"How did it get to this point?" Chen Tianhua asked urgently.

"I don't know how it got to this point either. Originally, everyone completed the social investigation around Shanghai according to Mr. Chen's arrangement. The results of the social investigation were exactly the same as what Mr. Chen said. Quite a few people became probationary Party members. Then the Whampoa Book Club started to conduct local social investigations in Shanghai. A few days ago, there was a disturbance over the Mixed Court (*Huishen Gongxie*) in Shanghai, and many comrades from the Whampoa Book Club went to see the situation. Suddenly there was a gunfight, and then the whole of Shanghai was in chaos. Then the police started arresting people. After that, the government also started arresting people." Kuroshima was visibly agitated, and his speech was unclear.

"On what grounds are they arresting people? Do you know this?" Chen Ke asked.

"The police station said the Whampoa Book Club incited the riot and was the mastermind. I don't know what excuse the Shanghai government used," Kuroshima said anxiously.

"What did the comrades of the Whampoa Book Club do? How could there be a gunfight?" Chen Tianhua cared about this very much.

Kuroshima tightened his lips and thought for a while before saying, "This, I'm not clear either?"

"Who exactly started it?"

"This..." Kuroshima was even more unclear about this.

Chen Tianhua asked a few more questions, but Kuroshima hadn't participated in the actions on the street and actually knew nothing. Seeing this, Chen Tianhua gritted his teeth, actually at his wits' end.

"Kuroshima, how long haven't you slept?" Chen Ke asked gently.

"Ah? How long haven't I slept?" Kuroshima responded confusedly. One look and you could tell he hadn't rested well these past few days due to mental tension and anxiety.

"You can rest assured when you arrive in Beijing; nothing else will happen. Rest assured, the matter in Shanghai won't be that serious," Chen Ke comforted gently.

"But Mr. Qi has already been arrested," Kuroshima became anxious again.

"Don't worry, Huishen is at least a school board director of a British school, and Huishen's family has deep relations with the British; nothing will happen."

"How can nothing happen? The person has been arrested." Chen Tianhua didn't understand Chen Ke's words.

"Well, Huishen has been arrested by the police station before, and wasn't he released? He was arrested for posting revolutionary slogans that time. This time he didn't participate directly at all; it was the police station framing him actively. So nothing big will happen." Chen Ke's tone was calm and had a very soothing effect.

Chen Tianhua felt Chen Ke's words made sense, but he couldn't help speaking, "But our People's Party..." Halfway through, Chen Tianhua felt he couldn't continue.

"Our People's Party indeed wants to rebel, that's right. But the British don't know. The Shanghai government doesn't know either. What they know is that a riot occurred in Shanghai. Then they are looking for a scapegoat. As long as the Party members are not stupid enough to confess actively, this kind of thing can be settled with some money. I've never heard of the Manchu Qing using prisons to deal with rioters."

"But Zou Rong died in prison."

"Zou Rong turned himself in; besides, he sat in the concession's prison. And was only sentenced to two years. There is no comparability." Chen Ke explained. Seeing Chen Tianhua's mood stabilized a little, he continued, "Moreover, Kuroshima suddenly received orders to run to Beijing. He has been anxious these days and hasn't slept much. Now his mind is not clear; asking him now won't get clear information either. My meaning is, everyone eat something and go to sleep now. Starting tomorrow, we will be busy. Prepare today."

"At a time like this, you can still sleep?" Chen Tianhua said angrily.

"Sharpening the knife does not delay cutting wood. Everyone is anxious; am I not anxious? But what's the use of just being anxious? Rest well and start being busy tomorrow. Mingxian, where are the leftovers from today? Get some wine and food; everyone eat and sleep quickly," Chen Ke said.

"Mr. Chen, I can explain clearly," Kuroshima said hurriedly.

Chen Ke smiled and patted Kuroshima's shoulder. "Then talk after eating."

Honeycomb briquettes were much faster. Removing the fire cover, the food was heated quickly. Chen Ke thought for a while, returned to the main room, and saw He Ying wasn't asleep, dozing off by the bed.

"He..." Chen Ke almost blurted out "Miss He," realized it was wrong, and quickly corrected himself, "Madam, want to eat a late-night snack?"

