47

Our stay in Wuhan was brief. We continued south by train, the tension mounting as we went. We were on our way to Guangzhou. Mao had called a political work conference. All the highest leaders would attend—Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Chen Yun. Mao was suspicious of everyone now, and security arrangements were tight. With the famine continuing and disagreements within the party growing, the political situation was unstable.

Guangzhou continued to be a particularly difficult security problem since sabotage was a real threat. Infiltration from nearby Hong Kong was relatively easy, and if word of the upcoming meeting was leaked, spies could make their way into the city, and anything was possible. A foreign assassin might even try to murder Mao or other top leaders. A year before, at the enlarged politburo meeting in Shanghai, the Ministry of Public Security had discovered that Taiwan intelligence had learned of the meeting in advance. Mayor Ke Qingshi, assuming an internal leak, had directed a full-scale investigation of everyone involved with the meeting, checking mail, phone calls, telegrams, and all outside contacts. Only later did the Ministry of Public Security and the central authority's Department of Investigation realize that Taiwan had merely deduced the meeting from the increased air traffic into Shanghai.

Guangdong's first party secretary, Tao Zhu, was visibly nervous. Immediately after our arrival, he called a meeting to map out stringent security measures. Minister of public security Xie Fuzhi and Wang Dongxing, acting as both vice-minister of public security and the man responsible for the leaders' safety, were in charge, and the leaders and staff of the Guangdong bureau of public security all attended. I participated, too. I was in charge of coordinating health care for the conference participants.

Following the security discussions, I convened a meeting with local health officials to work out plans for servicing the conference participants' medical needs. In the midst of discussions with the president of Guangzhou People's Hospital, I received an urgent phone call. It was Jiang Qing's nurse. Jiang was very upset, she said, and urged me to hurry there immediately. Jiang Qing's neuroses were once more disrupting vital national business. I was forced to leave the meeting to find out what was wrong.

I walked into Jiang Qing's villa at the Islet guesthouse to discover her staff huddled together. The nurses were crying, and the male guards and attendants were tense. “It's really bad this time,” said Sun Yong, the security officer in charge.

The evening before, when Jiang Qing stepped into the hot bath drawn for her by her nurse, she had suddenly cried out in pain, accusing the nurse of trying to scald her with boiling water. Then she accused the nurse of tampering with her sleeping pills. Someone, she insisted, was trying to poison her. As the senior supervisor of her nursing staff, I was responsible and the ultimate blame rested with me.

I tried to calm down the staff, assuring them that I understood their difficulties and knew they were doing their best. I promised that the party would protect them from Jiang Qing. Then I went to see the Chairman's wife.

“Just what kind of nurses have you appointed for me, Doctor?” she demanded when I walked in, throwing a washcloth down on the table. “Just what is it you are trying to do?”

I sat down opposite her. “What is it?” I asked.

“What is it? What happened? You don't know what happened?” she responded incredulously.

I explained that I had been at a meeting.

Jiang Qing told the story I had just heard, accusing the nurse of deliberately scalding her with boiling water and of tampering with her sleeping pills. “There is some sort of ghost in here,” Jiang Qing said. She suspected a conspiracy. Someone, she thought, wanted her dead.

I tried to explain. The water might have been too hot for her comfort, but it could not have been boiling. The tap water was never boiled, and besides, the nurse had tested it first without being scalded herself.

“So you think I'm lying?” Jiang Qing retorted. “And what about the sleeping pills? The color of the pills has changed. The old ones were red. The ones yesterday were pink. What about that?”

I had not meant to suggest that she was lying, I told her. I was only saying that the water might have been hot but that it could not have been boiling. I explained that her sleeping pills were imported from Hong Kong and that because they were bought at different times, the colors might be different, too. I assured her that her medicine had gone through stringent certification. Nothing could be wrong with it. It could not be poison. Beijing Hospital had screened and sealed it, then sent it to Guangzhou. It was unsealed only by Xiao Zeng and Xiao Li, two nurses who had been thoroughly investigated by the Central Bureau of Guards and the Central Bureau of Health. They had absolutely no political problems. Otherwise, they would never be allowed to work for Jiang Qing. “There may be some shortcomings in their work, but there is no ghost inside,” I said. “If there were a plot, then even the Central Bureau of Guards and the Central Bureau of Health would have to be involved. That's just not possible.”

But Jiang Qing accused me of trying to cover up for them. “Your attitude is wrong. I'm not going to argue with you anymore,” she said.

Jiang Qing ordered me to get Wang Dongxing immediately.

