The Rebellion Engines Page 8

  I frowned at him. Yes, I was well aware of my mother was also Jin Furen.

  “After all that has happened,” he went on. “I didn’t think it was possible. I didn’t think I was worthy. But over the last year. And these last few months—”

  My frown deepened. I didn’t want to say anything for fear he’d lose focus—what little focus he possessed at the moment.

  “Soling.” He spoke my name tenderly. He did touch me now, though just the edge of my sleeve. Still, it made my heart flutter. “I asked your mother for permission to marry you.” Finally, he allowed himself to take a breath.

  I couldn’t do anything but stare up at him. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes. Chang-wei looked exhausted, the same way he’d looked for the last months, but for once there was something else behind the tiredness. A spark of light.

  “What did” —I swallowed, surprised to find my throat so dry— “she say?”

  I had so many questions. So many, but that was the only question I could form. My heart was pounding hard. I couldn’t be certain I’d heard him correctly. I remembered seeing him with Mother yesterday. Mother’s oddly affectionate manner toward me afterward suddenly made sense.

  “She told me I should probably ask you.” He paused, looking boyish in his uncertainly. “So, I’m asking.”

  Chang-wei had done so much for my family. And there were times in the last year when I felt close to him followed by times when I didn’t — it was hot and cold with Chang-wei. I couldn’t deny that he was dear to me, but I was surprised he would be thinking about such personal things now. He was typically focused and absorbed in his work.

  Then I remembered how he’d kissed me just days ago not far from here. Someone as brilliant as Chang-wei could certainly focus on more than one thing at once, couldn’t he?

  I was blushing. I could feel the heat high on my cheeks and burning at the back of my neck. I opened my mouth to speak.

  “Don’t answer right now,” Chang-wei implored suddenly.

  I clamped my lips closed, more than a little perturbed.

  “Kuo Lishen and his delegation are to present their verdict. You should know what it is before deciding whether—” He hesitated, his eyes fixed onto mine. “Whether I’m even worth considering. I just wanted you to know that, despite what their decision may be, this was always my intention.”

  The words were spoken gently. His voice played along my spine. I wanted to tell him of course he was worth considering. I’d never considered anyone else.

  “When did you know?” I asked, instead of all the more sincere, more feeling and grandiose things I should have said.

  He licked his lips. “When did I know what?”

  “That this was your intention?”

  “Oh.” His gaze wandered upward, searching. My heart thudded, once, twice.

  “That first time I saw you again in Canton,” he replied. “All grown up.”

  My chest felt like it would burst. I wanted to throw my arms around him and tell him that I didn’t need to wait. I didn’t care if he was to be stripped of his rank and removed from the Factories. What mattered was what he and I meant to each other.

  It was a messenger who stopped me from pouring out all the thoughts swimming inside me.

  “Engineer Chen, you’re required in the Director’s office.”

  Chang-wei acknowledged the messenger with a curt nod before looking back to me.

  “I’ll be right here,” I assured him.

  He reached out to touch his fingertips to the back of my hand before following the messenger out into the passageway.

  I remained just inside the book room, thoughts of all that had just happened swirling around me like the images of a dream. Chang-wei, asking to marry me. Wanting me to be his wife. He’d known since that first moment we’d met in Canton.

  A guard patrol passed through the corridor outside and I glanced up just in time to catch a glimpse of them. One of them glanced over at me before quickly jerking away. The patrol didn’t pause to ask about my presence as they marched on.

  The guardsman who had turned to face me had looked disturbingly familiar. The jagged features, the chin scraggly with stubble. Jiang Wen. From the Tai Shan facility.

  Jiang who was supposed to be in Tai Shan Facility right now, working the line.

  I ran out into the passageway. The patrol had disappeared down the corridor and I started in their direction for a few steps before I stopped. Then I spun around and ran back in the opposite direction, toward where I’d seen Chang-wei disappear.

