In the eighth year of the Republic of China, on May 4, 1919, it was late afternoon in Paris time and late at night in Beijing time.

The Lutti Hotel, home to the Chinese delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, has a five-color flag fluttering at the door. Anna rushed back from the center of Paris, and as soon as she entered the door, she felt that something was wrong with the air. The little county king of Ordos Doro had a solemn face, and grabbed her arm: "Where have you been?" Something big happened today, so you can't run around. ”

"Yes, the grave beasts are making trouble in Paris, and a lot of people have died, and there are police and soldiers outside."

"I'm not talking about Paris, I'm talking about Beijing!"

She has been pulled to the conference room on the second floor of the hotel, where the entire delegation is seated, including five plenipotentiary representatives: Lu Zhengxiang, Minister General of Foreign Affairs, Gu Weijun, Minister to the United States, Shi Zhaoji, Minister to Britain, Wei Chengu, Minister to Belgium, and Wang Zhengting, representative of the Southern Military Government.

Lu Zhengxiang is the leader of the delegation, with two big beards on his upper lip. Like Ouyang Anna, he is a Catholic with a cross on his chest and a Shanghainese accent in Wu Nong's soft language. The usually mild-mannered foreign minister slapped the table angrily: "Look at the urgent telegram from Beijing!" ”

The news that Germany's rights and interests in Shandong were about to be transferred to Japan had been stabbed back home by Liang Qichao's secret telegram. The newspaper published Lin Changmin's "Diplomatic Alert to the People": "Woohoo! Isn't this the one whose people of our country are running to call for the restoration of national power, and who advocate that Germany should be directly returned to our country, and that Japan has no right to inherit the plundered by Germany? If my government and my envoy do not represent the opinions of the people of our country, and decide the opinions of the people of our country? At this point, Jiaozhou is dead! Shandong is dead! The country is not a country! ”

"The country will die without a day, and I am willing to join my 40,000 people to swear to die!" The foreign minister read out the last paragraph with a flushed face, "Lin Changmin and others met with the president and asked the delegation to refuse to sign the agreement. ”

Lu Zhengxiang picked up another telegram and said: "But the secret telegram sent by the prime minister requires me to sign!" This matter was leaked by the State Department's telegraph office. This afternoon, more than 3,000 students from 12 schools in Beijing marched in front of Tiananmen Square to oppose the resolution of the Paris Peace Conference on the Shandong issue, waving the slogan of 'fighting for national rights abroad, punishing national thieves at home, abolishing 21 articles, and refusing to sign the contract.' ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, the national thieves that the students are talking about are us, right?"

Gu Weijun laughed at himself, and Lu Zhengxiang wiped the cold sweat on his forehead: "Shaochuan, I used to think so, it was I who signed the 'Twenty-one Articles' back then and was infamous as a traitor." However, the national thieves that the students in Beijing wanted to punish this time were Cao Rulin, the chief of communications, Lu Zongyu, the president of the Currency Bureau, and Zhang Zongxiang, the minister to Japan. The procession in Beijing arrived at Dongjiaomin Lane, but was stopped by the military police, turned to Zhaojialou Hutong, and set fire to Cao Rulin's house! ”

"Burn Zhao's house?"

Someone exclaimed: "What lawlessness!" Any building can be burned, who dares to burn the Zhao family's building? ”

"I heard that Zhang Zongxiang disguised himself as a Japanese and ran away, but he was beaten up by the students."

"Although this Cao Rulin is the leader of the new transportation department and the dog leg of the Japanese, but the students burned people's private houses, which is illegal and excessive!"

Gu Weijun stood up and paced two steps, looked at the clear sky of Paris and asked, "What day is today?" ”

"May 4th!"

As a translation intern, Ouyang Anna only dared to speak when such an inconsequential issue was asked.

"Good day!"

Gu Weijun high-fived, the youngest plenipotentiary, left alone, leaving a room of stunned diplomats.

Ouyang Anna and the little county king followed closely out. Gu Weijun looked at the Palace of Versailles, and at the Paris Peace Conference, delegations from all over the world lived nearby, in order to facilitate their dealings with the big three of Britain, the United States and France, especially the host.

"Minister Gu, is it possible to solve the Shandong issue through diplomatic means?"

