He Lanzhi had come in a rush and left even more hastily; the people in the room felt puzzled for a moment.

When only the two of them remained in the room, Hongdou asked He Yunqin, “I remember you said the government was also looking for the gold bars, and that Eldest Brother-in-law was being held accountable — is that what this is about?”

He Yunqin said in a low voice, “Among the several factions searching for people, we and the government are, in fact, working toward the same end by different paths — the goal is nothing more than using the gold bars to support our respective battlefronts. The fighting broke out suddenly the night before last; the government should have acted long ago, yet by the time we found the Central District, we still hadn’t seen any sign of their forces. It’s clear the government had a plan, but their direction was off. Since the other two factions had already made their way to the West District, we had no choice but to act first. As long as the gold bars don’t fall into the hands of the enemy or Wu Ruhai, everything else can be worked out.”

Hongdou had already gotten a rough account from her brother and Wang Bide, and knew they had found the gold bars at Peiying Elementary School in the Central District of the International Settlement. Her heart still hung with worry as she asked, “Did the gold bars make it out of the International Settlement safely?”

“They were handed over to Ruide and the others. Before dawn, under the pretext of transporting Red Cross medical supplies, they safely delivered the gold to the front lines.”

Hongdou was overcome with mixed emotions — everyone’s tremendous sacrifice had not been in vain; the mission had finally been completed. “My brother and the others said the Pengs, to attack you, didn’t hesitate to use their two children as human bombs. Seeing how they normally treated those children like their own, who would have thought it was all to cover their true identities? Did they kill Bai Haili and the nurse too? What are their real identities? Where did the two children even come from?”

She fired off the questions in rapid succession, her voice both sweet and crisp. He Yunqin smiled brilliantly — his spirited Hongdou was back — and answered, “We confirmed their identities on the way here. They’re assassins trained by Wu Ruhai’s side. As for the children, they were raised at their side from a young age — whether they came from an orphanage or somewhere else hasn’t been determined yet. As for why they killed Bai Haili and the nurse — the former because Bai Haili had a falling-out with Wu Ruhai, the latter to leave the Western-style house empty. Wang Bide said that when he came to the He residence, because of the mailing address for the imported medicine and Xiang Qisheng’s double identity, he’d originally settled on Xiang Qisheng as the culprit. It was only after your reminder that he began to suspect the Pengs.”

A proud look crossed Hongdou’s face. “Since the mailing address was Tongfu Lane, of course everyone in the building was a suspect. The footprints at the scene were sometimes a man’s, sometimes a woman’s — Tailor Peng is short, but Mrs. Peng is tall. It was also said their feet might both be a size 39. If you already suspected Xiang Qisheng, why not consider the Pengs as well?”

He Yunqin smiled and nodded, praising her sincerely: “My wife’s insight and breadth of mind are truly extraordinary.”

Hongdou could hardly miss the teasing in his tone. She gave a cold snort, but mindful that he was still a wounded man, chose not to argue with him for now, and simply pressed him: “Where are those two children now?”

“Wang Bide found someone to look after them. The older one seems to be only about five, the younger one two. They’ve finally been rescued from the Pengs’ hands — how to place them going forward will need careful discussion.”

Hongdou fell into a brief daze. She had seen those two plump, chubby children coming and going often enough in ordinary times — pitiful, when you thought about it. Their future certainly deserved careful consideration.

She looked up at him. “So what was the story with Xiang Qisheng?”

He Yunqin said, “Before setting off for the Central District, I saw the Pengs in the North District — they had the children with them, pretending to be refugees. They were originally in the North District; I don’t know why they later ran to the Central District. This plan was one we drew up on short notice, while their focus had always been on the North District — by rights they shouldn’t have caught up with us so quickly. It was only later, when the Duan brothers were wounded near the elementary school, that we began to suspect the Pengs had followed the Duan family’s car there. Duan Mingfeng has expertise in architecture and wanted to search for the gold bars, but there were too many other factions in the other districts to make a move, so by a stroke of bad luck they ended up in the Central District. As it turned out, this drew not only the Pengs but also Xiang Qisheng’s men.”

Hongdou was thoroughly shaken. “The Duan family was involved in the search for the gold bars too?” No wonder Duan Mingyi’s two elder brothers had been wounded — and no wonder He Yunqin had looked at Duan Mingyi the way he had that morning.

Wait — if that was really the case, then wasn’t it because the Duan family had inserted themselves that He Yunqin and the others had been wounded at all?

