The Nine Fold Heaven (6 page)

“Edward, not now please, maybe later.”

“All right, if that’s what you want.”

Finally realizing that he would not get anything more from me about this, he changed the subject with another startling announcement. “Henry is adopted.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I decided not to comment on his son’s adopted status, but instead offered, “Henry is so adorable.”

This time I really meant what I said. Of course the little boy was adorable, but so are many other little boys. I knew well that the main reason I liked Henry was because except in dreams, I could not express my love for my own Jinjin. I longed for someone to give my motherly love.

Now Edward took a sip of his bitter coffee, then, “Yes, I love him very much. But he is a reason that my wife and I divorced.”

“How’s that?”

“Miranda never wanted to adopt. She thinks it’s because of me that we could not have children of our own. I was the one who insisted on the adoption, and she always resented Henry.

“Henry was in an orphanage. A couple almost adopted him but at the last minute they changed their mind, so I was lucky.“

I was very tempted to ask why Henry’s parents gave him up, but suppressed the urge. I didn’t want the ambassador to ask me the same question.

But he asked another equally unwelcome one. “What is your orphanage?”

“Edward, it’s Compassionate Light. But please, you cannot come there asking for me.”

I knew the easiest way to take his mind off this subject. I placed my hand on his arm and stroked it gently.

“Edward, I am sure you have more important things to think about than a poor girl’s troubles.”

Anyway, my best strategy for now was to keep him interested in me so that someday, if it became necessary, he’d turn my savior.

He cast me a piercing look. “You know, Jasmine, you’re a talented, beautiful, mysterious woman. And your fragrance . . .”

So he had noticed that. But what man wouldn’t? Women pay a lot for perfume, but I had no need for it, because I was endowed with this natural fragrance. Actually, it was not “natural” because I hadn’t been born with it. Big Brother Wang had made me drink an expensive concoction from an imperial recipe. The esoteric formula consisted of honey mixed with morning dew to which were added chrysanthemum, lily, and ground pearl powder, plus some secret roots from a famous herbalist.

Once in a while there was a little white arsenic in the mixture. Although white arsenic is used as a poison, a small dose keeps one’s skin tight and wrinkle free. It also gets rid of excess liquid so you don’t look fat, and it warms your blood.

I’d been forced to drink the concoction by Big Brother Wang so I could bewitch and kill his rival Master Lung. Since I’d escaped to Hong Kong, I’d stopped taking it, because the rumor goes that a woman’s life will be shortened if she drinks this concoction for too long. However, I knew that the “natural” fragrance would still linger.

Of course, I was not going to divulge the secret of my irresistible body fragrance. Let him think that I was like the famous Emperor Qianlong’s concubine Xiang Xiang, or Fragrance, who bathed only in milk, flowers, and herbs.

Miller’s cheeks glowed with a pinkish flush, matching the twilight visible through the porthole. Was it the wine, or did he feel suddenly shy in front of a woman he was so strongly attracted to?

He moved next to me, gently pulled me to him, and pressed his lips against mine.

I found this man likable and attractive, but not irresistible. He seemed too reserved and decent. How many men, or women, made names for themselves for being decent? History tells us that it is the bad who get the fame and the women, and the good usually get killed for their efforts.

Then I realized my top had slipped down, and the ambassador was kissing my bare shoulder, then my breasts, so that my nipples swelled like the rising tide. Now my pants, as if having a plan of their own, kept slipping lower to reveal my narrow waist and my navel, below which lay the dense vegetation surrounding my mysterious fertility.

Outside the porthole, the rising moon seemed to wink at me, encouraging me to reveal even more. Hmm, I thought . . . why not? Though I didn’t think I felt anything like love for this foreigner. However, I did enjoy the chance to play my game of seduction, which had been out of practice lately.

As his hands caressed, he murmured, “Jasmine, you smell wonderful . . . so wonderful . . .”

But when he tried to slide my pants all the way down, suddenly Jinying’s loving face flashed vividly, but sadly, across my mind.

I gently removed his urgent hand. “Please don’t . . .”

The American looked shocked and puzzled. “Jasmine, did I offend you?”

