Immediately after seeing the Empress Dowager out of

the Martial Hero Pavilion, Qian Long called for his

bodyguards. Bai Zhen came forward to report.

"Master Chen has escorted the lady back to the palace,

and she is now awaiting Your Highness in the Precious

Moon Pavilion," he said.

Qian Long was delighted with the news and walked

briskly to the door of the Martial Hero Pavilion. Then

he stopped and turned. "Was there any trouble on the

road?" he asked.

"Your slaves came across a large number of Red Flower

Society fighters at one point, but luckily, Master

Chen intervened and prevented an incident."

When Qian Long arrived at the Precious Moon Pavilion,

he found Princess Fragrance seated as before, facing

the wall.

"Did you have fun at the Great Wall?" he asked

happily. She ignored him. Qian Long decided to deal

with more pressing matters first before questioning

her further. He went into the adjoining room and gave

orders for his favourite, Fu Kangan, to be summoned.

Before too long, Fu rushed in and Qian Long ordered

him to lead a troop of Imperial Guardsmen and lay an

ambush around the Lama Temple. After he had departed,

Qian Long ordered Bai Zhen to also hide near the

temple.

"I intend to hold a great feast in the Lama Temple

tomorrow evening," he added. "Tell Master Chen and all

of the senior Red Flower Society people to attend."

Bai Zhen immediately guessed the Emperor intended to

deal with all the Red Flower Society leaders at one

stroke and shuddered at the thought of the slaughter

that would take place.

"Also," Qian Long added, "summon the Head Lama of the

temple immediately."

As the old Lama kowtowed his way into the Imperial

presence, Qian Long asked: "How many years is it since

you came to the capital?"

"Your vassal has served the Emperor for twenty-one

years."

"Do you want to go back to Tibet?"

The Lama kowtowed again but said nothing.

"There are two Living Buddhas in Tibet, the Dalai Lama

and the Panchen Lama," Qian Long continued. "Why isn't

there a third?"

"Your Highness, that has always been the way, ever

since..."

Qian Long silenced him with a wave of his hand. "If I

made you the third Living Buddha and gave you an area

to govern, no-one would dare to defy the order, would

they?"

The Lama's joy soared to the skies, and he kowtowed

furiously, unable to believe his luck. "Your

Reverence's benevolence will be difficult to repay,"

he said.

"I want you now to do something for me. Go back to the

temple and gather together all your trusted lamas and

prepare gunpowder, firewood and other inflammable

materials." He pointed at Bai Zhen. "When he gives you

the signal, you will put the temple to the torch."

The Head Lama began frantically kowtowing again, this

time in fright. "But it is the former residence of the

late Emperor," he protested. Many of his possessions

are there, I wouldn't dare..."

"Do you dare to disobey my command?" Qian Long roared,

sending the old Lama into a cold sweat.

"I...I will do as Your Highness commands," he replied

in a quavering voice.

"If half a breath of this matter leaks out, I will

have you and every single one of your eight hundred

lamas executed." After a moment, he added in a more

friendly tone: "There will be Banner troops guarding

the Suicheng Pavilion in your temple, so you must be

careful. When the time comes, I want those troops

trapped inside and burned to death. When things have

been successfully completed, you will be the third

Living Buddha of Tibet. Now go!" He waved his hand and

the Lama left with Bai Zhen, thanking the Emperor for

his benevolence as he went.

His preparations completed, Qian Long considered how

his plan would enable him to kill two birds with one

stone, both the Red Flower Society and the Dowager's

forces. After tomorrow evening, his position secured

and stable, he could continue his reign in peace.

He felt very satisfied. Looking round, he noticed a

lute sitting on a tabletop and went over to play it.

After a few phrases, his playing became increasingly

strident and aggressive, and with a twang, the seventh

string broke. He started in surprise and laughed

loudly. Then, pushing the lute aside, he stood up and

walked back to the other room.

Princess Fragrance was sitting at the window staring

up at the moon. As she heard his footsteps, there was

a glint of light as she pulled the dagger out again.

Qian Long frowned and sat down at a distance.

"When you and Master Chen were at the Great Wall, did

he tell you to kill me?"

"He told me to do as you said."

"Are you going to disobey him?"

"I would never do that."

Qian Long was both delighted and jealous. "Then why

are you still carrying the dagger? Give it to me!"

"No, I'll wait for you to become a good emperor

first."

Aha, thought Qian Long, so that's how he hopes to

control me. Anger, jealousy, lust and hatred rose

within him all at once, and he laughed harshly. "I am

already a good emperor," he replied.

"Huh! I heard you playing the lute just now. You're

going to kill people, you're going to kill many, many

people. You're...you are evil."

Qian Long realised that his thoughts had indeed

revealed themselves through his playing. "Yes," he

replied. "I am going to kill people. I have already

caught your Master Chen, but if you do as I say, I can

release him. If you don't do as I say..." He laughed

again. "Then you know I will kill many people."

Princess Fragrance was shocked. "You would kill your

own blood brother?" she asked in a quavering voice.

Qian Long's face went white. "So he told you

everything?"

"I don't believe you've caught him. He's much cleverer

than you."

"Cleverer? Huh! And even if I haven't got him today,

what about tomorrow?" She did not answer. "I advise

you to forget this idea," he went on. "Whether I'm a

good emperor or a bad emperor, you are never going to

see him again."