"Hmm?" After Chen Ke entered the room, He Ying hurriedly forced herself to sit up. She didn't expect Chen Ke to say such a sentence and didn't understand for a moment. When she figured out the meaning, a surprised look appeared on He Ying's face. "I'll go cook."

"I've already made it; let's eat together," Chen Ke laughed.

He Ying got up somewhat lazily. Her coiled hair was already a bit askew after the afternoon and evening's tossing. Chen Ke simply asked He Ying to let her hair down and tie it into a ponytail with a red hair cord.

"It doesn't look good with disheveled hair," He Ying said shyly.

"You look good in any hairstyle. 'A lotus rising from clear water, naturally without decoration.' Very good-looking," Chen Ke laughed.

Hearing her husband praise her like this, He Ying couldn't help laughing.

Except for Chen Ke, the others were meeting He Ying for the first time. After He Ying took off the veil, this was the first group of people she saw besides Chen Ke. Seeing so many men, He Ying also felt very unaccustomed, but seeing everyone was quite polite and didn't stare at her, she relaxed. At the dinner table, everyone stopped mentioning the People's Party and just congratulated the two on their wedding. The late-night snack had a somewhat peaceful feeling.

Sure enough, as Chen Ke said, once Kuroshima relaxed and drank two cups of wine, his head soon began to droop continuously. Chen Ke let Xie Mingxian and Kuroshima sleep in the wing room. He also winked at Chen Tianhua secretly. Chen Tianhua pulled Wu Xingchen up to take their leave. Chen Ke sent them out the door. Seeing no one around, he whispered, "Judging from the situation, the police station can't chase from Shanghai to Beijing; you guys be careful too. No one knows the house you rented temporarily; it's safe there. I'll go to meet everyone at your place tomorrow morning."

"Wenqing, do you really think nothing big will happen?" Chen Tianhua didn't dare mention this at the dinner table, but thinking it over, he became even more worried.

"Something definitely happened, but Xingtai, don't forget, there are so many people from Fudan Public School among the members of the Whampoa Book Club. Mr. Yan Fu is in Shanghai; he won't ignore it. As long as Mr. Yan Fu comes forward, it will be much easier to handle."

"Alas, what you say makes sense. But I'm really worried to death." Chen Tianhua was still not assured.

"We can't just go back like this now. Without preparation, are we rushing back to send ourselves to death? But don't worry, Xingtai, even if it comes to breaking into prison (*jieyu*), I will definitely rescue all the comrades. Go back and rest well; don't think so much. We'll be busy tomorrow," Chen Ke persuaded.

"Can only be so." After Chen Tianhua finished speaking, he shook hands with Chen Ke. Only then did he leave with Wu Xingchen.

With this happening on the wedding night, Chen Ke had absolutely no plan to consummate the marriage. After returning, Chen Ke let He Ying sleep first and cleaned up the late-night snack table himself. While cleaning, he considered. By the time he slowly finished washing the dishes and wiping the table clean and returned to the bedroom, He Ying was indeed asleep. Looking at his wife's quiet sleeping face, Chen Ke sighed with relief. Blowing out the candle, he quietly climbed onto the bed, wrapped himself in a quilt, and slept.

In the morning, a strange shaking woke Chen Ke up with a start. He saw He Ying wrapped in a quilt, leaning her back against Chen Ke's side. Chen Ke suddenly felt a strange sense of unreality. The last time he had such an emotion was after the college entrance exam ended, walking out of the exam hall into the bright summer sun. Chen Ke once had this strange feeling. Not only Chen Ke, but other classmates were the same. Struggling for it for more than a decade, in the third year of high school, experiencing hundreds of mock exams, just for those few days of the college entrance exam. Really finished the exam, everyone's reason could accept it, but sensibility couldn't accept it at all. A major stage of life ended just like that.

Looking at the woman wrapped in the quilt in front of him, Chen Ke had really worked hard to marry her. In these times, how many people could make Yuan Shikai be a matchmaker? But Chen Ke made such an effort, so fierce and so absurd. The result of this effort was the girl in front of him. When making the effort, Chen Ke didn't feel anything special; it was no different from the countless efforts he had made before—just rely on himself to do it. But facing the result of the effort, Chen Ke felt unfamiliar. His life partner from now on was right in front of him; was he already "married"?