Anna asked the question bluntly, and Gu Weijun was a little helpless: "The Paris Peace Conference will have five victorious powers: Britain, France, the United States, Japan, and Italy, each with five seats. The decision is in the hands of the British, French and American triumvirate. The second group is the victorious countries with partial interests, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Romania, Greece, and China, which can only discuss issues that are relevant to their own countries. Unfortunately, China has only two seats. The third category is countries that have severed diplomatic relations with Germany and Austria. The fourth tier is neutral and newly independent, and can only attend meetings at the invitation of the top five. Small and weak countries are just toys and decorations for big countries. This is the law of the dark jungle of the twentieth century. ”

The little county king on the side was also deflated: "Why do we in China want to participate in such a conference?" ”

"Although a weak country has no diplomacy, for us, do we have to rely on military power to win national power? What you can't get on the battlefield, isn't it more cost-effective to get it through diplomatic negotiations than to shed blood and sacrifice? Through the contradictions between the great powers, we can survive in the cracks. Therefore, diplomats are more important for weak countries! Gu Weijun faced the sunset in Versailles, "Even if there is only a glimmer of hope, we can't give up!" It's time for dinner! ”

Anna dined with the little prince and the staff, everyone knew that today's meeting was dull and serious.

Someone said while eating: "Is there a mole in our delegation?" Secretly sending all the news back to China that triggered today's march in Beijing? It's just afraid that the world will not be chaotic! ”

"The kid who lives in the basement of the hotel, I heard that he is a special wanted criminal of the Beiyang government, and he kidnapped General Xiao Xu last year. Such persons should be immediately escorted back to the country or placed in the custody of the French police. ”

Ouyang Anna suddenly became furious, rushed out of the restaurant in a gaffe, looked back and saw the little county king, and said softly: "Can you go out with me?" ”

"Tonight?" The noble man in the suit shrugged, "The situation outside is chaotic, there are soldiers everywhere, are you sure you want to venture out?" But as a gentleman, I would be happy to accompany the beautiful girl and stroll through the night of Versailles. ”

The little king patted his pocket, hiding a revolver, and raised his arm, ready for Anna to pull out the door. But she slapped his head with her glove: "Think beautiful! I'm going to find Qin Beiyang! ”

"Oh, Miss Anna, say it sooner! Beiyang is also my brother, and we are together in the Bada ...... in Beijing" Just wanted to say that he had drunk in Bada Hutong, Xiaojunwang hurriedly stopped, "By the way, what kind of catastrophe did he cause?" ”

"No, he saved Paris."

Anna is talking about Qin Beiyang subduing the Four-Winged Angel Tomb Beast in front of the Louvre.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the little king put on her coat, and the two were about to walk out of the hotel, when a scream sounded upstairs...... Anna sounded familiar.

The whole building was noisy, and the little county king shook his head: "Go up and have a look!" It's not good to just slip out like that. ”

Anna followed him upstairs and squeezed through the crowd of onlookers. At the door of the storage room at the corner of the staircase, a bloody corpse lay down.

No one dared to approach, and Lu Zhengxiang also drew a cross on his chest. The deceased was the first secretary of the foreign minister, his neck was cut with a sharp object, and his trachea was almost exposed, just like the murder at the Jefferson Hotel in Manhattan, New York!

Ouyang Anna stroked the hem of her skirt, half-squatted down, calmly looked at the corpse whose throat was cut, and said-

"Those people are in Paris, too!"

A quarter of an hour later, Sergeant Jean Xavier of the Paris Police Department arrived at the Chinese delegation.

He was a forty-five-year-old middle-aged man, about 1.8 meters long, with a cold and ruthless face. His cheeks are sideburns, his upper lip is cleanly shaved, his pistol is hidden in a black suit, and his tie is never skewed by a centimeter. Xavier's ancestors worked as errands in the Ministry of the Interior, and his grandfather, a police detective, committed suicide by throwing himself into the river during the Paris uprising of 1832.

On the night of Versailles, with red eyes, he came to the Hotel Lüttti, surrounded by police. This is the residence of the Chinese delegation. Xavier bowed to Lu Zhengxiang, China's chief foreign officer, and walked to the second floor to inspect the body. Without the need for a forensic examination, the sheriff could tell at a glance that the deceased had died by cutting his throat with a dagger. The killer may have fled, or may still be in this house. No one is allowed to step out of the gate without permission and be questioned by the police one by one.