  The messenger had said they would be in the main hall. I didn’t know where that was, but I ran through the corridor, glancing into the rooms. There was the workroom where I’d been with Chang-wei the other day.

  Finally, I found a pair of guards standing before a door.

  “Please, I must speak to the Directorate,” I implored as the guards blocked my way. “There’s going to be another attack.”

  I didn’t know for certain, but it made sense. With the representatives from the Emperor’s war council and the entire Directorate all in one room. I pleaded with the guards, my throat constricting with a rising panic.

  The two men regarded me warily. One held me back with a raised hand as the other reached for the door. As it opened, I was given a glimpse of the inner chamber. The three members of the Directorate sat behind a raised platform like magistrates hearing a case. The entire imperial delegation was assembled there with Kuo Lishen at the front, dressed in regalia.

  “We commend the Directorate and your engineers on this great success,” Chief Engineer Kuo was saying.

  Chang-wei’s voice rang out in response. Chang-wei.

  “The automatons aren’t ready. They don’t work.” His voice came from somewhere on the far side of the room.

  Mother was standing just behind Kuo Lishen. She turned when the door opened and saw me. Her eyes widened with concern. The next events unfolded all at once as I tried to push past the guard with a warning hanging on my lips.

  Mother started toward me. Kuo Lishen turned to see what had distracted her.

  “Sabotage—”

  That was all I could get out before the explosion shattered the air and I was thrown to the ground.

  I was on my hands and knees in the hallway. I’d barely lifted my head to see the gray smoke that had flooded the room before there was another explosion. I ducked my head, hearing the splintering of wood. Then shouting. The ground trembled beneath my knees.

  The next moment stretched on forever. When I finally dared to look up, I couldn’t see a thing. There was movement inside the fog before me. The guard beside me had also been thrown to the ground. I saw him struggle to stand, his hand braced against the doorway.

  My first attempt to get up failed as I staggered. There was a ringing in my ears.

  “Mother!” My voice sounded muted, as if coming from far away. I coughed as smoke billowed out from the chamber.

  My mother was in there and so was Chang-wei. A tight knot of fear formed in my stomach. I crawled forward, then once again struggled to my feet while using the doorway for support.

  The smoke hung thick and I could hear voices crying out from inside, hurt. Needing help.

  I couldn’t wait to see if there were any more explosions, I needed to get inside. Pressing an arm over my nose and mouth, I pushed forward. My eyes teared up and I blinked furiously to try to clear them. Through the smoke, I could see people struggling to regain their feet. Several dark figures remained on the ground unmoving.

  “Mother,” I cried out again, squinting through the haze. She should be close. I had seen her right before the explosion.

  A hand settled on my shoulder. “Soling?”

  It was Chang-wei.

  “Are you hurt?” I demanded.

  “Are you hurt?” he echoed.

  I could barely make out his face, but he seemed unharmed. He hooked an arm around me, and we held onto each other as I searched for my mother. The smoke had dissi
pated enough that I could make out more shapes. I stumbled over something and saw that it was an imperial headdress with a peacock feather attached.

  Looking up, I saw someone huddled on the floor before me. Kuo Lishen.

  “Are you hurt, sir?”

  He groaned, grabbing onto my arm as he struggled to stand. Beneath him was my mother, sheltered from the blast by Kuo’s body. She was dazed, but I was able to help her to her feet. A feeling of relief flooded me as I held onto her.

  “I’m going to take Mother outside,” I shouted to Chang-wei.

  My ears were still ringing, but his must have been as well. He’d been closer to the blast. He waved at me, go, then turned to help Kuo Lishen.

  By the time Mother and I made our way out to the corridor, more help had arrived. Guardsmen ran into the chamber to pull out the others.

  I kept moving in the opposite direction, away from the disaster until the air was clear enough that it didn’t hurt to breathe. Mother sank to the ground with me beside her.

  “Are you alright?” I asked her.

