That afternoon, the heroes had a large meal and thenwaited for the time to leave. At about four o'clock,Bai Zhen arrived with four bodyguards to accompanythem. The heroes put on formal gowns, and rode to theLama Temple. Bai Zhen noticed with relief that none ofthem were carrying swords.

　　At the temple gate they dismounted, and Bai Zhen ledthem inside. Three tables had been prepared in theHall of Tranquillity, and Bai Zhen solemnly invitedthe heroes to be seated. Chen sat at the head of themiddle table while Bald Vulture and Master Lu took thehead seats on the other two tables. Underneath astatue of the Buddha, a fourth table had been set upwith one large chair covered with satin and brocade,obviously the Emperor's seat. The heroes began toweigh up the distances in preparation for theassassination attempt.

　　Dishes of food were brought out and placed on thetables and the heroes quietly awaited the arrival ofthe Emperor. After a while, footsteps sounded outsideand two eunuchs marched into the hall with a seniormilitary official whom the heroes all immediatelyrecognised as Li Keshou, the former Commander-in-Chiefof Zhejiang Province. Yuanzhi gripped Yu's hand andalmost cried out in surprise at the sight of herfather. She wondered when he had been transferrd tothe capital.

　　"Here is an Imperial pronouncement!" one of theeunuchs shouted, and Commander Li, Bai Zhen and theother officials present immediately knelt kown. Chenand the rest of the heroes had no alternative but todo likewise.

　　The eunuch unrolled a scroll and announced: "On theorders of the Heaven-ordained Emperor, the followingproclamation is made: We are benevolent in order toencourage talent just as our ministers and the commonpeople should strive for merit in order to gainrewards. Chen Jialuo and the others have been loyalcitizens and deserve to be honoured. Accordingly, Ibestow upon Chen Jialuo the title of SuccessfulCandidate of the Imperial Civil Service Examination,while the others are to be given good positions in theBoard of Rites and the Military. We invite you to dineat the Lama Temple. The Commander-in-chief of theImperial Forces in Zhili Province Li Keshou will hostthe banquet." The eunuch looked up from the scroll andshouted: "Express thanks for the Imperialbenevolence!"The heroes realised with a shock that the Emperor hadcheated them and was not coming.

　　Commander Li walked over to Chen and bowed before him.

　　"Congratulations, Master Chen. You are honoured to beso highly favoured by the Emperor. It is trulyunexpected." Chen replied with a self-deprecatingremark.

　　Yuanzhi and Yu walked over together. "Father!" Yuanzhisaid quietly.

　　Commander Li turned to find his lost daughter standingbeside him, as if she had dropped out of nowhere. Hegrasped her hand, tears welling into his eyes.

　　"Yuanzhi," he said, his voice shaking. "Are you allright?" She nodded. "Come, come and sit with me," headded, and pulled her over to a table on the side.

　　The two eunuchs, obviously kung fu experts, walkedover to the central table and stood before Chen. Oneof them saluted with his fists, then turned andshouted: "Boy!"Two young attendants entered carrying a tray on whichwas placed a pot of wine and several cups. The eunuchlifted the pot and filled two cups, then picked one ofthem up. "I drink to you!" he said to Chen, anddrained the cup at one draught. He picked the otherone up and offered it to Chen.

　　But Chen had been watching intently, and had noticedtwo small holes on the side of the wine pot. Theeunuch had put his thumb over the left hole when hepoured the first cup of wine, and had moved it tocover the right hole as he poured the second cup. Chenguessed the pot was divided into two compartmentsinside, and that the flow of wine from each could becontrolled by covering one or other of the holes. Heglanced at the eunuch in distaste and knew that if ithad not been for Princess Fragrance's warning, hewould have drunk the cup down.

　　He saluted with his fists in thanks, and lifted thecup as if to drink it. Expressions of delightedanticipation sprang to the faces of the eunuchs, butthen Chen put the cup down again, picked up the winepot and poured out another cup. This cupful he drankthen offered the original cup to the second eunuch.