I was furious at the absurdity of Jiang Qing's charges. She was accusing me of being involved in a conspiracy to poison her.

Wang Dongxing was unusually conciliatory and did his best to soothe her.

“You are vice-minister of public security and director of the Central Bureau of Guards,” Jiang Qing began. “You are in charge of everything that happens around the Chairman. May I ask you one question, please?”

“Of course, Comrade Jiang Qing.”

“When the people you supervise perform services for others, what kind of attitude should they have?”

Wang Dongxing was still smiling. “Comrade Jiang Qing, is there a problem? I think we can work it out. We just need a little patience.”

“Oh, for heaven's sake,” Jiang retorted. “Okay, I will tell you slowly. But that doctor of yours opposes me every time I speak. How am I supposed to be patient?”

I interrupted her, trying to tell my side of the story. But before I had said three words, Jiang Qing cut me off. “Shut up. Don't say anything else,” she warned. Then she repeated the story of the boiling water and the poisoned pills to Wang Dongxing. “Shouldn't I criticize my nurses when they do something wrong?” she wanted to know.“Shouldn't I expect some sympathy from the doctor when I tell him my problems? But all I get is a lecture. He was shouting at me. He didn't treat me like a patient. What kind of attitude is this? Do you really think he is serving the people wholeheartedly?”

When she paused, I again tried to tell my side of the story. Again, she interrupted me. “Medical workers are supposed to show concern for their patients, not debate them. This doctor is downright arrogant. Is this some form of psychological torture?”

I tried again. “Comrade Jiang Qing…”

But she would not let me speak. “Stop trying to debate me,” she yelled. “Stop arguing with me!”

I had had enough. I stood up. “We are supposed to be having a meeting here,” I said, “and I believe everyone has a right to speak. If you don't want me to talk, fine. I don't see why I should stay.” I walked out of her room, slamming the door behind me. I decided to quit.

“See? Do you see?” I heard her say as I was leaving. “He dares to act like that even in front of a vice-minister!”

I walked around the grounds trying to calm myself down. Then I realized that I had to see Mao immediately. He would side with the first person who spoke to him. If Mao believed the nurses were trying to harm Jiang Qing, even poison her, the ultimate responsibility was mine. I could be in serious trouble, imprisoned or even executed. I wanted to tell him my story before Jiang Qing had a chance to tell her distorted version. But her guard, Sun Yong, found me before I had a chance to reach Mao. Comrade Jiang Qing and Vice-Minister Wang Dongxing wanted to see me immediately.

“You're being dismissed from your job and confined to your room,” Jiang Qing told me when I entered her room.

“Good,” I responded, and turned around to leave.

I was happy to be dismissed. I only resented being confined to my room. I went straight to Mao.

“Chairman,” I began. It was two or three in the afternoon by then, and Mao had just wakened. He was still lying in bed, his eyes half closed, about to drink the tea his bodyguard, Xiao Zhang, had just brought.

“Any news?” he replied, repeating his usual greeting.

“The news is that Jiang Qing has dismissed me and ordered me confined to my room.”

“Zheme lihai?”?he responded, taking a deep drag on his cigarette. “That bad? What happened?”

I told the story from beginning to end, starting with the difficulties she had created over her physical exam several months previously and how angry she had been with the results. I ended by assuring Mao that the sleeping pills she was taking were exactly the same as his.

He continued smoking in silence after I had finished. “Jiang Qing is unreasonable,” he finally said. “You have told me everything. It's all right. Don't tell anyone else about this. I'll talk to Jiang Qing. In the meantime, though, why don't you stay away from here for a few days? Don't make any appearances. We still have to do something to save her face. Tell the nurses not to be afraid of her. She's just a paper tiger.”

Jiang Qing was on her way in to see Mao just as I left.

I stayed away for three days. When Mao and Jiang Qing went with Tao Zhu to see the famous porcelain works in Foshan county, I watched a movie with Zhu De—High Noon. I loved it. Gary Cooper was my favorite actor.

Jiang Qing was eager to see me punished, but Mao had clearly instructed her to make peace. The day after their return from Foshan, she called me in to see her. “I know the Chairman has full confidence in your medical skills,” she said. “But that is no reason for you to be so arrogant. I must admit that I was impatient. Last night the Chairman asked me to tell you to relax. You can rest assured about your job. Let's forget about this. Let's look toward the future.” She handed me a copy of Internal Reference. Mao had marked an article he wanted me to read. “The Chairman wants you to pay more attention to important national issues,” she said.