  She stared up at me but didn’t answer. Her face was covered with a layer of soot, and I was reminded of pulling survivors from the accident at Tai Shan. This would be much, much worse.

  Gradually, her breathing calmed. Mother reached up and touched her hand to my cheek. I pressed my forehead to hers.

  “Daughter.” She put her arms around me, pulling me close.

  There was so much to do. I needed to get to my feet and start right away, but for a moment I was grateful to be held by my mother and comforted. I knew the worst was yet to come.

  Chapter 8

  The hours after the explosion were a blur.

  There were injuries. There was death — just as I feared.

  A temporary infirmary was set up at the citadel. An additional crew came from the factories led by Kai, who, against my original orders, did quite a bit of lifting and carrying.

  Nine people had been inside the room. There were three members of the Directorate along with Chang-wei and then the five members in the delegation. The Directorate appeared to have been the target of the attack. An explosive device had been planted in the bench; two of the presiding members had been killed instantly. The third was injured. Chang-wei had been close to the blast but had avoided harm by ducking behind a desk.

  The delegation had also suffered severe injuries. Two members were burned so badly that I didn’t know if they would recover. Mother had been the most fortunate. She’d been turned away to come toward me. Kuo Lishen’s larger form had shielded her against the full force of the blast.

  As I set about caring for the injured, the Inspector General commenced his investigation. It was routine by now, the process eerily reminiscent of the earlier accident at Tai Shan. I reported my sighting of Jiang at the citadel to the inspector. Within the hour, the inspector reported back to me that Jiang Wen had disappeared along with a number of other workers. It wasn’t until I was able to return to the infirmary several days later that I discovered Guo had gone as well. I had to assume Jiang had come for him.

  With Guo’s amputated leg, he’d slow down the escape. Yet they’d risked taking him. He had to be important to them — or maybe there was more of a sense of loyalty and brotherhood among the rebels than we realized.

  Inspector Hala and his men were unable to find any trace of the rebels in the factory village or beyond. They’d managed to plan a clean escape route along with the attack.

  Chief Engineer Kuo suffered burns and contusions from debris. He’d likely been saved from more serious injury by turning toward the door as well. He was confined to bed for a few days afterward, with my mother tending to him. I still wasn’t clear of the ties between them. The Kuo Lishen I knew of was a selfish, power-hungry bureaucrat with little talent, as my mother herself described. Yet he’d thrown himself over her without a thought.

  The part about being power-hungry still seemed correct. With the only remaining Director unable to resume his seat due to injuries, Kuo was the one to take over leadership of the Five Factories. He issued a directive for production to increase, even while the citadel was recovering from the tragedy. Chang-wei, who’d escaped with hardly any injury at all, was removed from the engineering corps and taken off of construction. Instead, he was assigned to investigate the explosive and incendiary device involved in the blast. Chang-wei bit his tongue about his objections and threw himself into his work.

  “It’s a good thing the production lines weren’t affected by the accident,” Kuo said when I visited him along with my mother.

  I decided that I still didn’t like him. It was a week after the explosion. By then, we knew three people in that room, including one from Kuo’s own delegation, had been killed by the explosion.

  By the time two weeks had passed, the factories were busier than ever. Kuo Lishen was off of bedrest and it was clear that imperial authorities would be taking a more direct role in how the Five Factories were run going forward.

  Eventually, Kuo Lishen summoned me directly to him. I came to his private studio, an office that he had commandeered from one of the directors who’d perished in the blast.

  When I entered, he greeted me cordially and invited me to sit, calling for a servant to bring tea. I sat across from the Chief Engineer with my hands folded in my lap, as I waited for the tea to be served.

  Given Kuo Lishen’s much higher status, I kept my eyes lowered which meant I was only able to take him in with sideways glances. His dark beard was neatly trimmed and added an imposing look to his face. His features were sharp, his nose hawkish. A nick across one cheek was still visible, but healing.

  “I knew your father, Miss Jin.”

  This might be the first he’d ever addressed me directly.

