Chapter 5: No More Pretending, I’m Laying My Cards on the Table (Second Update—Please Recommend and Bookmark)

Please repeat your itinerary once more.

Inside the interview room at the police station, Captain Adam said again.

“After I left Paris, I first went to…”

Once again, Li Yian repeated how he had fled France and made his way to Britain.

In truth, it was not even his own journey, but that of a university classmate. Unlike the rest of his classmates, who had gone on to grind through ordinary lives, that wealthy son of privilege, born in Rome, had taken up backpacking after graduation and traveled the world. Not merely Europe, but Africa as well, crossing almost every continent and visiting nearly every corner of the globe.

Envious of his classmate’s adventures, Li Yian would occasionally follow his social posts. When the fellow crossed Africa, he entered Spain through North Africa, and then went on to France. Reverse that route, and it became Li Yian’s escape path.

As for language, Li Yian was even less worried. At university, hoping to enter a major company after graduation, he had deliberately studied French and German in addition to English. English and French were his strongest, good enough for conversation and for writing reports without a problem.

As for the details, he had the good fortune of that fellow often posting food, squares, churches, and the like. After seeing enough of it, he remembered a great deal. After all, many European towns had remained unchanged for centuries, which gave him ample room to improvise. Even if some things could not quite stand up to scrutiny, Li Yian himself did not know that, and the mustached man was not necessarily familiar with every place in such detail.

At last, after Li Yian had once more repeated his story and no inconsistencies were found, Captain Adam left the interview room. After thinking it over, however, he began to murmur to himself.

“Perhaps he really did escape from France.”

Then he ordered, “Have the embassy come and confirm his identity.”

...

Portland Square, No. 49.

Li Guoren, pushing his bicycle, was still muttering to himself even as he reached the embassy.

“Who would have thought someone could actually escape from France? Strange indeed.”

Right now the Germans were blockading the French coast, and the British were blockading the British coast. In the English Channel, not to mention a person, even a fish would probably need to file a report before crossing.

Still, in times like these, there was no shortage of strange happenings.

As a third secretary, he had not thought much further. The ambassador was in America at the moment, and the counselor had sent him to take a look, so he would simply go.

It was only routine.

When he arrived at the police station and stated his purpose, he quickly met the officer in charge. As always when dealing with the British, he spoke politely.

“Sorry to trouble you.”

After that, he added, “But sir, I cannot really prove anything for you. At most, I can talk with him and see what I can learn.”

“Since he has no identification, we cannot be sure of who he is. That is why we need you to speak with him and verify his identity.”

“All right, all right...”

Confirm his identity?

Who could possibly confirm his identity?

If they confirmed it wrongly, who would bear the responsibility?

This fellow ought to have stayed quietly in France. Why make trouble for himself?

The moment they met, Li Guoren got straight to the point.

“Tell me, why were you not staying properly in France and instead running around in such troubled times?”

As he spoke, he set his bag down on the table, sounding somewhat impatient.

The familiar language, tinged with a slight Jiangsu-Zhejiang accent, felt kindly and homely to the ear, yet the words were sharp indeed. Looking at the man with gold-rimmed spectacles and a neat side part, Li Yian said coolly, “Are you from the embassy, sir? Is Ambassador Gu at the embassy?”

“Ambassador Gu?”

Li Guoren’s expression changed slightly. He studied him carefully for a moment, and not only did the impatience on his face vanish, but a smile appeared as well.

“You know Ambassador Gu?”

Ambassador Gu was none other than Gu Weijun, who had signed at the Paris Peace Conference.

Of course, Li Yian did not know him personally. However, he had once read an article about Gu’s wife, Huang Huilan, and knew that before the war Gu had served as ambassador to France, and after France’s surrender he had been transferred to Britain. Of course, that article described not only Huang Huilan’s lavish lifestyle, but also her experiences accompanying her husband in Europe. From France to Britain, from Britain to America—if he remembered correctly, they should now be in America, accompanying the First Lady on her visit.

“I once met Mrs. Huang at a banquet in the Paris embassy,” Li Yian said, adding deliberately, “Our family and the Huang family have had some business dealings.”

Why bring up the Huang family?

Because the Huang family was enormously influential. Mrs. Huang’s father was the famed Sugar King of Southeast Asia, and her own family was the wealthiest in the Dutch East Indies. As for the Li surname, it was so common that having business ties with a family named Li was nothing unusual at all.

That was why Li Yian dared to claim some prior connection with the Huang family. Besides, with the Japanese occupying Southeast Asia, there was no way to verify such a connection from either side. Even if Mrs. Huang stood before him in person, he was not worried about being exposed.

More importantly, only by invoking the Huang family could he get the embassy to intervene on his behalf and even secure him a lawful identity.

Otherwise, given Li Guoren’s earlier impatient manner, how could he possibly have helped?

“Oh, so that is how it is! A great oversight on my part!”

Li Guoren’s attitude became even warmer. Anyone who had business dealings with the Huang family must surely be a member of a wealthy Southeast Asian household. No wonder he had managed to escape from France.

This man had money.

Almost instinctively, Li Guoren’s tone turned respectful. After all, this was an old acquaintance of his superior’s wife.

More importantly, he had money!

Money and influence!

If he missed this chance, he might never have another opportunity to make the acquaintance of such a person.

“Mr. Li may not know this, but Ambassador Gu and his wife are currently in America, accompanying Mrs. Song on her visit, and are not at the embassy.”

“Ah, what is to be done then?” Li Yian said with a frown, looking quite helpless. “The British now suspect me of being a spy. Without Mrs. Huang to bear witness, how am I to prove my innocence...”

Before he could finish, Li Guoren cut in decisively.

“The British are going too far. Mr. Li is plainly one of our Chinese compatriots, yet they dare slander him as a German spy. Only the British could come up with such a thing. Rest assured, Mr. Li. Let alone the fact that you and I are fellow clansmen, even if you were merely an ordinary compatriot, with my duty upon me, how could I allow the British to frame you? I shall certainly speak with them. These British are old imperialists; if we do not show them some severity, they will only look down on us!”

With that, Li Guoren rose, pounded the iron door several times, and then shouted in English, “Open the door! Open the door!”

When the door opened, before Captain Adam could speak, Li Guoren, no longer as deferential as before, demanded loudly, “Captain Adam, what exactly do you mean by this?”

“What?”

“By what right are you holding an allied civilian? Our countrymen have suffered every manner of humiliation under German rule, and after finally escaping to Britain, they are accused of being spies and imprisoned and detained by you. What utter absurdity! I am going to protest to the Foreign Office, to protest to Downing Street. Is this how your country treats its allies?”

Captain Adam, having had this entire lecture dumped on his head, hurriedly asked, “Secretary Li, didn’t you just say that you could not prove anything?”

“Prove?”

Li Guoren said righteously, “Mr. Li’s family is a prominent Chinese family in Southeast Asia, and they are longstanding friends of the ambassador’s family. How could I not prove it?”

In an instant, Captain Adam understood. So this fellow had background too.

Very well, then. Release him.