Chapter Summaries

Tan Jingwei intervened when Chan Ah-sap’s men threatened Old Huang and his daughter, while Rotten-Life Ju learned armed Thais were disrupting his opium business. At the Harp Restaurant, Song Tianyao questioned Lu Yuanchun about Tan Jingwei and challenged her view of his plans.

• Tan Jingwei showed a gun to reassure a flatbread seller, gave him money, and told him to claim ties to 14K if threatened.
• Chan Ah-sap ordered Old Huang to send his daughter to him, and Tan Jingwei condemned the gang’s abuse.
• Rotten-Life Ju cheated at dice, then heard that three armed Thais were soliciting customers outside his opium den.
• Rotten-Life Ju gathered his men and went to confront the Thais.
• Song Tianyao asked Lu Yuanchun what she knew about Tan Jingwei, and she said Song’s new approach seemed unlikely to succeed.

Song Tianyao refused to explain his change of plans to Lu Yuanchun, while Huang Liu collected a single screw from Lengzai and learned that the shipment was under tight security. Fourth Brother watched the exchange and ordered men to stop the fisherman; Chen Liang then watched the Cloud Palace Hotel from his Stutz.

• Lu Yuanchun asked Song Tianyao why he had gone back on his word, but Song refused to explain and warned her to return early.
• Huang Liu waited at the mouth of Causeway Bay for Lengzai, who brought him a single screw and said the men guarding the information trusted almost no one.
• Huang Liu drove toward the Harp Restaurant with the screw as rain fell over the bay.
• Fourth Brother emerged from the bushes and reported that Song Tianyao's man had obtained an airplane screw, then ordered men at Hanging Neck Ridge to stop the fisherman and locate the shipment and its people.
• Chen Liang stood beside his Stutz Model M and watched the Cloud Palace Hotel.

Chen Liang’s violent rise from Tianjin dockworker to feared enforcer was recounted as his subordinate reported that Song Tianyao was alone at the Harp Restaurant, where four armed Big Tin Yis were waiting. Zheng Yutong nervously smoked at the restaurant, and the chapter left the confrontation unresolved.

• Chen Liang’s subordinate told him that Song Tianyao was at the Harp Restaurant without anyone accompanying him.
• The subordinate warned Chen Liang that four Big Tin Yis with bloody reputations were inside the restaurant.
• Zheng Yutong crushed one cigarette in the ashtray, lit another, and continued smoking as his dinner sat untouched.

Zheng Yutong met Duan Sanbao at the Harp Restaurant to ransom three hostages held by Duan’s sea raiders, while concealing the loss of three hundred taels of gold from the Zhou Family. As Zheng demanded to see the hostages before handing over sixty taels of gold, Song Tianyao caught his murderous gaze.

• Duan Sanbao’s oddly dressed men ate, drank, and watched the harpist around the restaurant while keeping Zheng Yutong under observation.
• Zheng Yutong challenged Duan Sanbao for bringing so many men, and Duan said he feared Zheng might retaliate over the stolen gold.
• Zheng Yutong worried the Zhou Family would turn against him if the loss became known, and he needed to rescue the three hostages and keep the incident secret.
• Zheng Yutong said the sixty taels of ransom gold were in his briefcase and asked to see the hostages before paying.
• Song Tianyao’s gaze met Zheng Yutong’s, and he noticed the murderous intent in Zheng’s eyes.

Wenren rejected Golden-Tooth Lei’s plea and had him, Sister Qiu, and Ah Ying killed to eliminate witnesses. As the Yu family’s banquet ended, Yu Shiting worried about Song Tianyao’s luck, while Tan Jingwei drank soup near the aftermath of Chan Ah-sap’s killing.

• Golden-Tooth Lei asked Wenren to spare Sister Qiu and Ah Ying, but Wenren refused.
• Wenren’s men hacked Golden-Tooth Lei, Sister Qiu, and Ah Ying to death, and Wenren explained that they were silencing witnesses.
• After the Yu family’s banquet, Yu Shiting told Uncle Shui that he owed Song Tianyao a great favor and wondered whether Song had been wounded.
• Tan Jingwei drank a huge bowl of beef soup while, nearby, Thai men guarded Chan Ah-sap’s hacked corpse and Old Huang huddled with his daughter.

As Thai gunmen turned their attention toward Old Huang and the other restaurant patrons, Tan Jingwei prepared to intervene. Elsewhere, Xu Enbo met a woman at Tsim Sha Tsui Pier to discuss a cargo shipment, while Chen Liang began to suspect that the unusual crowd gathering near the Cloud Palace Hotel was connected to the shipment.

