Chapter 7: Ma Pai's Son

  Monday was a fine day, and early in the morning, Dong Zhiyu had a bowl of wontons at a stall in the alley. The day before, she had already arranged everything at home, and also took a rough look around the surroundings, then set off towards the government compound. Although she left her hometown at the age of nine and returned to sweep the tomb every year, she had never visited this examination hall where Dai Jitao was before.

  From a distance, the city wall and the watchtowers on Chicken Coop Mountain can be seen, with rows of bunkers and barbed wire that were not there before. It seems that Wang Jingwei's puppet regime is not sitting firmly. As we approach the main gate, it is a traditional three-bay paifang-style building, with the words "National Government" inscribed on the lintel. In front of the gate are two Han white jade lion statues. Dong Zhiyu steps forward and hands over her credentials to the sentry soldier. The sentry has been expecting her and knows she is the person they have been told to wait for. A soldier steps forward and says respectfully, "Miss Dong, please follow me."

  But he didn't enter the door, Dong Zhiyu followed him to the east, and it turned out that there was another gate on the east side. There is a semi-circular pool in front of the south gate, called "Panyu Pool". The eastern gate has three arched doors, with a double-eaved gable roof, covered with green glazed tiles. The lower part of the gate is imitated as a base, and the upper part is painted with colors such as the beam, bracket, and eaves. Above the middle door, there are four horizontal characters "He Ping Jian Guo" in seal script, and between the two eaves, a vertical signboard with the words "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" is hung.

  Just as he was sizing him up, a man in his late 20s with an average build and slicked-back black hair, wearing a navy blue uniform, came forward with a big smile on his face.

  "Honored to meet you, Mr. Dong!" The man said with a slight bow and extended his hand in a gentlemanly manner, "I'm Hu Xiao, a Japanese translator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dispatched by Minister Chu to welcome your esteemed presence. As we'll be colleagues from now on, please don't hesitate to offer me guidance whenever needed."

  Dong Zhiyu waited until the other party finished that long-winded courtesy speech, then stretched out his hand and shook hands with him lightly. "Translator Hu is too polite, I'm new here, and I hope Translator Hu will not hesitate to give me guidance in the future."

  The two of them smiled and walked into the East Gate, with Hu leading Dong Zhiyu to various places, explaining things as they went. It turned out that this current "National Government" was originally the Examination Yuan, mainly distributed along two parallel axes, east and west, each with a large gate. The West Gate, which was the first gate Dong Zhiyu saw when he arrived, was actually the main gate. This place was only home to some of the government's institutions, while others, such as the Military Affairs Department, Education Department, Military Training Department, and dozens of other departments, were located elsewhere in Nanjing, with some remaining at the original Presidential Palace, some at the Dingjia Bridge Central Party Department, and so on. However, Wang Jingwei's office building was indeed here, although he preferred to work from his own mansion on Yihe Road.

  On the first day of reporting, it was inevitable to go through a lot of tedious procedures. Hu Xiang first took her to the General Affairs Office to receive her work permit, uniform and other items. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has many rules, and one must wear this dark blue official uniform to work. After all the procedures were completed, there was another very important item, which was the oath of allegiance.

  As for the oath, Dong Zhiyu is not unfamiliar with it. When he first joined the army, he was in charge of the personnel department and took an oath to support the Three Principles of the People under Chiang Kai-shek's leadership. It is said that the Wang puppet government almost entirely copied the old ways of the original National Government, so I guess it will probably be similar this time.

  。

  Hu led Dong Zhiyu to the Ningyuan Building, "The Ningyuan Building is Chairman Wang's office building," Hu said with a hint of mystery in his smile. "The oath-taking room is on the first floor, I'll take you there and then Secretary Huang will take over and guide you through the oath-taking procedure. After the oath-taking, please come back to the Translation Department to find me, Minister Chu wants to have a talk with you, and I'll take you to see him at that time." He seemed to remember something else, "Once you arrive at the Ningyuan Building, just stay on the first floor, follow Secretary Huang, and whatever you do, don't go up to the second floor."

  Dong Zhiyu thought this must have something to do with Wang Jingwei, so he didn't ask any questions and agreed immediately. When they arrived at Ningyuan Building, it turned out that Hu had already made arrangements through an internal phone call with Huang's secretary. The guard said that Huang's secretary was waiting in the oath-taking room, so Dong Zhiyu thanked Hu and went to the oath-taking room.

