"We are getting ahead of ourselves," replied Chen. "But once the Grand Design has been completed, you must allow me to retire."
Qian Long slapped his hand down on the table. "All right," he said. "We'll do as you say."
Chen was overjoyed. "You have no further doubts?" he asked.
"None. But there is one thing I would like you to do for me. Your former Great Helmsman, Yu Wanting, had several items stored in the Muslim areas and said they were proof of my birth. Go and get them so that I can see them. Only then will my last doubts disappear. Then we will discuss detailed plans."
Chen felt this was reasonable. "All right," he replied. "I will start out tomorrow and get them myself."
"When you get back, I will assign you to the Imperial Bodyguard, then promote you to be commander of the Beijing garrison," said Qian Long. "I will gradually transfer the military power in every province into the hands of Chinese we can trust. I'll make you Secretary of the Armed Forces with orders to disperse the key Manchu Banner units, and then we can act."
Chen knelt down and performed the ritual act of obeiscence of a vassal before his Lord, but Qian Long hurriedly helped him up.
"An oath must be sworn in front of the others over this," Chen said. "There must be no reneging."
Qian Long nodded.
Chen clapped his hands once and ordered Xin Yan to help Qian Long change back into his original clothes.
"Please ask everyone to come to pay their respects to the Emperor," he said.
The heroes crowded in. Chen told them Qian Long had agreed to chase out the Manchus and restore the Chinese throne, then swore in a clear voice: "In future, we will assist Your Highness, and together plan the Grand Design. If anyone should reveal this secret, he will be damned by heaven and earth."
He drank a draught of a specially prepared brew of Covenant Wine to seal the pact, and Qian Long did likewise.
"Bald Vulture, Madame Guan," said Lu. "Come and drink a cup of the Covenant Wine as well."
"I have never believed the word of any official, so why should I trust their leader?" said Bald Vulture.
His right hand suddenly struck the wall, smashing a section of it to rubble and pulled out a brick. "Whoever breaks the covenant, betrays his friends, and destroys the Grand Design will be crushed like this!" he shouted harshly, and with one movement of his hand, the brick broke into a thousand pieces which tumbled to the floor. Qian Long looked at the hole in the wall and down at the smashed brick in fright.
"Even though you decline to join the vow, we are all friends," said Chen. "But I trust Your Highness will not vacillate and forget the covenant established today."
"Please rest easy over that," replied Qian Long.
"All right. Let us escort His Highness out," said Chen. Wei raced out of the pagoda and shouted: "Come and meet His Highness!"
Half-suspicious, Commander Li and Bai Zhen ordered the troops to move slowly forward, afraid that this was yet another Red Flower Society trick. Suddenly, they saw Qian Long emerge from the pagoda and prostrated themselves on the ground. Bai Zhen led a horse over and Qian Long mounted.
"I have been drinking and composing poetry with them here," he said to Bai Zhen. "I wanted a few days' peace and quiet and you had to make a mountain out a molehill and rob me of my pleasure."
The heroes returned to the pagoda.
"We are extemely happy to have met you all today," said Bald Vulture. "Especially Lord Zhou, whom we have respected for so long, and Master Lu, whom we have not seen for many years. But now my wife and I have some other minor affairs to deal with, and will take our leave."
Madame Guan pulled Chen over to one side. "Are you married?" she asked.
Chen blushed deep red. "No," he replied.
"Are you engaged?"
"Not engaged either," he said. Madame Guan smiled to herself. Then she suddenly screeched: "If you are ever so ungrateful as to turn your back on the one who gave you that dagger, I will never forgive you." Chen was so shocked by the outburst he was completely lost for a reply.
"You scorpion!" her husband shouted from the other side of the side of the room. "What are you lecturing that young man about? Let's be going!"
Madame Guan turned round, emitted an ear-splitting whistle and four dogs raced out of the trees. The couple bowed before the heroes and took their leave.
"Let us go back upstairs to talk," Chen said. They followed him back up to the top floor of the pagoda.
"I promised the Emperor that I would go to see my teacher and collect two important items from him," said Chen. "But let us first go to Heaven's Eye Mountain to see how Brother Wen and Brother Yu are doing and then make further arrangements."
