Lever stood, studying DeVore a moment, as if to weigh him, then smiled and nodded. "All right, Shih DeVore. Lead the way. We're all ears."
BACK INSIDE, Li Yuan drew Wang Sau-leyan aside.
"Cousin Wang," he said softly. "May I speak to you in private? News has come."
Wang Sau-leyan stared back at him, faintly hostile. "News, Cousin?"
Li Yuan turned slightly to one side, indicating the door to a nearby room. Wang hesitated, then nodded and went through. Inside, Li Yuan pulled the doors closed then turned, facing his fellow T'ang.
"Your grain ships . . ." he began, watching Wang Sau-leyan's face closely.
"Yes?" Wang's expression was mildly curious.
"I'm afraid your ships are at the bottom of the ocean, Cousin. An hour ago. It seems someone blew them up."
Wang's expression of angry surprise was almost comical. He shook his head as if speechless; then, unexpectedly, he reached out and held Li Yuan's arm. "Are you certain, Li Yuan?"
Li Yuan nodded, looking down at the plump, bejeweled hand that rested on the rough cloth of his sleeve. "It's true. Your Chancellor, Hung Mien-lo, has confirmed it."
Wang Sau-leyan let his hand fall. He turned his head away, then looked back at Li Yuan, a strange hurt in his eyes.
"I am so sorry, Li Yuan. So very sorry. The grain was my gift to your father. My final gift to him." He shook his head, pained. "Oh, I can spare more grain—and, indeed, you will have it, Cousin—but that's not the point, is it? Someone destroyed my gift! My gift to your father!"
Li Yuan's lips parted slightly in surprise. He had not expected Wang to be so upset, so patently indignant. Nor had he for one moment expected Wang to offer another shipment. No, he had thought this all some kind of clever ruse, some way of shirking his verbal obligation. He frowned, then shook his head, confused.
"Your offer is very generous, Cousin, but you are in no way to blame for what has happened. Indeed, I understand that the Ping Tiao have claimed responsibility for the act."
"The Ping Tiao!" Again there was a flash of anger in Wang's face that took Li Yuan by surprise. "Then the Ping Tiao will pay for their insult!"
"Cousin . . ." Li Yuan said softly, taking a step closer. "The matter is being dealt with, I assure you. The insult will not be allowed to pass."
Wang gave a terse nod. "Thank you, Cousin. I—"
There was a loud knocking on the door. Li Yuan half turned, then looked back at Wang. "You wished to say ... ?"
A faint smile crossed Wang's features. "Nothing, Cousin. But again, thank you for telling me. I shall instruct my Chancellor to send a new shipment at once."
Li Yuan lowered his head. "I am most grateful."
Wang smiled and returned the bow to the precise degree—tacitly acknowledging their equality of status—then moved past Li Yuan, pulling the door open.
Hans Ebert stood outside, in full-dress uniform, his equerry three paces behind him. Seeing Wang Sau-leyan, he bowed low.
"Forgive me, Chieh Hsia. I didn't realize . . ."
Wang Sau-leyan smiled tightly. "It is all right, Major Ebert. You may go in. Your Master and I have finished now."
ebert turned, then, taking a deep breath, stepped into the doorway, presenting himself.
"Chieh Hsia?"
Li Yuan was standing on the far side of the room, beside the ceremonial fcang, one foot up on the ledge of it, his right hand stroking his unbearded chin. He looked across, then waved Ebert in almost casually.
Ebert marched to the center of the room and came smartly to attention, lowering his head respectfully, waiting for his T'ang to speak.
Li Yuan sighed, then launched into things without preamble. "These are troubled times, Hans. The old bonds must be forged stronger than ever, the tree of state made firm against the storm to come, from root to branch."
Ebert raised his head. "And my role in this, Chieh Hsia?"
Li Yuan looked down. "Let me explain. Shortly before his death, my father went to see General Nocenzi in hospital. As you may have heard, he accepted Nocenzi's resignation. There was no other choice. But who was to be General in his place?" He paused significantly. "Well, it was my father's intention to ask Marshal Tolonen to step down from his post of seniority to be General again, and he drafted a memorandum to that effect. There were good reasons for his decision, not least of which was the stability that the old man's presence would bring to the Security forces. He also felt that to bring in a loo woi—an outsider—might cause some resentment. Besides which, it takes some time for a new General to adapt to his command, and time was something we did not have."
Li Yuan turned away, silent a moment, then looked back at him. "Don't you agree, Hans?"
Ebert bowed his head. "It is so, Chieh Hsia. Moreover, there is no one in all Chung Kuo with more experience than the Marshal. Indeed, I can think of nobody your enemies would less welcome in the post."
He saw Li Yuan smile, pleased by his words. Even so, his sense of disappointment was acute. After what Tolonen had said to him earlier he had hoped for the appointment himself.
Li Yuan nodded, then spoke again. "However, my father's death changes many things. Our enemies will think us weak just now. Will think me callow, inexperienced. We need to demonstrate how wrong they are. Tolonen's appointment as General would certainly help in that regard, but I must also show them that I am my own man, not merely my father's shadow. You understand me, Hans?"
"I understand, Chieh Hsia."
Only too well, he thought. Only too well.
"Yes . . ." Li Yuan nodded thoughtfully. "In that we are alike, neh, Hans? We know what it is to have to wait. To be our fathers' hands. Yet in time we must become them, and more, if we are to gain the respect of the world."
"It is so," Ebert said quietly.
"Besides which," Li Yuan continued, "things are certain to get worse before they get better. In consequence we must grow harder, more ruthless than we were in the days of ease. In that, Wang Sau-leyan is right. It is a new age. Things have changed, and we must change with them. The days of softness are past."
Ebert watched Li Yuan's face as he spoke the words and felt a genuine admiration for the young T'ang. Li Yuan was much harder, much more the pragmatist than his father; his ideas about the Wiring Project were proof of that. But Ebert was too far along his own road now to let that color his thinking; too deeply committed to his own dream of inheritance.
One day he would have to kill this man, admire him or not. It was that or see his own dream die.
"Trust," Li Yuan said. "Trust is the cornerstone of the state. In that, as in many things, my father was right. But in an age of violent change who should the wise man trust? Who can he trust?"
Li Yuan looked back at Ebert, narrowing his eyes. "I'm sorry, Hans. It's just that I must talk this through. You understand?"
Ebert bowed his head. "I am honored that you feel you can talk so freely in my presence, Chieh Hsia."
Li Yuan laughed, then grew serious again. "Yes, well... I suppose it is because I consider you almost family, Hans. Your father was chief among my Father's counselors since Shepherd's illness and will remain among my Council of Advisors. However, it is not about your father that I summoned you today; it is about you."
Ebert raised his head. "Chieh Hsia?"
"Yes, Hans. Haven't you guessed, or have I been too indirect? I want you for my General—my most trusted man. I want you to serve me as Tolonen served my father. To be my sword arm and my scourge, the bane of my enemies, and the defender of my children."
Ebert's mouth had fallen open. "But, Chieh Hsia, I thought. . ."