‘Good. Then get going, Chian-ye. These papers must be in the hands of their respective agents within the next six hours.'
Heng Yu watched his cousin leave, then stood, stretching and yawning. There was no doubting it, this matter – of little substance in itself – had served him marvellously. He laughed, then looked about him, wondering momentarily what his uncle, Chian-ye's father, would have made of it.
And the matter of the Melfi Clinic?
That, too, could be used. Was something to be saved until the time was ripe. For though his uncle, Heng Chi-po, had been a greedy, venal man, he had been right in one thing. Information was power. And those who had it wielded power.
Yes. And never more so than in the days to come. For Chung Kuo was changing fast. New things were rising from the depths of the City. Things he would do well to know about.
Heng Yu, Minister to the T'ang, nodded to himself, then reached across and killed the light above his desk.
Which was why, in the morning, he had arranged to meet the merchant, Novacek. To offer him a new arrangement – a new commodity to trade in; one he would pay handsomely to possess.