Putting aside thoughts of home, Chen rode back to the

society's mansion near Hangzhou where he found

everyone gathered around 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi who

had just arrived from Beijing. Shi immediately broke

free from the group and bowed before Chen.

"I found out in Beijing that the Emperor had come

south, and travelled day and night to get here to tell

you only to find that the brothers had not only seen

him, but had clashed with his men as well," he said.

"You've had a hard trip, Twelfth Brother," replied

Chen. "Did you hear any other news while you were

there?"

"Once I heard about the Emperor, I disregarded

everything else," Shi said.

Chen noticed his haggard look and guessed he was worn

out after the hard ride. "Go and get a good sleep.

We'll talk again later," he said.

Shi bowed and walked off. As he passed Luo Bing, he

said: "That white horse of yours is very fast. But

don't worry, I took good care of him...Oh," He stopped

again. "I also saw the horse's former owner, Han

Wenchong, on the road."

"What? Did he want his horse back?"

"He didn't see me. I came across him in an inn in

Yangzhou with several lead escorts from the Zhen Yuan

Bodyguard Agency. I heard them cursing our Red Flower

Society, so I went across and eaves-dropped. They

called us low and vulgar, and said we had killed that

fellow Tong Zhaohe."

'Mastermind' Xu and Zhou Qi smiled at each other.

"What is the Zhen Yuan Agency up to this time?" Xu

asked.

"I gathered that they were escorting a consignment of

treasures presented by the Emperor to the Chen family

of Haining." He turned to Chen. "It was for your

family, Great Helmsman, so I told the local society

leader to quietly make sure it was delivered safely."

"Thank you," Chen replied, smiling. "For once we can

work together with the Zhen Yuan Agency."

"The head of the agency is with them, which is an

indication of the importance they attach to the

consignment."

Chen and the others gasped at the news that the North

China Earth-Shaker Wang Weiyang was escorting the

consignment personally.

"Wang hasn't escorted a consignment for more than ten

years," said Lord Zhou. "Great Helmsman, your family

obviously has great prestige."

"I thought it strange too," added Shi. "But later I

heard that apart from the valuables for the Great

Helmsman's family, they were also carrying a pair of

jade vases."

"Jade vases?" Chen asked.

"Yes, treasures from the Muslim regions. The Muslims

scored a victory over General Zhao Wei's army, but

with the Manchu forces so powerful, they can't hold

out for much longer. So they have sent the vases as a

peace offering."

The heroes excitedly asked Shi for details of the

Muslims' victory.

"I heard that General Zhao Wei's troops starved for

several days as a result of us stealing their rations,

and finally had to retreat. The Muslims organised an

ambush on the road and killed two or three thousand of

them." The heroes clapped and laughed.

"The Manchu army finally received more supplies," Shi

continued. "It began to advance again, but I didn't

hear any further news. When the Muslim envoys arrived

in Beijing, the court officials didn't dare to make a

decision, and sent him and the vases down south for

the Emperor to dispose of."

"The vases won't make any difference," Chen said. "No

matter what valuable treasures they send, he will

never agree to peace."

"I heard the agency men say that if peace was agreed

to, the vases would be kept. If not, they will have to

be returned, so it is vital that they not be damaged

in any way."

Chen glanced at Xu, and the two walked away from the

main group into a side chamber.

"Brother Xu, last night I saw the Emperor. He said

that he would be returning to Beijing in three days'

time, and that before he left he intended to kill

Fourth Brother."

"Then we'd better start making arrangements to save

him immediately," Xu replied.

"The Emperor is probably not back in Hangzhou yet, and

most of their top fighters are with him, so it should

be relatively easy to rescue him if we move fast."

"The Emperor isn't in Hangzhou?"

Chen told him about their meeting in Haining. Xu

fiddled meditatively with the pens and paper on the

tabletop in front of them.

"The only plan I can see at the moment is to steal the

jade vases," Xu said finally. "Since the Emperor has

already sent a huge army out west, he is certain to be

unwilling to talk peace, which means he will have to

return the vases. If he is unable to, his word will

lose all credibility, and the Emperor, as we know, is

obsessed with his own prestige."

"Once we have the jade vases, we can go to him and say

that if he touches one hair on Fourth Brother's head,

we will smash them," Chen added.

"Exactly! Even if we can't exchange the vases for

Fourth Brother, we can at least postpone things for a

few days which will also be of benefit to Master

Muzhuolun and his Muslims."

"All right," said Chen. "Then we attack this North

China Earth-Shaker, Wang Weiyang."