  This oath was indeed similar, but it wasn't in front of Chiang Kai-shek's portrait. The content of the oath also included slogans such as supporting Chairman Wang's peace movement. After the ceremony ended, I walked out of the oath-taking room and exchanged a few pleasantries with Secretary Huang before heading to the front hall. I hadn't taken many steps when I heard the guards at the door standing at attention and shouting something that Dong Zhiyu didn't quite catch. Instinctively, he stepped aside, only to see a tall woman walking in from the doorway, wearing a deep green military uniform with gold epaulets on her shoulders, indicating that she was a high-ranking officer. On top of that, there was a golden triangle, showing that the visitor was a lieutenant general. Around her waist was a wide leather belt and a diagonal strap, perfectly accentuating her curves, narrow waist, and long legs, looking elegant and spirited. Dong Zhiyu had never seen a woman wear this uniform so well before.

  The woman walked with a calm and composed demeanor, her military boots making a muffled yet rhythmic sound on the ground. Dong Zhiyu listened intently and felt that although she was not rushing or slowing down, there was an air of unyielding determination about her, as if Zhuge Liang were sitting alone in the western city tower, without any sharp blades, simply strumming a zither, yet making Sima Yi's army tremble with fear and retreat. As the woman approached, Dong Zhiyu finally saw the serene face under the military cap on this sunny day, the brim of which covered half of her forehead, below which were two "one"-shaped eyebrows that were clearly defined, like a bright and cloudless sky, radiating from between her brows, with eyes as calm as a moonlit lake. You might say she was clear and transparent, but within her, there was a flow of splendor, as if one careless move would reveal the beauty of the moon, intoxicating the mundane world.

  As the other party walked by without noticing, Dong Zhiyu suddenly woke up with a start, withdrew his gaze, and felt very embarrassed for a while. He had been staring at someone else for half a day, fortunately, the other party seemed to have not noticed, and was about to leave, but suddenly remembered that Hu Xiao had entrusted him not to go upstairs. However, the woman was going up to the second floor, and no one stopped her. Dong Zhiyu turned back, curiously looking at the woman again, just as she turned around and went up the stairs. From this angle, he could see a gun handle sticking out of her waist holster, which had a white mother-of-pearl handle with an embossed steel horse prancing forward, as if it was about to gallop out of the gun handle.

  Dong Zhiyu was no stranger to this automatic pistol. In her early years at Saint Mary's Girls' School, the Shanghai socialite circle had once been swept up in a wave of gun enthusiasm. Later, during her training at the Chongqing Spy Training Class, she also received systematic training on firearms. The one on the woman's waist was none other than the legendary "One Gun, Two Horses, Three Flower Mouths" - the Colt M1903 automatic pistol, also known as the "Two Horses". Although it ranked second, this gun was actually an improved version of the first-ranked gun, and both were military-use pistols with a long range and great power. The so-called "Three Flower Mouths" referred to the compact flower-mouthed pistol, which had a small body, shorter than a man's palm, light weight, and even when fully loaded, weighed less than one catty. However, it had a short range and low power, and was mostly used for self-defense, and was deeply loved by women. Soong Mei-ling had a custom-made flower-mouthed pistol, and in her home, she also hid a military-issue flower-mouthed pistol given to her by the Military Commission. From this, we can see that, considering its appearance and performance, the Colt M1903 was actually the pinnacle of automatic pistols at that time, especially the one on the woman's waist, with its mother-of-pearl handle, although it couldn't be fully seen, it could be confirmed that it was a custom-made precious gun, in today's words, a limited edition. This showed that the status of this young lady was not to be underestimated.

  Just as she was thinking, the other party suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around and threw his gaze at her. Dong Zhiyu was stunned, and could only forcibly hold onto this gaze, unable to move forward or backward. The awkwardness in her heart seeped out from her pale face, turning into a faint blush. The other party showed no expression, simply looking at her with eyes that held neither blame nor kindness, as if thinking about something. Then, he seemed to nod slightly, the movement so slight it was almost imperceptible. He then turned his head back and continued up the stairs, leaving Dong Zhiyu still reeling, with only the perfect profile and enigmatic gaze he left her.