"And the money was to be brought here by river?"
Ah Wu nodded. "To Canton," said he.
"Where Cheong-Chau would come by night, giving you your share and taking the rest back with him to Pinglo, to divide amongst his gang?"
Ah Wu nodded again.
"A simple business," said Ling. "A well-laid plot that has come to grief. Well, I am generous. My soul is of honey. I am soft of heart. You will find me a better master than Cheong-Chau. I can be generous to those who help me, as I know how to deal with those who declare themselves my enemies." And he jerked a finger in the direction of the little room beneath the stairs.
"Do you mean," asked Yung How, "that you propose to buy our silence?"
The man rose upon his couch like a bearded lion.
"I mean nothing of the sort," he cried. "Go to the viceroy if you will and tell him that you saw Ling take the life of Men-Ching in the opium den of Ah Wu--say I murdered the man. It will be a lie, I tell you. He attempted to stab me and I killed him in self-defence. Still you are free to go to the yamen with any tale you like, and when you have fulfilled your errand, I tell you frankly, upon the word of a man who holds the truth as sacred, that you shall not live for forty-eight hours. That is the manner of man I am, and that is the way in which I buy your silence."
Yung How did not move a muscle of his face.
"Then I fail to understand you," said he.