Courtyard House: Home Alone

"The student understands."

"Have Liu Quande make the move the night after tomorrow."

The bald man withdrew his hand, the cuffs of his dark blue Zhongshan suit gleaming faintly in the lamplight. "Whether it succeeds or not, we must let Beiping know that the Party and the state still exist. We must let those who are watching know that watching comes at a price."

As Dai Yunong bowed and left, the clock in the corridor struck nine.

Standing on the steps of the official residence, gazing at the night sky of the foggy city, he suddenly recalled that winter night in 1937—Chen Gongshu, on the platform of the train station, threw the copper seal with the words "Beiping District" into the snow and glanced back at him.

There was no hatred in that glance, only a chilling calm.

"Chief, the car is ready." The adjutant's voice came from behind.

Dai Yunong got into the car, rolled down the window, and let the river breeze in. He remembered Liu Quande: in his early thirties, the top student in the second term of the Linli training class, proficient in shooting, demolition, tracking, and counter-tracking. His only flaw was that he was too eager to prove himself.

"Send a telegram to Beiping," he told his adjutant. "Tell Liu Quande that after the operation, he shouldn't return to the station. Go to Feng Jingquan's residence and say it's an escape route I arranged."

The adjutant hesitated for a moment: "Chief, this is...?"

"Didn't Feng Jingquan want to wait and see?" Dai Yunong closed his eyes. "I'll help him choose one side."

The car bumped along the stone road, but Dai Yunong's thoughts drifted to Beiping three days later. Chen Gongshu should be on a train on the Jinpu Railway, dressed in a coarse cloth gown, disguised as a merchant selling medicinal herbs. That man, even after seven years of hardship, could weave a net with just a thread.

"Chief, we've arrived."

Dai Yunong opened his eyes. Outside the car window were the gray buildings of the Military Intelligence Bureau headquarters. As he got out of the car, the night wind lifted the hem of his trench coat, making it look like a tattered flag.

The next afternoon, Lin Yifan, who was still taking a nap, was awakened by a knock on the door. He sat up in bed and used his mental power to "see" Xia Yan standing at the door. He rubbed his eyes and called out, "Come in."

Xia Yan pushed open the door and entered, holding a thick envelope in his hand: "Young Master, this was just delivered from the pharmaceutical factory. They say it was written by Xu Zheng..."

Lin Yifan's sleepiness vanished instantly. He took the envelope, sat on the daybed, and pulled out a stack of letters—Xu Zheng's own handwriting—the handwriting was fairly neat.

He carefully read through each page, from Dai Yunong's task assignments to the distribution of liaison points at Beiping Station, and then to the accounts of the Military Intelligence Bureau's dealings with certain figures of the puppet regime. He wrote more than twenty pages in great detail.

The more Lin Yifan looked, the more his brows furrowed. Xu Zheng was a man who knew how to seize the moment; those three days in the dark hadn't been in vain, he'd vomited everything he should and shouldn't have.

Lin Yifan read the contents of the letter three times, then took out a few pages: "Xia Yan, these are the contact points and lists of the Military Intelligence Bureau in Beiping. Make a copy yourself, and lock the rest in the safe."

Give it to me after you've copied it down. Also, have Wenxiu go to the Tang residence and tell Shitou that there's an operation tonight, and to have him bring twenty men here at eight o'clock.

"Yes." Xia Yan took the letters, but didn't leave immediately. "Young Master, there's one more thing... The old man sent a message; Vice Mayor Feng has replied."

"Oh?"

"He said he would definitely attend the banquet the day after tomorrow," Xia Yan's voice lowered, "but on one condition—he wants to bring two people with him, saying they are... his personal bodyguards."

Lin Yifan tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the daybed. Feng Jingquan, that old fox, had finally shown his face, but he still wanted to leave himself a tail.

"Have Wenxiu tell the old man to let him bring as many people as he wants."

"Young Master?"

"He brought men with him, so we could see which side he was on."

Lin Yifan stood up and walked to the window. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the windowpanes, casting a patchwork of light and shadow on the floor. "The crucial question is, by the day after tomorrow, will you still have anyone to take care of them?"

Xia Yan blinked, then understood: "Yes, I want him to know that we all know his background."

"Go and do it."

After Xia Yan left, Lin Yifan stood alone by the window for a long time. In Xu Zheng's confession, there was one name that particularly caught his attention—Liu Quande, the current deputy stationmaster of Beiping Station.

He had heard of this person; he was a top student from the second class of the Linli training program, and Chen Gongshu had taken him under his wing for half a year when Chen was still in Beiping. If Dai Yunong needed to send someone urgently, this person was indeed the first choice.

Tonight's operation will begin with taking down Liu Quande, and then we'll review the list. Then, let's see what kind of people Dai Yunong can use to disrupt this banquet.

However, it's uncertain whether the Japanese will interfere at this banquet. If they dare to, then let them know how serious the consequences of breaking the agreement will be.

He turned around, picked up the phone, and dialed the pharmaceutical company. "Pharmaceutical company? This is Lin Yifan. Let Zhao Gang answer the phone."

"Young Master?" Zhao Gang's voice came through the receiver, slightly hoarse, as if he had just come in from outside.

"Brother Zhao, could you please get Xu Zheng a single room? Yes! Make sure he has good food and drinks, but don't let him have any contact with anyone, yes."

You can treat the other two as practice and see if you can find anything out, but I don't expect to gain much.

Also, have a few more rooms prepared; we have more guests arriving tonight. I'll give instructions on a few who will need to be put in the "small dark room." For those going to the small dark room, follow the original procedures. Okay, that's all. Thank you for your hard work, Brother Zhao.

Lin Yifan put down the phone and his gaze fell on the old locust tree outside the window.

"Young Master."

Xia Yan returned, holding a copied list in her hands, the pages still smelling of ink: "Wenxiu has already gone to the Tang residence."

"Hmm." Lin Yifan took the copy and looked at it carefully. These were tonight's targets.

Winter nights come early; it was only a little past six when it got dark. After finishing his dinner, Lin Yifan leaned against the daybed, waiting for Shi Tou and the others while enjoying a massage from Xia Yan and Xin Yi.

When Shi Tou arrived with his men, it was exactly eight o'clock. Twenty men silently entered the east courtyard. They were all elites from the Tang family's Xingyi School, and they concealed pistols, short knives, and ropes under their coarse cotton-padded coats.

Lin Yifan, wearing a black fox fur coat, came out to greet them, his gaze sweeping over the crowd before finally settling on Shi Tou.

"Brother Zhao has prepared a room."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear: "Tonight, arrest everyone alive. Liu Quande is the first, the rest will be arrested in order of the list. Be quick, and don't alert the neighbors."

Stone grinned, revealing half a missing front tooth: "Don't worry, young master, the brothers are all veterans."

"I don't use anyone who isn't an experienced person."

Lin Yifan handed over the copied list. "Liu Quande lives in Rongxian Hutong, in a detached house with two wolfhounds in the yard. Climb over the back wall, feed the dogs first, then arrest him. If he has a gun, disarm him but leave him alive."

Also, today's targets are all Kuomintang agents; they're all very wealthy. Tell the brothers to search carefully. Whether you get soup or meat is up to you.

"Understood." Shi Tou folded the list and stuffed it into his pocket, then turned and waved to the twenty men behind him, "Let's go!"