Hidden Radiance

The next morning.

The rain stopped, but the road was still wet.

Lu Minghui drove into the Meiji government compound.

In Shinichi Nakajima's office, besides Nakajima, there was also Ono.

"Minghui, you're here." Nakajima gestured to the sofa.

Lu Minghui sat down, his back straight.

"The special envoy from the Matsuoka Agency will arrive at Shanghai Railway Station the day after tomorrow morning." Nakajima took out a red-headed document and pushed it to the edge of the coffee table.

"He carries with him the execution list for Project Sugi and the initial funding allocation order. Security is your responsibility."

Lu Minghui picked up the document and glanced at it.

"The Special Higher Police and the Military Police are not enough?"

"There are many people and eyes within the Special Higher Police, and the South Manchuria Railway Company is also eyeing this lucrative opportunity." Nakajima's tone turned cold.

"The envoy's whereabouts are top secret, but I suspect the information has leaked. The Military Intelligence Bureau or the Communist Party will definitely take action."

"I understand. Is it an overt or covert plot?"

"Ono will lead the military police to oversee the overt blockade of the train station. You'll use the men from the 76th Division to fill any gaps and conduct covert operations," Nakajima said, looking at him.

"No matter who steps forward, capture them all. The special envoy must not be harmed."

"Yes." Lu Minghui put down the document.

Back to number 76.

Li Shiqun's office door was open. Lin Zhijiang and Sun Yaozu were both there.

Lu Minghui went inside and closed the door behind him.

"Director Lu, I heard that Section Chief Nakajima has entrusted the special envoy's security to you?" Li Shiqun asked, sitting in the large boss's chair.

He was twirling two pairs of walnuts in his hands, making a crackling sound.

The news spread really fast.

"The director is well-informed." Lu Minghui walked to his desk.

"No. 76 is the face of the new government. This kind of prestigious job is too much for the Confidential Affairs Bureau to handle alone." Li Shiqun stopped eating the walnuts in his hand.

"I'll have Zhijiang lead the action team to cooperate with you. Zhijiang is familiar with the search and investigation around the train station."

Seizing power. Also, surveillance.

Lin Zhijiang stepped forward: "Director Lu, the three hundred brothers in the action team are ready to be deployed at any time."

Lu Minghui glanced at Lin Zhijiang, then looked at Li Shiqun.

"I'm very grateful for the director's consideration." The tone was flat.

"However, Section Chief Nakajima said that if there are any problems with this security, he'll be beheaded. Since Chief Captain Hayashi is willing to share the burden, the checks at the three high points on the perimeter and at the entrances and exits of the station will be your responsibility."

Lin Zhijiang was stunned for a moment.

These are the most troublesome and hate-inducing jobs.

Li Shiqun paused in his hand, which was fiddling with the walnuts.

He had originally intended for Lin Zhijiang to get involved in the inner circle and find out the special envoy's trump cards. Unexpectedly, Lu Minghui directly threw the dirty work from the outermost perimeter over to him.

"What's wrong? Does Chief Lin feel the burden is too heavy?" Lu Minghui looked at Lin Zhijiang.

"It's not heavy," Lin Zhijiang said, forcing himself to accept the offer.

"Deputy Captain Sun." Lu Minghui turned to look at Sun Yaozu.

Sun Yaozu immediately straightened his back and said, "Yes, sir!"

"You'll lead the guard unit and be responsible for escorting the envoy's convoy after he disembarks. I'll give you the route an hour before the operation."

"Yes!" Sun Yaozu answered loudly.

Li Shiqun watched as Lu Minghui dismantled and reassigned the 76th Division's men in a few words, his eyes darkening.

Lin Zhijiang was relegated to the sidelines, and the convoy was handed over to Sun Yaozu. Sun Yaozu was ostensibly promoted by Li Shiqun, but Li Shiqun knew perfectly well who this man was now under.

"Brother Lu has made very thorough arrangements." Li Shiqun chuckled twice. "Then I wish the operation a successful run."

"Thank you for your kind words, Director." Lu Minghui turned and left.

Gu Yunqiu walked towards me in the corridor.

The two passed each other by.

"The South Manchuria Railway is very interested in the list of special envoys," Gu Yunqiu said in a low voice, without stopping.

Lu Minghui stared straight ahead, his lips barely moving: "Keep an eye on your people."

The two passed each other.

Afternoon. Avenue Joffre, newsstand.

Lu Minghui bought a copy of the "Shenbao" newspaper and dropped in a coin.

There was a folded piece of paper under the coin.

Back in the car, Lu Minghui unfolded the note.