They left the pagoda and Master Ma and his son returned to Hangzhou by themselves while the rest of the heroes galloped off westwards.
** 2 **
The trees on the hillsides were dense and dark. It was already deep autumn and Heaven's Eye Mountain was covered in fiery-red leaves and yellowing grass. Lookouts sent word of the approach of Chen and his comrades and Zhang Jin and the other heroes came down to greet them.
Luo Bing was not among them, and Chen's heart missed a beat, afraid that something had happened to her.
"Where's Fourth Sister?" he asked. "And how are Brother Wen and Brother Yu?"
"They're fine," Zhang Jin replied. "Fourth Sister said she was going to get a present for Fourth Brother. She's been away two days already. You didn't meet her on the road?"
Chen shook his head. "What present?"
Zhang Jin smiled. "I don't know. Fourth Brother's wounds have healed well, but he spends all his time in bed moping. Then Fourth Sister came up with this idea of going to get him a present. I wonder who will lose out as a result?" The others laughed.
They made their way up the mountain and entered the courtyard of a large mansion. Wen Tailai was lying dejectedly on a rattan couch. They told him briefly about what had transpired and then went to the room next door to see 'Scholar' Yu.
As they stepped inside, they heard the sound of sobbing. Chen walked over and pulled aside the bed curtain to reveal Yu lying face-down on the bed, his back shaking uncontrollably. Even girls like Luo Bing and Zhou Qi rarely cried, and they were shocked and embarrassed by his behaviour.
"Fourteenth Brother," Chen said quietly. "We've come to see you. How do you feel? Are your wounds very painful?"
Yu stopped crying, but did not turn over. "Great Helmsman, Brothers, thank you all for coming to see me. Forgive me for not getting up to greet you properly. My health has improved a lot over the past few days, but my face has been burnt so badly, it's so ugly that I cannot face anyone."
Zhou Qi smiled. "What does it matter if a man has burn marks on his face?" she said. "Don't tell my you're afraid you won't be able to find a girl willing to marry you?" Some of the heroes laughed at her lack of restraint.
"Brother Yu," said Lu Feiqing. "Your face was burnt while saving myself and Wen Tailai. When people hear of this act, do you think there is anyone who would not proclaim you to be a hero? What need is there for such distress?"
"You are right, uncle," said Yu, and burst into tears again.
The heroes returned to the main hall. Chen and Xu talked together in low tones, then clapped their hands and the heroes stood up.
"Brothers," said Chen. "So far, things have gone very well for us. But in the future, we will face even tougher problems. I will now give you your assignments. Ninth Brother, Twelfth Brother, you two go to Beijing and see what you can find out about the Emperor's plans and if he intends to break our pact. This will be extremely difficult to execute. You must both exercise great caution." Wei and Shi nodded.
"Now, the Twin Knights," Chen continued. "Please go to the Southwest and make contact with the fighters in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Eighth Brother, you go to Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, Priest Wu Chen to Hubei and Hunan. Thirteenth Brother and Brother Ma in Hangzhou will contact people in Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, while I would like to ask Master Lu to deal with Shandong and Henan. I would like Lord Zhou, Master Meng, Brother Xu and Mistress Zhou Qi to handle the northwest provinces. Fourth Brother and Fourteenth Brother will remain here convalescing with Fourth Sister and Tenth Brother to look after them. Xin Yan will accompany me to the Muslim areas.
"I am not asking you to begin preparations for an uprising, but simply to improve relations with members of the fighting community in all areas and to provide a basis on which we can act later," he added. "Absolute secrecy is essential, so do not reveal anything to anyone no matter how close or respected they are."
"We understand," they replied in unison.
"In exactly one year's time we will all gather in Beijing. By that time, Fourth Brother and Fourteenth Brother will be fully recovered and we can begin the great task!"
Cheers arose from the heroes. They followed Chen out of the hall, elated by the prospect of the future.
Only Zhang Jin, assigned by the Great Helmsman to stay at Heaven's Eye Mountain, was unhappy. Wen guessed his thoughts, and went over to speak to Chen.
