After two days and nights of being starved, frightened
and angered, Qian Long's resistance was virtually worn
away. On the morning of the third day, a boy appeared
and said: "Master Dongfang, our master invites you to
come and talk with him."
Qian Long recognized the boy as Chen's attendant, and
he followed him down to the floor below.
As he entered, Chen, smiling broadly, advanced to
greet him, and bowed. Qian Long returned the bow, and
the two sat down. Xin Yan served some tea.
"Bring some titbits to eat," Chen ordered. A moment
later, Xin Yan carried in a tray on which was placed
plates of spring rolls, prawns, chicken and ham. He
set out two sets of bowls and chopsticks and poured
wine for them both.
"Please forgive me for not being able to see you
sooner. I had to go to visit a friend who was
wounded," said Chen.
"It is nothing."
"There is something I wish to talk to you about, but
please eat first," Chen added. He chose a morsel from
each plate, then put down his chopsticks and watched
Qian Long wolf down the food.
When he had finished, Qian Long sat back, unspeakably
contented, and raised his tea cup. He looked closely
at the tiny Dragon's Well tea leaves and took a
leisurely sip, savouring the feeling of the liquid
seeping into his stomach.
Chen walked over to the door and pushed it open. "All
the others are downstairs standing guard. There could
not be a more convenient place for us to talk. No one
will hear us," he said.
Qian Long's expression hardened. "Why did you have me
brought here?" he asked. "What is it you want?"
Chen stepped forward and stared into his face.
"Do you still not recognize me, brother?" Chen asked
after a moment's silence. The words were soft, the
tone intimate, but they hit Qian Long's ears with the
force of a clap of thunder, and he jumped. An
expression of deep sincerity on his face, Chen slowly
extended his hand and took Qian Long's.
"We are blood brothers," he said. "There is no need to
continue the deception, my brother, I know
everything."
Chen pulled on a chord beside a painting hanging on
the wall and the painting rolled up to reveal a
mirror. "Take a look at yourself," he said.
Qian Long stood up and gazed at himself in the mirror,
wearing Chinese clothes: his face contained not the
slightest likeness to a Manchu. He looked at Chen
standing beside him, and had to admit that despite
their difference in age, their faces were similar. He
sighed and sat down.
"Brother, we were not aware of the situation before,"
said Chen. "We even took up arms against each other.
The spirits of father and mother up in heaven must
have been heartbroken. Luckily neither of us was hurt
and nothing happened which cannot be rectified."
Qian Long felt a rasping dryness in his throat and his
heart beating rapidly. A moment passed. "I asked you
to go to Beijing with me to work, but you refused," he
said finally. Chen turned and gazed out at the great
river without answering.
"With your scholastic abilities," Qian Long continued,
"what reason would there be for not promoting you?
Such a situation would be of great benefit to our
family and to the nation, to both you and I. Why be so
disloyal and unfilial as to continue with this
criminal course of action?"
Chen spun round. "I have never accused you of being
disloyal or unfilial, or of acting criminally, and yet
you accuse me of these things."
"Hah!" replied Qian Long. "It is true that ministers
must be completely loyal to their emperor. But since I
am already emperor, how could I be disloyal?"
"You are obviously a Chinese and yet you submit to the
Manchus. Is that loyalty? When our father and mother
were alive, you never attended to them properly. Is
that filial behaviour?"
Beads of sweat dripped off Qian Long's forehead. "At
the time, I did not know," he said quietly. "I first
heard about it when the former leader of your Red
Flower Society, Master Yu, visited me last spring.
Even now, I'm not sure whether I believe it."
"Look at yourself," Chen said. "What resemblance is
there to a Manchu? How can you have any further
doubt?"
Qian Long brooded in silence.
"You are Chinese. The homeland of the Chinese people
has fallen into the hands of the Manchus, and you
yourself lead them in the oppression of our people. Is
that not disloyal, unfilial and criminal behaviour?"
For a moment, Qian Long was at a loss for a reply.
"And now I have fallen into your hands," he finally
said, haughtily. "If you are going to kill me, then
kill me. There is no point wasting words."
"But we made a pact on the embankment at Haining that
we would never do anything to hurt one other," Chen
replied softly. "How can I go back on my word? And
anyway, now that we know we are blood brothers, we
have even less reason to do each other harm." A tear
trickled unbidden down his cheek.
"Well, what do you want me to do? Do you want to force
me to abdicate?"
