The Book and The Sword

by Jin Yong

  Qian Long wondered if he would still be alive after a few more days of such treatment. "Well, please get me something to eat first to ease my hunger."

  "All right," replied Zhao. "His Imperial Highness wants a banquet," he shouted at the top of his voice. "Make preparations quickly!" Wei bowed and left.

  Qian Long was overjoyed. "Get a set of clothing for me," he said.

  "His Imperial Highness wants some clothes! Bring a gown for him quickly!" Zhao bawled out again.

  "You're a good man," said Qian Long. "What's your name? I will reward you well later." Zhao smiled slightly but did not answer. Qian Long suddenly recogized him. "Ah, now I remember," he said. "You're the one who is so good at Dart Kung Fu."

  Meng brought a set of clothing in and placed it on the quilt. Qian Long sat up, then saw it was a suit of chinese clothes in the style of the Ming dynasty which the Manchus had overthrown. He hesitated.

  "That's the only set of clothes we have," Zhao said. "Wear them or not, as you like."

  Qian Long considered the situation. How could he, as the Emperor of the Manchu dynasty, wear a set of Ming dynasty chinese clothes? But if he didn't put something on, he would not be able to eat, and after one day and two nights of hunger, he dispensed with his misgivings and donned the garments.

  The clothes felt unfamiliar, but there was something dashing and elegant about them. He walked the few steps over to the window and looked out, and started involuntarily. Forests and fields were spread out before him like a chess board, and in the far distance was a great river spotted with sails. He realised he was at the top of a tall pagoda, and from its position and design, recognized it as the famous Six Harmonies Pagoda near Hangzhou.

  Several more hours passed before someone came to announce: "The banquet is ready. Please come down and eat."

  Qian Long followed Zhao and Wei down one floor where a large round table had been set up in the centre of the room. All the seats around the table were already occupied except for three, and as Qian Long descended, the diners stood up and saluted him. Qian Long was secretly ecstatic at this sudden display of respect.

  "Our Great Helmsman says Your Highness and he have been close friends ever since you first met," said Priest Wu Chen. "As a result, he has invited you here to stay for a few days to provide an opportunity for the two of you to have a discussion. However, important matters have suddenly come up which require the Great Helmsman's attention and he has asked me to convey his sincere apologies."

  Qian Long grunted noncommitally. Priest Wu Chen invited him to take a seat, and Qian Long took the guest of honour's place.

  A servant brought up a flask of wine and the priest took it from him.

  "We brothers are very uncouth, completely incapable of waiting on Your Highness properly. Please do not be offended," he said, pouring wine into Qian Long's cup. But as it reached the rim, his face darkened.

  "His Majesty must have the very best wine," he shouted angrily at the servant. "How dare you bring us this tepid spirit?" He picked up the cup and threw its contents into the servant's face.

  "This is only wine we have here, sir," replied the servant apologetically. "I will immediately go to the city and buy some of better quality."

  "And be quick about it," shouted Priest Wu Chen. "Wine such as this is all right for coarse people like ourselves, but how can you offer it to His Highness?"

  'Mastermind' Xu took the wine flask from him and poured out a cup for everyone else, leaving only Qian Long's cup empty, apologising effusively as he did so.

  A moment later, another servant brought in four steaming dishes of food, one of lightly-fried shrimps, another piled with salted pork ribs, a third with steamed fish, and a fourth of fried chicken slices. Qian Long breathed in the fragrant aroma of the food, but Priest Wu Chen frowned.

  "Who cooked this food?" he demanded. A man took two steps forward. "I did," he said.

  "What sort of object are you? Why didn't you arrange for His Majesty's favourite cook, Zhang Anguan, to come to prepare some dishes? How can you expect His Majesty to eat such rough Hangzhou food?"

  "These dishes look delicious," protested Qian Long. "They certainly cannot be called rough." He picked up his chopsticks and stretched over to pick up some food. Lu Feiqing, sitting next to him, stretched out his own chopsticks and caught Qian Long's between them.

  "These dishes are too coarse for Your Highness. You would not wish to have an upset stomach," he said, and applying a slight amount of pressure, snapped Qian Long's chopsticks in two.

  Qian Long's face flushed deep red and he slammed the chopstick ends down onto the table. The others pretended not to notice and began eating.

  "Go and get His Highness's personal cook to prepare some food quickly," Xu shouted. "His Highness is hungry, do you hear?"

  The cook hastily retired. Qian Long knew they were playing with him. Hunger burned in his stomach as he watched the others eating and drinking voraciously. He was livid with rage, but he could not risk displaying his feelings. When they had finished, a servant came in with some tea.

  "This tea is not too bad," said Xu. "Your Highness may like to drink a cupful."

  Qian Long drank the cup dry in two mouthfuls, but it only served to aggravate his hunger. 'Crocodile' Jiang rubbed his belly appreciatively and said: "I'm full!"

  "We are making arrangements for a proper banquet for you, Your Highness," 'Buddha' Zhao said.

  Priest Wu Chen stamped his foot and exclaimed that the Great Helmsman would be very displeased to find his honoured guest had been kept waiting.

