"Our master is not free at present. It is the same if you talk to me."
"It concerns a Muslim vase," he said.
Wei frowned enquiringly.
"The Muslims dispatched an envoy with a pair of vases to plead for peace. But when the Emperor opened the box, only one of the vases was inside. He was very angry and questioned the envoy, who said that he had already had an audience with the Commander-in-Chief of Zhejiang Province. The Emperor called in Commander Li, who was naturally mystified. Luckily, the Emperor knew Commander Li would not do such a thing, that there must be some good explanation."
"That is good," said Wei, nodding.
"But the Emperor said that Commander Li would be held responsible for the affair and gave him three days to find and return the other vase. This presents a great difficulty."
"He's afraid that if he doesn't find the vase, he will be removed from office, is that it? It's probably easier not being an official. If one's whole family could to be executed and all one's possessions seized, it must be rather distressing."
Deng ignored his sarcasm. "Let us not deceive each other. I have come to ask your society to return the vase."
"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 its whereabouts in a year or two."
"Commander Li said he had great respect for Master Chen. He sent me today to ask your assistance, but would not feel at ease if he was unable to do anything in return. Please do not hesitate to inform us of Master 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, and he would like to ask him to let bygones be bygones."
"That goes without saying. I can guarantee that the Commander will never make difficulties for your society over this matter. And the second thing?"
"Our Fourth Brother Wen Tailai is imprisoned in the Commander's Yamen."
Deng grunted.
"He is an Imperial criminal," Wei continued. "No matter how courageous Commander Li is, he would never dare to release him. We understand that. But Master Chen misses him greatly and would like to see him alone tonight."
Deng thought for a second. "This is an extremely serious matter. I will have to ask the Commander and return with the reply."
Deng returned two hours later.
"The Commander says that Master Wen's crimes are serious in the extreme, and that normally no-one would be allowed to visit him," he said.
"Normally!" Wei exclaimed.
"But as Master Chen has agreed to return the vase, the Commander will risk his neck and allow Master Chen to see him. However, there are two small conditions he must agree to. First, the Commander has recklessly agreed to this purely in order to cement his friendship with Master Chen. If anyone else found out about it, it would be disastrous."
"Commander Li wants Master Chen to agree not to reveal a word about the affair to anyone, is that it?"
"Exactly."
"I can agree to that on our Master's behalf," Wei said.
"The second point is that only Master Chen will be allowed to make the visit."
Wei smiled. "Commander Li is naturally afraid that we will take advantage of the opportunity to try to rescue Master Wen. All right, we agree. Master Chen will go by himself. But we have not agreed not to attempt a rescue."
"You are a good man, Brother Wei, and I value your word. Please ask Master Chen to come to the Yamen this evening."
"If Zhang Zhaozhong is around when Master Chen and Master Wen meet, it will naturally be impossible to preserve the secrecy of the agreement, which could be extremely inconvenient for Commander Li."
"That is true," Deng replied. "The Commander will think of some excuse for getting him away."
When Deng had left, the heroes gathered in the Great Hall 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 Zhang Zhaozhong will be elsewhere and that the Great Helmsman can get inside, it will of course be much easier to rescue Brother Wen," he said. "But Li is also certain to prepare for that eventuality. We must first work out what he plans to do and then do something unexpected."
"He will gather a large contingent of troops and surround the entrance to the dungeon and may even enlist the support of some Imperial Bodyguards," Yang pointed out. "They will allow only the Great Helmsman in, and only the Great Helmsman out."
"We had better be waiting outside the Yamen just in case the Turtles try anything against the Great Helmsman," 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 Great Helmsman with the vase in our hands."
"I've got it," Chen said suddenly. "When I go to see Fourth Brother, I will wear a wide cape and a large hat with a face cover..."
Xu knew what he meant. "But that way, we would gain one man only to lose another. It's not a good idea."
"Finish what you were saying, Great Helmsman," said Priest Wu Chen.
"Once I am in the dungeon, I will exchange clothes with Fourth Brother and then let him leave. The guards will think it is me. You can be waiting outside to receive him."
"But what about you?"
"The Emperor and I have a special relationship. Once they discover the switch, they will let me go."
The heroes were unhappy that their leader was placing himself in such danger, but they were forced to agree it was probably the best plan.
All the arrangements were completed. Chen threw on a large cape with the collar turned up, pulled a hat well down over his face, and set off for the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen accompanied by 'Leopard' Wei. By the time they arrived, it was already close to dusk and the first stars had began to appear at the edge 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, please stay here."
Wei stood and watched as Chen followed the man into the Yamen. A flight of ravens flew overhead through the evening mist on their way home, cawing as they went, and Wei's heart beat wildly as he wondered what would happened to the Great Helmsman. After a while, the rest of the heroes arrived and spread out around the Yamen.
As he entered the gate, Chen saw the Yamen was filled with thousands of soldiers on guard. The man led him through three courtyards and into a room.
"Please take a seat," he said, and left. A moment later, Commander Li entered and saluted Chen. "It is an honour to meet you," he said.
Chen opened his cape and revealed his face. "We met the day before yesterday on the lake," he answered with a smile.
"You may now see the prisoner," said Li. "Please follow me."
As they reached the door, an attendant rushed breathlessly 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 had better wait here for a while," he said.
