Chapter 2302 - Luo Yangming and Wen Tietou

Luo Yangming wasn't worried about a Ming reconquest. He understood the situation clearly: the Ming army was too busy trying to hold Guangxi to even think about counterattacking Wuzhou. At most, this was a harassment raid.

But judging by what he could hear, the scale of the harassment was considerable. The commotion was too great to be the work of a small band. Though Luo Yangming trusted Qian Duo and Zhao Fengtian to handle the situation, Wuzhou's defenses were dangerously thin. Listening to the cannon fire and running footsteps outside—sounds that showed no sign of fading but rather grew more intense—he began to grow uneasy.

Suddenly, a rapid drumbeat echoed through the city. Luo Yangming's blood ran cold. That was the signal for a Level One Alert—enemies had penetrated the city itself.

Had the enemy already breached the walls? He felt a spike of panic, but on reflection, it seemed unlikely. Wuzhou's walls were heavily defended; without overwhelming superiority, the Ming army wouldn't risk a night assault. Moreover, reconnaissance reports indicated no major enemy forces within a hundred li of Wuzhou. Small bands couldn't possibly converge overnight.

His thoughts turned to Hao Ran's case. Could this be connected?

Could they be plotting an uprising from within the city?

The thought had already crossed his mind during his earlier meeting with Zhao Fengtian about the case. Now it seemed his suspicions were being proved correct. This Hao Ran was the key figure.

Why hadn't he noticed him sooner? Luo Yangming felt a stab of regret. He had poured too much energy into the Rehabilitation Bureau's work and neglected the most critical duty of a Hidden Cadre—counter-espionage. He had allowed this Advisor Hao to operate freely right under his nose, and to some extent, had even served as his unwitting protector.

He could no longer sit idle. Rising abruptly, he called Li Wensheng over. "The situation outside is urgent. I need to go handle some important matters. Stay here and lead the servants and staff to keep watch. Find two capable men to come with me."

The room immediately erupted into chaos. Neither Li Wensheng nor Ding Atao would hear of him going out. Ding Atao wept: with soldiers rampaging outside, if something happened to him, what would become of this large family and the business?

Luo Yangming was growing irritated by the commotion when a shop assistant came in to report: Master Zhao of the Australians had sent a messenger with a letter.

"Bring it here!"

Luo Yangming snatched the letter and tore it open. It contained only a few lines—but those few lines drained the color from his face. Xie Erren was missing and possibly captured. The news struck him like a thunderbolt.

In the eyes of a veteran naturalized citizen like Luo Yangming, a Senator was a demigod—an omnipotent being. Even when he privately disagreed with certain measures in Wuzhou, he had grown accustomed to the Senate's meticulous planning and their habit of always having contingencies in place. He had always assumed that whatever the Senators did, they possessed some "divine plan" beyond ordinary comprehension. He had never imagined a Senator could actually be captured.

The letter mentioned that Wuzhou itself was not in immediate danger and that a major search was underway. It asked him to come to the Prefectural Yamen to discuss countermeasures once the situation outside had stabilized.

Reading this, how could Luo Yangming possibly sit still? He calmed his wife and children with a few words, dashed off a letter and ordered a servant to deliver it immediately to Zhao Fengtian at the Prefectural Yamen. He also had Ah Chun retrieve a large bundle that was always kept in the account room's silver cabinet. Then, taking two sturdy young shop assistants, he slipped quietly out the back door and headed for the South Gate.

He wasn't rushing to the Prefectural Yamen—Zhao Fengtian was already in charge there, and his presence wouldn't help. As for interrogating suspects and chasing down fugitives, that could wait. The most urgent priority was to restore order in the city and find a way to rescue Chief Xie—or at the very least, recover his corpse. His head absolutely could not fall into government hands.

Luo Yangming understood the military situation in the city all too well: during these months of skeleton staffing, the men Qian Duo and Zhu Si commanded weren't even sufficient to control the major intersections and patrol the walls, let alone conduct a search. Wuzhou's walls were high, but that wouldn't stop small groups of enemies from scaling them under cover of darkness.

The urgent task was to increase manpower for the search and suppression inside the city as quickly as possible.

He had little faith in the Detective Team, that motley collection of opportunists. Most of them were just looking for a meal—showing up to fill the numbers was the best one could expect; they wouldn't exert themselves. Worse, there was no guarantee that informants weren't mixed in among them. In a confused situation like this, they couldn't be relied upon.

After considering his options, only the dock porters under his "brother-in-law" Wen Tietou seemed reliable. A gang boss like Wen Tietou commanded fierce loyalty from his workers, and they were willing to fight and kill—without those qualities, one couldn't maintain standing at a major port like Wuzhou.

Xie Erren, however, had always been wary of Wen Tietou and his porters, placing many restrictions on them. Luo Yangming found this unsurprising: such an organized, combat-capable group posed an obvious potential threat to local administration. The Ming dynasty's Wuzhou Prefect had viewed them that way, and the Senate's Wuzhou Director saw them the same.

