Chapter 118: Light 2
The soldiers of the 2nd Regiment of the 6th Division of the 25th Army stationed in Shanghai should have immediately responded to suppress the armed picket movement. However, they received a misdirected signal and were diverted to the southern part of Shanghai, outside the concession. This resulted in the picket surrounding the Municipal Council. Over 20,000 people outside the Municipal Council shouted, "Repeal consular jurisdiction, withdraw foreign troops, and return the concession." When Juercha, on patrol, drove his team into the concession and attempted to order workers to shoot, the enraged workers burned Juercha's car in the street. Reporters from several newspapers were stationed outside the Municipal Council, but Juercha could only speak out in anger. For at this moment, his every move no longer represented himself or the "British Empire," but rather the entire Western colonialist movement.
On that day, the Shanghai General Labor Union won public opinion, while the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, the Shanghai Municipal Government, and the Nationalist troops stationed in Shanghai had lost their best opportunity. After that day, the armies of Britain, the United States, and France, among the five nations represented in the Municipal Council, were the first to reassign their consuls and officials stationed in Shanghai, forbidding all officials to leave the port.
Furthermore, Nanjing, having lost the battle for public opinion due to a misguided tip, launched a small-scale internal purge within Shanghai. Learning from the previous incident, the investigation focused on a few key suspects, secretly detaining them and preventing the loss of many key figures. However, this time, the detention and interrogation was akin to house arrest, and Zheng Yimin, unfortunately, was among them...
After the arrival of over a hundred foreign ministers, naval and army major generals, and colonels, all six foreign envoys will hand over their investigations into British military negligence and Japanese military negligence at the spinning mill hospital to a new commissioner. A new round of evidence collection will be conducted from existing interrogation materials and all victims involved in the case. A notice will be published in the newspapers stating that this six-nation public trial will be held in Shanghai as a temporary open international tribunal. In addition to inviting prominent figures from various countries and the Chinese community in Shanghai, several newspapers will also be commissioned to film and document the entire process.
After the arrival of the six-nation inspectorate's ship, the public's anger subsided temporarily. While many foreign businesses remained closed, public facilities began to reopen. If Zhenzhen hadn't come to Park Lane to visit her during those few days, she would have nearly gotten stale at home.
Zhenzhen had lost a lot of weight compared to a few days ago, but thankfully her complexion had improved, and her eyes had brightened. As the two of them walked from Park Lane to Xintiandi, she noticed a black Ford car following slowly behind them, with the British Royal Navy captain in the driver's seat. Not daring to get too close, nor too far away, she drove slowly behind them.
The two looked back and smiled.
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "I feel sorry for him, so I'll let him be my driver for a day!"
Judging from the way Zhenzhen spoke, she seemed to have some feelings for the Englishman, but not much, not enough to easily start an interracial relationship. She said that after the fall, her father would send her to England to study at university. She also said that the Englishman was stationed in Shanghai year-round and might not be able to return to England often. Every time Zhenzhen rejected his advances, she would joke, "When the Royal Navy withdraws from the concession and returns home, then I'll consider you!"
She said this half-jokingly, half-seriously. While watching the horse races, Zhenzhen's eyes would tear up more than once, and she would smile and sigh, "I used to be so proud of being born in Shanghai! Being colonized by a foreign country and tried by a foreign consul is truly shameful."
Ever since Chu Wang burst into tears for the first time in front of the Municipal Council, she had completely accepted the setting of this era and this city. So she remained silent.
The two of them grew increasingly silent as they talked. After a period of silence, Zhenzhen finally remembered Yunyan, who had been forgotten by them for a long time. "Have you heard about Mr. Zheng? I heard the engagement is in the next two days, and Mr. Lin invited all the celebrities in Shanghai to invite her, and even sent her invitations. The wedding was announced with great fanfare early in the morning, but the groom was imprisoned first. I'm afraid she's crying her heart out."
Neither of them laughed. After a while, they sighed in unison, "Poor Mr. Zheng, how did he end up like this?"
When we were seeing Zhenzhen off outside Park Lane, she was reluctant to get in the car, as if she had something to say all day. Finally, she couldn't help but ask, "I deliberately betrayed my appearance to bring this Englishman here. Don't you have anything to ask him?"
Chu Wang smiled helplessly and said, "They're all asking people to come and lobby for them. Can I have a little privacy?"
