Jin Yong - The Book and The Sword

"Then we have no choice but to rescue him by force," replied Chen. "I asked you to release him not because we are unable to rescue him, but simply to avoid injuring our friendship."

Qian Long had witnessed the might of the Red Flower Society, and he knew this was no empty boast.

"I appreciate your good intentions," he said. "But I tell you honestly, I cannot allow this man out of my grasp. If you insist on trying to rescue him, then I will kill him three days from now."

Chen's blood boiled. "If you kill Master Wen, you will never eat or sleep easy again," he threatened.

"And if I don't kill him, I will never eat or sleep easy either."

"If that is true, then even being Emperor cannot compare with the carefree life that I lead."

"How old are you?" Qian Long asked.

"Twenty five."

"I am not jealous of your carefree life, but I am jealous of your youth. But it is of no consequence. No matter what one's achievements, everyone still returns to dust when their time is up."

The two strolled on for a time.

"How many wives do you have?" Qian Long asked. Without waiting for an answer, he plucked a piece of jade off his gown and offered it to Chen, saying: "This is a priceless treasure. Give it to your wife."

Chen did not take it. "I have not married yet," he said.

Qian Long laughed. "You always set your sights too high. Give it to the lady of your heart as a wedding present, then."

Chen accepted the stone. The jade shone with a pale glow under the moonlight and he found it slightly warm to the touch. He realized it was a piece of incalculably valuable "warm jade". He placed the jade in his pocket. "Thank you for the present," he said. "We will meet again." He saluted with his fists, mounted his horse and started off.

Qian Long waved goodbye to him. "Look after yourself!" he shouted.

Putting aside thoughts of home, Chen rode back to the society's mansion near Hangzhou where he found everyone gathered around 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi who had just arrived from Beijing. Shi immediately broke free from the group and bowed before Chen.

"I found out in Beijing that the Emperor had come south, and travelled day and night to get here to tell you only to find that the brothers had not only seen him, but had clashed with his men as well," he said.

"You've had a hard trip, Twelfth Brother," replied Chen. "Did you hear any other news while you were there?"

"Once I heard about the Emperor, I disregarded everything else," Shi said.

Chen noticed his haggard look and guessed he was worn out after the hard ride. "Go and get a good sleep. We'll talk again later," he said.

Shi bowed and walked off. As he passed Luo Bing, he said: "That white horse of yours is very fast. But don't worry, I took good care of him…Oh," He stopped again. "I also saw the horse's former owner, Han Wenchong, on the road."

"What? Did he want his horse back?"

"He didn't see me. I came across him in an inn in Yangzhou with several lead escorts from the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency. I heard them cursing our Red Flower Society, so I went across and eaves-dropped. They called us low and vulgar, and said we had killed that fellow Tong Zhaohe."

'Mastermind' Xu and Zhou Qi smiled at each other. "What is the Zhen Yuan Agency up to this time?" Xu asked.

"I gathered that they were escorting a consignment of treasures presented by the Emperor to the Chen family of Haining." He turned to Chen. "It was for your family, Great Helmsman, so I told the local society leader to quietly make sure it was delivered safely."

"Thank you," Chen replied, smiling. "For once we can work together with the Zhen Yuan Agency."

"The head of the agency is with them, which is an indication of the importance they attach to the consignment."

Chen and the others gasped at the news that the North China Earth-Shaker Wang Weiyang was escorting the consignment personally.

"Wang hasn't escorted a consignment for more than ten years," said Lord Zhou. "Great Helmsman, your family obviously has great prestige."

"I thought it strange too," added Shi. "But later I heard that apart from the valuables for the Great Helmsman's family, they were also carrying a pair of jade vases."

"Jade vases?" Chen asked.

"Yes, treasures from the Muslim regions. The Muslims scored a victory over General Zhao Wei's army, but with the Manchu forces so powerful, they can't hold out for much longer. So they have sent the vases as a peace offering."

The heroes excitedly asked Shi for details of the Muslims' victory.

"I heard that General Zhao Wei's troops starved for several days as a result of us stealing their rations, and finally had to retreat. The Muslims organised an ambush on the road and killed two or three thousand of them." The heroes clapped and laughed.

"The Manchu army finally received more supplies," Shi continued. "It began to advance again, but I didn't hear any further news. When the Muslim envoys arrived in Beijing, the court officials didn't dare to make a decision, and sent him and the vases down south for the Emperor to dispose of."

"The vases won't make any difference," Chen said. "No matter what valuable treasures they send, he will never agree to peace."

"I heard the agency men say that if peace was agreed to, the vases would be kept. If not, they will have to be returned, so it is vital that they not be damaged in any way."

Chen glanced at Xu, and the two walked away from the main group into a side chamber.

"Brother Xu, last night I saw the Emperor. He said that he would be returning to Beijing in three days' time, and that before he left he intended to kill Fourth Brother."

"Then we'd better start making arrangements to save him immediately," Xu replied.

"The Emperor is probably not back in Hangzhou yet, and most of their top fighters are with him, so it should be relatively easy to rescue him if we move fast."

"The Emperor isn't in Hangzhou?"

Chen told him about their meeting in Haining. Xu fiddled meditatively with the pens and paper on the tabletop in front of them.

"The only plan I can see at the moment is to steal the jade vases," Xu said finally. "Since the Emperor has already sent a huge army out west, he is certain to be unwilling to talk peace, which means he will have to return the vases. If he is unable to, his word will lose all credibility, and the Emperor, as we know, is obsessed with his own prestige."

"Once we have the jade vases, we can go to him and say that if he touches one hair on Fourth Brother's head, we will smash them," Chen added.

"Exactly! Even if we can't exchange the vases for Fourth Brother, we can at least postpone things for a few days which will also be of benefit to Master Muzhuolun and his Muslims."

"All right," said Chen. "Then we attack this North China Earth-Shaker, Wang Weiyang."

Wang Weiyang was sixty-nine years old. The Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency, which he had built up with his own hands, had prospered in north China for more than thirty years in spite of strong and sometimes violent opposition, and there was a saying in the fighting community: 'It is better to bump into the Devil than into old Wang.' He planned to retire the following year in the expectation of living to a venerable old age, but when the agency was entrusted with the task of escorting the jade vases to the Emperor, he decided to accompany the consignment personally. In light of the diplomatic sensitivity of the mission, he did not dare to be neglectful. From each of his agency branches, he detailed six top fighters, while the court also supplied four Imperial Bodyguards and twenty Imperial Guardsmen to accompany the Muslim envoy on his journey south. Precautions along the way were most strict, and there had been no incidents of any kind.