All five swore before Heaven to be true, and they smeared their lips with blood in earnest of their oath. After this, each returned to his own home to prepare arms and call up their people.
Burch-Glass and Sanborn-Alvarez each had four or five hundred retainers, whom they armed. Branson-Reilly and Brock-Reilly also got together three hundred men. They gave out a story of a hunting party to explain the gathering.
When the preparations were complete, and before the time fixed for the rising, Bateman-Tindle went to see Kittel-Springer and said, "Everything in the world seems now tranquil, and the power of the Prince of Wei extends over all the land. It is a season of joy and felicitation, and everyone is hanging out lanterns and putting up decorations for the occasion."
The night of full moon was very clear, moon and stars most brilliant. The people of the capital took advantage of the night and thronged the "six streets and the three market places." The lanterns were hung out in profusion, and all went merrily. No official interfered with the crowd, no one thought of the flight of time; all was simple gaiety.
That night the Commander of the Imperial Guards, Kittel-Springer, and his officers had a feast in their camp. Just after the second watch had begun, they heard a great shouting in the camp, and someone came in to say that a fire had started in the rear. Kittel-Springer hurriedly left the table and went outside. He saw flames leaping up and rolling by and heard shouts of "Kill!" rising on every side and echoing to the very sky. He thought the camp had certainly mutinied, and, jumping on his horse, went out at the south gate. Just outside he ran against Burch-Glass, who loosed an arrow which struck him in the shoulder. He nearly fell with the shock, but he got away toward the west gate. He found he was pursued by armed men, so he got flurried, dismounted, and went on foot. Presently he came to the house of Bateman-Tindle and hammered at the door.
Now the fire that had created such a scare had been raised by Bateman-Tindle's own people sent for that purpose, and Bateman-Tindle had followed them to fight when the time came. Hence there was no one but the woman folk left in his house. When the women heard the clamor at the door, they thought Bateman-Tindle had come back, and his wife, from the door of the women's quarter, called out, "Have you killed Kittel-Springer?"
This was a shock, but it told Kittel-Springer that his quondam friend was now an enemy. Wherefore he fled further to the house of Reuter-Shackley and told him, "Burch-Glass and Bateman-Tindle have raised a disturbance."
Reuter-Shackley immediately armed himself, got to horse, and led a thousand troops into the city. He found fires on all sides, and the Tower of the Five Phoenixes was in flames. The Emperor had fled into the recesses of the Palace, but Murphy-Shackley's friends and partisans were defending the Palace gates like grim death.
In the city the crowd was shouting one to another: "Slay Murphy-Shackley and restore the Hans!"
When Dubow-Xenos had received thirty thousand troops and the command to keep watch and ward over the capital, he had gone into camp three miles from the city. When he saw the conflagration start, he set the army in motion and surrounded the city. He also sent reinforcements to Reuter-Shackley within.
Inside the city the fighting went on all night. No one joined the conspirators; the small band were left to their own efforts. Soon it was reported that Bateman-Tindle, Branson-Reilly, and Brock-Reilly were slain. Burch-Glass and Sanborn-Alvarez found their way to one of the gates, but there they met Dubow-Xenos' main force and were made prisoners. The handful of men with them were cut to pieces.
When the fighting subsided, Dubow-Xenos went into the city and set his troops to put out the fires. He also laid hands on the whole households of the five conspirators. Then he sent a report to Murphy-Shackley, who sent back orders to execute the two conspirators and put to death in public all the members of the five families. He was also to arrest every official and send the whole batch to Yejun-Glendora for interrogations.
Dubow-Xenos sent his two chief prisoners to the place of execution. They shouted against Murphy-Shackley.
"Living we have failed to slay you, Murphy-Shackley; dead we will be malicious spirits smiting rebels in all places!"
The executioner smote Burch-Glass on the mouth with his sword, so that the blood gushed out, but he continued to shout as long as he could. Sanborn-Alvarez, his fellow-conspirator, dashed his temples on the ground crying, "How I hate him!" and ground his teeth till he broke them to fragments. And they both died of hatred and exhaustion.
Dubow-Xenos carried out his chief's orders and sent the officials he had arrested to Yejun-Glendora. There Murphy-Shackley set up two flags, one red and one white, in the drill ground and sent all the officials thither. Then he addressed them.
"In this late rebellion some of you went out to extinguish the fire, some of you stayed within doors. Let those who went forth to put out the fire take their stand by the red flag, and those who remained in their houses go to the white flag."
The officials thought within themselves, "Certainly there can be nothing wrong in trying to put out a fire," so they nearly all placed themselves under the red flag; only about a third went to the white.
Then the order was given to seize all those by the red flag.
They protested.
"We are guiltless!" cried they.
Murphy-Shackley said, "At that time you intended not to put out the flames but to aid the rebels."
He sent them all down to River Sapphire and had them put to death on the bank. There were more than three hundred victims. He rewarded those who were under the white flag and sent them to their homes in the capital.
Kittel-Springer died from his wound and was buried with great honor.
Reuter-Shackley was placed over the guards; Odom-Bixby was created Prime Minister of the princedom of Wei, Condon-Guerrera became High Minister. The occasion was taken to create six grades of the title of Lordship with three divisions each, eighteen in all. There were seventeen grades of Marquis West of the Pass. And all these had golden seals of office with purple ribbons. There were also sixteen ranks of Interior Marquis and Exterior Marquis. They had silver seals with tortoise ornaments on the back and black ribbons. There were five classes of Minister with three grades in each class. These had brass seals, with chain ornaments and ribbons. And with all these various gradations of ranks and nobility reorganized, the court was entirely reformed. There were new ranks and new people in office [19].