He ran down the steps and strode across the lawn. Ten ch’i from his T’ang he stopped and fell to his knees, his head bowed. “Chieh Hsia,” he said breathlessly, his voice trembling with emotion. “I am overjoyed to see you safe and in good health. And the young prince . . . ?” “. . . is well,” Li Yuan answered, holding Kuei Jen tighter to him. “When we went to greet our cousin Wang, he got bored and ran off. But for once I am pleased he misbehaved himself. If he had not. . .” Tolonen turned, seeing for himself the huge crater where the imperial enclosure had been. Then, turning back, he looked about, as if seeking someone else. His eyes met Li Yuan’s again. “And Wei Chan Yin?”
Li Yuan looked down, a cloud falling over his features. “My dear cousin is dead. And Hou Tung-po. They died instantly, in the second explosion.” Tolonen stared at him a moment, horrified. His voice now was a whisper.
“And among the Minor Families?”
Tsu Ma answered for Li Yuan. “Nine Minor-Family Heads are dead and over forty of the princes. The gods know how many are badly injured!” Tolonen groaned. Never in their history had there been such a disaster!
Never had so many fallen in so brief a time.
“But who could have done this, Chieh Hsia?” Li Yuan’s voice was cold and hard. “For once there’s no need for guesswork. The bastards who did this were from one of Wang Sau-leyan’s elite squads—from his Lan Tian, his ‘Blue Sky” Division.” “The Blue Sky . . .” Tolonen nodded. It all made sense. All, that was, except for a motive.
“Yes,” Tsu Ma said, giving a small grunt of laughter that was laced with pain. “Well . . . they certainly came out of the blue sky, today, neh? Like a cloud of devils, they were. If the honor guard had not fought so bravely we would all be dead.”
Tolonen stared at him, then looked to Li Yuan. “But if we know. . . ?” He waited, then frowned deeply. “Am I missing something, Chieh Hsial If it was that bastard Wang, then our course is clear, neh? It must be war.” His voice rose, insistent now. “This time it must!” Li Yuan looked at him—a cold, clear look that reminded Tolonen vividly of the T’ang’s father, Li Shai Tung. So the old man had looked at him when he had urged action over caution. So the old man had sat, like a rock, when adversity threatened. Chastened, he bowed his head. “Forgive me, Chieh Hsia. I shall await your orders.” “And I will give them. But first Tsu Ma and I must talk. First we must consider how to act.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Beneath the Tree of Heaven
Li yuan stood back, watching the medical cruiser lift from the cratered field, then turned, facing Nan Ho and Tolonen. In the background the Palace was a hive of activity. Two whole battalions had been flown in and were digging in around the perimeter, setting up their batteries to bolster the Palace’s own defenses. If another attack came they would be ready for it.
“The news is bad,” Nan Ho said, without preamble. “Wei Hsi Wang is dead, shot in the back by one of his own guards, and Hou Tung-po’s family also. A single bomb took care of them.”
Li Yuan swallowed. “Then it is just the three of us now. Tsu Ma, Wei Tseng-li, and I.” He half turned as the medical cruiser swept overhead. Tsu Ma was on board, being ferried to the special unit in Pei Ch’ing where, it was hoped, they could save his foot. “And my City?” he asked, looking to Tolonen. “Rheinhardt is in charge, Chieh Hsia. The curfew is in force and—so far, anyway—things are very quiet.”
“That is so, Chieh Hsia,” Nan Ho added, glancing briefly at Tolonen, “but how long will that last? Think of how it must look. The transmissions were cut abruptly and no explanation has been given. They will fear the worst. They will be afraid, Chieh Hsia, in shock. They will be wondering what is to happen. We must seize the moment and act, before their shock turns to anger and their anger to revolt.”
“And you, Knut? Is this how you feel?”
“It is, Chieh Hsia.” He sniffed. “However, we must be careful how we act.”
“Careful?” Li Yuan was almost amused. “Is this the Marshal Tolonen I know?
Are you really counseling caution, Knut? What’s brought this on?” Tolonen gave a gruff laugh. “I know how it must look, Chieh Hsia, but hear me out. I have given this matter much thought these past few hours.” “Then speak, but let us make our way back inside, neh? There is something I must see to.”
The three turned and began to walk back to the Palace, Tolonen to Li Yuan’s left, Nan Ho to his right.
“Tactically things are far from straightforward, Chieh Hsia,” Tolonen continued. “The Sickness and its aftermath have complicated the matter greatly. Things are unstable and the pressures on our Security forces are great. Indeed, your cousin Wu Shih’s City fell under far less pressure. We are stretched thin. Any thinner and we might just melt away.” Li Yuan nodded. “And then there’s Li Min. . . .” He looked to Nan Ho.
“Have we heard anything from our ‘loyal subject’?”
“Nothing, Chieh Hsia. It seems he bides his time.” “Like a mantis, neh?” He huffed out a sigh. “I should have dealt with him when I could, Nantes or no. I should have reached out and crushed that insect then.”
Tolonen, who, he knew, had strong opinions on the subject, said nothing, merely lowered his head slightly. “We cannot fight a war on three fronts, Chieh Hsia,” he said, after a moment, “which is why we must take great care to assess just what action is appropriate. Maybe if we could foster rebellion in his City ...”
Li Yuan looked to Tolonen, seeing how grim his face was. “And how long would that take?”
“It’s hard to say. . . . They hate the bastard, certainly, but they also fear him. He has taken ruthless measures to stamp out sedition in his City. I am told he has executed more than fifty thousand these past two months alone.”
“So I have heard. Nonetheless, it might be worth a try, neh?” Nan Ho cleared his throat. “Forgive me, Chieh Hsia, but I would counsel most strongly against such action. Revolt is easy to incite, hard to put down. If it should spread to our own City . . . why, our current problems would be as nothing. Besides, there is the matter of whether we wish to keep control of City Africa, or whether we are prepared to let it go the way of North America. Once lost it would be hard to regain. It could be ... well, generations.”
Li Yuan nodded, sobered by Nan Ho’s words. They had come to the small lawn in front of the steps. Li Yuan stopped, looking at his Chancellor. “Then what do you counsel, Master Nan?”
“War, Chieh Hsia. An all-out war against your cousin Wang.” He laughed, surprised. “It is a strange day, neh? First Knut here counsels caution, and now you, my most cautious Chancellor, tell me to go to war.” “For good reasons, Chieh Hsia. As Knut says, we cannot fight a war on three fronts. Then again, perhaps there is no need. If it were to be made widely known what your cousin did today, most men would feel a sense of outrage at the cowardly act. Their instinct would be to hit back against the perpetrator, especially when he is as physically odious as Wang Sau-leyan.”
“Maybe so. But can we be so certain that we still hold the sympathies of the masses? Might they not see this as an opportunity to throw off the rule of Seven? I read your reports, Master Nan, and they are not encouraging. Our support is badly eroded in the Lowers and to take such a risk...”