"But that's impossible," Lasker said quietly. "He's dead." "No," Karr said, a cold certainty gripping his insides. "But he would have been, had that thing on the bench there got through."
LI YUAN could not relax; not even here, among those he trusted most. But then, the news his Chancellor had brought him was not of the kind that gave a man great peace of mind.
Nan Ho, watching his master from across the great council table, sighed, then signaled to Hu Ch'ang to hand out the sealed copies of the report.
There were six of them about the table; Li Yuan, Nan Ho, the old General, Rheinhardt, Li Yuan's wife, Pei K'ung, Ben Shepherd, and the Minister for Transportation, Heng Yu.
The reports having been distributed, Nan Ho gestured for Hu Ch'ang to leave. Only then, when the doors had been locked and they were alone, did he begin.
"Ch'un tzu," he began, "we meet here today in the light of a most serious development. If you would slit open the reports in front of you and read the summation on the first page, we can then proceed to discuss the matter."
There were raised eyebrows from Rheinhardt and Heng, a wry smile from young Shepherd. Pei K'ung, it seemed, already knew, for she, like her husband, slit open the report with a weary sense of inevitability.
It was a sad day for the Enclave. And a momentous one.
He looked about the table, watching them read; heard Rheinhardt's grunt of surprise, Heng Yu's sharp indrawn breath.
Ben, however, laughed. "What did I tell you, Yuan? Never trust a man with no vices."
Nan Ho could see how flat the joke fell on Rheinhardt's ears, but Li Yuan smiled tolerantly. "Joking aside, I wish now I had taken your advice."
"But is this true?" Rheinhardt asked, horrified. "I mean, have we proof of the man's infamy?"
Infamy . . . Nan Ho almost laughed at the word. It had a stark, old-fashioned ring about it. And yet, for once, it was almost the perfect word, for this was infamy, without a doubt: a betrayal so gross, so breathtaking, as to make all other crimes against the State seem trivial by comparison.
"There is no doubt at all," Nan Ho answered, looking to his Lord before he spoke. "The evidence is detailed on pages 35 to 168. It is quite some catalog. But the tenor of it is this, that Minister Chang is in the pay of our archrival, Stefan Lehmann, and has been these past two years. That much is true, ch'un tzu. What is less clear is how we are to deal with the man."
"Execute him!" Rheinhardt said without hesitation.
"Hear! Hear!" said Ben, his face taking on the rocklike qualities of the old General, his voice the same stentorian bluster.
But Li Yuan raised his hand. "Ch'un tzu . . . it is not so simple. If it were, I would have acted already. Chang Hong would be dead and another appointed in his place. But Minister Chang is an important man. His influence and connections cannot be discounted. Even with the evidence ranged against him, to simply execute the man would be to welcome the wind of fresh dissent, and things are already bad enough as it is."
"Then assassinate him."
All faces turned to Pei K'ung, who had spoken. She sat there, very still, her face composed like a mask.
Li Yuan narrowed his eyes, shocked both by the suggestion itself and by the fact that it was Pei K'ung who had suggested it. "Are you serious, Pei K'ung? Assassinate him?"
But Ben picked up the idea. "That's good. I mean, why not? And you could blame it on Lehmann. Come up with some story about Chang being a bastion against the White T'ang . . . your right-hand man in the fight against him. The media would lap it up. And his family . . . well, you could give Minister Chang a full State funeral, with the honors one might bestow on the Head of one of the Minor Families. You could stand with the family and make offerings at his tablet."
"Are you serious, Ben?" Li Yuan looked horrified. "Honor a traitor?"
"Why not?" said Pei K'ung, nodding gratefully to Ben. "It's either that or face the prospect of further divisions within your own ranks. This way you could perhaps promote someone more suitable from the Chang family ranks. Someone more reliable."
Li Yuan nodded, liking the sound of that, then turned to Heng Yu. "Minister Heng . . . what do you say?"
Heng Yu looked down, uncomfortable in such company. When he had been invited he had not known all these people would be here. He had thought his T'ang wished to speak with him alone. And to have to discuss the fate of a fellow Minister—one as much above him in status as Chang—had quite taken him aback.
"Forgive me, Chieh Hsia, but my view—"
"Is awaited, Heng Yu. Speak."
Nan Ho watched him, seeing how Heng weighed things before he spoke, and looked down, smiling.
"It is very difficult, Chieh Hsia," Heng began. "To act openly for once seems a course fraught with all manner of dangers. With respect to the Marshal, simply to execute Chang Hong, while it would be the most satisfactory of actions personally, could well prove the most expensive politically. In normal circumstances to even consider the use of assassination would be out of the question. But these are not normal circumstances, and the gains far outweigh the possible losses. As for the morality of it—"
"Let that hang," Ben said, interrupting him. "Do it, Yuan. And do it tonight. I'm sure that giant of yours, Karr, has a man or two who'd be good for the job. The levels could do with some entertainment—and what better than a full State funeral, neh?"
Again his voice had taken on the edge of mimicry, this time of Li Yuan himself, but only Nan Ho seemed to notice it.
Li Yuan considered, then looked about the table. "Well?"
Ben nodded. Beside him Pei K'ung did the same. Nan Ho bowed his head in agreement. Rheinhardt grunted gruffly, signifying he had no objections. Which left Heng.
"Well, Minister Heng?" Li Yuan asked. "Should I have Minister Chang assassinated tonight, as Shih Shepherd here suggests? Or should I consider the moral implications further?"
Heng Yu looked up, meeting his Master's eyes, and nodded.
"Then so be it," Li Yuan said, closing the file, then pushing it away from him. "I shall have Karr assign a man this very evening."
NAN HO SAT BACK in his chair, greeting the face on the screen.
"Gregor! At last! I've been trying to contact you this past half hour!"
Karr bowed his head. "Forgive me, Master Nan, but an urgent matter has come up. I need to speak to you at once."
"And I you," he answered, conscious of the strange tightness in Karr's face. "How long will it take you to get here?"
Karr stood back a little, giving Nan Ho a glimpse of the view behind him. "As you see, I am at the East Gate guard post. I can be with you in two minutes."
Urgent indeed, Nan Ho thought. He nodded to Karr. "Come up at once. I'll cancel all other engagements."
"Master!" Karr bowed and cut the connection. Nan Ho waved his secretaries away, then stood, feeling a charge of nervous energy run through him. What was it now? Another plot? Another batch of traitors? Were there no more honest men in Chung Kuo?
He crossed the great study and stood by the wall-to-ceiling window, looking out across the sunlit gardens. Guards patrolled the inner courtyards and the overlooking walls. In the old days guards would not have been allowed in the inner palaces, but times had changed. Now the threat was everywhere.
There was a sharp rapping on the door. He turned, facing it. "Enter!"
The door eased open and Karr came in, closing it softly behind him. As ever, Nan Ho found himself surprised by Karr's stature. How many times had he met him now—four hundred? five?—and still he felt the same strange frisson of fear in the presence of the man. If this one should run amock, then the gods help them all!