"No," said Chen, wiping his eyes. "You can continue to
be emperor. But as the wise, enlightened founder of a
new dynasty."
"Founder of a new dynasty?" Qian Long echoed in
surprise.
"Yes. You will be a Chinese emperor, not an emperor of
the Manchus."
Qian Long suddenly understood. "So you want me to
drive out the Manchus?" he said.
"Yes, you will be emperor just the same, but instead
of being regarded as a criminal and cursed by future
generations, why not establish an outstanding and
rejuvenating dynasty that will last?"
Chen saw from Qian Long's expression that his words
were having the desired effect.
"Being the emperor you are at present, you are simply
basking in the glory of the former Manchu rulers," he
continued. "What is so special about that? Look at
that man."
Qian Long went over to the window and looked down in
the direction Chen was pointing, and saw a peasant in
the distance hoeing the ground.
"If that man had been born in the Imperial Palace and
you had been born in his farm house, he would be
emperor, and you would have no choice but to hoe the
field."
Qian Long started at the novelty of the idea.
"A man is born into the world and his life is gone in
a flash," said Chen. "If you achieve nothing
worthwhile, you decay and rot like grass and trees
without leaving a trace behind. The emperors of the
past who established their own noble dynasties were
truly great men. Even a Tartar such as Genghis Khan
could also be considered to be outstanding."
Every word stabbed deep into Qian Long's heart. If, he
thought, if I really do as he says and throw the
Manchus out and restore the Chinese homelands, I would
truly be the founder of a dynasty and a man of greater
achievements than any emperor before me.
Just as he was considering an answer, he heard the
sound of dogs barking in the distance. Seeing Chen
frown slightly, he looked out and spied four massive
hounds galloping towards the pagoda with two figures
following.
In the wink of an eye, they reached the base of the
pagoda and there was a sharp challenge from below.
Qian Long and Chen, in the second-highest storey of
the thirteen-storey pavilion could not hear distinctly
what was said, but they saw the two new-comers and
their dogs charge into the pavilion. A moment later,
there was a loud whistle indicating danger.
Seeing help had arrived, Qian Long was overjoyed. Chen
looked around carefully, but could see no other signs
of movement: the two intruders were alone.
He heard the shouts of youngsters mingling with the
barks and growls of the dogs, indicating Zhou Qi and
Xin Yan on the second floor were doing battle with the
animals. All of a sudden, there were two screams, and
two swords were hurled out of the window. Just then,
'Crocodile' Jiang wielding his mighty iron oar chased
the four dogs out of the pagoda and began beating them
mercilessly. Someone on the sixth floor and gave an
ear-splitting whistle. The four dogs turned and raced
away.
Noting the intruders had reached the sixth floor, Chen
realised it meant Twelfth Brother, Ninth Brother and
Eighth Brother had been unable to stop them. He
groaned inwardly.
Suddenly, he saw 'Mastermind' Xu leap out of the
seventh floor window onto the narrow roof pursued by a
tiny old woman with a head of white hair and a sword
slung over her back.
"Watch the dart!" Xu yelled with a wave of his hand,
and his opponent hastily withdrew. But it had been
merely a feint, and Xu took advantage of the trick to
escape round the corner.
The old woman chased after him.
"Watch out!" Xu yelled.
"You bastard monkey," the old woman cursed. "You can't
fool your grandma again."
She made a grab for him, but this time, it was no
feint: a piece of tile Xu had picked up from the roof
hurtled towards her. Unable to avoid it, the old woman
blocked the tile with her hand and it shattered. The
Twin Knights, standing guard on the eighth floor,
appeared to be fully occupied dealing with the old
woman's partner, for they gave Xu no help. Xu's kung
fu was no match for the old woman's, and after a few
moves, he was forced to dodge out of the way again.
Qian Long watched with pleasure as the two new-comers
fought their way up, but Chen also seemed strangely
unconcerned. He pulled a chair to the window so that
he could sit and observe the battle. There were only
two of them, he thought. In the end, they could not
overcome all the Red Flower Society's fighters.
Then he heard the sound of more dogs barking in the
distance intermingled with shouting and galloping
horses.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Xin Yan raced in.
"The guards outside report that more than two thousand
Manchu troops are approaching, heading straight for
us," he told Chen, using the Red Flower Society's
secret language.