I shook my head, buried it in my hands, and quietly sobbed.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Tell me what’s wrong, please.”

“I am sorry, Edward. I . . . I . . . never had any experience with men.”

He gently pulled me against his broad chest and rested his head on mine. “Jasmine, I’m sorry, I should have thought of that. Please forgive me.”

PART THREE

8

The Execution

T
hree days after the cruise, the execution was to take place. I hated to think what it would be like, but I felt I had no choice as it was a chance to find out what was happening with the Shanghai gangs. Since executions are popular as free entertainment in Shanghai, I had to arrive an hour early to have any chance of finding a place.

To make it as easy as possible for myself, after I got off the train at Xu Jiahui Station, I took a taxi to take me all the way to the unhappy site—a deserted area a mile from the train station. On the way, I slumped down so as to lessen the chance I would be seen.

Again, I had disguised myself as a man, wearing the ubiquitous common worker’s outfit of gray cotton jacket and pants. After I paid and got out of the taxi, I slipped cautiously through the crowd toward the execution ground. I took the precaution of concealing a pair of knives under my jacket, in case I suddenly needed my skill in knife-throwing. Crowds at these bloody events could turn bloodthirsty themselves.

However, the weapons, though cruel, were also beautiful, inscribed with a Chinese saying in elegant calligraphy:
A sword worthy of a hero, for a hero worthy of a beauty.

I carried the knife and possessed the beauty, but my heroes were gone.

Approaching the ominous area, I saw thick ropes holding back the raucous crowd, from which wafted a pungent odor composed of sweat, rotten vegetation, and other less mentionable substances. To my surprise, some men even carried their children on their shoulders to enjoy an unobstructed view. Free entertainment for the poor and the perverse. To add to their enjoyment of this special outing, working their way through the crowd, were vendors selling food and drink.

“Aromatic tea-soaked eggs, get two and the third one for free!”

“Sweet soy milk, good for health and longevity!”

“Fresh crispy doughnut; if not crispy, get your money back!”

Inside the ropes a few yards in front of me, muscular and fierce-looking men in uniform were standing guard. Next to them was a wooden cage inside which knelt a man. Who was he? I quietly squeezed, pushed, and meandered my way to the front. Because of my delicate frame, no one seemed to notice me or react to my maneuvering.

Finally, I was right next to the rope, but the guards, the executioner, and the criminal on the other side were still some distance away. I leaned forward and craned my neck, trying to take a better look at this ill-fated gangster Hong Bin. He seemed too big to be my former boss Big Brother Wang. Anyway, only a few days ago, Wang was enjoying himself at the Bright Moon Nightclub.

The crowd was growing restless, finding it excruciating to have to wait to see someone die an excruciating death. The executioner, dress in black and with his head covered by a black mask, was a towering man filled with
shaqi,
“murderous energy.” Like the audience, he also seemed to be eager for the about-to-come, blood-squirting thrill. To my surprise, he was not holding a gun, but an ax. Obviously, he was about to chop off the criminal’s head, a barbaric act I thought had been eliminated a few decades ago. But obviously not. Or maybe the one who’d ordered the execution was especially vengeful and spiteful. So his victim would meet the King of Hell as a headless ghost.

Finally, fifteen minutes before two in the afternoon, a hush came over the onlookers as a shiny black car materialized like a huge, ghostly cat. A guard dashed to open the door. A uniformed man alighted, and all the guards raised their hands to their foreheads and clicked their heels. It was Police Chief Li, the very same man who had also been hunting for me! I instinctively averted my face.

Li waved away the guards and approached the execution space, which was marked by a big circle. I supposed the big wooden basin placed in the middle was to receive the squirting blood and the criminal’s head. Nearby, a long, narrow pit had been dug. It must be the burial site for Hong Bin’s body, once it had parted ways with his head. Even though the sun was hot, the sight sent a shiver down my spine.

Around me people were craning necks and straining eyes, some whispering heatedly, others watching intensely with almost protruding eyes. A woman put her hand across her eyes—I supposed instead of having a full view, she’d see only the splattered blood and rolling head through the cracks of her fingers, thus minimizing her guilt at her act of voyeurism. However, like a married man on his way to the prostitution house, guilt does not win over the anticipation of a “good” time.

