by Robert Wang
Special Emissary Lin sighed and shook his head. Level One Guan Lee Man Ho was a powerful man in Peking who had served the emperor with loyalty and honor for over twenty years. If Lee Shao Lin was the opium kingpin in Canton, it would be nearly impossible to exempt him from family extermination, which would include his venerable father, and that troubled Lin deeply. Lesser offenders were strangled using a specially designed apparatus, but their families were spared. All executions were carried out in public as a warning to anyone involved or considering involvement in illegal activities. The shame of it was indelible.
Emissary Lin pondered for a few seconds before coming to his decision. “I am under the order of our Celestial Emperor to investigate and eliminate our opium problem. If Lee Shao Lin is the biggest dealer in Canton, then I have no choice but to arrest and punish him to set an example. No one is above the law, no matter how august his background and connections. If we do not prosecute him, we disobey our beloved emperor.” He glared at Cheng. “But before we take any action, I need absolute, ironclad proof that he is guilty. So get me that proof—and get it now.”
“Understood and will obey, Lord Magistrate!” Cheng said.
Inspector Cheng was an honest man, hand-picked by Special Emissary Lin. The emissary had saved Cheng’s life when he was falsely accused by a corrupt guan who was himself under investigation. Emissary Lin presented irrefutable evidence against the guan and had him executed instead. To repay this debt, Cheng pledged his loyalty to Lin and followed him to Canton to help solve the opium problem. Cheng knew that Level One Guan Lee Man Ho was a righteous man who had earned the trust of the emperor and the friendship of Emissary Lin; he also knew that if he was right about Lee Shao Lin, it would create a very difficult situation for the special emissary. But he had pledged his service to the emperor and the Celestial Kingdom, and he would do his job.
Lee Shao Lin was relieved to set foot in Canton again after the chaos of Macau. He had heard some troublesome rumors about this imperial special emissary who was supposed to be in Canton already, and he wanted to make sure that the opium in his warehouse had not been affected by the typhoon. Ordinarily, he never visited the opium warehouse during the day; that was a job for trusted—and well-compensated—employees, but he had just taken delivery of five hundred chests of high-grade product, and he needed to know they were safe. Anyway, it was getting dark, and it was unlikely that anyone would notice him, even though he was still wearing his official guan regalia.
When his sedan chair reached the warehouse, his bodyguards checked the area before signaling that it was safe for him to emerge. The warehouse had sustained some damage, but nothing serious; more important, the opium chests were dry and intact. The chests would have to be relocated so repairs could be done, he decided. The last thing he needed was a curious worker sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.
He left the warehouse and ordered his sedan chair carriers to take him home, without noticing Chief Inspector Cheng, who took careful notes on the time and circumstances in which Lord Lee Shao Lin, in his uniform as a guan, visited a warehouse filled with opium.
“I cannot leave anything up to chance—too much is at stake,” Cheng muttered to himself as he followed his next suspect.
Owner of a chain of opium parlors in Canton, Chu Ting—the father of Chu Sing, who had introduced Lee Da Ping to the Flower Lantern—had purchased the title of guan for himself and bought all his product from his good friend Lee Shao Lin, who sold nothing but the highest grade of William Jardine’s opium. Chu Ting’s name was very high on Inspector Cheng’s list of suspects to be arrested when Special Emissary Lin was ready to make his move. Cheng had stayed up till dawn the previous night planning the best way to collect and present incontrovertible evidence of Lord Lee Shao Lin’s opium operation to the special emissary, and now he was ready.
Having followed Chu Ting for several weeks, Inspector Cheng knew that he liked to frequent the Flower Lantern. His favorite was Little Spring, who could satisfy him in ways his concubines could not. Chu Ting, like many wealthy Chinese men, had an appetite for novel and unconventional sex, and Little Spring was well trained and more than happy to provide some very exciting services, at a premium price, of course. Chu Ting—and many others—were eager to pay whatever she asked.