• Two blood-covered Thai men looked toward Old Huang and his daughter, while their companions swung their guns toward the stall owners.
• Tan Jingwei stood up after recalling how he had once used the same trick to win cigarettes, and declared that it was time to stretch his muscles.
• Xu Enbo drove through the storm to Tsim Sha Tsui Pier, where he met a woman on a fishing boat who asked where his British-flagged ship was.
• Chen Liang told his subordinate that Duan Sanbao and his gang had once robbed a shipment, then accepted only four hundred thousand dollars to return its goods and crew.
• A lookout told Chen Liang that an unusual stream of Chinese men, none of them seeming respectable, had arrived near the Cloud Palace Hotel despite the heavy rain.

Chen Liang reconsidered Liao Donggui’s plan to kill Song Tianyao as he watched rival groups enter the Cloud Palace Hotel. Meanwhile, Rotten-Life Ju confronted Najie after the Thai gang attacked his opium den, and Han Chongshan’s men questioned whether they should help Tan.

• Chen Liang suspected the Taiwanese had manipulated Liao Donggui and ordered his men to wait while he went to the Harp Restaurant.
• Rotten-Life Ju returned to find his opium den wrecked and several of his men wounded, then sent men to summon reinforcements and locate the Thais.
• Najie entered the opium den and challenged Rotten-Life Ju, who knocked him into the rain with a punch.
• Rotten-Life Ju confronted Najie in the doorway and vowed to kill him.
• At Hanging Neck Ridge, Han Chongshan’s men questioned whether helping Tan was worth the risk and complained that Taiwan and the Free China Relief Association had abandoned them.

Lou Fengyun confronted Hong Kong’s underworld bosses over someone trying to bully her, while Han Chongshan armed his former Huangpu comrades in Hanging Neck Ridge. The chapter left the armed men facing an incoming storm and the gang leaders waiting to hear Lou Fengyun’s terms.

• Han Chongshan recalled that only five members of the Huangpu 14th Term Infantry Science Cadet Battalion remained in Hong Kong.
• Han Chongshan opened two bags of new firearms and ammunition for his four companions.
• A drunk companion grabbed an M3 Submachine Gun and inspected its new rifling as the others examined the weapons.
• Lou Fengyun smoked a cigarette at a meeting with more than twenty underworld bosses at the Kowloon Peninsula Hotel.
• Lou Fengyun said someone had tried to bully her despite her business dealings benefiting the assembled bosses.
• Yulan Ming defended Lou Fengyun and offered her softshell turtles as a gift.

Lou Fengyun used One-Eyed Flag’s execution to warn the gang bosses not to leave her off-course betting business or keep its profits for themselves. The major bosses challenged her authority, believing they could unite against her, while the meeting remained tense.

• Yulan Ming pledged his loyalty to Lou Fengyun as she accused the gang bosses of concealing profits from their off-course horse betting accounts.
• One-Eyed Flag tried to leave the meeting, but his own underling forced him back at gunpoint after Lou Fengyun offered him a choice between killing One-Eyed Flag or losing his family and gang.
• One-Eyed Flag’s underling shot him and his trusted aide, then took One-Eyed Flag’s seat at Lou Fengyun’s command.
• Lou Fengyun warned the remaining bosses that they had to follow her rules or die, and no one immediately answered her challenge.
• Ma Qi and Yanqiang Wei accused Lou Fengyun of breaking underworld rules and questioned whether she intended to eliminate her partners.
• The major gang bosses privately believed they could unite against Lou Fengyun and refused to surrender the money they had skimmed from the betting business.

Lou Fengyun broke with the crime bosses who refused to hand over their profits, while Yulan Ming chose to stay loyal to her. After the others were arrested by British soldiers, Lou Fengyun had Yulan Ming hand over his criminal file and ordered the bosses’ files sent to the police.

• Lou Fengyun demanded that the bosses return the money they had pocketed, but Ma Qi and the others rejected her terms and walked out without signing the papers.
• Yulan Ming admitted he was afraid to oppose the other bosses, but chose to stay with Lou Fengyun until she left.
• Lou Fengyun gave Yulan Ming control of more than twenty illegal horse-racing betting stalls and ordered her men not to harm his people.
• Yulan Ming’s underling reported that British soldiers had arrested the departing bosses for allegedly hiding military weapons.
• Lou Fengyun told Yulan Ming to find his criminal file, then ordered Headless's people to take the files away and let the police pursue the bosses after the soldiers had dealt with them.

Lou Fengyun took control of the off-track horse-racing operations and reflected on how far she had risen under Song Tianyao’s plans. At the pier, Xu Minjun told Xu Enbo that a Brazilian merchant ship and its crew would serve as his scapegoats, before the story shifted to the history of the Harp Restaurant.

