and solid things ought to have been. Only a fifth of the promised facility had been built. The rest did not exist—would never exist—because Shou Chen-hai and his friends had taken the allocated funds and spent them on their own personal schemes. She shook her head slowly, still astonished by the scale of the deception. It was not unheard offer officials to take ten, even fifteen, percent of any project. It was even, in this crazy world of theirs, expected. But eighty percent! Four billion yua.nl Ywe Hao gritted her teeth. It could not be tolerated. Shou Chen-hai had to be made an example of, else countless more would suffer while such as Shou grew bloated on their suffering.
She turned, looking at Erika. "Who is Shou seeing?"
Erika smiled, her eyes never leaving the screen. "One of his underling's daughters. A young thing of thirteen. The mother knows but condones it. And who can blame her?"
"No . . ." Yet Ywe Hao felt sick at the thought. It was another instance of Shou's rottenness; of his corrupt use of the power given him. Power . . . that was what was at fault here. Power, given over into the hands of petty, unscrupulous men. Men who were not fit to run a brothel, let alone a hsien. Men no better than her Uncle Chang.
She drew her knife, staring at it a moment, wondering what it would feel like to thrust it into Shou Chen-hai, and whether that would be enough to assuage the anger she felt. No. She could kill a million Shous and it would not be enough. Yet it was a start. A sign, to be read by High and Low alike.
She turned the knife in her hand, tested the sharpness of the edge, then sheathed it again. "Are you ready?"
Erika laughed. "Don't worry about me. Just worry whether Vasska's done his job and covered the elevators."
"Yes . . ." she said, then tensed, seeing the unmistakable figure of Shou Chen-hai at the far end of the approach corridor. "Yes. But first our man . . ."
the CEREMONY was far advanced. In the small and crowded room there was an expectant silence as the New Confucian official turned back, facing the couple.
Karr was dressed in his ceremonial uniform, the close-fitting azurite-blue tunic emphasizing his massive frame. His close-cropped head was bare, but about his neck hung the huge golden dragon pendant of the chia ch'eng. It had been awarded to him by the T'ang himself at a private ceremony only two months earlier, and Karr wore it now with pride, knowing it was the highest honor a commoner could attain outside of government, making him Honorary Assistant to the Royal Household.
Beside Karr, soon to be his wife, stood the woman he had met at the Dragon Cloud teahouse six months before, Marie Enge. In contrast to Karr she wore bright scarlet silks, a simple one-piece, tied at the waist. The effect, though simple, was stunning. She looked the perfect mate for the big man.
Karr turned, meeting her eyes briefly, smiling, then turned back to face the official, listening attentively as the wizen-faced old man spelled out the marriage duties.
"I must remind you that in public it is neither seemly nor appropriate to show your love. Your remarks must be restrained and considerate to the feelings of those about you." The old man looked about him severely. "Love must be kept in bounds. It must not be allowed to interfere with the husband's work nor with his duties to the family." He gave a little nod, then looked at the bride. "As for you, Marie Enge, you must perform your household duties as a good wife, without reproach or complaint. In social gatherings you should not sit with your husband but should remain aloof. As a wife, all ties of blood are broken. You will become part of your husband's household."
The old man paused, becoming, for a moment, less formal. "I am told that among the young it has become unfashionable to view things in this light, but there is much to be said for our traditions. They bring stability and peace, and peace breeds contentment and happiness. In your particular case, Gregor Karr and Marie Enge, I realize that there are no families to consider. For you the great chain of family was broken, from no fault of your own. And yet these traditions are still relevant to your situation, for in time you will have children. You will be family. And so the chain will be reforged, the ties remade. By this ceremony you reenter the great tidal flow of life in Chung Kuo. By taking part in these most ancient of rituals, you reaffirm their strength and purpose."
Chen, looking on from Karr's left, felt a tiny shiver ripple down his spine at the words. So it had been for him, when he had married Wang Ti. It had been like being reborn. No longer simply Chen, but Kao Chen, Head of the Kao family, linked to the future by the sons he would have. Sons who would sweep his grave and enact the rituals. In marrying he had become an ancestor. He smiled, feeling deeply for Karr at that moment, enjoying the way the big man looked at his bride, and knowing that this was a marriage made in Heaven.