"What's privacy? You're such a late bloomer, I'm worried about you!" Zhenzhen pouted. "I heard from Miya that Mrs. Ge said that the handsome guy from your research institute often invites you out to play, but you never go. Last time, the son of the Candy King, the richest man in the Dutch Chinese community, specially sent someone to Mrs. Ge's place just to talk to you. As soon as other people come to Shanghai, I don't know how many rich ladies treat them as their golden son-in-law. They finally waited for you to come downstairs, but you looked at them, muttering something about low turbulence and holes, and then went upstairs again without looking back. You never came down again, which made Mrs. Ge very angry..." Seeing her eyes, Zhenzhen added, "Mrs. Ge is not angry with you. She sees that you rarely like someone, and you haven't been together for long, or even officially dating. You're not really determined to be with him, right?"
Chu Wang was speechless, unable to recall meeting the son of the Candy King. She recalled those days when she was working hard on the low-turbulence wind tunnel, shuttling back and forth between her room and the bathroom every day, even having her food brought up by Suixi. She rarely went downstairs, her mind racing with formulas and data, never seeing anyone.
Seeing Chu Wang remained silent, Zhen Zhen thought she had touched a sore spot in her heart. She hurriedly pushed the captain out of the cab and yelled, "Could you please say a few words?"
The captain coughed twice and said shyly, "I don't know exactly where Tse is..." Glancing at Zhenzhen's expression, he added, "But I think he's probably in British Southeast Asia, because soldiers who committed offenses in the Pacific were often sent there for trial. It shouldn't be a problem, because Tse's father is very influential in Southeast Asia. I heard he's been arranging things for him, so he won't suffer too much imprisonment... He also has excellent interpersonal relationships and good word-of-mouth within the military, so no one will give him a hard time."
Chu Wang listened carefully.
Seeing her focused expression, the captain added, "I wonder what the situation in Shanghai will be like after the trial in a few days. If the six-nation reviewers can make a fair decision, when we are deported... Tse will probably be sent back to England as well."
The captain hesitated at the last word, but she could guess: Xie Zeyi, with his sensitive position, had completely disregarded the interests of the empire in all his dealings, nearly pushing his longtime colleagues into the abyss, yet he could offer no coherent explanation. His current situation was extremely complicated. After the trial, if the interests of the six concessions were temporarily suspended, he would be held responsible for disregarding the interests of the concessions, but not for disregarding the interests of the nation. At that point, his trial might be fully handed over to his country. His current situation, rather than that of the derelict Sakuma, might become more like that of Mr. Zheng, now in dire straits.
If the British troops who detained him had left the scope of British colonial rule in Southeast Asia, how would he have been treated in places where his father's power could not protect him?
She was a little afraid to think about it.
——
A week before the public trial, she and Ms. Xu received another invitation from the judicial court to testify and collect evidence.
She and Ms. Xu were both ushered into an interrogation room separated by a glass window through which one could observe the entire interrogation process. Ms. Xu was ushered in first. While waiting on a bench outside, she heard the British interrogator, accompanied by an interpreter, patiently asking her questions over and over again.
When did you start your internship at the Spinning Mill Hospital?
Number 13.
What is the motivation?
I used to be a pre-medical student at Sendai Junior High School.
What happened on the day of the fire?
I was on night duty that day when I heard noises and footsteps outside. Someone suddenly locked the iron fence on my floor. Later, there was a fire. They had kerosene on every floor.
Then a British Army captain rescued you?
Yes.
How did he get to know about the fire at the Spinning Mill Hospital?
I once told a friend of mine, Lin, about what I saw at the Spinning Mill Hospital. We were supposed to go to the Huamao Ballroom together that day, but I didn't want to delay my night shift. The area around Hongkou is inherently unsafe, especially for a girl like me. She must have told him to keep an eye on my safety.
He happened to be present at both the incident involving the boy on the Tianjin Maru and the fire at the spinning mill. Rather than it being a coincidence, do you think he knew something beforehand?
No, sir, he is merely a Chinese British officer, that's all.
…
To verify her testimony, all the questions were repeated at least three times. On the third round, she saw Sakuma emerge from the other interrogation room. Through the bars of the courtroom, she saw him being interrogated by a five-nation interrogation.
He remained silent in the face of all the accusations, accepting them all. His complexion grew paler, his beard fell, and his demeanor and speech began to show a hint of femininity. The Japanese jury, attempting to exonerate him, repeatedly mentioned in their statements to the five-nation judges: "He, too, was a victim. While entertaining, he was innocently attacked with gunfire by a fellow officer from another country in the Municipal Council..."
Before Ms. Xu finished her testimony, Sakuma was escorted out. As they passed through the gate, he kept smiling at her. His smug, arrogant expression seemed to say, "Do you see the crime and humiliation I've endured? Your officer, your lover, must be feeling the same way I am right now. Your eyes looked through me to see him, and I saw the pain in yours."
