Chapter 194: A Careless Move
Xihua suppressed the fear in her heart and quietly felt her way along the wall back to the courtyard.
When Jia Le returned, she saw her walking in the courtyard. Her expression changed slightly, and she forced a smile. “Is it stuffy in the room?”
Xihua grinned. “A little.”
Hao Yuan looked up at the sun. It had already passed its zenith. In another shichen, the attack on the villa would begin. By now, Cao Guangjiu and Gou Chengxuan had probably already arrived at a location outside the villa, anxiously waiting for Zhang Guang’s group. As for Master Shi himself, he would not go. He wanted to keep himself completely clean of these matters.
“Are they using us as white gloves?” Hao Yuan thought his master’s metaphor was brilliant. However, even white gloves come at a price. To do great things, one must first survive.
He looked at the two lush green sago palms at the entrance of the Wanbi Bookstore, a few dozen steps away. The bookstore’s gate was tightly shut. Today was a closing day. The Zhongyuan Festival was a major holiday, and Zhao Yigong had given all the employees of the bookstore a day off. In this era, there were no labor laws, much less the concept of a day of rest. A holiday was a chance for everyone to relax a little.
Fewer people meant fewer troubles. Otherwise, just subduing the clerks and workers inside would be a huge effort, and there could be many casualties. Hao Yuan was not averse to killing, but dying in a fire and being killed by his men were two different things.
The afternoon was very hot. This was not a bustling market, and the streets were so deserted that one could hardly see a soul. Only a few vendors selling watermelons and tea were dozing lazily under their awnings. Hao Yuan had already investigated these people. They were all men from the Wulong Society, hired by Zhao Yigong. They were guarding the perimeter of the entire Wanbi Bookstore. The main force of the Wulong Society was gathered in several restaurants and teahouses on this street.
Although the Wulong Society had far more men gathered around the bookstore than he did, Hao Yuan was not worried. The men from the fighting societies were after money, so they mostly used blunt weapons in fights, not sharp ones, to avoid casualties, which would be difficult to clean up.
His men were different. This time, they were all prepared to go in with white knives and come out with red ones. Though few in number, their will was firm. As soon as a life was lost, the Wulong Society would not be able to hold out.
Last night, Hao Yuan’s men had already scaled the walls here and taken control of two shops as their starting positions. Some others were in the alley behind the Wanbi Bookstore, responsible for blocking any escape. They were all dressed in black, with black cloths wrapped around their heads and black veils covering their faces. Underneath, they wore the clothes of ordinary people. When the time came, they could discard their outer garments and weapons and disguise themselves as good citizens.
Hao Yuan once again sized up the gate of the Wanbi Bookstore. The facade of the bookstore was entirely made of stone. The arched gate sat on a three-tiered stone staircase. This architectural style was not new to Hao Yuan: it was just a simplified European version.
The gate was already barred with planks. According to Xihua’s intelligence and his men’s on-site reconnaissance, the seemingly weathered planks were made of top-quality wood and were very thick. The upper and lower grooves they fit into were carved directly into the stone doorframe. Once assembled, they would be reinforced with iron bars from the inside. Never mind a few men with ordinary tools, even with hammers and axes, it would not be easy to break them open quickly.
They would probably have to use a battering ram.
Never mind that there was no ready-made large log in this place; even if there were, it would be a difficult task for a dozen or so men to carry a log and ram the gate. Other methods were even less feasible. The walls of the Wanbi Bookstore were very high, estimated to be over two zhang. The base was made of stone, and the walls were built with bricks laid flat. It was difficult to either dig a hole or climb over.
The only way to get in was to break down the gate. This time, Hao Yuan decided to use the simplest and most brutal method to achieve his goal: use gunpowder to blow the gate open.
The gunpowder was hidden in the place where Xihua was staying. The courtyard was not far from here, and a small packet of gunpowder was enough to blow open this sturdy gate.
Today was the Zhongyuan Festival. All the temples had Buddhist services, and wealthy families also had “flaming mouth” rituals and sutra chanting. In the four towns and eight villages, in the city and outside, the sound of firecrackers and guns was incessant all day long. A single explosion would not attract too much attention. Coupled with the simultaneous setting off of a large number of firecrackers nearby as cover, it should be able to fool people.
Everyone thought that what Hao Yuan wanted was the gold in the Wanbi Bookstore. After all, there were many places that needed money. But Hao Yuan was more interested in the archival documents that had been moved to the bookstore.
His master was very interested in everything about the “Australians” and had mentioned several times in his letters that if possible, he should try to seize some of their own archives.
The amount of archival material was enormous. Zhao Yigong could not have moved it all to the Wanbi Bookstore in a hurry. What was moved must be the most important and confidential material.
According to the information provided by Xihua, the core part of the Wanbi Bookstore was the charity school. Although this school had been closed since the villa was built, it had always been the most heavily guarded place in the bookstore, second only to Zhao Yigong’s own residence. According to Xihua, the houses of the charity school were all designed and built by Zhao Yigong himself. Not only were they different in style from ordinary houses, but the materials used were also very exquisite.