　　"You drink a toast as well, sir," he said.

　　The eunuch turned pale as he realised Chen had seenthrough the trick. His right foot shot up and kickedthe cup out of Chen's hand and the other eunuchshouted: "Get them!" Several hundred Imperialbodyguards and guardsmen sprang into view from everyside.

　　"If you gentlemen don't wish to drink, then don't,"said Chen with a smile.

　　"His Imperial Highness decrees," one of the eunuchsshouted, "that the Red Flower Society has engaged inrebellion and continues to harbour evil intentions,and that its members must be immediately seized andkilled."Chen waved his hand and the Twin Knights leapt over tothe two eunuchs, paralysing each with a blow to theneck. The Red Flower Society heroes brought out theirweapons from under their gowns, and Priest Wu Chencharged for the door with the other heroes closebehind. He seized a sword from one of the guards andkilled three others as he passed.

　　Commander Li grabbed his daughter's hand and draggedher after him as he directed his forces to stop theheroes, but Yuanzhi pulled herself free and ran offshouting: "Look after yourself, father!"Commander Li stared after her for a moment, then beganurgently calling: "Yuanzhi, come back!" But she hadalready left the hall and had joined Yu who wasfighting fiercely with five or six guardsmen in thecourtyard outside.

　　Flames were licking up towards the sky from a nearbyhall, and the noise of the battle was deafening. AsChen and the other heroes broke out of theTranquillity Hall into the open, they were surprisedto find several dozen Lama monks fighting with a groupof Manchu soldiers outside the burning hall. From thelook of things, the monks could not hold out for long,but as they watched, Bai Zhen led some of the Imperialguards over and helped them force the Manchu troopsback into the hall. Chen had no knowledge of theenmity between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager,but he immediately recognised the fight as anexcellent diversion and quickly ordered the heroes toescape over the temple walls.

　　As they touched the ground, the heroes involuntarilysucked in their breaths: in front of them were rankupon rank of Manchu troops, all with bows drawn orwith swords in hand. The scene was brightly lit byseveral thousand torches.

　　"He has arranged things very carefully," thought Chen.

　　Priest Wu Chen and Bald Vulture charged into theManchu ranks, killing as they went, and a hail ofarrows descended on them.

　　"Everyone try and make a break for it!" shouted HuoQingtong. The heroes fought like demons.

　　Priest Wu Chen noticed seven or eight ImperialGuardsmen attacking Zhang Jin, and he leapt over tohelp him. He stabbed three of them in the neck, andthe rest howled and retreated.

　　"Tenth Brother, are you all right?" he asked.

　　Zhang Jin looked up at him and dropped his wolf'stooth club. "Second Brother, I'm finished," he said.

　　In the fire-light, Priest Wu Chen saw he was coveredin bloody wounds. With only one arm himself, thePriest could not support him.

　　"Lie on my back and hold on," the priest said betweenclenched teeth. He squatted down, and Zhang Jin puthis arms round his neck. He felt the warm bloodspurting out of the hunchback's wounds, but stood upand charged off again with sword raised to continuethe killing.

　　Chen could see things were going badly and ordered theheroes to return to the wall to regroup.

　　"All right, Tenth Brother, get down," said Priest WuChen as they reached the comparative safety of thewall. Zhang Jin did not move. Luo Bing went over tohelp him, but found that his body was stiff and hisbreathing had already ceased. She threw herself ontohis corpse and began to sob.

　　Just as the Manchu troops moved in for the finalattack on the heroes, their ranks parted and severaldozen monks fought their way through, their yellowrobes glowing in the firelight. Leading them, his longwhite beard dancing and shaking, was Lord Zhou.

　　"Come with me, all of you!" he shouted to the heroes,and they charged after him through the Manchublockade, and found Heavenly Mirror and the monksbattling fiercely with the Manchu troops.