Li ran through to the front courtyard and saw Qian Long with a large contingent of Imperial Guardsmen. He hurriedly knelt down before him and kowtowed.
"Arrange a well-guarded room," said Qian Long. "I want to personally interrogate Wen Tailai."
Li invited the Emperor into his own study, and the Imperial Bodyguards established themselves on all sides of the study and even on the roof.
"I have important matters of a confidential nature to discuss 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 a stretcher on which Wen, handcuffed and chained, lay asleep. The bodyguards retired and there was silence for a time.
"How are your injuries?" Qian Long asked. Wen's eyes opened and he sat up. His wounds had not yet healed, but his mind was clear. He had seen Qian Long once before when he had entered the Imperial Palace with Master Yu, but was surprised at suddenly meeting him again in Hangzhou.
"I'm not dead yet," he said coldly.
"I asked my men to invite you to come to see me because there is something I wish to discuss with you."
Wen grunted.
"When you visited me with that leader of yours, Master Yu, I discussed an important matter with him. Unfortunately, I hear he became ill and died very soon afterwards. It was a great pity."
"If Master Yu had not died, I expect he would be imprisoned here with me," replied Wen.
Qian Long laughed. "You underworld fighters, you're very frank. You say whatever you are thinking. Now, Master Wen, I have only one question for you. Answer me honestly, and I will immediately release you."
"Release me? Ha! Do you think I am a three-year-old child? I know that you cannot eat or sleep easy knowing that I'm still alive. You have stayed your hand until today only because you wish to question me."
"You're much too suspicious," said Qian Long with a smile. He walked forward two paces.
"Did Master Yu tell you what it was he talked to me about?" he asked.
"What did you talk about?"
Qian Long stared at him, and Wen returned the gaze unflinchingly. After a while, Qian Long turned his head away.
"About my origins," he said quietly.
"He didn't say. You are the Emperor, the son of the late Emperor and Empress. Everyone knows about your origins. What more is there to say?"
Qian Long breathed a sigh of relief. "That night you visited me, you must have known what the reason was?"
"Master Yu said that he had helped you once over some important matter. The Red Flower Society was short of funds and he went to ask you for three million taels of silver. But you refused the request, and have even had me seized. If I ever get out of this, I will reveal how ungrateful you are."
Qian Long laughed out loud. He glanced at Wen: his anger did not appear to be a pretence. "If that is the case, I had better have you killed," he said, half-believing him. "Otherwise, if I let you go, it could damage my reputation."
"Why didn't you kill me earlier? If you had, you wouldn't have had to harbour such evil schemes against your mother."
"What about my mother?" Qian Long asked, turning pale.
"You understand."
"So you know everything?"
"No, not everything. Master Yu said the Empress Dowager knew he had helped you and had asked you to repay him, but that you were still unwilling to part with the silver. You have mountains of money. Three million taels should be nothing to you. But you insist on being petty."
Qian Long laughed nervously. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the beads of sweat on his brow. He paced the room to steady himself, then smiled. "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 would dare to kill me," said Wen.
"Wouldn't dare?"
"You want to kill me because you're afraid your secret will be revealed but as soon as you kill me, your secret will be impossible to keep."
"Can dead men talk?"
"As soon as I die, someone will open a certain letter and reveal the evidence to the world. Then you will be in a real predicament."
"What letter?" Qian Long asked.
"Before we went to the palace to see you, Master Yu wrote down every detail of the affair and sealed the document in an envelope together with two important pieces of evidence and left it with a friend."
"Was he afraid that something untoward might happen?"
"Of course. How could he trust you? Master Yu told his friend that if we were both to die suddenly, he should open the letter and do what it said, but if one of us was still alive, not to open it under any circumstances. Master Yu has already passed away, so I don't think you'll dare to kill me."
Qian Long wrung his hands, anxiety written all over his face.
"Wouldn't it be worth spending three million taels of silver to buy that letter and the two pieces of evidence?" Wen asked.
"The silver? I had always planned to hand it over and then release you. Write a letter to your friend telling him to bring the letter to me and I will immediately pay up the money."
"Ha, ha. Once I tell you his name, you can send your bodyguards to kill or capture him. Actually, I'm very comfortable here. I would be happy to stay the rest of my life. You and I have the same fate. If I die first, you won't live much longer."
Qian Long bit his lip. "If you won't write the letter, it is of no importance," he said after a pause. "I will give you two days. If you persist in being stubborn, I will have no alternative but to kill you. No-one else will know about it and your friend will think you're still alive. And even if I don't kill you, I can still have your eyes gouged out, your tongue removed, your arms cut off...Think about it over the next two days."
He pushed open the door and walked out. His bodyguards re-assembled around him, and Commander Li saw him out of the Yamen.
Wen was carried back to the dungeon by the Commander's personal guards with Zhang Zhaozhong providing an escort. Once in the cell, one of the guards handed Zhang a letter.
"Commander Li asked me to give you this," he said. Zhang opened and read the letter, then left.
Wen lay on the bed thinking about his wife and friends. He hoped none of them would be harmed if they should attempt a rescue.
Just then, the iron door to his cell opened with a clang and a man walked in. Wen thought it was Zhang returning and did not open his eyes.
The man walked over to the bed. "Fourth Brother," he said quietly.