Inspector Cheng had visited the Flower Lantern earlier that evening and sat down with Little Spring. He showed her his credentials before she could even loosen her robe. “One word out of you about who I am and what I’m doing here, and I will make sure you’re locked up for so many years in a hard-labor camp that your good looks will be ruined forever. Now can we talk?”
Little Spring had dealt with tough officials before and thought she knew how to handle them. “Of course, Lord Cheng! I am at your service and will do anything you desire.” She winked and leaned forward, letting her breasts brush against the opening of her silk robe.
Cheng stood up and slapped her across the face in disgust. She maintained her composure, as she had been trained. This one must like it rough. “My dear Lord Cheng, I am happy to accommodate you, as long as you take care not to hurt me too badly. And taking your pleasure of me in this way will cost you a hundred taels of silver.” She grinned coquettishly, amazed at her own brashness for charging such a fortune, and braced herself for a session of very rough sex.
“You filthy, despicable woman,” growled Cheng. “I am here on official business, so listen to me carefully.”
Little Spring’s face, pink from the slap, turned pale. “I am at your service, Lord Chief Inspector,” she said quietly, cursing internally.
Chu Ting’s accountant had informed him that the first moon of the New Year had been the best month yet for his opium business, so he decided to celebrate with a visit to the Flower Lantern. When he discovered that Little Spring was available, he couldn’t believe his luck. This will be a night to remember!
“Dear Lord Chu!” Little Spring smiled. “I’m so honored to see you again this evening. May I interest you in something a little different, something we’ve never tried before?”
“What haven’t we tried, Little Spring?” Chu Ting licked his lips.
“Well, I could ask another sister to join us, and we could play Two Overflowing Hot Springs. Would that please you, my lord?”
“I don’t know that one, but it sounds quite enchanting!” Chu Ting’s imagination ran away with him like an unbroken colt, and he could feel his body responding.
“Please excuse me, Lord Chu, for just one moment. I know any one of my sisters would clamor for the opportunity to let her Golden Gate overflow all over your magnificent Jade Stalk.”
As soon as Little Spring closed the door, Chu Ting shed his clothes and began the ritual of preparing the opium pipe. He had brought his own paste, the finest available. Regular clients of the Flower Lantern who smoked kept their own pipes and paraphernalia there, just as the men who preferred fine liquors maintained a collection of spirits to share with their favorite ladies. But before he could even light the lamp, Special Emissary Lin and Inspector Cheng barged into the room with two guards bearing weapons.
“What is the meaning of this, you fools?” he barked. “Don’t you know who I am?” He scrambled to get back into his clothes.
“We know precisely who you are, and that is why we are here, Lord Chu,” said Cheng, holding up the plaque. “Now kneel in front of the emperor’s special emissary.”
This can’t be happening, Chu Ting thought. I pay for protection! He earnestly hoped it was a scheme Little Spring had cooked up to extort money from him. “All right, all right, name your price, and you shall have it.” He would make her pay for betraying him like this.
“Our price, Lord Chu, is your head,” said Cheng. “And there is nothing you can do to save it. Now kneel! Special Emissary Lin Tse-Hsu represents His Majesty the Celestial Emperor; and by order of His Celestial Majesty, you are hereby condemned to death for your involvement in the wicked opium trade that is destroying our Celestial
Empire.” Cheng took great pride in his words. “You and your entire family will be executed in public by sundown tomorrow.”
Chu Ting could feel his own heart hammering in his chest. This was no extortion scheme. He had heard rumors of an incorruptible special emissary sent by the emperor, but this emissary was not expected to arrive in Canton for a few months. He hung his head. Tears dripped from his eyes as he finished dressing and knelt. “Lord Guan Special Emissary, I will give up all my belongings if you can find it in your heart to spare me and my family. I am worth over five million taels of silver, and the Celestial Empire can have it all. Please, I beg of you, spare our lives!”
“Do you believe the emissary is interested in your dirty blood money?” Cheng snapped as an impassive Lin looked on. “Prepare yourself for the next life, in which you will no doubt return as the running dog you are.”