　　Huo Qingtong surveyed the situation with dismay. Theheroes were killing large numbers of the enemy, but nomatter which direction they went, they were alwayssurrounded. She looked around for some possiblesolution and spotted a dozen or so people standing ona nearby Drum Tower.

　　"One of those men must be the commander," she shoutedto the others, pointing at the tower. "Let's seizehim."The heroes immediately saw the wisdom of her words.

　　"Let's go," Priest Wu Chen roared. Wen and the TwinKnights ran after him. They quickly reached the footof the Drum Tower, and leapt up onto the balcony justas several dozen guards moved to intercept them. Wen,however, dodged nimbly past them and charged straightfor an official standing in one corner who wore a redcap signifying senior rank. As he caught sight of theofficial's face in the firelight, he almost called out"Great Helmsman!" He was almost an exact twin ofChen's. Wen remembered his wife telling him about theresemblance of Qian Long's favorite, Fu Kangan, toChen. This must be Fu, he decided.

　　It was indeed Fu, who was also the Beijing GarrisonCommander. Wen deftly dodged the swords of twosurprised bodyguards and lunged at Fu with Priest WuChen close behind. Down below, the Manchu troopsceased their attack and stood watching the drama abovethem.

　　Fu knew no kung fu and he cringed in fear as Wenlifted him bodily into the air. A gasp went up theManchu troops. By this time, the Twin Knights hadkilled the last of the bodyguards on the tower balconyand ran over beside Wen. Fu raised his command flagand shrieked: "Stop, all of you! Return to yourunits!"Three bodyguards bravely charged forward, but PriestWu Chen placed the tip of his sword on Fu's throat andsmiled at them. "Come on," he said. "Don't be shy."The bodyguards hesitated, glanced at each other, thenwithdrew.

　　Wen squeezed Fu's arm and he screamed in agony.

　　"Retreat!" he shouted. "Back in position, all of you!"The Manchu troops did not dare to disobey andimmediately formed up at a distance.

　　Chen gathered the heroes and the Shaolin monkstogether on the Drum Tower balcony. He counted up thecasualties and found that apart from Zhang Jin who wasdead, eight or nine of the others had been wounded,only one of them seriously. He surveyed his followersin the lights of the flames from the temple.

　　"Let us attack the Palace and kill the Emperor toavenge Tenth Brother!" he shouted. The heroes roaredtheir approval, and the Shaolin monks joined in.

　　"The Shaolin Monastery has been destroyed by him,"Heavenly Mirror added. "Today, the Commandment againstkilling is suspended.""What?" asked Chen, shocked. "The Shaolin Monasterydestroyed?""Yes, it's been burnt to the ground. Brother HeavenlyRainbow died protecting the sacred scriptures."The news compounded Chen's anger. With Commander Fu astheir hostage, the heroes marched through the ranks ofImperial Guards encircling the Lama Temple. When theyhad passed the last rank, they saw Xin Yan and anumber of the Society's followers standing at adistance with several dozen horses. They ran over andmounted up, one or two to each horse, and with adefiant shout, galloped off towards the ImperialPalace.

　　Xu rode up alongside Chen and shouted: "Has an escaperoute been planned, Great Helmsman?""Ninth Brother has gone with some of the others to theWest Gate to wait for us. What are you and the monksdoing here?""Those Manchu devils!" replied Xu, his voice full ofhatred. "They came one night and sacked the monastery.

　　Heavenly Rainbow would not leave and was burned todeath. They even kidnapped my son! We have beenlooking for the officers responsible ever since, andthe chase brought us to Beijing. We went to TwinWillow Lane and they told us you had gone to the LamaTemple."By this time, they had arrived at the Forbidden Citywith the Imperial Guardsmen pressing in on them frombehind, loath to leave them alone even if they did notdare to attack.

　　Xu looked over at the Twin Eagles. "If the Emperorgets wind of this and hides somewhere in the depths ofthe palace, we'll never find him. Could you two go onahead and investigate?" he asked.