The Military Intelligence Bureau's detailed assassination plan.

"Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM, South Plaza of the train station. Snipers in position. Operations team to create chaos. We need to provide the envoy's exact alighting location and license plate number."

Lu Minghui stared at the note.

South Square of the Railway Station.

The official document from Nakajima stated that the special envoy's alighting point was the North Plaza.

The Military Intelligence Bureau, however, obtained the South Square.

It doesn't match the official documents.

If the information was indeed leaked, it should have been from the North Square. The fact that the Military Intelligence Bureau received a completely different location suggests only one possibility: someone deliberately fed the information.

This morning, while reviewing the telegrams compiled by the Confidential Office, he came across a transfer order—Ono had transferred two military police squadrons from Hongkou, and their deployment direction was not the North Square, but the south.

The South Square is a pocket.

Wang Puchen's source of information was itself a trap.

If Lu Minghui leads the special envoy to the South Square, it's uncertain whether the envoy will live or die, but the Military Intelligence Bureau's action team will definitely be surrounded and wiped out by Ono's military police.

If he doesn't give the order, Wang Puchen will assume he has betrayed him.

Dead end.

Lu Minghui lit a match and burned the note.

Evening. Yongchang Grocery Store.

Lu Minghui went inside and knocked on the counter.

"Two packs of Lao Dao brand."

The shopkeeper looked up at him, then turned to get a cigarette.

"The new courier has arrived," the shopkeeper said in a low voice. "In the backyard."

Lu Minghui, holding a cigarette, lifted the curtain and walked into the backyard.

A man stood beside a pile of junk in the backyard. He was dressed in a coarse cloth shirt and wearing a tattered felt hat, and was sorting through a pile of empty burlap sacks.

Hearing footsteps, the man turned around and took off his felt hat.

Lu Minghui stopped in his tracks.

Ah Bing.

Fu Yewen's confidant. The one who was shot twice by Ono, was in the hospital being treated, and was later transferred out of Shanghai by Lao Zhao.

"Commander Lu, how have you been?" Ah Bing grinned, which aggravated the scars on his face.

"How did you get back?" Lu Minghui reached for the gun handle at his waist.

Ah Bing knew that Fu Yewen had been framed, and he also knew the details of the military uniform. If he had been arrested and defected, then this place was a trap.

"The organization sent me." Ah Bing took a half step back and spread his hands.

"When Lao Zhao got into trouble, Shanghai's transportation system was paralyzed. I'm familiar with the operations of No. 76 and the black market channels. The higher-ups think I'm the most suitable candidate."

"Password." Lu Minghui did not loosen the grip of the gun.

"The wind comes from the north," Abing replied.

"Rain falls on the Huangpu River," Lu Minghui continued.

The code was matched.

Lu Minghui's hand remained on the gun handle. The password could be tricked out. He hadn't witnessed what this man had gone through.

"Did Old Zhao ask you to bring me anything before he left?"

Ah Bing pulled a paper package from his pocket. Inside was half a shortbread, wrapped in kraft paper. A scratch had been made on the inside of the kraft paper with his fingernail—a diagonal line from the lower left to the upper right corner.

This was a private code between him and Lao Zhao. It was the direction Lao Zhao traced on the grease stain on the table with his chopsticks when they first met at the pan-fried dumpling shop. It wasn't written into any communication procedures; the organization didn't know, and neither did the shopkeeper.

Lu Minghui took the pastry, squeezed it, and found it hard; it had been sitting there for several days.

He loosened his hand from the gun handle.

"You're very bold. Gu Yunqiu and Li Shiqun are both looking for you."

"They're looking for Ah Bing." Ah Bing put his felt hat back on, pulled the brim down to cover half his face, and said, "There are plenty of nameless, faceless laborers in Shanghai."

"That scar on your face isn't safe." Lu Minghui's gaze lingered on Ah Bing's scar for a moment longer. "The people from No. 76 have seen you."

"It's been processed, and the household registration has been changed." Ah Bing touched his cheek.

"The organization's message is that we can evacuate at any time if there is a risk of exposure. But the situation in Shanghai is chaotic right now, and we need someone we know to help us."

Lu Minghui stared at him for a few seconds, then didn't ask any more questions.

"Old Zhao's condition has stabilized. He asked me to pass on a message to you: the core of Project Shan does not lie with the special envoy."

Lu Minghui stopped holding the cigarette.

"What do you mean?"

"The special envoy is a cover. The real executor of Project Sugi has already arrived in Shanghai ahead of schedule." Ah Bing took two steps closer and lowered his voice.