• Lou Fengyun put Ah Chuan in charge of collecting money from Yulan Ming’s establishments and assigned him a ten-percent share.
• Lou Fengyun’s horse-racing network was linked to Song Tianyao’s plan to divert bets from the Hong Kong Jockey Club and use the profits to secure British support.
• Lou Fengyun recalled her new position and fell asleep in the conference room while Yulan Ming and Ah Chuan remained frightened.
• Xu Minjun met Xu Enbo at the pier and said that a Brazilian merchant ship and everyone aboard it would be his scapegoats.
• Xu Enbo said he had come to inspect the goods Song Tianyao needed him to transport, and the narrative introduced the Harp Restaurant’s history.

Tan Jingwei killed three Thai soldiers who had tried to sell drugs in Hong Kong, while Song Tianyao prepared for a confrontation at the Harp Restaurant. The chapter ended with three people roasting rats and heating a branding iron in a leaking shack on Peng Chau.

• At the Harp Restaurant, Hong Kong’s Chinese power brokers gathered under a tense mood, and Song Tianyao noticed that Duan Sanbao and others were watching one another.
• Chu Xiaoxin left the restaurant with Suki, while Qi Weiwen joined Song Tianyao and offered to help identify his enemies.
• Song Tianyao told Qi Weiwen that someone planned to move against her and said he would handle them that night.
• Tan Jingwei wiped blood from his hands after killing three Thai soldiers and sent the frightened food sellers home.
• On Peng Chau, three people roasted rats over a campfire and heated a branding iron inside a rain-soaked shack.

Han Chongshan and his men tortured Lengzai on Hanging Neck Ridge to force him to reveal information for Mr. Tam, but Lengzai refused to betray anyone. Han Chongshan left with two companions, while Drunkard Liang stayed behind to guard Lengzai and the men continued saving money to get their families to Taiwan.

• Han Chongshan watched as Drunkard Liang and two companions tortured the bound Lengzai, then offered him money and a quick death in exchange for information.
• Lengzai spoke of his father's warning against dying in disgrace, then cursed Han Chongshan and mocked him despite his injuries.
• Han Chongshan stopped a companion from striking Lengzai and threatened to capture his family before ordering Drunkard Liang to stay behind while the others left.
• Han Chongshan took roasted rat meat for Xiu Wen, who was watching at the foot of the mountain, and went out into the rain with his companions.
• Drunkard Liang stayed with Lengzai, eating rat bones while the men continued saving their pay to bring their families from Hanging Neck Ridge to Taiwan.

Xu Minjun showed Xu Enbo aircraft parts removed from the seventy-one planes held by the two Chinese airlines in Hong Kong and explained why Song Tianyao was trying to move the assets. Xu Enbo feared the plan would destroy his family and leave them in danger.

• Following Xu Minjun's instructions, Xu Enbo boarded the fishing boat and entered its cabin.
• Xu Minjun opened a sealed crate and revealed aircraft parts packed inside.
• Xu Enbo recognized the parts as aircraft flap actuators and accused Song Tianyao of dragging the Xu Family into a dangerous scheme.
• Xu Minjun explained that workers from the two airlines had removed whatever they could from the seventy-one planes and that British authorities planned to seize the assets.
• Xu Minjun said an American airline had sought US military help to take the planes from Hong Kong, prompting Song Tianyao to meet shipping magnates and arrange to move the assets.

Xu Minjun confronted Xu Enbo over the aircraft parts and revealed that Song Tianyao had committed his fortune to force Xu Enbo to cooperate. Xu Enbo was left furious and shaken by the price Song was willing to pay to bring the Xu Family under pressure.

• Xu Enbo argued that the dangers of shipping goods from Hong Kong made him unwilling to risk his life for profit.
• Xu Minjun explained that Xu Enbo was already implicated and revealed the scheme involving the shipping families and Song Tianyao.
• Xu Enbo admitted the younger generation had planned to exploit a staged shipping conflict, but said he could leave and report the scheme to the Hong Kong Government.
• Xu Minjun warned that Yu Shiting's apparent beating was a deliberate ruse and that Song Tianyao had chosen Xu Enbo to either cooperate or face the Yu Family.
• Xu Minjun revealed that Song Tianyao had offered Yu Shiting his stocks, cash, property, factories, and other assets in exchange for joining the British in striking the Xu Family if Xu Enbo left.

In storm-lashed Shau Kei Wan, Hong Lai-sau waited anxiously for Zhen Yaofu and his men to return with the goods they were guarding. Zhen Yaofu assured him the goods were safe, while the chapter recounted how Guangzhou refugees and former Kuomintang soldiers had made Shau Kei Wan their home.