　　The two old people were delighted to have theopportunity to show their worth, and immediatelyagreed. Xu took four flare rockets from his bag andgave them to Bald Vulture.

　　"When you catch sight of the Emperor, kill him if youcan, but if he is guarded too tightly, signal us withthese," he said.

　　The Twin Eagles leapt over the palace wall and ranswiftly across the courtyard inside and then up ontothe rooftops. As they raced along, they saw the heavypalace gates and the endless courtyards and pavilions,and wondered how they could ever hope to find theEmperor in such a place.

　　"Let's grab a eunuch and question him," Madame Guansaid.

　　"Good idea!" replied her husband, and the two jumpeddown to the ground and hid themselves in a darkcorner. After a while, they heard footsteps approachand two figures walked quickly by.

　　"The thin one knows kung fu," Bald Vulture whispered.

　　"Let's follow and see where they go," Madame Guanreplied.

　　The Twin Eagles silently shadowed the two figures, onevery thin, the other fat and much slower on his feet.

　　The thin man had to constantly stop to wait for him tocatch up, and at one point said: "Faster! Faster! Wemust report to the Emperor as soon as possible."The Twin Eagles were overjoyed when they heard this.

　　They passed through doorways and courtyards andfinally arrived in front of the Precious MoonPavilion.

　　"You wait here," the thin man said and disappearedupstairs, leaving the fat man standing alone by thefront door. The Twin Eagles crept round to the side ofthe pavilion and climbed up onto the roof. Then, withtheir feet hooked onto the eaves, they hung down overa balcony smelling of fresh paint and flowers and sawa row of windows, one of which glowed with the faintlight of a candle. They slipped onto the balcony, justas a shadow passed across the window paper. MadameGuan carefully wet the paper with her finger, making ahole and then looked through to find Qian Long seatedin a chair, a fan in his hand, and the thin mankneeling before him: it was Bai Zhen.

　　"The Tranquillity Hall in the Lama Temple has beenburned to the ground and not one of the soldiersguarding it escaped," he said.

　　"Excellent!" exclaimed Qian Long, very pleased.

　　Bai Zhen kowtowed. "Your slave deserves to die. TheRed Flower Society bandits eluded capture.""What?""They saw through the attempt to poison them with thewine, and they escaped while I was dealing with theguards."Qian Long grunted and hung his head, deep in thought.

　　Bald Vulture pointed at Bai Zhen and the Emperor,indicating to his wife that he would attack Bai Zhenwhile she killed Qian Long, and the two were justabout to burst through the window when Bai Zhenclapped his hands twice and twelve bodyguards slippednoiselessly out from behind cupboards and screens,each one carrying a sword. The Twin Eagles knew theywere no match for so many expert fighters and decidedto summon the other heroes first. Bai Zhen whisperedsomething to one of the bodyguards who left andbrought the fat man back with him.

　　The fat man, wearing the yellow robes of a Lamapriest, kowtowed energetically before the Emperor.

　　"You have done well," Qian Long said. "Are you sureyou left no clues?""Everything was done according to Your Highness'swishes. Nothing is left of the Tranquillity Hall orwhat was in it.""Good, good, good! Bai Zhen, I promised that he shouldbe made a Living Buddha. Go and see to it.""Your Highness," Bai Zhen replied with a bow.

　　The Lama kowtowed again.

　　As they walked out of the pavilion, Bai Zhen stoppedthe Lama. "Show your gratitude to his Highness,abbot," he said.

　　The abbot looked at him in surprise, but unwilling todisobey an Imperial bodyguard, he knelt down again andkowtowed in the direction of the Precious MoonPavilion. Then he felt an icy coldness on his neck,and started in shock.

　　"What...what's happening?" he asked, his voiceshaking.

