Hidden Radiance

Nanjing. Yihe Road, Zhou Enlai's Former Residence.

It rained all night, and the morning air was chilly.

Li Shiqun sat on the mahogany sofa in the living room, holding a cup of hot tea. The lid of the teacup tapped against the rim with a slight clinking sound. He didn't drink it, his eyes fixed on the stairwell on the second floor.

Footsteps sounded. Zhou Fohai, dressed in a dark gray long gown, slowly walked down the stairs, twirling two walnuts in his hand.

Li Shiqun immediately stood up, put down his teacup, and bent down. "Mr. Zhou."

"Sit down." Zhou Fohai walked to the head seat and sat down, casually twirling a walnut in his hand. "You rushed to Nanjing so quickly, is there any progress in Shanghai?"

Li Shiqun took the folded deposit slip from the inside pocket of his trench coat and handed it over with both hands. "Sir, I have accomplished my mission. The fifty cases of penicillin have been located."

Zhou Fuhai stopped fiddling with the walnuts. He took the deposit slip and glanced at the words on it. His gaze lingered on the words "Second Basement Warehouse, Litai Bank" for two seconds.

"Fifty boxes." Zhou Fohai's voice was flat. "Lu Minghui and Nakajima Shinichi have quite the appetite."

"Sir, you are wise." Li Shiqun leaned forward, his voice tinged with excitement. "This shipment was never handled through any legitimate channels. Yesterday, I led a raid on Litai Bank and personally witnessed Wan Molin locking this deposit certificate in a safe. The second basement level is heavily guarded, with Takeda from the Special Higher Police personally leading the defenses. Not even a fly could get in."

Zhou Fohai placed the deposit slip on the coffee table. "The door wasn't open, how can you be sure the goods are inside?"

"I smell something," Li Shiqun said in a low voice. "There's a strong smell of ink coming from the cracks in the iron door on the second basement level. There's also the roar of machinery running inside. Lu Minghui is definitely forging black market ledgers to launder this batch of smuggled goods!"

The two walnuts in Zhou Fohai's hands suddenly collided together. *Crack.* The sound was loud.

He stared at Li Shiqun. His expression changed.

The smell of ink. The roar of machinery. Heavily guarded by the Special Higher Police.

The walnut in Zhou Fohai's hand stopped spinning. His thumb pressed against the walnut's grooves, his nail sinking in.

The core of the Sugi Project is not the China Reserve Bank bonds.

Printing counterfeit money.

That idiot Li Shiqun led the Special Investigation Committee to smash up the Japanese printing plant.

Zhou Fohai's shirt back was pressed against his skin. He looked at the deposit slip on the table.

Fake accounts. Bait.

Someone is using Li Shiqun as a tool to test the Japanese's bottom line. Or perhaps, they're simply using the Japanese to kill Li Shiqun.

"You went in and looked around?" Zhou Fohai's voice was deep.

"No." Li Shiqun didn't notice anything amiss. "Takeda was blocking the door with a gun. I considered the bigger picture and didn't force my way in. I immediately brought the evidence to report to you, sir. Just give me your order, and I'll return to Shanghai right away and bring you these fifty boxes of goods."

Zhou Fohai closed his eyes. He clenched the walnuts in his hand tightly, his knuckles turning white.

The telephone in the living room suddenly rang. The shrill ring broke the silence.

The butler went over and answered the phone, listened for a couple of sentences, and then covered the receiver. "Sir, this is a long-distance call from Shanghai. It's from Nakajima, consultant at the Mei Agency."

Zhou Fohai stood up, walked to the phone, and took the receiver. "Mr. Nakajima, this is Zhou Fohai."

On the other end of the phone, Shinichi Nakajima's voice was chillingly cold. "Vice Dean Zhou. Director Li from the Special Investigation Committee is with you now, right?"

"Yes," Zhou Fohai replied.

"He trespassed into an imperial military restricted area and spied on top secrets." Shinichi Nakajima spoke slowly, each word carrying murderous intent. "This is a capital offense."

Zhou Fohai glanced at Li Shiqun, who was sitting on the sofa with an expectant look on his face. "Advisor Nakajima, please calm down. Director Li was just eager for credit and was misled by false information. He did not enter the restricted area."

"He smelled something he shouldn't have," Shinichi Nakajima interrupted him. "Vice President Zhou, Project Sugi cannot afford any mistakes. This man cannot return to Shanghai. Should you handle this, or should I call Major General Kagesa to handle it?"

