Free The Mao Case by Qiu Xiaolong Page B

first, the nationalists in Changsha didn’t bother Kaihui and her children. In 1930 though, when Mao led a siege of the city of Changsha, the situation changed drastically. Kaihui and her children were in danger. Mao should have moved them out of the city, but no rescue effort whatsoever was made. The siege lasted about twenty days, and Mao and his troops were close to where she was, but he did nothing. He didn’t even try to contact her.
    “After the siege failed, the nationalists retaliated and arrested her. They wanted her to sign a statement cutting all ties with Mao, but she refused. She was executed in 1930. It was said that she was dragged barefoot to the execution grounds — according to a local superstition, her ghost would therefore be unable to find her way back to home, to Mao.”
    “What a horrible story!” Chen exclaimed, picking up the teacup but putting it back down right away. “And what an old hunter you really are to have dug up all that information!”
    “I am not saying that Mao had her killed on purpose. But it’s not too much to say that he was responsible for her death. He should have thought about the consequences.”
    “Now I understand something Mao said years later,” Chen said, “ ‘For the death of Kaihui, I could not atone by dying hundreds of times.’ He must have written that poem to her out of guilt.”
    “I’ve discussed the poem with an old friend, a senior history teacher, who has done extensive research on Mao, and not just about his personal life. He called Mao a man of snake and spider heart, and he believed that Mao got rid of Kaihui that way because he couldn’t afford to let the two women confront each other in the mountains. There is no ruling that out as a possibility, and he actually did similar things to his comrades in the Party.”
    “Well, people have opinions and opinions.”
    “I don’t want to dwell on it, but the memory of the Mao case has haunted me all these years. When Yu came back to Shanghai as an ‘ex-educated youth,’ I took early retirement so that he could start working at the bureau in my place. That was the main reason, of course, but there was another. The Mao case. Because of it, I am not a worthy cop. We’ve known each other for many years, Chief, but I have never told you about this case. Nor anybody else, not even Yu. It’s a rock on my heart.”
    “You did all you could. It was the Cultural Revolution. Why be so hard on yourself?” Chen said with emotion in his voice. “I really appreciate your telling me about the case. It is not only a lesson about how to be a conscientious policeman, but also an enormous help on the assignment I’m going to discuss with you.”
    “An assignment concerning Mao, I suppose. What can I do to help?”
    “You’re so perceptive. Now you have talked to me about your case, I don’t think I should have any hesitation in talking to you about mine. You’ve helped more than you can imagine.”
    “What do you mean, Chief Inspector Chen?”
    “I’ve been assigned to my own Mao case, to use the name you called yours. It doesn’t concern him directly, and I’m full of doubts and reservations. For one thing, I used to like his poems, like the one for Kaihui, without knowing anything about the real background. So I could hardly bring myself to believe some aspects of this case. But if Mao did that to Kaihui, he could have easily treated other women similarly.” After a pause, Chen resumed earnestly, “At this stage, I can tell you little about it, because that’s about all I know.”
    “I understand,” Old Hunter said. “As for what Mao was capable of doing to his women, you may have heard about what happened to Zizhen. According to the official version, she had to be treated at a Moscow mental hospital, leaving Mao alone in Yan’an, so they sort of ‘naturally separated.’ Then Jiang Qing sneaked in and became Madam Mao. But mind you — Mao was separated, not divorced. Mao made Zizhen stay