On my left, a child was clapping on his father’s shoulders with a happy expression. Maybe he thought he was about to see a circus act. Good, because everyone was so focused on what was about to happen that no one was paying me any attention.

Now, one attendant handed Police Chief Li a piece of paper. Li took it, cast murderous, bullet-like glances at the onlookers, and cleared his throat.

“Good day, ladies and gentleman!”

I almost burst out laughing. Good day? What a joke! But it
was
a good day for Li, since he’d scored another conviction and was that much closer to another promotion.

He went on with a pompous expression. “Today we finally bring an evil man to justice and send an important message to all criminals in Shanghai!”

The onlookers clapped enthusiastically.

“Yes, kill him!”

“The evil always get their evil end; if he doesn’t, sooner or later their time will arrive!”

Li paused to cast us another blood-curdling look, then said, “This man did nothing but evil. He is a spy, a traitor, a murderer!”

This time I had to bit my lip hard. Who could be more evil than this police chief himself, the biggest criminal of all?!

Criminal Li smiled an evil smile. “Don’t worry, he’ll meet his end, in five minutes, I promise!”

People burst into loud laughing and clapping.

Two young people nearby were already laying down their bets.

The skinny one said, “Twenty on his death, anyone want to take my bet?”

His friend said in a harsh whisper, “I’ll bet a hundred for his escape.”

The whole group laughed. “Then you’re a sure loser!”

Just then one of the guards opened the wooden cage and dragged the criminal out. His arms were bent to his back, tied with thick ropes cutting deeply into his blood-smeared wrists. Another round of shouting exploded in the murderous air. The man was very tall, at least six feet. Lean, big-boned, and seemingly muscular underneath his gray, loose “execution” outfit. His face looked sunken and his hair long and dirty. But I couldn’t tell if he was someone I knew, because his face was turned away from us and he was blindfolded.

Li exclaimed with an authoritative air. “Now we announce the execution of Hong Bin, spy, traitor, and a communist!”

“Hao!”
many of the onlookers shouted, itchy for blood.

He turned to ask the man: “You have any last words?”

The man tilted his head, shouting, “Be struck by lightning, you turtlehead!”

No one dared to say anything. I yelled inside. “You have guts, man!”

Li, his face crimson, kicked the criminal’s head. To everyone’s surprise, the victim didn’t scream, or even moan, as blood trickled down his face.

Li turned to shout at the executioner. “Ready!”

The executioner picked up his ax and raised it in midair, ready for action. Another guard pushed the criminal to kneel on the floor, then twisted his head so he was now facing the onlookers.

Chief Li shouted again. “Take off this man’s blindfold so he can witness his own death!”

I stared at the bloody face as my heart froze and a chill scurried down my spine like a street rat. The intended to be soon entering-a-coffin-and-turning-a-corpse man was none other than Master Lung’s bodyguard—my secret lover, Gao! How fortune’s wheel turns. Not too long ago, this man was making passionate love to me a few feet from his master’s stateroom as we crossed the Atlantic on our way to Paris.

I pressed my hand across my mouth so no scream would escape.

Gao must have lost at least twenty pounds since then, but still looked tough and handsome. I suddenly realized that Hong Bin must be his real name, and Gao the one given by the Flying Dragons after his initiation.

Now Gao cast a contemptuous look at the evil officers, then at us. Suddenly he spat with full force.

One of the guards kicked him in the face, yelling. “What’s the matter with you, dead man?”

Then he pushed Gao’s head down till it touched the ground—an extreme insult and humiliation.

A few young women, who may have fallen in love with him on the spot, dabbed their eyes with handkerchiefs, one even sobbed. But crying can’t help, only action does. And from my experience as a spy, I’d learned that with action, one must watch the timing, especially when you plan to kill somebody.

I was well aware that Buddhism teaches wisdom and compassion. However, this did not apply to me, for, if I were compassionate, I’d have died a horrible death a long time ago. Kindness only works when it encounters another kindness. But when kindness meets cruelty, it’s the path to defeat. That’s why the Chinese say, “Use poison to get rid of poison.”