• Hong Lai-sau watched the rain from a shop while Zhen Liudi brought him hot soup and then opened an umbrella for him.
• Hong Lai-sau spotted more than a dozen figures approaching through the flooded street and went out to meet them.
• Zhen Yaofu returned with his men and assured Hong Lai-sau that the goods were securely guarded in Shau Kei Wan.
• The chapter described how Guangzhou refugees transformed Shau Kei Wan into a distinct community and how Zhen Yaofu's former soldiers settled there after Guangzhou fell.

Zhen Yaofu recounted how his brothers and Zhong Xiufeng’s Yue Army brigade had fought and died defending Guangdong, and explained why he and his comrades hoped to return to the mainland. As he prepared to help Hong Lai-sau move aircraft parts there, Hong refused to leave Hong Kong, knowing the transfer put him in grave danger.

• Zhen Yaohua’s regiment held the Zengcheng pass against the Japanese until reinforcements arrived, and he died in the battle.
• Zhen Yaoguo took command after his regiment’s commander was wounded and was killed by aircraft machine-gun fire.
• Zhen Yaoxing died in a Japanese air raid, while Zhong Xiufeng fought on without reinforcements and ultimately shot himself.
• Zhen Yaogui was carried away after trying to die with Zhong Xiufeng, later died fighting the Japanese in Hong Kong, and Zhen Yaofu survived to care for their mother.
• Zhen Yaofu told Hong Lai-sau that the shipment offered him and his comrades a chance to return to the mainland, while Hong said he would remain in Hong Kong.

Chu Xiaoxin learned that rumors accused Song Tianyao of siding with the Shanghai people and conspiring with the British to impose new rules in Hong Kong. Refusing to believe the accusations, he set out to find Song Tianyao and ordered Yan Hung to track down whoever spread them.

• Yan Hung rushed to Chu Xiaoxin at the Peninsula Hotel and reported rumors that Song Tianyao had sided with the Shanghai people.
• Yan Hung said Song Tianyao had used Widow Yun’s British connections to bring the British Army to seize society men and had slapped Yu Shiting.
• Yan Hung reported that people claimed Song Tianyao had agreed with the British and Shanghai people to establish new rules for the China people in Hong Kong.
• Chu Xiaoxin rejected the rumors and told A Wai to call the Harp Restaurant and prepare a car so he could see Song Tianyao.
• Chu Xiaoxin told Yan Hung to find the rumor’s source and insisted that Song Tianyao was still his brother, even if he no longer depended on the Chu Family.

Song Tianyao deduced that a wealthy Hong Kong local was backing Tan, though he could not identify which of his many enemies it was. As tension filled the Harp Restaurant, Lam Kong noticed a soaked plainclothes officer being kept outside and sent a man to investigate.

• Chu Xiaoxin rejected rumors that Song Tianyao had turned against the Chu Family and angrily ordered Yan Hung out after Yan Hung mentioned Huang Liu’s meetings with Shanghai figures.
• Song Tianyao told Lu Yuanchun and Qi Weiwen that Tan had likely acquired Zeng Chunsheng’s business with the support of a wealthy Hong Kong local, not Taiwanese money.
• Lu Yuanchun and Qi Weiwen agreed that Tan must have someone powerful to rely on, while Song Tianyao explained why the British would scrutinize Taiwan’s banks and why Tan would avoid using them.
• Song Tianyao admitted he could not guess which wealthy Hong Kong enemy was backing Tan.
• Lam Kong surveyed the tense Harp Restaurant and ordered one of his men to find out why a soaked plainclothes officer was waiting outside.

Lam Kong told Song Tianyao that gang leaders had been shot dead and that rumors tied the killings to Song’s alliance with the Shanghai people. The story then shifted to Chen Tai, who had lost his backing and gang holdings and was working at a dockyard to survive.

• Lam Kong reported that Golden-Tooth Lei, Chan Ah-sap, and several other gang leaders had been killed, with rumors blaming Song Tianyao and the Shanghai people.
• Lam Kong said Sister Yun had taken jianghu figures from the Peninsula Hotel with British soldiers, strengthening the rumors against Song.
• Song Tianyao acknowledged that he had allied with the Shanghai people and said someone had forced him onto that path by making the killings appear to be his pledge.
• Lam Kong questioned Song about Brother Six’s absence and the circumstances of Song’s evening with Chu Xiaoxin.
• Chen Tai practiced punches at Asia Dockyard and reflected on losing Bo Ming, his gang holdings, and most of his followers.
• Chen Tai refused offers to change allegiance or take backing money and took a ship-repair job at the dockyard.