He Yunqin said coldly, “After Wang Bide and Eldest Brother found us, we were about to withdraw with the gold bars when we ran into Xiang Qisheng’s men halfway. That was when we learned the servants the Duan family had brought along had been attacked by them. Though the servants and the Duan brothers were all armed, they weren’t well trained — Duan Mingfeng took a gunshot wound to both legs, Duan Mingbo had his arm broken, and the Duan family’s servants were cut down until only a few remained. It was only after the fighting that we managed to rescue the two unconscious brothers. On the surface, Xiang Qisheng is a professor at Aurora University and, privately, a member of a patriotic organization — but his truest identity is as an enemy agent. Do you remember the assassination attempt on Wu Ruhai at the theater?”

Hongdou nodded — how could she forget. After Master Yan killed the last assassin, Bai Fengfei, he had taken poison and ended his own life. They had begged him to seek medical treatment first, but just then gunshots had rung out at the Keyu Theater, and chaos had followed.

The next day’s papers were full of news about the assassination attempt — but that scoundrel traitor Wu Ruhai had escaped, and the assassination had failed.

He Yunqin said, “That operation was planned jointly by us and the patriotic organization Xiang Qisheng belonged to. We never could determine why it failed — it was only afterward that we learned someone had leaked the plan, though we never found out who. On the night of the struggle for the gold bars, Xiang Qisheng brought along a group of patriotic students as cover; even after the two sides clashed, some still refused to believe he could be an enemy agent.”

Hongdou asked, “How did Xiang Qisheng find his way to the Central District that night? Did he follow the Duan family too?”

He Yunqin shook his head. “He lived in the same building as the Pengs, and must have already grown suspicious of them. After the fighting broke out, he ran into the couple in the North District and saw them abandon it for the Central District, which raised his suspicions — that’s why he changed his thinking and followed them to the Central District as well.”

The more Hongdou thought about it, the angrier she became. “The Duan family stirred this whole thing into a mess — are they just going to get away with it? Which faction are they even with, and why were they involved in this at all?”

“Nothing more than greed for the gold bars, hoping to profit from the chaos. I wasn’t there myself at the time, since I couldn’t move well, but another comrade questioned the few Duan servants who survived by luck. The Duan brothers had lost consciousness, and these few had been scared out of their wits — with a little questioning, they roughly described the situation after arriving in the International Settlement. All they said was that the two young masters had decided on the spur of the moment to come here, as if looking for something — what exactly, they didn’t know.”

Hongdou stilled for a moment, then said, her voice dropping: “You suspect it was Eldest Sister-in-law.”

He Yunqin gave a cold laugh. “The Duan family hasn’t had anyone in office for a long time, and their business dealings have suffered repeated losses in recent years — I hear their finances are in very bad shape now. Duan Mingyi is on close terms with Eldest Sister, and the Duan family also gets along well with Eldest Brother-in-law’s family. Eldest Brother-in-law works in the Finance Bureau, and it happens he oversees matters related to the gold bars. I’d guess either Duan Mingyi learned of it from Eldest Sister, or the Duan brothers wormed information out of Eldest Brother-in-law — otherwise why would they have gone running off to the North and Central Districts looking for gold bars for no reason?”

Hongdou recalled how He Lanzhi had stormed off earlier, clearly intent on confronting Duan Mingyi, and said thoughtfully, “Was Eldest Sister already suspicious of her just now? If Eldest Sister knows, won’t Eldest Brother find out right away?” He Ningzheng and Eldest Sister were close; if he learned this would implicate Eldest Sister’s family, he would certainly be furious.

He Yunqin’s tone turned sardonic. “Duan Mingyi will never admit it. First, she can swear up and down that the Duan brothers didn’t go for the gold bars. Second, she’ll never admit that she was the one who leaked the information. But now the government is investigating, and others are investigating too — several of the servants the Duan family brought are still alive. In the end, there’s no covering this up.”

He Yunqin was always mild and courteous in front of outsiders, rarely showing his likes or dislikes. This was the first time Hongdou had heard him speak of an outsider in such a tone. Wang Bide had mentioned before that, thanks to the bomb the Pengs had brought, two of their comrades had been struck through the chest by shrapnel from iron rods and died on the spot — comrades who had risked their lives together. It was only natural that He Yunqin should deeply resent Duan Mingyi for this.

Just then there was a knock at the door — the several hours of observation had passed without incident. Though the hospital was located in the French Concession, it was hardly peaceful, given the constant stream of wounded being brought in. Dean Cheng came to make his rounds, then sent his doctors and nurses to escort He Yunqin back to the He residence.

