The sky gradually became light and Qian Long watched

the sun rising from the east as the eunuchs laid out

the Imperial breakfast for him. It consisted of many

delicacies, but he found it difficult to swallow them.

With Chen and Princess Fragrance gone, he felt nervous

and unsettled.

That day, he did not grant an audience to his

ministers, and spent his time napping fitfully. On

several occasions, he sent guards out to search for

news, but the sky grew dark and the moon sailed up

over the palace walls, and still none of them had

returned to report.

He started to become extremely anxious and tried to

calm himself by staring fixedly at the desert murals

on the walls of the Precious Moon Pavilion.

"Seeing as she likes him, she will certainly like

Chinese clothes," he thought. "When they return he

will already have convinced her, so why don't I take

off these Manchu clothes and put on something Chinese

to give her a surprise?"

He ordered his eunuchs to find him some, but where

would Chinese clothes be found in the heart of the

Manchu court? Finally, one bright young eunuch ran

over to the theatre troupe and brought back a

theatrical costume, which he helped Qian Long to don.

Qian Long examined himself in front of a mirror, and

was delighted by his dashing appearance. Then he

noticed a few white hairs amongst his whiskers and

urgently ordered the young eunuch to get a pair of

tweezers to pull them out.

Just as he was sitting with bowed head to allow the

eunuch to remove the offending hairs, he heard the

patter of light footsteps behind and another eunuch

announced: "Her Highness the Empress Dowager has

arrived."

Qian Long started in surprise. He looked up and saw

the Dowager's image in the mirror, her face stern and

pale and full of anger.

"I trust you are well, Madame?" he said, hurriedly

turning to face her. He escorted her to the couch

where she took a seat, and then dismissed the eunuchs

with a wave of her hand.

There was a moment's silence.

"The slaves say you have not been well today," she

began in a deep voice. "They said you did not hold

court this morning and haven't eaten, so I have come

to see you."

"I am better now," he replied. "It was just that I ate

something fatty which made me a little uncomfortable.

It was nothing. I would not have dared to have

bothered Your Highness about it."

"Huh! Was it Muslim fat or Chinese fat?" she said, to

Qian Long's consternation.

"I think some roast lamb I ate last night disagreed

with me," he replied.

"That is one of our Manchu dishes. Huh! You seem to be

tired of being a Manchu."

Qian Long did not dare to say anything.

"Where is that Muslim girl?" the Empress Dowager

asked.

"She was in a bad mood so I sent her out with someone

who can talk some sense into her."

"She has a knife, and would clearly prefer to die

rather than give in to you. What use is there in

getting someone to talk to her? Who did you send?"

Qian Long noticed anxiously how close her questioning

was becoming.

"An old guard officer, surnamed Bai," he replied.

The Dowager looked up and let the silence hang for a

moment. Then she laughed coldly. "You are the Emperor,

the master of all under heaven. You can do whatever

you like, and concoct whatever lies you like, too."

Qian Long knew the eyes and ears of the Dowager were

many and guessed he probably would not be able to

deceive her about this affair. "The other person I

sent with the girl," he answered quietly, "was a

scholar I met in the south, who is very learned..."

"It's someone from the Chen family of Haining, isn't

it?" the Dowager's voice rasped out sharply.

Qian Long hung his head, not daring to utter a sound.

"No wonder you've put on Chinese clothes. Why haven't

you killed me yet?" Her voice had become even harsher.

Qian Long knelt down in fright and began kowtowing

frantically.

"May I be damned by Heaven and Earth if I have been

unfilial in any way," he said.

The Dowager flicked up the long sleeves of her gown

and walked out. Qian Long rushed after her, then

stopped when he realised he was still wearing the

Chinese costume. To be seen wearing such clothes would

not do at all, so he hurriedly changed back into his

usual gown and rushed out after the Dowager. He found

her in a side room of the Martial Hero Pavilion.

"Please don't be angry, Madame," he pleaded. "I have

committed some errors and would willingly accept your

criticism."

"Why have you called that man Chen into the palace

several days running?" she asked coldly. "And what

happened in Haining?" Qian Long hung his head and was

silent.

"Do you really intend to restore the Chinese style of

dress?" she shrieked. "Are you going to kill every one

of us Manchus?"

"Please don't listen to the nonsense spouted by

servants," he replied, his voice shaking. "How could I

plan to do such a thing?"