Wang Weiyang was sixty-nine years old. The Zhen Yuan

Bodyguard Agency, which he had built up with his own

hands, had prospered in north China for more than

thirty years in spite of strong and sometimes violent

opposition, and there was a saying in the fighting

community: 'It is better to bump into the Devil than

into old Wang.' He planned to retire the following

year in the expectation of living to a venerable old

age, but when the agency was entrusted with the task

of escorting the jade vases to the Emperor, he decided

to accompany the consignment personally. In light of

the diplomatic sensitivity of the mission, he did not

dare to be neglectful. From each of his agency

branches, he detailed six top fighters, while the

court also supplied four Imperial Bodyguards and

twenty Imperial Guardsmen to accompany the Muslim

envoy on his journey south. Precautions along the way

were most strict, and there had been no incidents of

any kind.

Noon was approaching as they arrived at a town less

than three miles from Hangzhou. The agency men went

into the largest restaurant and ordered food, and were

jubilantly discussing how they planned to celebrate

once they got to Hangzhou when a horse neighed

outside.

Lead Escort Han pricked up his ears and ran out to

find his own beloved white steed walking slowly past

with a heavy load of firewood on its back. He tried to

grab the reins, but the peasant with the horse gave

the animal a rap on the rump and it cantered off down

the street. Unwilling to give up, Han ran after them.

Once outside the town, the horse turned off the road

and galloped into the trees with Han following as best

as he could.

"Brother Han's gone crazy thinking about that white

horse of his," said another of the lead escorts with a

smile. "Every time he sees a horse on the road with

even a couple of white hairs, he has to chase after it

to see if it's his. When he gets home tomorrow and

sees his old lady's snow-white skin, I expect he'll

probably think she's his horse and immediately

jump..."

The others exploded into laughter.

Just then, one of the waiters suddenly called out:

"Master Liang, please sit over here."

A man with the appearance of a rich merchant entered

with four servants behind him, one of them carrying a

water pipe. He seated himself at a table and a waiter

hurried round pouring him a cup of tea and chattering:

"Try this Dragon's Well tea, Master Liang. It's made

with fresh spring water brought in only yesterday."

Liang grunted and said in a voice thick with the

accent of Hanzhou: "Bring me a few slices of meat, a

bowl of eel soup and three catties of the best rice

wine."

The waiter bowed and a moment later, the fragrance of

hot wine assailed their noses as he returned with a

large flask.

"What is Brother Han doing away so long?" Master Wang

Weiyang asked.

Suddenly the main door of the restaurant was kicked

open, and a dwarf shuffled in followed by a girl and a

strong young man, all three dressed in rough clothes.

The dwarf bowed in all four directions and announced:

"I am a humble travelling player who can do a few

tricks to make you laugh. If you are impressed, please

make a contribution. If you are not, please accept my

apologies."

He picked up a teacup from a table and covered it with

his tattered cap. "Change!" he shouted, and whisked

the cap away: the cup had disappeared. He waved the

cap around to show that the cup was not inside.

Intrigued, Master Liang stood up and walked over to

get a closer look.

"May I borrow your snuff box, sir?" the dwarf asked

him. Liang laughed and handed the snuff box over. The

dwarf placed it in his cap and made it disappear in

the same way.

"That snuff box is very precious," one of Liang's

servants warned. "Don't damage it now."

The dwarf smiled. "Please look in your pocket, sir,"

he replied. The servant felt around in his coat pocket

and pulled out the snuff box.

Liang and his servants were amazed, and so were the

Lead Escorts and Imperial Guardsmen. All crowded round

to watch the dwarf's conjuring. Liang pulled a jade

ring off his left hand and handed it to him saying:

"Make this disappear too."

The dwarf put the ring on the table, covered it with

his cap and blew on it.

"Alter east and transpose west, Topsy-turvy like the

rest!" he shouted and whipped away the cap. The ring

had disappeared. The onlookers gasped.

"Please feel in your pocket, master," the dwarf said,

and Liang pulled the ring out and stared at it in

surprise.

"Excellent, excellent!" he cried.

Several dozen people had entered the restaurant by

this time, to see what was going on, including a

number of army officers.

"What's so special about a trick like that?" one of

the officers said. "Let's see if you dare to make this

disappear." He slapped an official document down on

the table and the onlookers saw it was marked "Urgent

dispatch for Master Wang, Beijing Military Bureau",

underneath which was written "Zhejiang Provincial

Commander-in-chief Li".

"Please don't be offended, sir," the dwarf replied. "I

may earn my living in a rather casual way, but I would

never dare to touch an urgent official dispatch."

"What does it matter?" Liang said to the dwarf. "It's

just a game. Go on, make it disappear." He turned to

his servants. "Give me five taels of silver," he said.

One of the servants pulled an ingot of silver from a

bag and handed it to Liang who placed it on the table.

"If you make the dispatch disappear, this silver ingot

is yours," he said to the dwarf.

The dwarf looked at the ingot, then turned and held a

whispered conversation with the girl.
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