Chu Ting broke down as the gravity of his situation sank in.
“My parents, my wives, my siblings, and especially my two sons, Lord Emissary. Will you spare at least their lives if you cannot spare mine? Opium parlors are everywhere in Canton—I am not the only one guilty of this crime!”
Special Emissary Lin spoke for the first time. “You bring shame to our Celestial Empire, just like all the other dirty guans who profit from this filthy drug. Do you not see what is happening to our beloved empire? Have you no shame?”
“Oh, Lord Emissary, I know it is a foul drug, but if we wish to trade with the foreign devils, we must buy their opium, and we have to pay for it with the silver they give us for our other goods. I know this business has gone too far, and the foreign devils are exploiting our Celestial Empire for their own gain. Lord Magistrate, things are out of control! I, like everyone else, got swept up in the business because the money is so good. I know I will not be forgiven for my crimes, but I beg of you, tell me what I can do to save the lives of my family!” Too late for me, Chu Ting realized, scrambling for whatever deal he could make.
“We will stop this epidemic,” pronounced Special Emissary Lin, “by rooting out the supply source and those involved in spreading opium all over our Celestial Empire. If you wish to save the lives of your family, then you must confess the identity of your supplier. That is our first and final offer. It is your only hope.”
“Do you give your word that you will spare my family, especially my two sons?” Chu Ting asked meekly, eyes fixed on the floor.
“How dare you question me!” Lin shouted. “I will order the execution of your entire family right now.”
“NO! My lord, no!” Chu Ting began to cough, his mouth dry. Nothing else will do, he decided. I must save my family. “My supplier is Lord Lee Shao Lin, son of Level One Guan Lee Man Ho.”
“How dare you implicate a most noble family of our Celestial Empire!” Inspector Cheng roared, inwardly elated that Chu Ting had spit out Lee’s name.
“I swear to you on my ancestors’ names,” wheezed Chu Ting. “It is Lord Lee Shao Lin, and no other, who is my supplier.”
Special Emissary Lin gave Chu Ting’s kneeling form a long, calculating look. Bending down, he grasped the man’s chin and lifted his face toward his own. “You dare to make such an accusation without proof?”
“Proof, proof—yes, I can prove it! I can prove it,” babbled Chu Ting, beyond all dignity now.
“And how will you do this, you miserable worm?”
“I will bring you to him, and he will tell you himself. That is, if he doesn’t know who you really are.”
“And why would he tell me anything?”
“Lord Emissary, I will bring you to him and tell him you are a new buyer I am working with.”
“And you believe this will work? Remember, your family’s lives depend on the quality of your deception,” said Lin.
“Yes, my Lord Emissary, I do. He is very careful not to meet anyone he doesn’t know, but he is also a good friend, and he will meet with you if I bring you because he trusts me. Please spare my family, Lord!”
“I will decide about your family after I have the confession of Lord Lee Shao Lin,” the special emissary replied. “Your fate, however, is sealed.”
Little Spring gasped, then covered her mouth. She had heard the entire exchange through the thin wooden wall of the barge. She, too, had heard the rumors about the emperor putting an end to the opium trade by any means necessary and knew that the most severe punishment would be meted out to Lee Shao Lin’s family, which included her new regular, Da Ping.
Little Spring had become very fond of the young man in the month since she’d relieved him of his virginity. He was so innocent and easy to please, and he always brought her expensive gifts when he visited, which was as often as three times a week. Da Ping had taken to sex and opium with equal gusto, and he couldn’t get enough of Little Spring. He had even ordered a custom-built opium bed for Little Spring’s barge. Da Ping’s father was unaware of his son’s nascent addiction, but he handed over as much money as Da Ping asked for, assuming that he was using it to foster the connections he would need as a man in charge of the largest opium business in Canton.