  Lord Zhou began clicking his iron gallstones together. "Are you hungry, Your Majesty?" he asked. Qian Long said nothing.

  "What do you mean, hungry?" asked 'Crocodile' Jiang. "I'm full!"

  "The well-fed never appreciate the anguish of the hungry," added Xu. "There are countless millions of common people who are starving, but when have those in authority ever spared a thought for them? Having been a little bit hungry today, perhaps Your Highness will in future understand more about how the common people suffer when they starve."

  "Some people are hungry for months and years on end. Some never eat their fill once in a whole lifetime," said one of the Twin Knights. "What's so special about not eating anything for a day or two?"

  Most of the Red Flower Society heroes had been born into poverty. Their anger rose as they thought of the past and they all began talking at once, swapping stories.

  Qian Long's face went pale as he listened. He found himself moved by their sincerity. "Could such misery really exist in the world?" he asked himself. The more he heard, the more embarrassed he felt, and finally he rose and went back upstairs. The heroes did not try to stop him.

  A few hours later, he smelt the aroma of mutton with onions and green peppers wafting up from below. This was a speciality of the Imperial chef, Zhang Anguan, and just as Qian Long was wondering if it could really be him, Zhang Anguan ran up and kowtowed, saying: "Please come and eat, Your Highness."

  "What are you doing here?" Qian Long asked in amazement.

  "Your slave was watching an opera performance in a park yesterday when I was kidnapped. Today, I was asked to wait on you, and your slave was delighted to have the opportunity."

  Qian Long nodded and went downstairs. The table had been set with a number of dishes including the mutton, all them his personal favorites. As well as the main dishes, there were also a dozen or so plates of small delicacies, and his heart leapt for joy at the sight of the feast. Chef Zhang filled a bowl of rice for him.

  "Please eat, Your Highness," said Priest Wu Chen.

  Qian Long wondered whether they would allow him to eat this time. He was just about to raise his chopsticks when a young girl came in carrying a cat.

  "Daddy," she said to Lord Zhou. "Kitty is hungry."

  The cat struggled to free itself and jumped onto the table. The animal ate a couple of mouthfuls from the dishes spread before Qian Long, then it suddenly went rigid, dropped onto the table top
, dead.

  Qian Long's face went white, and Chef Zhang, shaking from fright, knelt down and said: "Your Highness…Your Highness…the food…they've poisoned the food…don't eat it!"

  Qian Long laughed out loud. "You have committed rebellion and other heinous crimes. Now you wish to assassinate me," he said. "If you are going to kill me, do it cleanly. Why go to the trouble of poisoning the food?" He pushed his chair back and stood up.

  "Your Highness, are you sure this meal is inedible?" asked Priest Wu Chen.

  "You traitorous thieves!" Qian Long shouted, his anger breaking through. "We'll see what sort of an end you all come to!"

  Priest Wu Chen slammed his hand down on the table. "For a real man, life and death are decided by Heaven!" he shouted. "If you won't eat, then I will! Who has the guts to join me?"

  He picked up his chopsticks, took some food from one of the dishes the cat had tried, and began chewing noisily. The other heroes sat down again too, all saying: "If we die, we die. What does it matter?" Qian Long was stunned at the sight of these criminals eating poisoned food.

  The heroes, who had fed the cat poison in advance, ate all the dishes clean in a trice, and suffered no ill effects. Qian Long, having failed to eat even one mouthful, had lost yet another round.

  7

  While Qian Long went hungry, the official administration in Hangzhou was turned upside down. News of the Emperor's disappearance had not yet leaked out but the whole city had been searched. All exits from Hangzhou by both land and water were heavily guarded, and several thousand "suspected bandits" had been arrested until every prison was full. The local officials were very worried, but they also took advantage of the situation to seize rich businessmen and merchants and extort large sums of money from them.

  Fu Kangan, Commander Li and Bai Zhen jumped about like ants on a hot plate, completely at a loss for what to do.

  Early on the morning of the third day, Fu Kangan called a meeting in the provincial governor's residence. Glum-faced and powerless, they argued about whether or not the Empress should be informed. But none of them dared consider the consequences once such a report had been sent.

  As they sat gripped by indecision, one of the Imperial Bodyguards, named Rui, ran in, his face deathly pale, and whispered into Bai Zhen's ear.

  Bai Zhen went white and stood up. "How could this happen?" he demanded. Fu Kangan hurriedly asked what was wrong.

  "The six bodyguards standing guard outside the Emperor's bed chamber have been killed," Rui said. Far from being alarmed, Fu was pleased by this news.

  "Let us go and see," he said. "This event must be connected with His Majesty's disappearance. We may even find some clues."

  They hurried to the bed chamber that had been set aside in the Governor's residence for Qian Long. Six corpses lay at all angles around the room. Some had had their eyes gouged out, some had gaping holes in their chests: All had died horribly.

  "These six brothers were good fighters," said Bai Zhen. "How could they have been finished off without being able to even utter a sound?"

  They stared in open-mouthed horror, incapabale of deciphering the scene. Bai Zhen examined the corpse. The assassins had moved so fast, some of the six had not even had time to draw their swords.