　　Bai Zhen laughed coldly. "The Emperor said to let youbecome a Living Buddha, so I'll send you to theWestern Heavens where you can be one."He twitched his hand and the blade did its work. Twoeunuchs brought a carpet over, wrapped the abbot'scorpse in it and carried it away.

　　Suddenly, Bai Zhen heard shouting in the distance. Heturned and ran back into the pavilion.

　　"There are bandits outside causing a disturbance, YourHighness," he said. "Please retire to the innerpalace."Qian Long had seen the Red Flower Society fighters inaction in Hangzhou and he knew that his bodyguardswere no match for them, so without questioning BaiZhen further, he stood up.

　　Just then, Bald Vulture released a flare, and with a'whoosh' it scrawled a path of white light across thenight sky.

　　"Where do you think you're escaping to?" he roared asthey burst through the window into the room. "We'vewaited a long time for this!"The bodyguards around the Emperor stared for a momentin surprise at the red-faced old man and white-hairedold woman who had suddenly appeared in their midst,then rushed at the intruders. Bai Zhen slung Qian Lungover his back and with four bodyguards protecting thefront and rear, ran for the stairs. But Madame Guanforced the bodyguards back with a fistful ofprojectiles and lunged at Qian Long with her sword.

　　Bai Zhen leapt backwards in fright.

　　Meanwhile, Bald Vulture was fighting with three guardssimultaneously. Bai Zhen gave a whistle and four otherguards joined the other three and completelysurrounded Bald Vulture. But he fought like a demonand kept all seven at bay for a while, until one ofthe guards lashed out with a whip which cracked loudlyagainst his right arm. In great pain, Bald Vultureswitched his sword over to the left hand and forcedthe bodyguards back.

　　Seeing her husband was wounded, Madame Guan went overto help him, and the two retreated towards the secondfloor of the pavilion. Bald Vulture knew they couldnot tie down so many top-class kung fu fighters formuch longer, so he slipped over to the window and shotoff another flare. He and his wife blocked the stairs,retreating a step at a time when the pressure was toogreat. Luckily, the staircase was narrow and onlythree or four bodyguards at most could attack at onetime. Even so, the strain of having to fight againstan enemy which always had the advantage of height wasvery wearying.

　　Bai Zhen could see things were going badly. "BrotherMa," he said to one of the bodyguards. "Put HisHighness on your back." The bodyguard squatted downand the Emperor climbed on. Bai Zhen gave a shout andcharged at Bald Vulture. The two began to fight, andBald Vulture cursed his luck. The longer he fought,the more painful the wound on his right arm became.

　　Bai Zhen by himself was as much as he could manage,let alone the other four or five bodyguards that alsosurrounded him. Bai Zhen's hands dived and flew, everymove accurate and deadly, and Bald Vulture, completelyabsorbed in fending him off, was unprepared for acold-blooded attack from behind. A bodyguard thrusthis sword deep into Bald Vulture's back.

　　Bald Vulture knew instantly that he would die. Heswung his elbow back with all his strength and smashedhis attacker's skull, then with a huge roar, he raisedhis sword and threw it forcefully across the room atQian Long. The bodyguard Ma who was carrying theEmperor, saw the blade flying towards them and with notime to dodge out of the way, put his hand up to stopit. But this was a throw by a man on the verge ofdeath, backed by incalculable strength and outrage andthe sword sliced off half of his hand and plungedthrough his chest and out the other side.

　　Bald Vulture was content, assuming that the sword musthave entered Qian Long. Exchanging his own life forthat of an Emperor made death seem worthwhile. MadameGuan ran to her husband as Bai Zhen hurriedly pickedQian Long up off the floor.

　　"Your Highness, are you all right?" he asked.

　　Qian Long was scared out of his wits, but he struggledto control himself. "At least I was well-prepared," hereplied with a smile.

　　Bai Zhen could see the tip of Bald Vulture's swordextending six inches out of Ma's back and the rip onthe front of Qian Long's gown, and he wondered in awehow the Emperor had avoided inj............