"None of us will be able to live in central China again," said Bald Vulture. "We should all go to the Muslim regions."
The heroes had long lived in the south of China, and the idea of leaving their home was not easy to accept. But the Emperor was evil and dangerous and bitterly hated by all of them, and everyone was willing to do what was necessary.
Chen ordered 'Leopard' Wei to go to the west gate of the city with several of the heroes and to kill the guards at the right moment to allow them all to escape. He then ordered Xin Yan to arrange for horses to be waiting outside the Lama Temple. Turning to Yu, he told him to immediately inform all the Red Flower Society's members in Beijing and all other provinces to go to ground to avoid being arrested.
The arrangements complete, Chen turned to the Twin Eagles and Master Lu. "I would like to ask you three elders for suggestions on how the assassination should be carried out," he said.
"Isn't it simple?" replied Bald Vulture. "I go up and grab his neck and give it a good twist. That should finish him."
Lu smiled. "I'm afraid you won't get close enough to grab his neck with all the bodyguards he is bound to have around him."
"It would be better if Third Brother attacks him with poisonous darts," suggested Priest Wu Chen. "Even if just one hits the target, that will be enough."
Lu turned to Luo Bing. "You could dip your throwing knives into some poison too, and I could do the same with my Golden Needles," he said.
Luo Bing nodded. "If we all loose our weapons at once, a few at least will hit him no matter how many bodyguards he has," she said.
Chen watched the heroes as they dipped their various weapons into a pot of bubbling poison on the stove, and thought uncomfortably about how the Emperor was born of the same mother as himself. But then he remembered his cruelty and deviousness and his rage burned up again. He drew his dagger and placed it for a moment in the pot of poison along with the others.
9
That afternoon, the heroes had a large meal and then waited for the time to leave. At about four o'clock, Bai Zhen arrived with four bodyguards to accompany them. The heroes put on formal gowns, and rode to the Lama Temple. Bai Zhen noticed with relief that none of them were carrying swords.
At the temple gate they dismounted, and Bai Zhen led them inside. Three tables had been prepared in the Hall of Tranquillity, and Bai Zhen solemnly invited the heroes to be seated. Chen sat at the head of the middle table while Bald Vulture and Master Lu took the head seats on the other two tables. Underneath a statue of the Buddha, a fourth table had been set up with one large chair covered with satin and brocade, obviously the Emperor's seat. The heroes began to weigh up the distances in preparation for the assassination attempt.
Dishes of food were brought out and placed on the tables and the heroes quietly awaited the arrival of the Emperor. After a while, footsteps sounded outside and two eunuchs marched into the hall with a senior military official whom the heroes all immediately recognised as Li Keshou, the former Commander-in-Chief of Zhejiang Province. Yuanzhi gripped Yu's hand and almost cried out in surprise at the sight of her father. She wondered when he had been transferrd to the capital.
"Here is an Imperial pronouncement!" one of the eunuchs shouted, and Commander Li, Bai Zhen and the other officials present immediately knelt kown. Chen and the rest of the heroes had no alternative but to do likewise.
The eunuch unrolled a scroll and announced: "On the orders of the Heaven-ordained Emperor, the following proclamation is made: We are benevolent in order to encourage talent just as our ministers and the common people should strive for merit in order to gain rewards. Chen Jialuo and the others have been loyal citizens and deserve to be honoured. Accordingly, I bestow upon Chen Jialuo the title of Successful Candidate of the Imperial Civil Service Examination, while the others are to be given good positions in the Board of Rites and the Military. We invite you to dine at the Lama Temple. The Commander-in-chief of the Imperial Forces in Zhili Province Li Keshou will host the banquet." The eunuch looked up from the scroll and shouted: "Express thanks for the Imperial benevolence!"
The heroes realised with a shock that the Emperor had cheated them and was not coming.
Commander Li walked over to Chen and bowed before him.
"Congratulations, Master Chen. You are honoured to be so highly favoured by the Emperor. It is truly unexpected." Chen replied with a self-deprecating remark.
Yuanzhi and Yu walked over together. "Father!" Yuanzhi said quietly.
Commander Li turned to find his lost daughter standing beside him, as if she had dropped out of nowhere. He grasped her hand, tears welling into his eyes.
"Yuanzhi," he said, his voice shaking. "Are you all right?" She nodded. "Come, come and sit with me," he added, and pulled her over to a table on the side.
The two eunuchs, obviously kung fu experts, walked over to the central table and stood before Chen. One of them saluted with his fists, then turned and shouted: "Boy!"
Two young attendants entered carrying a tray on which was placed a pot of wine and several cups. The eunuch lifted the pot and filled two cups, then picked one of them up. "I drink to you!" he said to Chen, and drained the cup at one draught. He picked the other one up and offered it to Chen.
But Chen had been watching intently, and had noticed two small holes on the side of the wine pot. The eunuch had put his thumb over the left hole when he poured the first cup of wine, and had moved it to cover the right hole as he poured the second cup. Chen guessed the pot was divided into two compartments inside, and that the flow of wine from each could be controlled by covering one or other of the holes. He glanced at the eunuch in distaste and knew that if it had not been for Princess Fragrance's warning, he would have drunk the cup down.
He saluted with his fists in thanks, and lifted the cup as if to drink it. Expressions of delighted anticipation sprang to the faces of the eunuchs, but then Chen put the cup down again, picked up the wine pot and poured out another cup. This cupful he drank then offered the original cup to the second eunuch.
"You drink a toast as well, sir," he said.
The eunuch turned pale as he realised Chen had seen through the trick. His right foot shot up and kicked the cup out of Chen's hand and the other eunuch shouted: "Get them!" Several hundred Imperial bodyguards and guardsmen sprang into view from every side.
"If you gentlemen don't wish to drink, then don't," said Chen with a smile.
"His Imperial Highness decrees," one of the eunuchs shouted, "that the Red Flower Society has engaged in rebellion and continues to harbour evil intentions, and that its members must be immediately seized and killed."
Chen waved his hand and the Twin Knights leapt over to the two eunuchs, paralysing each with a blow to the neck. The Red Flower Society heroes brought out their weapons from under their gowns, and Priest Wu Chen charged for the door with the other heroes close behind. He seized a sword from one of the guards and killed three others as he passed.
Commander Li grabbed his daughter's hand and dragged her after him as he directed his forces to stop the heroes, but Yuanzhi pulled herself free and ran off shouting: "Look after yourself, father!"
Commander Li stared after her for a moment, then began urgently calling: "Yuanzhi, come back!" But she had already left the hall and had joined Yu who was fighting fiercely with five or six guardsmen in the courtyard outside.
Flames were licking up towards the sky from a nearby hall, and the noise of the battle was deafening. As Chen and the other heroes broke out of the Tranquillity Hall into the open, they were surprised to find several dozen Lama monks fighting with a group of Manchu soldiers outside the burning hall. From the look of things, the monks could not hold out for long, but as they watched, Bai Zhen led some of the Imperial guards over and helped them force the Manchu troops back into the hall. Chen had no knowledge of the enmity between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, but he immediately recognised the fight as an excellent diversion and quickly ordered the heroes to escape over the temple walls.