Hearing Chen Ke wake up, He Ying wrapped her quilt tighter. Chen Ke's mind was running with various questions; *what exactly should I do?* Then a thought popped out: *time to make breakfast.* After breakfast, hurry to meet Chen Tianhua and the others to ask Kuroshima what exactly happened in Shanghai. After determining the goal, Chen Ke got up, dressed, and went to light the fire. The courtyard was quiet in the morning; Chen Ke was busy alone. It seemed Kuroshima and Xie Mingxian were still sleeping soundly. If it were Wu Xingchen and the others living here, everyone would probably be up by now.

The water in the pot slowly heated up, emitting steam. Before moving out, he also lived in a single-story house. Chen Ke lived alone in a courtyard next to his parents. Every morning he also got up early like this. Chen Ke went out to buy deep-fried dough sticks (*youtiao*). When he came back, his parents had already made noodle soup, scrambled eggs, prepared some pickles, or heated up the dishes fried last night. At this time, everyone ate...

Chen Ke suddenly felt very wrong. *But at that time I was a child. Now I am a 'husband'. This is my wedding day; sleeping separately on the wedding night seems completely inappropriate, right? Then what should I do? Take a hot bath and go back to the room to do the deed? Probably should be so.*

Thinking like this was okay, but Chen Ke's thought turned: *I am a revolutionary. When is it now? Now that the Party is in crisis, I'm still thinking about this; isn't this too outrageous?* But his wife was still in the room; leaving her there without saying a word wasn't right. His wife served him all afternoon yesterday; he vomited and asked his wife to stay on duty to wake him up. This was a wife, not a life secretary. Thinking of this, Chen Ke finally figured out what he should do. He hurried back to the bedroom.

He Ying still had her back to the outside like that. Chen Ke gently shook He Ying's shoulder. "Madam, are you awake?"

"Awake."

"Shall we go out to play together this morning?" Chen Ke said.

He Ying responded after a moment, "Okay."

Chen Ke wanted to say the following words, but couldn't say them no matter what. He hadn't been this nervous even facing Yuan Shikai, or rather, he wasn't nervous at all then. After stammering for a long time, Chen Ke said extremely embarrassedly, "This..., this..., this... regarding the bridal chamber matter, I really don't have time during the day today. Let's wait for the evening." After saying this, Chen Ke felt a burst of relief.

Obviously, He Ying didn't know how to respond either. After a while, she gave a low "En."

"Then get up," Chen Ke said. "I'm going to cook now." After speaking, he felt it was wrong again. "Do you want me to serve you getting up?"

With a *puchi*, He Ying laughed out loud. The girl lifted the quilt and got up, her face blushing red with shyness. Chen Ke quickly got clothes for her. He Ying changed into ordinary clothes. The couple washed their faces and brushed their teeth together. He Ying combed her hair, and they started cooking together again. Chen Ke was used to being alone, but felt very sorry for his wife, so he worked quickly. He Ying seemed unfamiliar with kitchen matters, just watching Chen Ke skillfully use honeycomb briquettes to cook.

"Chen..." He Ying hesitated to speak.

"Wenqing, Wenqing," Chen Ke reminded.

"Wenqing, do you cook often yourself?" He Ying asked.

"I've been cooking myself for more than ten years," Chen Ke bragged.

"Wenqing is twenty-five, right?"

"That's right. Twenty-five. I remember Madam is sixteen, right?"

"Already seventeen."

Chen Ke suddenly felt this conversation was very familiar, like chatting with netizens.

"By the way, Madam, do you have a courtesy name?" Logically speaking, Chen Ke had seen these materials about his wife. But at this moment, he had long forgotten them to the nine heavens.

"Junjie."

"Oh, how is it written?"

This newlywed couple exchanged personal information slowly while cooking.

By eight in the morning, the meal was ready. Chen Ke went to the wing room to wake the two who were still sleeping to eat breakfast.

There weren't many people in the morning in winter. Chen Ke's group arrived at Wu Xingchen's residence. Kuroshima borrowed Xie Mingxian's clothes temporarily; if he wore that kimono again, it would be too eye-catching.

Wu Xingchen and Chen Tianhua had already gotten up. Seeing Chen Ke coming, their faces immediately showed joy. But seeing He Ying beside Chen Ke, their expressions changed again involuntarily. Chen Ke didn't care about that much. After entering the room, he took out a book from his satchel. It was the last book of Chen Ke's set, which contained many monographs, mostly plagiarized from later generations' web articles. Many articles could be read as short stories, ten streets ahead of the main text in terms of interest.

