That morning, while the Red Flower Society heroes werediscussing the situation in their quarters in TwinWillow Lane, a servant appeared to announced thearrival of the Emeror's chief bodyguard, Bai Zhen.

　　Chen went out alone to meet him. Bai Zhen passed onthe Emperor's invitation to all the leading members ofthe Red Flower Society to attend a banquet in the LamaTemple that evening to be hosted by the Emperorhimself. He explained that the banquet was being heldoutside the palace in order to avoid raising thesuspicions of the Empress Dowager and the Manchunobles. Chen expressed his thanks. He assumed the newsindicated Princess Fragrance had already done what hadto be done and had given in to the Emperor, and feltan inexpressible mixture of emotions. After havingseen Bai Zhen out, he returned to discuss matters withthe heroes, who were very excited that the Emperor waskeeping his part of the bargain, although they werealso painfully aware of the sacrifice Chen had made tomake it possible.

　　They passed the rest of the morning in kung futraining, and Chen showed the others some of what hehad learned inside the White Jade Peak. Just as theywere in the midst of the practice, they heard wailingand mournful singing outside. At first, they did nottake much notice, but the noise gradually increased involume, as if thousands of people were gathering in anstate of extreme grief.

　　Xin Yan had lived in the desert for a long time andrecognised the song as a Muslim funeral dirge. Hiscuriosity aroused, he ran out to find out what wasgoing on, and returned a while later, unsteady on hisfeet and ashen-faced. He walked over to Chen.

　　"Master!" he exclaimed, his voice shaking.

　　The heroes stopped their kung fu training, and Chenturned to him. "What is it?" he asked.

　　"She ... Princess Fragrance is dead!"The heroes blanched. For Chen, everything went blackand he collapsed to the ground. Priest Wu Chen droppedhis sword and helped him up.

　　"How did she die?" Luo Bing asked.

　　"The Muslim I talked to said she stabbed herself todeath while praying in the mosque," Xin Yan replied.

　　"What else did he say?""That the Empress Dowager would not let her body backinto the palace and had it handed over to the mosque.

　　They are just on their way back from burying her now."The heroes all cursed the Emperor bitterly for hiscruelty in hounding such a pure, innocent young girlto her death. Luo Bing broke down and started to cry.

　　Chen was silent for a while, and then suddenly said toPrist Wu Chen: "I haven't finished showing you all themoves yet. Let us continue."To their amazement, he walked back out into the middleof the courtyard. Wu Chen decided it would be a goodidea to help distract Chen from his grief, so heraised his sword and resumed the training session. Theheroes saw Chen's footwork was just as sure as beforeand his hands moved with the same skill as if the newshad had absolutely no effect on him, and they began toquietly discuss it amongst themselves.

　　"Men have no hearts," Yuanzhi whispered into 'Scholar'

　　Yu's ear. "He thinks only of his great plans for thecountry, and doesn't care at all about the death ofthe woman he loved."Yu said nothing. But he silently praised Chen for hisself-control. If it were me, he thought, I think Iwould immediately go insane.

　　Aware that a great change had come over Chen, PriestWu Chen did not dare press him too hard, and in a fewmoves, Chen had easily gained the upper hand. As thePriest retreated, Chen's hand suddenly shot out andtouched his hand. The two leapt apart.

　　"Good! Excellent!" exclaimed the priest.

　　"You weren't really trying," Chen replied and laughed.

　　But before the laugh was finished, he vomited amouthful of blood. The heroes rushed forward as one tohelp him, but Chen waved them away with a wan smile.

　　"It's nothing," he said. He walked back into thehouse, supporting himself on Xin Yan's shoulders.

　　Chen slept for more than two hours. Upon waking, hethought of all the important things he had to do,including seeing the Emperor that evening, and knew hehad to look after himself. But as soon as he thoughtabout Princess Fragrance's tragic death the pain wassuch that he wanted to end it all. He wondered why shewould suddenly commit suicide after clearly agreeingto give in to the Emperor. Could it be that she hadchanged her mind and decided she could not renounceher love for him? But she knew this was a matter of nosmall significance. He was convinced that somethingmust have happened, but what? He meditated on theproblem for a while but could come to no conclusion,so he took out a set of Muslim clothes he had broughtfrom the northwest and put them on, then blacked hisface with some diluted ink.

　　"I'm going out," he said to Xin Yan. "I'll be back ina while." Xin Yan quietly followed him. Chen, who knewhe was simply acting out of loyalty, did not try tostop him.

　　The streets were full of people and noise,intermingled with many carriages and horses, but inChen's eyes, all was deserted. He walked into themosque on the Avenue of Eternal Peace, went straightinto the main hall, and threw himself down on theground to pray. "Wait for me in Heaven," he saidquietly. "I promised you that I would be converted tothe Islamic faith, and I will make sure that you donot wait in vain."He raised his head and noticed what looked like aninscription on the floor about five feet in front ofhim. He went forward to investigate and saw it wasseveral Muslim words etched into the stone with thepoint of a knife: "Don't trust the Emperor." There wassome pigment in the grooves of the words, and Chenstarted in shock. Looking around, he found a part ofthe floor nearby that was slightly darker in colour,and thought: "Could t............