Cautiously my hand reached into my pocket to feel the hard handle of my knife. Knife-throwing was part of my training to be an assassin for Big Brother Wang. Though I threw knives with great accuracy as part of my stage act, I’d never had the occasion to use them in a fight. I thought of how it had been Gao’s job to search me thoroughly before I’d be let inside his boss’s room. I couldn’t say I minded this. Gao had always been good to me—tender and protective. But I couldn’t love him completely, because there was Jinying, our boss’s son, and the father of my child.

I knew well that executing Gao as a spy was a way for Chief Li to do a favor for Big Brother Wang. Since Lung, dead or disappeared, was now out of the way, Big Brother Wang had finally attained his goal of being the number one gangster in Shanghai. So Li was now eager to collaborate with the new number one.

Li’s thunderous voice woke me from my reflections. “What are we waiting for? Chop this criminal’s head off, right now!”

To everyone’s surprise, Gao raised his head and shouted, “Wait!”

Li sneered. “All right, let’s hear what’s the last wish of a dying man. If it’s not unreasonable, I might as well grant it to accumulate some good karma for myself. Don’t you think?”

A collective “Yes!” burst among the onlookers.

Again, to everyone’s surprise, Gao’s question was, “Is my outfit buttoned in the correct way?”

The onlookers burst into hilarious laughter, as if they were watching a comedy, not a killing.

Someone yelled, “Ha! You’re going to report to the King of Hell in seconds, you think he‘ll care about your outfit, huh? Or are you a member of the Severed Sleeve Club?”

More raucous laughter exploded.

Severed Sleeve refers to men who love other men. One time when Emperor Ai of the Han dynasty woke up next to his favorite male concubine, he found the latter asleep with his head on the emperor’s dragon sleeve. Having no heart to wake up his lover, the emperor cut off his sleeve.

Chief Li looked amused. Since Gao was the fish trapped inside his urn, he could take his own sweet time before letting the ax fall.

He asked sarcastically, “All right, just out of curiosity, why do you want to know if your buttons are in the right holes?”

Gao spat. “I’d like to look respectable on my last, solitary journey to meet with the King of Hell.” He paused, then spat out vehemently. “And you bet you’ll ask the same question when I’m back!”

That was an ominous remark, implying that he’d come back to Chief Li as a vengeful ghost!

As if heaven also heard what Gao had just said, all of a sudden there was a clap of thunder followed by a sudden downpour. Some ran to take refuge under the few nearby trees; others pulled up their jacket to cover their heads.

The young man next to me said to his friends, “I think heaven disapproves of the execution. We should go, I don’t want to be part of this. Leave before heaven looks in our direction and recognizes our faces, quick!”

A guard immediately held a huge umbrella over Police Chief Li. Then the boss made a chopping gesture with his gloved hand. Was the glove to keep the blood from staining his murderous hand?

Then he addressed the crowd, “Please stay calm, it’ll be over in a moment; then you can all go home to relax or to a restaurant to have a big meal!”

As the man in the black mask raised the ax high to strike, I slid the knife from my pocket and hurled it with full force. As expected, the knife buried itself in the executioner’s thick arm.

Blood squirted in his eyes and ran down the mask to his chest as he screamed out painfully.
“Aiya!”

The ax dropped to the floor as more rain poured down.

Someone yelled, “Let the man go free!

“Don’t you realize that heaven does not want him to die?!”

Chief Li raised his voice against the thunder and the calls of the crowd. “This man is a heartless criminal and will meet his long-deserved death!”

But no one listened to him, because they believed he had been overruled by heaven.

Li shouted, veins bulging on his temples. “I’m the police chief and I order you all to stay, right now!”

But there was mass confusion. Ignoring the disorderly crowd, he turned to ordered the executioner. “Strike, now!”

But Gao was nowhere to be seen.

As unobtrusively as possible, I squeezed through the stampeding crowd and left this place of horror. I’d left behind my precious knife but saved an even more precious life.