Chapter 28 Plum

  The car drove past Xu's grocery store and turned into an alley filled with red lanterns. The lanterns grew denser in front of a large mansion, where Huaijin stopped the car, got out, and walked inside.

  The layout of the house is a three-sided enclosure, all two-story, with red wood carvings, typical of the traditional wealthy families in Jiangnan. Huai Jin walked into the east wing, where each room had been converted into a Japanese-style compartment for high-ranking military officers to indulge in pleasure. Passing by the courtyard, she climbed up the stairs and saw a row of Japanese-style sliding doors with a faint red glow emanating from them. She took long strides, walking past them one by one, knowing that Ying Zuo was waiting for her here.

  "Ying Sa, I am Huai Jin." A courteous bow, a slender and proportionate figure cast through the rice paper onto the interior of the house.

  The door opened. "Hua Jin Jun." "Tao Guo Tong" stood beside Zhen Zhao, wearing a plain gray robe, with a pair of eyes behind his glasses that had not seen joy or sorrow for years.

  The interior is simple, the large room seems a bit empty, on the tatami mat there is a wooden low table, on which there is a small jug of clear wine, a wine cup, and he sits down with his legs crossed, behind him on the wall hangs a horizontal plaque, also the only decoration in this house, inscribed with four characters: "The tide has passed".

  The characters are written in a beautiful and extraordinary style, excerpted from the Japanese poet ōmura Seihō's "Tide Comes", the whole poem is filled with a strong sense of sadness and sympathy for the world, but extracting these four characters gives it another layer of transcendent Zen meaning.

  "The plum blossoms in Genbu Castle will bloom soon." Kage said.

  The door was pushed open, and a woman in a dark green dress walked in with her head down, revealing a patch of porcelain white on the back of her neck. She carried two small jugs of clear wine and two cups in her hands, knelt down at the table, placed one jug and one cup in front of each person, and then put away the set that had been in front of Kage earlier.

  Huai Jin unintentionally lowered his gaze and watched her complete the set of movements, his vermilion lips slightly parted: "Is Shadow General planning to wait at Xuanwu until the plum blossoms bloom?"

  "I hope I can stay here to enjoy the plum blossoms, but I don't want it to be because of being tied down by trivial matters and having no choice but to stay."

  Kurumi got up and was about to leave when Kage called out to her, "Tsubaki, play a tune for us."

  "Yes, Zhenji will go get the zither."

  Huì Méi took a few small steps back, and Ying Suo spoke again: "I wonder if you still remember that plum blossom inside the walls of the Military Academy, Huai Jin."

  "Ying Sa mentioned it and I remembered, it was a red plum blossom, very unique."

  "Not bad, Huai Jin's memory isn't poor." Ying Zuo poured himself a small cup of wine.

  Huai Jin only lowered her eyes and waited, Ying Zuo rushed from the Shanghai Meiguan headquarters, and in the middle of the night, she called herself again, definitely not just to listen to Mei's song.

  A young woman, called "Zhen Ji" for the time being, came in with a lute, made a distant curtsy, sat down on the spot, plucked the strings lightly and began to hum softly.

  "I am a Chinese, but I love plum blossoms more than cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms are too fragile and showy, unlike the cold and straightforward plum blossoms that bloom in the frost. This is also what I admire about Huairen Jun - the elegance of plum blossoms."

  Holding jade and lowering his head, "Ying Zuo Jun's mistaken praise."

  A desolate and melancholic tune floated in the room, and listening to it on this deep night felt inexplicably eerie.

  "So I hope that Huaijin, who is as straightforward and unadorned as a plum blossom, can tell me what's going on with the Wang family and the American antique dealer?"

  The lute string was plucked incorrectly, and at first listen, it sounded very discordant. Ying Ze frowned slightly.

  "Sorry, forgive Shinji's rudeness." Akane hastily hugged her guitar and knelt down.

  "Please continue, Makoto," said Kage saying without looking at her.

  "Yes." After a while, the desolate melody sounded again.