"But you promised him that you would be a good

emperor," Princess Fragrance protested. "How can you

renege on your promise?"

"I will do whatever I want," he roared. "No-one can

tell me what to do." All his pent up anger from the

humiliating audience with the Dowager spilled out.

His words struck Princess Fragrance like a fist-blow

to the chest. "So the Emperor is going to cheat him,"

she thought in anguish. "If only we had known earlier,

I wouldn't have had to come back here." She almost

fainted at the shock of it.

Seeing her face suddenly go pale, Qian Long

immediately regretted being so coarse. "If you will

treat me well," he said, "I will naturally not harm

him. In fact, I will make him a senior official and

allow him to become rich and powerful."

But Princess Fragrance was not listening. She was

trying to work out a way of letting Chen know of the

Emperor's deceitfullness, so that he wouldn't fall

into a trap. She frowned deep in thought, her

expression adding to the beauty of her face, and Qian

Long stared at her, mesmerized.

"Everyone in the palace is a servant of the Emperor,"

she thought. "So who can deliver a letter for me?

There's only one way to do it."

"So you promise not to harm him?" she said.

Qian Long was delighted. "I promise, I promise," he

replied immediately. There was not the slightest touch

of sincerity in his voice, and Princess Fragrance

glanced at him in hatred.

"Early tomorrow, I want to go to a mosque," she said

evenly. "I will only do as you say after I have prayed

to Allah."

Qian Long smiled. "All right," he replied. "But there

is to be no more delay after tomorrow."

Princess Fragrance watched him leave, laughing as he

went, then found a pen and paper and wrote out a

letter to Chen warning him of the Emperor's

intentions, and telling him that the plan to overthrow

the Manchus was just a dream. She urged him to quickly

devise away to rescue her. When she had finished, she

wrapped the letter in a blank sheet of paper and wrote

on it in the Moslem script: "Please deliver speedily

to the Great Helmsman of the Red Flower Society, Chen

Jialuo." She knew the respect all Muslims had for her

father and sister, and the way in which they

worshipped her herself, and felt certain that if she

just had a chance to pass the letter on to any Muslim

in the mosque, they would certainly find a way to

deliver it.

Having written the letter, her heart felt much easier.

She was certain Chen was capable of anything and would

easily find a way to rescue her. At that point, a

sense of indescribable warmth and sweetness swept over

her, and tired out from the day's exertions, she fell

fast asleep.

Through the mists of slumber, she became aware of

bells chiming around the palace, and opened her eyes

to find the sky was already growing light. Hurriedly,

she arose and washed herself, then combed her hair.

The maid servants went to look after her knew she

would allow no-one near her and watched from a

distance. She carefully secreted the letter in her

sleeve and then left the pavilion. Eunuchs were

already waiting outside with a palanquin and took her

to the mosque on the West Avenue of Eternal Peace

while bodyguards crowded round both before and aft.

Seeing the round dome of the mosque as she descended

from the palanqin, she felt both happiness and

anguish. She walked through the mosque's entrance with

head bowed and noticed two men walking on either side

of her. They were dressed as Muslims, and she was

about to pass the letter to one of them, then stopped

herself. His features and manner were not at all those

of her people. She glanced at the other man and saw he

was the same.

"Were you sent by the Emperor to guard me?" she asked

quietly in the Muslim tongue. Both men nodded, not

understanding what she had said.

Disappointed, she turned round and saw there were

another eight palace guards dressed as Muslims behind

her, and that all the real Muslims were being kept at

a safe distance. She walked over to the chief Imam of

the mosque and said: "Please make sure this letter is

delivered no matter what happens." The Imam started in

shock as Princess Fragrance pushed the letter into his

hand. A guard rushed forward and snatched the letter

away and gave the Imam a heavy push on the chest,

causing him to stumble and almost fall. The other

worshippers looked at each other in surprise,

wondering what was going on.

"What do you people think you're doing?" the Imam

demanded angrily.

"Mind your own business," the guard hissed at him. "We

are from the palace."

Severely frightened, the Imam did not dare to say

another word, and turned to lead the gathering in

prayer.

Princess Fragrance knelt down with the others and

tears welled out of her eyes like water from a spring.

In the midst of her pain and sorrow only one thought

remained: "How can I warn him to be on his guard? I

must let him know even if I die doing it, but how?"

"By dying!" The realisation streaked across her brain

like a flash of lightning. "If I die here, word will

get out and he will hear of it. That's it. There's no

other way!"

Then the Prophet's words sounded in her ears like

thunder: "Those who take their own life will fall into

the eternal fires and will never escape." She was not

afraid of death, and believed that people who died

could ascend to Paradise and be re-united with their

loved ones for eternity. But with suicide, there was

nothing to look forward to but never-ending pain!

A violent shiver ran through her and she suddenly felt

extremely cold. She listened for a moment to the

congregation reciting the scriptures.

For a true religious believer there is nothing more

terrible than the consignment of the soul to eternal

Hell, but she could see no other way. Love overcame

the greatest fear of all.

"Most sacred and Holy Allah," she whispered. "It is

not that I don't believe you care for me. But there is

no other way except by using my own blood."

She took the dagger out of her sleeve and on the stone

in front of her, carved out the words "Don't trust the

Emperor." Then she lightly called out the word

"Brother!" and thrust the blade into the purest, most

beautiful breast in this world.

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