"Junjie, this is the book I wrote. You read for a while first. We have to discuss some things." Amidst everyone's dumbfounded looks, He Ying nodded.

This was an ordinary quadrangle courtyard. He Ying read in the main room, and the Party members met in the wing room.

"What happened with the riot? Who launched it?" This was what Chen Ke cared about most.

Kuroshima slept all night, which was considered recovering his spirit. He didn't know much and could only introduce simply. Wu Xingchen had been in Shanghai for a long time and had a certain understanding of Shanghai officialdom; he supplemented from the side. Only then did Chen Ke understand the background of this matter and the related Shanghai government system.

After the concession was opened in Shanghai, foreign powers set up consular courts in the concession based on the provisions of consular jurisdiction in unequal treaties. At that time, crimes committed by Chinese in the concession were still tried by the Shanghai local officials of the Qing government (Shanghai Magistrate and Su-Song-Tai Intendant), while crimes committed by foreigners in the concession could be completely exempt from Chinese law sanctions and tried by consuls of various countries stationed in Shanghai themselves. Since the wave of "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" swept across the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in 1853 and the Small Sword Society Uprising occurred in Shanghai county seat, a large number of refugees from Shanghai's Chinese territory and neighboring areas poured into the concession, causing a sharp increase in the population within the concession. This not only changed the previous situation of "Chinese and foreigners living separately," but Chinese soon accounted for the vast majority of concession residents. How to maintain safety and order in the concession after "Chinese and foreigners living together" became a big problem, and managing the numerous Chinese residents in the concession was the focus of this problem. For this reason, first in 1864, a judicial organ—"Yangjingbang North Head Council Office"—was established in the British and American Concession (later called the International Settlement). Officials appointed by the Su-Song-Tai Intendant (commonly known as Shanghai Daotai) jointly tried Chinese cases occurring in the concession with the British Consul. Then in April 1868, according to the "Regulations on the Mixed Court at Yangjingbang" negotiated by the Shanghai Daotai and British and American consuls, the Mixed Court (*Huishen Gongxie*), also known as the Mixed Court Hall, was established in the British and American Concession.

The Mixed Court was a special judicial organ established in a special period and special area in Shanghai's history. The Daotai appointed Chinese full-time trial officers (*Yanyuan*), who jointly tried litigation cases related to Chinese in the concession with foreign assessors (consuls). According to the agreement between Chinese and foreign parties, if the case involved foreigners or Chinese servants employed by foreigners, foreign consuls participated in the joint trial or observed the trial; purely Chinese cases were tried independently by Chinese *Yanyuan*.

Although nominally belonging to China's judicial institutions, the joint trial itself reflected a kind of damage by foreigners to China's judicial sovereignty in the concession. Chinese *Yanyuan* had already been subjected to ultra vires interference by foreign consuls in the independent exercise of their powers, and various conflicts were bound to occur between the two sides. Moreover, foreign consuls also used the Municipal Council (concession management agency established by foreign expatriates in Shanghai) and the police station as tools to arbitrarily expand the power of foreign assessors. Foreign consuls wanted to intervene in whatever cases, even forcibly participating in trials and adjudicating purely Chinese cases, making Chinese *Yanyuan* almost lose the power to sentence criminals in court. The detention and escort of criminals in the International Settlement were also almost entirely executed by the Municipal Council Police Station, and then transferred to the Mixed Court for trial. Obviously, this barbaric practice of the foreign side encroaching on the Chinese side's police power and judicial power was to place all Chinese and foreign residents in the concession under foreign control.

There were naturally many contradictions between Chinese *Yanyuan* and foreign consuls, and between the Mixed Court and the police station. Kuroshima had already become a preparatory Party member introduced by Qi Huishen. Before the incident, he was responsible for compiling the data of this social investigation. As far as he knew, this time on December 15th, the foreigner in charge of the police station in the Shanghai Consular Body had a conflict with the chief official of the Mixed Court; it seemed the two sides even fought. It is said that the police station forcibly took away a group of women, and then people from the Guangdong Native Place Association rose up to contact and protest. By the 20th, strikes and market closures appeared in Shanghai to protest.