  Huai Jin also poured himself a cup of clear wine and brought it to his lips, taking a light sip. "I'm a military man, I don't ask about business matters."

  "Huai Jin Jun, don't disappoint me, I've invited you tonight to hear your innermost thoughts."

  "My sincere words are that the government of Xuanwu and the cooperation with Huiguo, the establishment of a new East Asia has been expressed. The 'Chong Guang Tang Secret Agreement' mentioned withdrawal back then, but we haven't seen that day yet. As for American affairs, Ying Zuo needs to discuss with Chairman Wang and the government, not just a small army advisor like you."

  "I'm also a military man, and compared to politicians, I prefer talking to soldiers," said Kage Tsuneyo, twitching his nose. "The 'Kyokkou Hall Secret Treaty' has conditions for the withdrawal of troops, but where is peace? The Yuubei faction and the Akakaze party's armies are probing each other every day, and everywhere there are assassinations by the Seionji, Genyuuji, and Akakaze party members. This afternoon, our refugee camp in Shitakawa was raided, and five soldiers of the Taika Empire were killed. Please tell me, Kairyu-kun, where is peace?"

  "Please, Ying Sao, don't get things backwards. It was He Fang who didn't withdraw his troops first, and only then did these events occur."

  "How dare you!" Kage no Sato drew his sword and pointed it at Wai Kun's neck.

  Huai Jin's body tensed up, but she didn't back down. Instead, she straightened her neck and shot two rays of light from her eyes directly at Ying Zuo.

  On the other side, the dark piano fell to the ground at the same time. Makoto fell to the ground and looked at Kaji with a frightened expression.

  "You indeed have the straightforwardness of Mei, huh?" Kage calmed down his anger, sheathed his sword and paused for a moment. "The Empire will not withdraw its troops until true peace is seen. Please return, Lord Huaijin."

  Huai Jin nodded slightly and stood up, walking towards the door. As he passed by Huai Yu's side, he couldn't help but glance at her. She was looking up at him with a pale face, and there seemed to be some concern in her eyes. Huai Jin opened the door and walked out.

  As he walked through the courtyard, a dark figure emerged from the doorway and headed towards the side building that Huai Jin had just left. The person was short and stout, with a brisk gait, and a nervous cough echoed from their throat, short and rapid, especially jarring in the stillness of the night.

  Her blood congealed for a moment, and the darkness covered up the fleeting hesitation and astonishment in her eyes.

  The author has something to say: Regarding whether Dong Zhiyu is qualified to be a double agent, the following was my reply under another reader's comment, pasted here verbatim. These are my thoughts, and I'd like to share them with everyone:

  Dong Zhiyu is a character who will grow with the plot, and in fact, not long after the beginning of the story, there is a chapter called "Mistress". That chapter wasn't written randomly. In my story, I basically avoid having unnecessary chapters and paragraphs. That chapter explains that Dong Zhiyu was chosen because she was actually a victim of a sex scandal, and this role in Xuanwu isn't playing a crucial part, but rather is just a " pawn" who can be sacrificed, so they could send such an untested girl.

  Let's talk about the "spy". Many friends think that being a spy is too high and mighty, and the influence of movies and TV shows is not shallow. Not to mention other things, back then the Military Bureau recruited tens of thousands of people (and at that time China's population was only so much), each one was a special agent, and they set up many training classes, such as spy training classes, foreign affairs training classes... If I had to say two words about it, I would say "rip-off". Most of these people are just like you and me, with average intelligence and emotional intelligence. Yes, the training classes were all short-term, Miss Dong attended this spy training class for half a year, similar to New Oriental, but she has two major advantages: good foreign language skills; and a photographic memory (good foreign language skills are useful everywhere).

  As for her career as a spy, she is a rookie, helping Hua Jin and Fu Qiu Sheng with their work. In fact, she was unwilling and not very invested in it, with an attitude of just going through the motions, but after all, she had contact with the Red Gang, and now she can only continue to play this role, waiting for an opportunity.

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