"How do you intend to deal with this man Chen?"

"His society is large and widespread and many of his

followers are martial arts masters who would die for

him, so I have been polite to him throughout while

waiting for an opportunity to deal with them all at

once. I want to remove the roots as well as chopping

off the grass."

The Dowager's expression softened slightly. "Is this

true?"

Qian Long knew the secret had leaked. With no room

left to maneouvre, he decided he had no choice but to

swear to destroy the Red Flower Society.

"I will see to it that Chen is beheaded within three

days," he said.

The shadow of a smile appeared on the Dowager's

forbidding face. "Good," she said. "Only then will you

be holding to the wishes of our ancestors." She stood

up. "Come with me," she added.

She stood up and walked over to the main hall of the

Martial Hero Pavilion with Qian Long close behind. As

they approached, a eunuch gave a shout and the huge

doors were opened. Inside the brightly-lit hall, two

files of eunuchs stretched away from the entrance

towards eight princes kneeling on the floor to receive

the Emperor. The Dowager and Qian Long walked over to

two chairs on the dais in the centre of the hall and

sat down. Qian Long saw all eight princes were of the

immediate Imperial family, including his own brothers.

He wondered uneasily what the Dowager was planning.

"When the late Emperor passed away," she began slowly,

"he left orders that the command of the Imperial

Banner troops should be divided amongst eight members

of the Imperial family. But because of the constant

dispatch of forces to the Muslim border regions in the

past few years, it has never been possible to act on

the Emperor's last wish. Now, thanks to the blessed

protection of the Ancestors, the Muslim areas have

been pacified, and from today, the leadership of the

Banners will be divided amongst the eight of you." The

princes kowtowed and expressed their great gratitude.

So she has decided to disperse my military strength,

Qian Long thought.

"Please make the assignments, Your Highness," the

Dowager said to him. He knew he was in a losing

position, but he decided that as long as he did not

attempt a revolt, a temporary dispersal of military

power would be of no great consequence. The Dowager,

he could see, had been very thorough, and he guessed

that she had also made preparations in case he

refused. So he assigned each of the eight princes to

be commander of one of the Banners.

Meanwhile, the eight princes, all full of curiosity,

were thinking: "Based on the wishes of the founder of

our dynasty, three of the Banners should be under the

direct leadership of the Emperor, and the other five

subordinate to them. The Dowager's action to divide

the Banners among us is a serious violation of rules

laid down by the Ancestors and is obviously intended

to weaken the Emperor's power." None of them dared to

directly refuse the Dowager's command, but all decided

it would be best to return the command to the Emperor

the following day in order to avoid the possibility of

execution.

The Dowager signalled with her hand and one of the

princes came forward holding a tray on which was

placed a small iron box. He knelt before her and she

picked the box up and opened it, and took out a small

scroll. Qian Long glanced at it out of the corner of

his eye and saw the inscription, written in the

Emperor Yong Zheng's hand, read "Posthumous Edict."

Next to this was a line of smaller characters: "If

there should be any political changes, the eight

princes who lead the Banners must gather together and

open this."

Qian Long's face drained of colour as he realised his

father had long ago taken precautions to guard against

his secret ever being revealed. If he dared to alter

in any way the instructions of his ancestors, let

alone attempt to overthrow the Manchus, the eight

Banner commanders would be required to dispose of him

and set up a new Emperor. He steadied himself.

"The late Emperor was far-sighted indeed," he said.

"If I can match even a ten thousandth of his

abilities, then you have no need to worry further,

Madame."

The Dowager passed the scroll to the most senior of

the eight princes and said: "Take this edict of the

late Emperor and have it placed in the Lama Temple.

Assign one hundred bodyguards to guard it day and

night." She hesitated for a moment, then added: "They

are not allowed to leave their posts for a second,

even if ordered to do so by the present Emperor."

The prince complied with her command and left with the

scroll for the Lama Temple. The temple was in the

northern part of the city near the Gate of Serenity,

and had been used by the Emperor Yong Zheng as his

home before ascending the throne. After he died, Qian

Long had had the residence expanded and turned into a

Tibetan Lamaist temple in memory of his grandfather.

Her arrangements complete, the Dowager yawned lazily.

"The achievements of our Ancestors must be

safeguarded," she sighed.

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