Zhou Fohai tightened his grip on the microphone. "I understand. Advisor Nakajima, rest assured, this will absolutely not affect our cooperation."

He hung up the phone. Zhou Fohai walked back to the sofa.

Li Shiqun stood up. "Sir, what did Nakajima say? Did he back down?"

Zhou Fohai looked at him and sighed. "Shiqun, you've been so clever all your life, how could you stumble on something like this?"

Li Shiqun was stunned. "Sir, what do you mean by that?"

"Someone come here!" Zhou Fohai raised his voice.

Four heavily armed guards rushed in from outside, pointing their guns directly at Li Shiqun.

Li Shiqun's expression changed drastically. He took a step back, his shoulder blade slamming against the sofa armrest. "Sir! I brought evidence! Fifty boxes of penicillin!"

"Penicillin?" Zhou Fohai picked up the deposit slip on the table, tore it in half in front of Li Shiqun, and threw it on the ground. "You're not investigating smuggled goods, you're investigating the Japanese military's printing plant. You've stirred up a hornet's nest, and you're trying to drag me down with you."

Li Shiqun's pupils suddenly contracted.

A banknote printing plant. The smell of ink. The roar of machines.

His fingers twitched as he reached for his waistband—it was empty. The gun had been handed to the gatekeeper upon entering. That was the rule at the Zhou mansion. He used to think this rule was about saving face; now he knew it was a death knell.

Lu Minghui's scheme wasn't about protecting penicillin at all. It was a deadly trap. He deliberately created a fake deposit certificate to lure him into a dead end.

"Lu Minghui..." Li Shiqun gritted his teeth, squeezing out these three words. He tried to support himself with his legs, but couldn't, and collapsed onto the sofa.

"Take his gun and lock him in the basement. No one is allowed to visit him without my order." Zhou Fohai turned around and walked upstairs.

The walnuts remained on the coffee table. Two of them, side by side, motionless.

Shanghai. No. 76, Jessfield Road.

In the Confidential Affairs Office, Lu Minghui sat behind his desk. The sling on his left arm had been removed and replaced with a thin bandage. He was using his right hand to review a supplies allocation list.

Gu Yunqiu pushed the door open and walked in, then closed it tightly behind her. "News has come from Taihu. We've succeeded."

Lu Minghui put down the list. "Where's Takeda?"

"They survived." Gu Yunqiu walked to the table. "According to your intelligence, Paper Hawk and his men set up an ambush in the reeds. Both cargo ships escorted by Takeda sank to the bottom. Not a single box of counterfeit money was left; they all sank into the mud of Taihu Lake."

Lu Minghui leaned back in his chair. "With Takeda back alive, Nanzo Yunko will have something to do."

"There's one more thing." Gu Yunqiu took out a copy of a telegram. "News from our Nanjing contacts. Li Shiqun has been placed under house arrest by Zhou Fohai. The Special Investigation Committee is leaderless, and Ding Mocun has already begun sending people to take over the committee's operations."

Lu Minghui picked up his teacup and took a sip of warm water. A crow flew past the window, cawed twice, and landed on the chimney of the building opposite.

"How will you explain this to Shinichi Nakajima?" Gu Yunqiu asked. "He'll be furious if the counterfeit money gets stolen."

"He's definitely furious." Lu Minghui put down his teacup. "But I was the one who warned him. In his eyes, I protected the secret of the printing plant. As for the Taihu Lake issue, the defense zone is under the control of the garrison military."

The phone on the table rang.

Lu Minghui answered the phone. "Director Lu, the section chief requests your presence in Hongkou," came the voice of Adjutant Nanzo Yunzi.

"Okay." Lu Minghui hung up the phone, stood up, and picked up his coat.

"Nanzo Yunzi is looking for you at this time, it must be related to Takeda." Gu Yunqiu looked at him.

"When soldiers come, generals will meet them." Lu Minghui put on his coat.

Hongkou, Special Higher Police.

The door to the section chief's office was open. Lu Minghui walked in.

The smell of blood and medicine mingled together, creating a strong odor. Takeda sat in a chair, his right leg wrapped in thick bandages, blood seeping through. His face was deathly pale, and he kept his head down.

Nanzo Yunko stood by the window, her back to the door. Hearing footsteps, she turned around.

"Minghui-kun." His gaze fell on Lu Minghui's left arm. "Is the injury any better?"