Without their connection by marriage, Luo Yangming would have been just as suspicious of such a local power broker. But years of association with Wen Tietou had taught him the man's background and character. Wen Tietou had a strong underworld air about him, but he was fundamentally honest. Moreover, his only family was in Luo's hands.

Now, Wen Tietou was his only hope.

Luo Yangming made his way toward the South Gate. He encountered patrol teams several times along the way, but the highest-level pass issued by Zhao Fengtian got him through with only a few words of explanation. The journey was smooth, and he soon arrived at the Great South Gate.

Because goods needed to be moved early the next morning, Wen Tietou had gathered more than two hundred porters under his command to stay temporarily in a dozen empty shops outside the gate enclosure. With cannon fire and gunshots filling the night, he and his men were all awake. Too frightened to venture out, they gathered at the doorways, peering into the darkness and speculating.

Seeing Luo Yangming approach, Wen Tietou hurried out to meet him. "Master! What's going on? Have the Great Ming government troops fought their way back?"

Luo Yangming was breathless from rushing. He couldn't speak for a moment. After catching his breath, he managed, "The government troops haven't come, but spies inside the city are causing havoc. I have need of you and your brothers..."

"What are you saying?" Wen Tietou slapped his chest. "You're my brother-in-law! You've been helping everyone all these years. I, Wen Tietou, am a man whose arm can run horses and whose fist can stand men! Whatever you need us to do—up a mountain of knives or down a sea of fire—we won't refuse!"

Luo Yangming quickly explained that he needed them to arm themselves and participate in a city-wide search. He mentioned specifically that internal traitors had abducted a VIP from the local administration, and they needed to rescue him as soon as possible. Wen Tietou frowned at this. "Master! We have no problem doing work for you. But this is the job of the Detective Team and the National Army. If we get involved, what will they think? If there's a misunderstanding, failing to catch the Ming spies would be the least of it—if we clash and kill each other, that would be a disaster! Besides, we don't have weapons."

"I've already coordinated your deployment with the City Government—it won't be a problem. As for identification, I've thought of that too." He signaled his assistant to open the large bundle. Inside was a pile of blue cloth armbands bearing a red star-and-fist symbol—identical to those worn by the Detective Team.

"These were prepared when Wuzhou was first recovered. They're the same as what the Detective Team wears. Put them on, and you won't cause confusion when you meet patrols. As for weapons, each of you has a carrying pole—use those." He paused. "These are all your brothers who've faced life and death with you. I won't waste words. If you rescue the captive, the Chief will reward you handsomely!"

Wen Tietou knew this "brother-in-law" held considerable power and position in the Rehabilitation Bureau and was a trusted aide of the Australians. In all their dealings, whether business or otherwise, Luo Yangming placed extreme importance on keeping his word and never reneged on a promise. Naturally, Wen Tietou wasn't about to haggle. He immediately called his subordinate foremen together and explained the situation. Hearing they were going to rescue a naturalized cadre and that heavy rewards were promised, the men rubbed their hands eagerly, donned armbands, grabbed their carrying poles, and prepared to surge into the streets.

Wen Tietou waved them to a halt and turned to Luo Yangming. "Master! Wuzhou isn't small. We can't just grope around blindly in the streets and alleys—that's looking for a needle in a haystack. We need a destination!"

A fair question, though Luo Yangming sensed deeper implications. He pondered for a moment, then something occurred to him. "I recall your men often smuggle goods into the city to avoid taxes. How do you do it?"

Wen Tietou laughed. "So you know about that! What other method could there be? We're not Earth-Traveler Sun who can burrow underground, or Sun Wukong who can ride clouds. We just carry the goods and climb over the walls."

"Without ladders?"

"Of course not. Just grip the cracks between the bricks, hands and feet working together, and up you go. If someone's on top of the wall to receive you and lower a rope or bamboo pole, it's even faster."

"Then tell me—if the enemy wants to escape over the wall with a captive, where would they go? How would they do it?"

Wen Tietou sensed the weight behind the question. He didn't dare answer lightly. After thinking, he said, "Right now, the south is definitely out. Both the Great and Small South Gates are heavily guarded. Sanhezu is raising a ruckus, and everyone's watching that direction. If I were them, I'd head for the Great Cloud Gate in the north."

Luo Yangming calculated silently. The Great Cloud Gate area was the most secluded, and the walls there had sustained the most damage. If the enemy wanted to climb over, that was the easiest place. More importantly, defenses around the Great Cloud Gate were the weakest—completely insufficient to maintain a continuous sentry line along the wall.

"Good." He nodded. That was indeed the most likely route.

"Also," Wen Tietou continued, "I wouldn't take a captive through the main streets. I'd go through the alleys running along the base of the city wall. Those alleys are mostly the back walls of houses—very secluded and desolate. The sentries on the wall can't see clearly in the dark..."

"You're right!" Luo Yangming clapped Wen Tietou's shoulder with excitement. "Let's go!"

(End of Chapter)