"Great Helmsman, my wounds are almost healed, and although Fourteenth Brother's burns are serious, he is recovering quickly," he said. "It is a bit much to ask us to stay cooped up here for a year. The four of us would like to accompany you to the Muslim regions. The trip would also help to take Fourteenth Brother's mind off other things."
"All right, we'll do it that way," Chen agreed. Zhang Jin ran joyfully in to tell Yu the news.
Lord Zhou took Chen aside. "Great Helmsman," he said. "The fact that we have discovered through Master Wen that you and the Emperor are blood relations is a matter worthy of great rejoicing. I would like to add to it one more happy event. What do you think?"
"You wish to hold a wedding for Seventh Brother and Mistress Zhou, is that right?"
"Exactly," Zhou replied, smiling.
Chen walked over to Zhou Qi, his face wreathed in smiles, and bowed before her. "Mistress, congratulations," he said.
She blushed deeply. "What do you mean?"
"I should call you Seventh Sister. Seventh Sister, congratulations!" He clapped his hands loudly and the heroes immediately fell silent.
"Just now, Lord Zhou told me he wants Mistress Zhou Qi and Seventh Brother to be married this evening. So we have something else to celebrate!"
The heroes cheered loudly and congratulated Lord Zhou and Xu. Zhou Qi hastily made for her bedroom in embarrassment.
"Tenth Brother!" Wei called to Zhang Jin. "Stop her. Don't let the bride escape!" Zhang made as to grab her and Zhou Qi chopped out with her left hand to fend him off.
"Help!" he cried in mock surprise, dodging to one side. "The bride's attacking me!"
A laugh escaped from her as she charged out of the hall.
Just then, there was the sound of bells outside and Luo Bing ran in carrying a large box.
"Oh good, everyone's here!" she cried. "What's happened to make you all so happy?" She looked enquiringly at Chen.
"Ask Seventh Brother," said Wei.
"What's happened, Brother Xu?" Luo Bing asked, but Xu was speechless for a moment. "Mm? That's strange. Has the Kung Fu Mastermind gone silly?"
'Crocodile' Jiang dodged behind Xu and held up his thumbs and made them bow to each other. "The Mastermind is getting married today," he said with glee.
"Oh, how awful, how awful!" Luo Bing exclaimed, absolutely delighted.
The others laughed. "What do you mean, awful?" asked 'Pagoda' Yang.
"If I'd known, I could have brought a sheep and some nice things back with me. As it is, I have almost nothing to give them as presents. Isn't that awful?"
"Will you let us all see what you've brought for Fourth Brother?" Yang asked.
Luo Bing smiled and opened up the box. Glinting inside were the two jade vases which the Muslims had sent to the Emperor along with their request for a truce.
"Where did you get them?" the heroes asked in astonishment.
"I was chatting with Fourth Brother and mentioned how beautiful the girl on the vases was, but he didn't believe me..."
"I'll bet Fourth Brother said: 'I don't believe she is more beautiful than you.' Am I right?" interrupted Xu.
Luo Bing smiled but did not answer. "Did you go to Hangzhou and steal them from the Emperor?" Xu asked.
Luo Bing nodded, very pleased with herself. "I got them so Fourth Brother could have a look. The Great Helmsman will decide what should be done with them after that, whether we should keep them or return them to Sister Huo Qingtong." Wen examined the vases and tutted in admiration.
"I was right, wasn't I?" asked Luo Bing. Wen smiled and shook his head. Luo Bing started, then realised her husband meant that the girl on the vase could not be more beautiful than she was. Her cheeks flushed.
"The Emperor has many top fighters around him and such precious items as these vases must have been very well guarded," said Priest Wu Chen. "How did you manage to steal them?"
Luo Bing told them how she had slipped into the Yamen, grabbed a eunuch and forced him to tell her where the vases were, slipped poison into the food of some of the guards, and made cat noises to distract the rest, then grabbed the vases. The heroes praised her artistry, all except Lu Feiqing.
"Fourth Sister," he said. "You are very brave, but was it wise to take such a risk alone just for the sake of a remark you made to Master Wen? As it happened, the Imperial bodyguards were fully occupied that particular night searching for the Emperor. If they had been there, things could have turned out differently."