"With Section Chief Lao Yunzi on my mind, he won't die." Lu Minghui walked to the sofa and sat down.

Nanzo Yunzi walked behind her desk, picked up a report, and tossed it onto the coffee table in front of Lu Minghui. "Last night, on the Taihu waterway, a shipment of top-secret imperial supplies being transported by Takeda was ambushed. The entire force was wiped out."

Lu Minghui glanced at the report cover. "Do we need the Confidential Office's assistance?"

"No need for assistance." Nanzo Yunzi stared into Lu Minghui's eyes. "Takeda brought back a lead."

She didn't sit down, but walked around to the front of the coffee table, leaned against the edge of the desk, and crossed her arms. This posture trapped Lu Minghui on the sofa.

"Speak," Nanzo Yunko said, looking at Takeda.

Takeda raised his head, gritting his teeth as he spoke: "The ones who ambushed us weren't ordinary guerrillas. Their tactical coordination was extremely high. One of the gunmen was hiding in the reeds, specifically targeting machine gunners."

Takeda swallowed hard, his voice trembling. "The gun he used was a Colt M1911. It never missed."

Lu Minghui rested his right hand on his knee and gently tapped the seam of his trousers with his index finger.

"Colt," Lu Minghui said calmly, "American equipment, standard issue for the Military Intelligence Bureau. What's so strange about that?"

Nanzo Yunzi didn't reply. She picked up a transparent glass evidence bag from the table, inside which was a deformed bullet.

"This was taken from Takeda's bulletproof vest." She tossed the evidence bag onto Lu Minghui's lap—not on the coffee table, but on his lap. "The same caliber as the shell casings from that night on Xiafei Street."

The bullet, through the glass bag, pressed heavily against my thigh bone.

Lu Minghui neither picked it up nor pushed it away. He looked up at Nanzo Yunzi.

"Both times it was a Colt. Both times it was a one-shot kill." Nanzo Yunzi leaned down, her hands on the sofa armrests, trapping Lu Minghui between them. They were close enough that she could see the remaining makeup powder on her eyelashes. "Minghui-kun, how many people in Shanghai have such excellent marksmanship?"

Lu Minghui neither leaned back nor dodged.

"There are plenty." He met her gaze, "but there aren't many things that could cause Section Chief Yunzi to lose seven people and two boats."

Nanzo Yunko's eye twitched.

She straightened up and took a step back. She crossed her arms over her chest again.

"The Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station recently got a new acting station chief," Nanzo Yunzi's voice turned cold. "Code name: Paper Kite. He's elusive and ruthless."

Lu Minghui stood up, took the evidence bag off his lap, and placed it back on the coffee table. He placed it very gently.

"If Section Chief Yunzi wants to catch the kite, the Confidential Office will fully cooperate." He patted non-existent dust off his trousers. "If you just want to test me with a few bullets, there's no need. Advisor Nakajima still has a supplies report waiting for my signature. Excuse me."

He turned and walked towards the door.

"Mr. Minghui".

Lu Minghui stopped at the threshold.

"Li Shiqun knows the secret of the second basement level of Litai Bank, Zhou Fohai knows it, and now the Military Intelligence Bureau knows it too." Nanzo Yunzi's voice came from behind. "They didn't intend to rob that batch of goods from Taihu Lake; they intended to destroy it."

It paused for a moment.

"If the goal is to snipe the gunman, why not use a Colt instead of a rifle?"

Lu Minghui did not turn around.

"Trying to cover it up only makes it more obvious."

I opened the door and went outside. The draft in the corridor ruffled the hem of my trench coat.

There were no footsteps following him. But he could feel that gaze fixed on his back, all the way to the corner.

Lu Minghui got into the car, and Gu Yunqiu started the engine.

"She's serious." Gu Yunqiu looked in the rearview mirror.

"She never stopped." Lu Minghui leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

My left arm rests on my leg, and it feels slightly swollen.

"What's the next step?"

Lu Minghui opened his eyes. He tried to clench his left hand; three fingers bent, while the other two remained motionless.

"The source of the counterfeit money is still Litai Bank. Even if one batch is destroyed, Nakajima will print a second batch." Lu Minghui's voice was extremely low.

Gu Yunqiu waited for the next part.

"The printing plate was hand-carved. What was the name of the artist who carved it?" Lu Minghui looked at the rapidly receding shadows of the sycamore trees outside the window. "We must find the artist."