What can I do? Little Spring racked her brain. Da Ping is a sweet child, and if his father is exposed, he and his whole family will be executed! There was no way to warn him; if the special emissary discovered that she had anything to do with the escape of his quarry, Lee Shao Lin, he would make her pay. I cannot go to a labor camp, she thought, desperate for ideas. Hard work? No opium? Da Ping is good and kind, but he cannot protect me.
“Big Brother Chu, how are you?” Shao Lin entered the reception area of the tea and silk store to greet Chu Ting and his companion. “Tell me, who is your friend?”
Chu Ting had wasted no time in setting up the meeting between Lee Shao Lin and Special Emissary Lin. The very next morning, he brought the emissary to Lee’s shop.
“Lord Lee, may I introduce my colleague, Lord Ding? He is visiting from Fujian province and is the largest supplier of ‘medicine’ there. He buys from the foreign devil Dent, but he is dissatisfied with the recent quality of his shipments. I thought I would introduce you, since I am quite satisfied with the product you provide, and I know you don’t have many outlets in Fujian.”
Shao Lin, still tired and aching from the ordeal in Macau and eager to move those five hundred chests, ignored the quiet voice in the back of his mind warning him to act with caution.
“How grateful I am that you bring a new customer to me!” He smiled at Chu Ting and his colleague. “Any friend of Brother Chu is welcome here.”
Special Emissary Lin replied, “It is my honor indeed to meet you, Lord Lee. Lord Chu has spoken so highly of you and your excellent product from the Iron-Headed Rat taipan. The quality of his medicine is superior to all others.”
“Indeed,” Shao Lin laughed out loud. “Iron-Headed Rat only brings in the finest quality. How many chests are you thinking of acquiring for your market in Fujian?”
“Three hundred at this time, Lord Lee. And if it moves quickly, you can expect another order for at least three hundred more.”
“Well,” said Shao Lin, “you are in luck! I just took delivery of five hundred chests of the best medicine you can buy, all grown and produced in Malwa.”
“Might I request the favor of a sample before we discuss prices?”
“Of course, Lord Ding. I will arrange for my men to take you to the warehouse whenever you please so you can inspect my product for yourself. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. And when you’re ready to place an order, they will be happy to accommodate you.”
“Lord Lee,” said Lin, “I hope you understand that I only deal with principals and not underlings. I am one of the biggest distributors in Fujian, and I could be a very big customer for you. Lord Chu assures me that you are a man who can be trusted, so I would prefer to deal directly with you, and you alone.”
The warning voice in his head was louder than usual, but Shao Lin’s leg was causing him a lot of pain, and after all, it was Chu Ting who had
brought him this customer, and Chu Ting would never dare betray him because it would mean exposing himself.
“Very well, then. Let’s have some tea, and then we’ll go to the warehouse.”
Inspector Cheng had asked General Kwan Tien Pui at Fu-Moon to send him one hundred elite Special Forces soldiers to help him in his investigation and make arrests when necessary. They had arrived the day before, under the command of Vice General Lo Ping. Inspector Cheng knew he couldn’t trust any of the local authorities, who were most likely on the payroll of at least one opium dealer, but General Kwan was a loyal military man who hated opium smuggling. Cheng planted twenty soldiers near the warehouse he’d seen Lee Shao Lin visit when he returned from Macau; he was counting on Special Emissary Lin to lure him back there so he could be arrested.
“Just over here, Lord Ding, are five hundred chests of the finest quality cakes waiting to be shipped,” said Shao Lin as they entered with Chu Ting.
“I hope you will allow me to open a chest to test the quality.”
“Of course.” Shao Lin gestured to one of his men to open the nearest mango wood chest and remove one of the forty cakes nestled inside. The round cakes were about eight inches in diameter and weighed four pounds. Hardened shells of dried poppy petals, stems, and leaves protected the opium paste inside. The man cracked open the shell with a knife and displayed its contents.
Special Emissary Lin brought the half cake to his nose and inhaled the distinctive scent of opium. Lee Shao Lin was caught red-handed in his own warehouse trying to sell five hundred chests of high-grade opium to the imperial emissary.