`Mastermind' Xu went later to see the Muslim envoy.
"I will take you to see the Emperor," he said, andthey left, accompanied by Meng carrying the leatherbox containing the vases. Unknown to the envoy, one ofthe vases had been removed.
When they arrived at the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen,Meng handed the leather box to the envoy and pointedto the main gate.
"Go in on your own," he said.
That afternoon, an attendant handed a visiting card toGreat Helmsman Chen. It was signed 'Your servant DengTunan', the trusted lieutenant of Commander Li Keshou.
"Your plan has probably worked, Brother Xu," Chensaid. "Brother Wei, please go and receive him."'Leopard' Wei went to the reception room and saw arobust military official seated in a chair. "What isit you wish to see our master about, Master Deng?" heasked.
"I have come with instructions from Commander-in-ChiefLi to see the Great Helmsman of your society todiscuss a certain matter with him," Deng replied.
"Our master is not free at present. It is the same ifyou talk to me.""It concerns a Muslim vase," he said.
Wei frowned enquiringly.
"The Muslims dispatched an envoy with a pair of vasesto plead for peace. But when the Emperor opened thebox, only one of the vases was inside. He was veryangry and questioned the envoy, who said that he hadalready had an audience with the Commander-in-Chief ofZhejiang Province. The Emperor called in Commander Li,who was naturally mystified. Luckily, the Emperor knewCommander Li would not do such a thing, that theremust be some good explanation.""That is good," said Wei, nodding.
"But the Emperor said that Commander Li would be heldresponsible for the affair and gave him three days tofind and return the other vase. This presents a greatdifficulty.""He's afraid that if he doesn't find the vase, he willbe removed from office, is that it? It's probablyeasier not being an official. If one's whole familycould to be executed and all one's possessions seized,it must be rather distressing."Deng ignored his sarcasm. "Let us not deceive eachother. I have come to ask your society to return thevase.""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 itswhereabouts in a year or two.""Commander Li said he had great respect for MasterChen. He sent me today to ask your assistance, butwould not feel at ease if he was unable to do anythingin return. Please do not hesitate to inform us ofMaster 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, andhe would like to ask him to let bygones be bygones.""That goes without saying. I can guarantee that theCommander will never make difficulties for yoursociety over this matter. And the second thing?""Our Fourth Brother Wen Tailai is imprisoned in theCommander's Yamen."Deng grunted.
"He is an Imperial criminal," Wei continued. "Nomatter how courageous Commander Li is, he would neverdare to release him. We understand that. But MasterChen misses him greatly and would like to see himalone tonight."Deng thought for a second. "This is an extremelyserious matter. I will have to ask the Commander andreturn with the reply."Deng returned two hours later.
"The Commander says that Master Wen's crimes areserious in the extreme, and that normally no-one wouldbe allowed to visit him," he said.
"Normally!" Wei exclaimed.
"But as Master Chen has agreed to return the vase, theCommander will risk his neck and allow Master Chen tosee him. However, there are two small conditions hemust agree to. First, the Commander has recklesslyagreed to this purely in order to cement hisfriendship with Master Chen. If anyone else found outabout it, it would be disastrous.""Commander Li wants Master Chen to agree not to reveala word about the affair to anyone, is that it?""Exactly.""I can agree to that on our Master's behalf," Weisaid.
"The second point is that only Master Chen will beallowed to make the visit."Wei smiled. "Commander Li is naturally afraid that wewill take advantage of the opportunity to try torescue Master Wen. All right, we agree. Master Chenwill go by himself. But we have not agreed not toattempt a rescue.""You are a good man, Brother Wei, and I value yourword. Please ask Master Chen to come to the Yamen thisevening.""If Zhang Zhaozhong is around when Master Chen andMaster Wen meet, it will naturally be impossible topreserve the secrecy of the agreement, which could beextremely inconvenient for Commander Li.""That is true," Deng replied. "The Commander willthink of some excuse for getting him away."When Deng had left, the heroes gathered in the GreatHall 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 ZhangZhaozhong will be elsewhere and that the GreatHelmsman can get inside, it will of course be mucheasier to rescue Brother Wen," he said. "But Li isalso certain to prepare for that eventuality. We mustfirst work out what he plans to do and then dosomething unexpected.""He will gather a large contingent of troops andsurround the entrance to the dungeon and may evenenlist the support of some Imperial Bodyguards," Yangpointed out. "They will allow only the Great Helmsmanin, and only the Great Helmsman out.""We had better be waiting outside the Yamen just incase the Turtles try anything against the GreatHelmsman," 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 GreatHelmsman with the vase in our hands.""I've got it," Chen said suddenly. "When I go to seeFourth Brother, I will wear a wide cape and a largehat with a face cover..."Xu knew what he meant. "But that way, we would gainone man only to lose another. It's not a good idea.""Finish what you were saying, Great Helmsman," saidPriest Wu Chen.
