`Mastermind' Xu went later to see the Muslim envoy.

"I will take you to see the Emperor," he said, and

they left, accompanied by Meng carrying the leather

box containing the vases. Unknown to the envoy, one of

the vases had been removed.

When they arrived at the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen,

Meng handed the leather box to the envoy and pointed

to the main gate.

"Go in on your own," he said.

That afternoon, an attendant handed a visiting card to

Great Helmsman Chen. It was signed 'Your servant Deng

Tunan', the trusted lieutenant of Commander Li Keshou.

"Your plan has probably worked, Brother Xu," Chen

said. "Brother Wei, please go and receive him."

'Leopard' Wei went to the reception room and saw a

robust military official seated in a chair. "What is

it you wish to see our master about, Master Deng?" he

asked.

"I have come with instructions from Commander-in-Chief

Li to see the Great Helmsman of your society to

discuss a certain matter with him," Deng replied.

"Our master is not free at present. It is the same if

you talk to me."

"It concerns a Muslim vase," he said.

Wei frowned enquiringly.

"The Muslims dispatched an envoy with a pair of vases

to plead for peace. But when the Emperor opened the

box, only one of the vases was inside. He was very

angry and questioned the envoy, who said that he had

already had an audience with the Commander-in-Chief of

Zhejiang Province. The Emperor called in Commander Li,

who was naturally mystified. Luckily, the Emperor knew

Commander Li would not do such a thing, that there

must be some good explanation."

"That is good," said Wei, nodding.

"But the Emperor said that Commander Li would be held

responsible for the affair and gave him three days to

find and return the other vase. This presents a great

difficulty."

"He's afraid that if he doesn't find the vase, he will

be removed from office, is that it? It's probably

easier not being an official. If one's whole family

could to be executed and all one's possessions seized,

it must be rather distressing."

Deng ignored his sarcasm. "Let us not deceive each

other. I have come to ask your society to return the

vase."

"We have not heard of any such vase," replied Wei.

"But as Commander Li has encountered this difficulty,

there is no reason why we shouldn't help him find it.

We may possibly come across some clue to its

whereabouts in a year or two."

"Commander Li said he had great respect for Master

Chen. He sent me today to ask your assistance, but

would not feel at ease if he was unable to do anything

in return. Please do not hesitate to inform us of

Master Chen's wishes."

"You are very frank, General Deng. That is excellent,"

Wei replied. "Our Master Chen has two wishes. Firstly,

the Red Flower Society has offended Commander Li, and

he would like to ask him to let bygones be bygones."

"That goes without saying. I can guarantee that the

Commander will never make difficulties for your

society over this matter. And the second thing?"

"Our Fourth Brother Wen Tailai is imprisoned in the

Commander's Yamen."

Deng grunted.

"He is an Imperial criminal," Wei continued. "No

matter how courageous Commander Li is, he would never

dare to release him. We understand that. But Master

Chen misses him greatly and would like to see him

alone tonight."

Deng thought for a second. "This is an extremely

serious matter. I will have to ask the Commander and

return with the reply."

Deng returned two hours later.

"The Commander says that Master Wen's crimes are

serious in the extreme, and that normally no-one would

be allowed to visit him," he said.

"Normally!" Wei exclaimed.

"But as Master Chen has agreed to return the vase, the

Commander will risk his neck and allow Master Chen to

see him. However, there are two small conditions he

must agree to. First, the Commander has recklessly

agreed to this purely in order to cement his

friendship with Master Chen. If anyone else found out

about it, it would be disastrous."

"Commander Li wants Master Chen to agree not to reveal

a word about the affair to anyone, is that it?"

"Exactly."

"I can agree to that on our Master's behalf," Wei

said.

"The second point is that only Master Chen will be

allowed to make the visit."

Wei smiled. "Commander Li is naturally afraid that we

will take advantage of the opportunity to try to

rescue Master Wen. All right, we agree. Master Chen

will go by himself. But we have not agreed not to

attempt a rescue."

"You are a good man, Brother Wei, and I value your

word. Please ask Master Chen to come to the Yamen this

evening."

"If Zhang Zhaozhong is around when Master Chen and

Master Wen meet, it will naturally be impossible to

preserve the secrecy of the agreement, which could be

extremely inconvenient for Commander Li."

"That is true," Deng replied. "The Commander will

think of some excuse for getting him away."

When Deng had left, the heroes gathered in the Great

Hall to await their orders for Wen's rescue.

"Brother Xu, I will leave the arrangements to you,"

Chen said.

Xu was silent for a moment. "Now that we know Zhang

Zhaozhong will be elsewhere and that the Great

Helmsman can get inside, it will of course be much

easier to rescue Brother Wen," he said. "But Li is

also certain to prepare for that eventuality. We must

first work out what he plans to do and then do

something unexpected."

"He will gather a large contingent of troops and

surround the entrance to the dungeon and may even

enlist the support of some Imperial Bodyguards," Yang

pointed out. "They will allow only the Great Helmsman

in, and only the Great Helmsman out."

"We had better be waiting outside the Yamen just in

case the Turtles try anything against the Great

Helmsman," said one of the Twin Knights.

"We will of course be waiting outside," answered Xu.

"But I don't think Li will dare to harm the Great

Helmsman with the vase in our hands."