  “So my mother has told me,” I replied.

  “We attended the Academy together.”

  I knew this as well, but it was strange to hear such pleasantries from the Chief Engineer. Since I’d known him, he’d antagonized Chang-wei, casting doubt on his loyalty, and clashing with him over status in the imperial court.

  The servant returned with a tray carrying two teacups. A pungent herbal smell rose from Kuo’s cup once he lifted the lid, reminding me that he was still taking a medicinal tea to dull his pain. Though his injuries were less serious than the others’, he’d still been badly burned and bruised.

  I drank my tea silently while he drank his, wondering why he’d called me and what were his hidden reasons for doing so.

  “Engineer Chen was Jin Zhi-fu’s brightest pupil,” Kuo continued. “He honors your father’s name with his accomplishments.”

  Yet my father’s name was a source of disgrace in Peking, by imperial decree. I didn’t say it aloud, but Kuo must have seen something in my expression. He set his tea down and folded his hands in front of him, regarding me with a dark look.

  “It was a tragedy, what happened to your father.”

  I couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Fortunately, the same fate didn’t befall you, Chief Engineer.”

  “No. Fortunately, it did not.”

  Mother had told me Kuo Lishen was an opportunist. He was more a flatterer and interloper than an engineer. I had to believe it given how he’d now taken over as Head Engineer in the factories, holding authority over Chang-wei even though Kuo had not been involved in any of the accomplishments of the past year.

  “Chen Chang-wei has had to prove himself against unfortunate circumstances for the last ten years. His mentor’s loss of face and his own capture by the Yangguizi.” Kuo’s lip curled around the less than polite term used to refer to Westerners. “It was hard for the Emperor to trust someone who’d spent so much time among foreign devils, but Chang-wei managed to convince him.”

  “Chang-wei is one of the most loyal people I know,” I declared, bristling at the Chief Engineer’s disparaging tone.

  He raised his eyebrows at that. “He must be. And very clever.”

  I wanted to ask why he’d asked
me to come. The sooner he told me, the sooner I could leave, but etiquette demand that I wait patiently.

  “It seems Chen Chang-wei will have yet another chance to prove himself,” Kuo Lishen said, his tone indicating that it was undeserved. “Due to his foreign connections, the imperial delegation decided Engineer Chen would be the best person to send to Shanghai.”

  Shanghai? Chang-wei was leaving?

  Kuo saw my look of shock. “Shanghai has been occupied by rebel factions for over a year now. Arms and supplies come into them from what should be our ports. The city is key to beating back the rebellion, but the imperial army has been stretched thin, divided between controlling the growth of the rebel army in Nanking.” His lip curled. “As well as other uprisings emboldened by these traitors.”

  “But what of his work here?” I protested. “The automatons haven’t been perfected. There’s still so much to be done—”

  “Engineer Chen will be stepping down from his duties at the Factories. It’s clear that tighter control is needed.”

  It was exactly as Chang-wei had predicted. “Chen Chang-wei knows the design and what’s needed better than anyone.”

  “We have what we need from him here,” Kuo replied dismissively. “I’ll remain as acting Head Engineer while Engineer Chen can better serve the Emperor’s interests in Shanghai.”

  Of course, Kuo would now take over. All he could see was the triumph of presenting a fearsome mechanical army to the Emperor, but Chang-wei knew the machines were ready for battle. He had told me it might be years before the controls could be properly developed. I doubted Kuo Lishen would take the care to do it properly.

  “The delegation has already sent their recommendations to the Emperor,” he went on. “Chen Chang-wei will make contact with the former intendant of Shanghai who has escaped to the foreign concession. Loyalist forces are preparing to retake the Old City.”

  Chang-wei was once again being set up for failure.

  “Sir, if I may ask, what does this have to do with me?”

  “Though it may surprise you to hear it, I did consider your father a friend,” the Chief Engineer confessed. “Which means, I do feel some responsibility to see to the well-being of his family.”