This little bit of happiness that surpassed her pain was the only color in his pale and empty soul. Behind him, his white-haired grandfather was mixed with his hunched parents, and his wife followed behind. The family, dressed respectably and with elegant and noble manners, bowed 90 degrees and asked for forgiveness from the tall British and American jury.
Soon after Ms. Xu emerged, she was invited into the glass-windowed room. Inside the cramped evidence room, four or five tall, white men were squeezed in. A thin, Chinese man sat at one side of the desk, smiling and saying to her, "I'll translate for you quickly. Don't be nervous."
In fact, there is no need for translation. She can answer immediately any question they ask in any language.
"Why did you ask him to go to the spinning mill in the early morning of April 1st to rescue your friend?"
"Because Ichiro Sakuma threatened my friend's life."
"You were also threatened. Why did he go to the spinning mill first instead of the racecourse? Did he know about the arson at the spinning mill through some means?"
"No, sir. Because he knew that I was armed and had extraterritorial jurisdiction, while my friend was not."
"Why did he give you his gun?"
"Everyone at the institute knows that Ichiro Sakuma has harassed me many times. As a member of the institute, I believe Mr. Xie must have considered this before handing me his gun."
The officers collecting evidence exchanged glances. Suddenly, a US Army colonel knocked on the window and told one of the US lieutenants to ask her, "Ask her what her relationship is with the British captain involved in the case."
She turned around and looked at the colonel through the glass window with some confusion.
The senior schoolmaster had a stern face, but then he smiled majestically and knocked on the glass. "After her questioning is over, I need to speak to this lady alone."
——
The evidence collection process was so fast that it even surprised her. As she exited the interrogation room, she suddenly noticed the colonel, waiting for her, squatting ungraciously under the eaves of the Municipal Council courtyard, smoking. Suddenly, she felt relieved and quickly walked towards him.
The colonel stood up and extended his right hand towards her: "Bron."
"Linzy." She answered briefly.
The colonel stubbed out his cigarette and said, "Zoe is a very good young man." Looking at the necklace that was exposed at her collar, Bron stood a few steps away, raised his eyebrows, and suddenly added, "Both handsome and charming."
“…”
"Of course, during those years of school, he got me into a lot of trouble."
"But sir, what do you want to say?"
The colonel stared at her and smiled, "Aren't you going to apologize on Zoe's behalf?"
"Sir, I have no authority to represent him."
The colonel was also a little confused: "Have you heard of fraternities in American universities? Of all the fraternities, Phibetakappa is the oldest and most prestigious."
She took out the golden key from her neck, looked at it, and shook her head, "Sir, I don't understand what you mean."
Seeing that she really didn't understand, the colonel sighed, "This time, he has caused quite a bit of trouble."
"What trouble will he get into, Mr. Bloom?"
Bron looked up at the sky. "After everything we've done here is negated, driven by bureaucracy, his final verdict in this complex series of events, based on his unclear motives, may be: espionage and transfer to Britain. This may be the heaviest punishment. Until he's acquitted, his name and location will be temporarily erased from this world. Temporarily, or forever," Bron said. "After a public trial, he may be transferred to an unknown area for a secret trial. Until he can provide a reasonable explanation, he will lose all personal freedom, especially with such a sensitive identity. In this case, any inhumane punishment imposed on him will be a state secret. All the cruel methods used will be unknown to outsiders."
After a moment of silence, Chu Wang asked in a low voice, "Sir, may I ask what is the purpose of your visit to Shanghai this time?"
"What?" Bron was clearly surprised. She didn't feel sad for Zoe, nor did she ask him how to save him. Instead, she asked him directly why American soldiers came here. Bron thought for a moment and said, "Of course, to exonerate their country and minimize economic losses."
“Which one takes priority?”
Bron looked at her warily: "Ma'am, you don't have a recorder with you, do you?"
She stared at Bronn.
Bron laughed heartily. "Even though I'd heard about the horrific actions of the world powers in the colonies long ago, I was disgusted by them. Before such a scandal causes such a bad impact worldwide, I must step forward and make them answer for their sins. Conviction, dismissal, or deportation... But a sincere apology will never be our true intention. Even if I have to pay the due price, investigate and prosecute officials, and lose a little dignity, I still want to fight for my interests and try not to force all American companies to relocate their factories back home. I will never give up the huge profits in this concession. This is why 'some people' have to pay the price to achieve great things. This is also why Zoe's situation has become so dire, ma'am."
She said, “You are right that national interests are paramount.”
"But ma'am, putting aside the interests of the nation, I still have my own selfish motives. We will invite some victims and witnesses to the trial, which is why I interrupted your testimony. I hope you will appear in court next Friday. Ma'am, please believe me, bring your testimony, and don't forget all the blessings Zoe has left for you."
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