He Mengmei told Steward Yu and the others to hurry and prepare the rickshaws, and the sickroom was instantly thrown into a flurry of activity.

Hongdou reached out and touched He Yunqin’s forehead, her hand coming away damp with a fine sheen of sweat. The anesthetic in his lower body was gradually wearing off, and the pain was setting in — every movement brought out a cold sweat, though he hid it so as not to worry them.

He Yunqin, worried that a night of caring for him would be hard on Hongdou, forced a smile through the pain and said to Dean Cheng, “Uncle Cheng, do give this junior of yours a painkiller injection or some pain medicine — otherwise how am I to get through the night?”

Mrs. He was startled for a moment, having forgotten that her son had only been able to joke and chat so easily because of the anesthetic. Her face went pale, and she said hurriedly, “Yes, yes, of course — a wound that size, it must hurt terribly just to think about it. Please, Dean Cheng, do prescribe some pain medicine, and we’ll need to have some on hand for the trip to Chongqing tomorrow as well.”

Dean Cheng smiled. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten — it’s all been arranged with the nurses.”

Back at the He residence, it took no small effort to get He Yunqin settled onto the bed. Once everything had been arranged, He Zhuyun half-leaned against the bedside, pressed close to her second brother’s arm, smoothing out the wrinkles in his silver-grey nightclothes. “Second Brother, are you feeling any better?”

He Yunqin had been watching Hongdou’s every move the whole time, worried only that she would tire herself out bustling about. At his fourth sister’s words, he lowered his eyes to look at her. “Much better. Who were you on the phone with just now? You talked for so long.”

He Zhuyun’s cheeks immediately flushed crimson, and she said evasively, “We’re leaving for Chongqing tomorrow — I had to call a few of my close friends from school.”

Having said this, she glanced up to find her second brother’s dark eyes fixed quietly on her. Guiltily, she looked away and turned to Hongdou instead. “Second Sister-in-law, once we get to Chongqing, which floor do you plan to live on with Second Brother? There are so many flowers planted in the garden behind the mansion — my old room was on the first floor, and you could smell the peonies and roses outside just by opening the window. In spring, the branches would even reach right into my window.”

Hongdou turned to look at her, closing her eyes for a moment as if lost in the lovely scene her fourth sister-in-law had described, and smiled. “Just hearing you describe it, I can tell it’s beautiful. I don’t mind the first floor or the second — which room did your second brother used to live in?”

He Zhuyun got up from the bed and came over, touching her sister-in-law’s belly with concern. “It’s precisely because he used to live on the second floor that I’ve been wondering whether we should switch rooms. Second Sister-in-law is pregnant now — she can’t be running up and down the stairs all the time. Mother, don’t you think I’m right?”

Her tone was lively, clearly in good spirits. Mrs. He exchanged a glance with her son, then looked toward her daughter. “You’re right. Your second brother needs to have his sponge bath — out with you now. We leave tomorrow, and there’s still plenty to be done.”

Once everyone had left, Hongdou walked over and sat down by the bed, saying softly, “While you were gone these past two days, Fourth Sister talked my ear off about Yu Rui — she said he’s going to Chongqing too. From the way she talks, I think she’s quite fond of him. What do you think — do you and your parents-in-law approve of this, or oppose it?”

He Yunqin pillowed both arms behind his head and gazed at the ceiling without speaking for a moment, but the wariness that usually appeared on his brow whenever Yu Rui was mentioned was gone.

Something stirred in Hongdou’s heart. “Have you looked into his position and found out where he stands?”

He Yunqin made a sound of acknowledgment, then after another moment of silence, said, “If Fourth Sister likes him, then let her have her way.”

At the time, Yu Rui had been holding the child the Pengs threw at him, knowing full well it might be a bomb — to save himself, all he had to do was throw the child straight back out. And yet, out of concern for the child’s safety, he had hesitated. In that split second between life and death, one’s true nature is often laid bare — it wasn’t an act, only instinct.

He had related all this, concluding: “A man who can feel for a child that isn’t even his own can’t be all that bad.”

Seeing Hongdou lost in thought, he added, “We’ve spent the whole afternoon talking about other people’s business — it’s our turn now. Hongdou, my legs can’t move right now, but you’re pregnant. Let’s discuss it — should you give me a sponge bath, or should I give you one?”

Hongdou slowly leaned down, stopping when their faces were only a few centimeters apart, staring into his dark, glinting eyes, and said with a smile, “You, a ‘disabled person’ — and how exactly did you plan to give me a bath?”