"Once I am in the dungeon, I will exchange clotheswith Fourth Brother and then let him leave. The guardswill think it is me. You can be waiting outside toreceive him.""But what about you?""The Emperor and I have a special relationship. Oncethey discover the switch, they will let me go."The heroes were unhappy that their leader was placinghimself in such danger, but they were forced to agreeit was probably the best plan.
All the arrangements were completed. Chen threw on alarge cape with the collar turned up, pulled a hatwell down over his face, and set off for theCommander-in-Chief's Yamen accompanied by 'Leopard'
Wei. By the time they arrived, it was already close todusk and the first stars had began to appear at theedge 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, pleasestay here."Wei stood and watched as Chen followed the man intothe Yamen. A flight of ravens flew overhead throughthe evening mist on their way home, cawing as theywent, and Wei's heart beat wildly as he wondered whatwould happened to the Great Helmsman. After a while,the rest of the heroes arrived and spread out aroundthe Yamen.
As he entered the gate, Chen saw the Yamen was filledwith thousands of soldiers on guard. The man led himthrough three courtyards and into a room.
"Please take a seat," he said, and left. A momentlater, Commander Li entered and saluted Chen. "It isan honour to meet you," he said.
Chen opened his cape and revealed his face. "We metthe day before yesterday on the lake," he answeredwith a smile.
"You may now see the prisoner," said Li. "Pleasefollow me."As they reached the door, an attendant rushedbreathlessly 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 hadbetter wait here for a while," he said.
Li ran through to the front courtyard and saw QianLong with a large contingent of Imperial Guardsmen. Hehurriedly knelt down before him and kowtowed.
"Arrange a well-guarded room," said Qian Long. "I wantto personally interrogate Wen Tailai."Li invited the Emperor into his own study, and theImperial Bodyguards established themselves on allsides of the study and even on the roof.
"I have important matters of a confidential nature todiscuss 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 astretcher on which Wen, handcuffed and chained, layasleep. The bodyguards retired and there was silencefor a time.
"How are your injuries?" Qian Long asked. Wen's eyesopened and he sat up. His wounds had not yet healed,but his mind was clear. He had seen Qian Long oncebefore when he had entered the Imperial Palace withMaster Yu, but was surprised at suddenly meeting himagain in Hangzhou.
"I'm not dead yet," he said coldly.
"I asked my men to invite you to come to see mebecause there is something I wish to discuss withyou."Wen grunted.
"When you visited me with that leader of yours, MasterYu, I discussed an important matter with him.
Unfortunately, I hear he became ill and died very soonafterwards. It was a great pity.""If Master Yu had not died, I expect he would beimprisoned here with me," replied Wen.
Qian Long laughed. "You underworld fighters, you'revery frank. You say whatever you are thinking. Now,Master Wen, I have only one question for you. Answerme honestly, and I will immediately release you.""Release me? Ha! Do you think I am a three-year-oldchild? I know that you cannot eat or sleep easyknowing that I'm still alive. You have stayed yourhand until today only because you wish to questionme.""You're much too suspicious," said Qian Long with asmile. He walked forward two paces.
"Did Master Yu tell you what it was he talked to meabout?" he asked.
"What did you talk about?"Qian Long stared at him, and Wen returned the gazeunflinchingly. After a while, Qian Long turned hishead away.
"About my origins," he said quietly.
"He didn't say. You are the Emperor, the son of thelate Emperor and Empress. Everyone knows about yourorigins. What more is there to say?"Qian Long breathed a sigh of relief. "That night youvisited me, you must have known what the reason was?""Master Yu said that he had helped you once over someimportant matter. The Red Flower Society was short offunds and he went to ask you for three million taelsof silver. But you refused the request, and have evenhad me seized. If I ever get out of this, I willreveal how ungrateful you are."Qian Long laughed out loud. He glanced at Wen: hisanger did not appear to be a pretence. "If that is thecase, I had better have you killed," he said,half-believing him. "Otherwise, if I let you go, itcould damage my reputation.""Why didn't you kill me earlier? If you had, youwouldn't have had to harbour such evil schemes againstyour mother.""What about my mother?" Qian Long asked, turning pale.
"You understand.""So you know everything?""No, not everything. Master Yu said the EmpressDowager knew he had helped you and had asked you torepay him, but that you were still unwilling to partwith the silver. You have mountains of money. Threemillion taels should be nothing to you. But you insiston being petty."Qian Long laughed nervously. He pulled out ahandkerchief and wiped away the beads of sweat on hisbrow. He paced the room to steady himself, thensmiled. "You show no fear at all before the Emperor.
You are indeed a man of steel," he said.
"What have I to be afraid of? I doubt if you woulddare to kill me," said Wen.
"Wouldn't dare?""You want to kill me because you're afraid your secretwill be revealed but as soon as you kill me, yoursecret will be impossible to keep.""Can dead men talk?""As soon as I die, someone will open a certain letterand reveal the evidence to the world. Then you will bein a real predicament.""What letter?" Qian Long asked.
"Before we went to the palace to see you, Master Yuwrote down every detail of the affair and sealed thedocument in an envelope together with two importantpieces of evidence and left it with a friend.""Was he afraid that something untoward might happen?""Of course. How could he trust yo............