"I've got it," Chen said suddenly. "When I go to see

Fourth Brother, I will wear a wide cape and a large

hat with a face cover..."

Xu knew what he meant. "But that way, we would gain

one man only to lose another. It's not a good idea."

"Finish what you were saying, Great Helmsman," said

Priest Wu Chen.

"Once I am in the dungeon, I will exchange clothes

with Fourth Brother and then let him leave. The guards

will think it is me. You can be waiting outside to

receive him."

"But what about you?"

"The Emperor and I have a special relationship. Once

they discover the switch, they will let me go."

The heroes were unhappy that their leader was placing

himself in such danger, but they were forced to agree

it was probably the best plan.

All the arrangements were completed. Chen threw on a

large cape with the collar turned up, pulled a hat

well down over his face, and set off for the

Commander-in-Chief's Yamen accompanied by 'Leopard'

Wei. By the time they arrived, it was already close to

dusk and the first stars had began to appear at the

edge of the sky. A man came out to meet them.

"Is that Master Chen?" he whispered. Wei nodded.

"Please come with me. This other gentleman, please

stay here."

Wei stood and watched as Chen followed the man into

the Yamen. A flight of ravens flew overhead through

the evening mist on their way home, cawing as they

went, and Wei's heart beat wildly as he wondered what

would happened to the Great Helmsman. After a while,

the rest of the heroes arrived and spread out around

the Yamen.

As he entered the gate, Chen saw the Yamen was filled

with thousands of soldiers on guard. The man led him

through three courtyards and into a room.

"Please take a seat," he said, and left. A moment

later, Commander Li entered and saluted Chen. "It is

an honour to meet you," he said.

Chen opened his cape and revealed his face. "We met

the day before yesterday on the lake," he answered

with a smile.

"You may now see the prisoner," said Li. "Please

follow me."

As they reached the door, an attendant rushed

breathlessly towards them.

"Commander, the Emperor has arrived," he reported.

"Master Deng has gone out to meet him."

Li started in surprise and turned to Chen. "You had

better wait here for a while," he said.

Li ran through to the front courtyard and saw Qian

Long with a large contingent of Imperial Guardsmen. He

hurriedly knelt down before him and kowtowed.

"Arrange a well-guarded room," said Qian Long. "I want

to personally interrogate Wen Tailai."

Li invited the Emperor into his own study, and the

Imperial Bodyguards established themselves on all

sides of the study and even on the roof.

"I have important matters of a confidential nature to

discuss with this prisoner. No-one else must hear,"

Qian Long told Bodyguard Bai Zhen.

"Yes, Your Highness," Bai replied and retired.

A moment later, four bodyguards entered carrying a

stretcher on which Wen, handcuffed and chained, lay

asleep. The bodyguards retired and there was silence

for a time.

"How are your injuries?" Qian Long asked. Wen's eyes

opened and he sat up. His wounds had not yet healed,

but his mind was clear. He had seen Qian Long once

before when he had entered the Imperial Palace with

Master Yu, but was surprised at suddenly meeting him

again in Hangzhou.

"I'm not dead yet," he said coldly.

"I asked my men to invite you to come to see me

because there is something I wish to discuss with

you."

Wen grunted.

"When you visited me with that leader of yours, Master

Yu, I discussed an important matter with him.

Unfortunately, I hear he became ill and died very soon

afterwards. It was a great pity."

"If Master Yu had not died, I expect he would be

imprisoned here with me," replied Wen.

Qian Long laughed. "You underworld fighters, you're

very frank. You say whatever you are thinking. Now,

Master Wen, I have only one question for you. Answer

me honestly, and I will immediately release you."

"Release me? Ha! Do you think I am a three-year-old

child? I know that you cannot eat or sleep easy

knowing that I'm still alive. You have stayed your

hand until today only because you wish to question

me."

"You're much too suspicious," said Qian Long with a

smile. He walked forward two paces.

"Did Master Yu tell you what it was he talked to me

about?" he asked.

"What did you talk about?"

Qian Long stared at him, and Wen returned the gaze

unflinchingly. After a while, Qian Long turned his

head away.

"About my origins," he said quietly.

"He didn't say. You are the Emperor, the son of the

late Emperor and Empress. Everyone knows about your

origins. What more is there to say?"

Qian Long breathed a sigh of relief. "That night you

visited me, you must have known what the reason was?"

"Master Yu said that he had helped you once over some

important matter. The Red Flower Society was short of

funds and he went to ask you for three million taels

of silver. But you refused the request, and have even

had me seized. If I ever get out of this, I will

reveal how ungrateful you are."

Qian Long laughed out loud. He glanced at Wen: his

anger did not appear to be a pretence. "If that is the

case, I had better have you killed," he said,

half-believing him. "Otherwise, if I let you go, it

could damage my reputation."

"Why didn't you kill me earlier? If you had, you

wouldn't have had to harbour such evil schemes against

your mother."

"What about my mother?" Qian Long asked, turning pale.

"You understand."

"So you know everything?"

"No, not everything. Master Yu said the Empress

Dowager knew he had helped you and had asked you to

repay him, but that you were still unwilling to part

with the silver. You have mountains of money. Three

million taels should be nothing to you. But you insist

on being petty."
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