At this time, the Whampoa Study Society (Book Club) had completed the preliminary summary of the social investigation. Some excited comrades began preliminary preparations for the Shanghai social investigation. Encountering this matter, these people returned to the Study Society and started pulling people to help. Everyone produced a large number of leaflets and speeches, and also formulated a series of protest parade plans. They even prepared for a city-wide parade on December 23rd.

The parade was divided into three parts. Angry masses in the parade smashed the Laoza Police Station, and after smashing it, they burned the police station with a fire. The parade team in front of the Municipal Council Town Hall of the Shanghai Consular Body was actually shot at by Indian policemen. Someone in the parade team carried a gun, so a gunfight unfolded. Casualties on the street were heavy. The foreign consular body used this as an excuse for the police station to intervene comprehensively. Because the leaflets and corresponding organization were completed by students of the Whampoa Book Club, the police station arrested people wantonly, raided the stronghold of the Whampoa Book Club in Zhou Yuanxiao's workshop, and confiscated a large number of printed materials and documents. Then the police station searched the whole city according to the seized list. The first one arrested was Qi Huishen at the school.

In a hurry, Hua Xiongmao and You Gou immediately commanded the evacuation of the People's Party and the Whampoa Book Club. Kuroshima Jinichirō then escaped.

Hearing Kuroshima finish explaining in detail and methodically, the others couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. It seemed things were far less intense than that. If connections were used, it should be possible to get everyone out.

"Is that all?" Chen Ke asked.

"This..." Kuroshima's expression wasn't that relaxed. He summoned up his courage and said somewhat timidly, "The police station seized a batch of guns from Mr. Zhou Yuanxiao's workshop." After finishing, he stared at Chen Ke. He saw Chen Ke's face, which had just been relieved of a heavy burden, turn black immediately.

"Where did the guns come from?" Chen Ke was really anxious. If it was just such a disturbance, it really wasn't a big deal. Words have no proof; the Whampoa Book Club organized parades and strikes. This was all public opinion; as the saying goes, the law does not punish the masses. Locking them up for two days and smoothing relations could solve it. But once guns were caught, that would be completely different. A gunfight had already occurred, and foreigners lost face; they would absolutely not let it go so easily.

Kuroshima gritted his teeth, then said, "The guns have nothing to do with this parade. That was supported by the Japanese Consular Body and some merchant friends. I also helped a bit in between. After the incident happened, I also went to find them. Those people either disappeared or told me directly that they would absolutely not admit to this matter."

Chen Ke touched his chin forcefully with his left hand. This was really full of twists and turns, from the initial extreme fear, to feeling a turn for the better, and then to extreme disappointment. However, the sequence of events had been sorted out, and Chen Ke already had a decision.

"Wenqing, what to do?" Chen Tianhua asked in a fierce tone.

"Brother Wu, Kuroshima, and I are preparing to return to Shanghai immediately. We must rescue the comrades. If we can use money and connections, we use money. If connections don't work, we break into prison (*jieyu*). And this time I want to take the people to Anhui. So I have to prepare for a few days; you all come with me to see Shang Yuan."

"What about me? What do I do?" Hearing Chen Ke didn't arrange for him to return to Shanghai together, Chen Tianhua asked quickly.

"You go back to Brother Pang's place; do what you should do. In case we can't stay in Anhui, at least there is Hebei, isn't there?" Chen Ke replied.

"Then why not come directly to Hebei? Let's work together." Chen Tianhua didn't understand this.

"Self-reliance, ample food and clothing. What can relying on others produce? Brother Pang is not a Revolutionary Party member yet. If we bring people over, are you preparing to 'annex Wang Lun' (internal strife/taking over)?"

These words were full of the smell of gunpowder. At this critical moment, Chen Ke adhered to his consistent style and didn't plan to use others' power at all. Chen Tianhua could understand, but he couldn't help looking at Wu Xingchen.

Wu Xingchen knew what Chen Tianhua's look meant. He responded, "Wenqing is right; this kind of thing can't rely on people outside the Party. But we must bring Brother Chai; he is a good hand. He absolutely won't be soft-hearted killing foreigners."

Hearing this, Chen Ke said with a smile, "That would be great. I'll say this upfront. If it really comes to the point of breaking into prison and killing people, I'll lead the charge personally. At that time, I can also see brothers' Kung Fu with my own eyes."

Seeing the unconcealable joy under Chen Ke's smile, everyone felt their spirits lifted.