"When Lao Zhao was being held in the safe house in the French Concession, two Japanese men came to the next room. Lao Zhao overheard part of their conversation—the list brought by the special envoy was used as bait."

Lu Minghui recalled Nakajima's expression this morning.

Nakajima handed over security to him and told him about the list. If the special envoy was a ruse, then was Lu Minghui, the fish Nakajima was trying to catch, among them?

"Who is the actual executor?"

"I don't know. Old Zhao didn't hear me clearly." Ah Bing shook his head.

"But the organization intercepted a Japanese military telegram that mentioned a code name: 'Gardener.' This person was in charge of taking over all underground financial and supply channels in Shanghai."

gardener.

Lu Minghui took out his cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette, and put it in his mouth. Ah Bing lit it for him with a match.

"The Military Intelligence Bureau is going to make their move at the train station tomorrow." Lu Minghui exhaled a puff of smoke. "Nakajima has set up a trap in the South Square. The Military Intelligence Bureau's sources are themselves a trap. Once they open fire, none of them will escape."

"You want to save the Kuomintang agents?" Ah Bing asked.

Lu Minghui did not answer.

He took two puffs of his cigarette, the butt glowing twice.

"If the Military Intelligence Bureau's operational forces in Shanghai are wiped out, Nakajima will be able to focus all his efforts on dealing with us." He flicked his cigarette ash onto the ground.

"This is not a difficult problem to solve."

Ah Bing nodded.

"But I can't show up." Lu Minghui looked at him.

"Wang Puchen sent me a note asking for the special envoy's alighting location and license plate number. If I don't reply, he'll become suspicious. If I reply with the wrong information, the entire Military Intelligence Bureau will be wiped out."

"Does the organization need to step in?"

Lu Minghui threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out.

"You just need to remain silent."

He walked out of the backyard, paused in front of the curtain, and did not turn back.

"Ah Bing, haven't those guys from No. 76 seen what you look like now?"

"no."

Are you sure?

Ah Bing fell silent for a moment.

"Sure."

Lu Minghui lifted the curtain and went out.

Night falls.

He didn't go back to his apartment; instead, he drove to a Western restaurant in the French Concession. He ordered a steak and a glass of red wine.

When the knife and fork cut into the beef, the blade scraped against the porcelain plate with a grating sound.

When it was time to pay the bill, he asked the waiter to bring him paper and pen.

The pen tip hovered over the paper for two seconds.

He did not write down the location of the car or the license plate number.

After writing it, he folded it up and placed it under the plate along with a silver dollar.

"Please pass this on to the last guest who booked a window seat tonight."

The waiter nodded and accepted it.

Go out.

Just as he reached the car, a black sedan stopped in front of him.

The car window rolled down.

Gu Yunqiu sat in the driver's seat, looking at him.

"Commander Lu, it must be lonely eating dinner alone."

"What advice does Secretary Gu have?" Lu Minghui asked, his hand resting on the car door.

"Section Chief Nakajima has changed the plans at the last minute." Gu Yunqiu pushed up his glasses. "The special envoy will not be getting off at Shanghai Railway Station tomorrow."

Lu Minghui's fingers gripped the edge of the car door.

"Where?"

"Wusongkou Wharf".

Five words.

Nakajima even fooled him. The official document from the train station, the bait at the South Square—it was all fake. The real envoy traveled by water.

"How did you know?" Lu Minghui stared at Gu Yunqiu.

"Two additional patrol lines were temporarily set up last night in the waterways surrounding the Wusongkou, by naval vessels," Gu Yunqiu said calmly. "This level of surface security is not for smuggling investigations."

Lu Minghui did not respond.

"For absolute safety, Nakajima used a naval patrol boat to pick them up. Commander Riku, you've been made a fool of by your senior."

Lu Minghui opened the car door.

The train station was a dead end. Nakajima had locked the Military Intelligence Bureau, the 76th Division, and even himself into a trap there. The real envoy would quietly land at Wusongkou and meet up with the man codenamed "Gardener."

But the trap in South Square is still there. The Kuomintang agents will still be there promptly at nine o'clock tomorrow.

"Thank you for the information, Secretary Gu." Lu Minghui turned around and opened his car door.

"Where are you going?" Gu Yunqiu asked.

"Go arrange security at the train station." Lu Minghui got into the car.

"Since the section chief put me in charge of the train station, I have to make sure the train station is impregnable."

The engine starts.

In the rearview mirror, Gu Yunqiu's car did not follow.

Lu Minghui shifted his gaze from the rearview mirror to the Shanghai map pasted above the dashboard.

Wusongkou is located in the northeast corner of the map, 40 kilometers from the train station.