If a large amount of archives and valuables needed to be stored temporarily, this currently vacant charity school was the best place.
He looked at the map on the table again. This time, he was lucky to have the information provided by Xihua. The Wanbi Bookstore was a labyrinth. The internal structure was not built according to any normal Chinese or Western style. The corridors, doorways, and stairs were intricate and complex. Even someone like Xihua, who had lived in the bookstore for a long time, did not know the entire structure. But she at least knew how to get into the charity school.
Without this map, if he had rushed in with his men, he would probably not even be able to find a door. The internal passages of the bookstore were crisscrossed, with a thousand doors and ten thousand households. They were usually locked when not in use. It would take a lot of time to break down the doors without a key.
With this map and the gunpowder to blow the gate, they could easily rush straight to the charity school and seize the supplies inside.
The first group of people who transported the gunpowder had already returned. It was divided into small packages in bamboo tubes and stored in a north-facing room in the backyard. There were also ice blocks in the room to cool it down.
“Should we send the second group to get the gunpowder now?” someone beside him asked.
The weather was very hot, and this was a city area. They couldn’t transport the gunpowder in a high-profile manner. The gunpowder needed for today could only be transported from the stronghold in small batches, like ants moving their homes.
“Go ahead. Be careful on the road!”
The second group transporting the gunpowder was led by He Liu. To avoid attracting attention, they did not move in a group but in groups of two or three, taking different routes. They would gather at the stronghold to receive the gunpowder.
He Liu was the leader and the first to arrive. He knocked on the back door with a secret code. The guard indicated that everything was normal.
“Where are the others?”
“They are all patrolling along the courtyard wall. We have too few men, and we have to guard the gates.”
“Take me to see Jia Le quickly.”
“You can go yourself. I can’t leave my post. She’s in the east wing of the main house.”
“Okay.” He Liu was very familiar with this place and went to the main courtyard on his own. There was only one guard in the main courtyard. He knew He Liu and nodded slightly to let him in.
In the backyard of the main house in the main courtyard, there was a moon gate to the east, which led to the east wing. He Liu walked in quickly and saw that there were tea and snacks on the stone table in the middle of the small courtyard, but there was no one in sight. He found it strange and quickly called out a few times, but there was no answer.
He Liu knew something was wrong. He quickly searched around. After turning half a circle, he suddenly saw Jia Le lying in a corner by the courtyard wall. A cloth was wrapped haphazardly around her forehead, with blood seeping through. He was greatly alarmed and rushed forward to help her up, calling her name several times.
Jia Le slowly came to. Seeing that it was He Liu holding her, she struggled and said, “Quick, quick, go tell Uncle Hao… Xihua… is a spy!” Then she fainted again.
“Have the people who went to get the second batch of gunpowder returned?” Hao Yuan suddenly realized that the second group who had gone to get the gunpowder…
“Not yet,” the person beside him replied. “Should we send someone to hurry them?”
Just then, someone ran in. It was He Liu, looking very flustered.
“What’s wrong?!” Hao Yuan’s expression changed. It was the last moment, and He Liu’s terrified expression clearly meant that a major problem had occurred!
“Something’s happened!” He Liu whispered a few words in his ear. Hao Yuan’s expression changed drastically. He turned his head sharply and ordered his deputy, “You stay here and watch. I’ll be right back!”
He was just about to go downstairs when He Liu grabbed him. “Hao Da! You can’t go! You’ll be walking into a trap!”
Since Xihua had defected, the location of the stronghold was also exposed. Within one or two shichen, Zhao Yigong’s men would surely launch a surprise attack.
“No, we have a lot of our things stored there. We have to move them all, or the consequences will be dire!” Hao Yuan said anxiously. He had calculated everything, but he had never expected Xihua to defect and then defect again.
In that case, this stronghold had to be abandoned.
“I’ll take men to move them!” He Liu volunteered.
This would mean that the force that was supposed to attack the Wanbi Bookstore would be reduced by at least a dozen men.
Weakening the attacking force was a major taboo, but the stronghold had to be saved. Xihua’s defection had immediately put him in a dilemma. His subordinate leaders gathered around him nervously, waiting for him to make a final decision.
“Give the order quickly. Time is running out,” He Liu urged anxiously.
Hao Yuan’s mind spun like a windmill, pondering the situation after Xihua’s betrayal.
Xihua’s defection brought two problems: the plan to attack the Wanbi Bookstore was exposed, and one of his strongholds in the city was exposed.
When Zhao Yigong received Xihua’s report, his first reaction would surely be to strengthen the bookstore’s defenses. He might send his own men, or he might use the power of the government: ask the yamen to send runners to protect the bookstore. For the gentry, this was just a matter of a single note. The yamen runners were nothing, but robbing a bookstore in broad daylight was not the only issue. Killing yamen officials on top of that would lead to huge trouble.