Chen nodded and Xin Yan raced back downstairs. Qian
Long did not understand what Xin Yan had said, but
seeing Chen's anxious expression, he knew it was
unwelcome news. He looked into the distance and
spotted amongst the maple trees a white flag on which
was written one large word: "Li". Overjoyed, he
realized Commander Li had come to save him.
Chen leaned out of the window and shouted: "Brother
Ma, retreat into the pagoda and prepare the bows and
arrows!"
Suddenly the old woman rushed into the room with the
heroes close behind. Lord Zhou attacked her with his
great sword while Chen pulled Qian Long into a corner.
Xu motioned some of the others to guard the windows,
and Chen shouted: "Throw down your sword and we'll
spare you!"
The old woman could see she was surrounded, but she
continued to fight, completely unafraid.
"I've seen her sword style somewhere before, I'm
sure," Zhou Qi said to Xu.
"Yes, I thought it was familiar too," he replied.
The old woman forced Lord Zhou back a pace, then
shouted at Qian Long: "Are you the emperor?"
"Yes, I'm the emperor," he replied hastily. "Are all
the rescue forces here?" The woman leapt onto the
table, then with her sword pointing straight out, flew
at him like a great bird, thrusting the blade at his
heart. The heroes had assumed she was one of Qian
Long's underlings come to rescue him, and were caught
completely unaware by this fast move. But Chen, who
was standing by Qian Long's side, thrust his fingers
at a Yuedao point on the old woman's arm. Her blade
slowed, giving Chen time to draw his dagger and place
it in the way of the sword. The two blades clashed,
then both retreated two paces. Chen pulled Qian Long
back and placed himself in front of him, then saluted.
"What is your honourable name, Madame," he asked.
"Where did that dagger of yours come from?" she
replied.
Chen was surprised by the question. "A friend gave it
to me," he said.
"What friend?" the woman demanded. "You are a servant
of the Emperor. Why would she give it to you? What is
your relationship with Master Yuan, the Strange Knight
of the Heavenly Pool?"
"He is my teacher," said Chen, answering the last
question first.
"So that's it," the woman said. "Your teacher may be
peculiar, but he's an upright gentleman. How could you
have dishonoured him by becoming a running dog of the
Manchus?"
"This is our Great Helmsman, Master Chen," 'Iron
Pagoda' Yang shouted. "Don't talk such nonsense."
The old woman's face took on a puzzled expression.
"Are you the Red Flower Society?" she asked.
"Correct," said Yang.
She turned on Chen. "Have you surrendered to the
Manchus?" she screeched in rage.
"The Red Flower Society is just and upright. How could
we bend our knees before the Manchu court?" he
replied. "Please sit down, madame. Let us discuss this
calmly."
Her expression softened slightly. "Where did your
dagger come from?" she asked again.
Having seen her kung fu style, and hearing her
questions, Chen had already almost solved the puzzle.
"It was given to me by a Muslim friend," he said. The
exchange of presents between boys and girls was not an
ordinary thing, and Chen was unhappy about discussing
the matter in front of everyone.
"Do you know Huo Qingtong?" the old woman demanded.
Chen nodded.
"It was Sister Huo Qingtong who gave it to him," Zhou
Qi interjected. "Do you know her? If you do, we're all
on the same side!"
"She is my pupil," the old woman said. "Since you say
we are all on the same side, what are you doing
helping the Emperor, and stopping me from killing
him?"
"We caught the Emperor," said one of the Twin Knights.
"If he is to be killed, it will not be you who does
it."
"Huh!" the woman exclaimed. "You mean you caught the
emperor and brought him here?"
"This is a misunderstanding, Madame," said Chen. "We
invited the Emperor to come here. We assumed you were
palace bodyguards coming to rescue him, that is why we
tried to obstruct you."
The old woman went over to the window and stuck her
head out. "Come down, husband!" she shouted at the top
of her voice. An arrow shot in through the window from
below and the old woman grabbed it by its tail, then
turned in one movement and threw the arrow so that it
implanted itself in the table top.
"You untrustworthy rascal," she screeched at Chen as
the arrow quivered. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Please don't be angry Madame," replied Chen hastily.
"Our brothers at the base of the pagoda are not yet
aware of the situation." He walked to the window
planning to tell the heroes to stop firing and saw
that the pagoda was already surrounded by Manchu
troops.
"Third Brother," he said to 'Buddha' Zhao. "Tell the
others to guard the doorway, but not to go outside."
Zhao nodded and went downstairs.
"You must be Madame Guan," said Lord Zhou to the old
woman. "I have long respected you." |