  He frowned. "This room is not big enough for a large number of people to fight in, so at the very most there cannot have been more than two or three of them," he said. "Their kung fu must be extraordinary."

  "Since they already have the Emperor, why should they come and kill these bodyguards?" asked Commander Li. "From the look of it, last night's assassins and the people who kidnapped the Emperor are not the same bunch."

  "That's right!" exclaimed Fu Kangan. "The assassins came, planning to kill the Emperor, but found he wasn't there."

  "I would guess that you are correct," said Bai Zhen. "If the men who killed the bodyguards were from the Red Flower Society, then the Emperor has fallen into someone else's hands. But apart from the Red Flower Society, who else is there whose kung fu is so good?" The Red Flower Society's fighters were already difficult enough to handle: the sudden appearance of yet another group of powerful enemies froze his heart.

  Bending over to look at the corpses again, Bai Zhen noticed that some of the wounds appeared to have been made by the claws and teeth of a dog, and he hurriedly asked Commander Li to send someone to find some hunting hounds.

  About two hours later, a soldier appeared with three hunters and six hounds. Bai Zhen ordered the hunters to let their charges sniff around the corpses, and after a second the dogs charged out of the chamber on the trail of a scent. They ran straight to the lake and barked madly across the water. After a moment, they raced off again along the lake shore to where Qian Long had stepped ashore following the courtesan contest, then turned towards the city. The streets were crowded and the scent confused, and the dogs were forced to slow down, but they continued to head towards Beautiful Jade's establishment.

  There should have been troops on guard outside the entrance, but none were to be seen, and as they entered the courtyard they found a dozen corpses lying on the ground. The ruthless assassins had not left one bodyguard alive. Some had had their throats ripped out by dogs, which Bai Zhen thought appeared from the wounds to be very large animals, possibly a cross between dogs and wolves such as were bred in the northwest. Could the assassins have come from there?

  The dogs sniffed their way around Beautiful Jade's chamber several times, then began scratching and pawing at a certain point on the floor. Bai Zhen ordered the soldiers to prise up the floor boards with their swords and underneath they found a stone slab.

  "Lift it up!" Bai Zhen ordered urgently. The soldiers heaved the slab up, revealing a deep hole into which the dogs immediately leapt. Commander Li and Bai Zhen looked down at the tunnel glumly. The kidnappers had avoided the heavy guard by coming and going via the tunnel. Full of shame, they led their troops down into the darkness.

  PART SIX

  1

  After two days and nights of being starved, frightened and angered, Qian Long's resistance was virtually worn away. On the morning of the third day, a boy appeared and said: "Master Dongfang, our master invites you to come and talk with him."

  Qian Long recognized the boy as Chen's attendant, and he followed him down to the floor below.

  As he entered, Chen, smiling broadly, advanced to greet him, and bowed. Qian Long returned the bow, and the two sat down. Xin Yan served some tea.

  "Bring some titbits to eat," Chen ordered. A moment later, Xin Yan carried in a tray on which was placed plates of spring rolls, prawns, chicken and ham. He set out two sets of bowls and chopsticks and poured wine for them both.

  "Please forgive me for not being able to see you sooner. I had to go to visit a friend who was wounded," said Chen.

  "It is nothing."

  "There is something I wish to talk to you about, but please eat first," Chen added. He chose a morsel from each plate, then put down his chopsticks and watched Qian Long wolf down the food.

  When he had finished, Qian Long sat back, unspeakably contented, and raised his tea cup. He looked closely at the tiny Dragon's Well tea leaves and took a leisurely sip, savouring the feeling of the liquid seeping into his stomach.

  Chen walked over to the door and pushed it open. "All the others are downstairs standing guard. There could not be a more convenient place for us to talk. No one will hear us," he said.

  Qian Long's expression hardened. "Why did you have me brought here?" he asked. "What is it you want?"

  Chen stepped forward and stared into his face.

  "Do you still not recognize me, brother?" Chen asked after a moment's silence. The words were soft, the tone intimate, but they hit Qian Long's ears with the force of a clap of thunder, and he jumped. An expression of deep sincerity on his face, Chen slowly extended his hand and took Qian Long's.

  "We are blood brothers," he said. "There is no need to continue the deception, my brother, I know everything."


  Chen pulled on a chord beside a painting hanging on the wall and the painting rolled up to reveal a mirror. "Take a look at yourself," he said.

  Qian Long stood up and gazed at himself in the mirror, wearing Chinese clothes: his face contained not the slightest likeness to a Manchu. He looked at Chen standing beside him, and had to admit that despite their difference in age, their faces were similar. He sighed and sat down.

  "Brother, we were not aware of the situation before," said Chen. "We even took up arms against each other. The spirits of father and mother up in heaven must have been heartbroken. Luckily neither of us was hurt and nothing happened which cannot be rectified."

  Qian Long felt a rasping dryness in his throat and his heart beating rapidly. A moment passed. "I asked you to go to Beijing with me to work, but you refused," he said finally. Chen turned and gazed out at the great river without answering.

  "With your scholastic abilities," Qian Long continued, "what reason would there be for not promoting you? Such a situation would be of great benefit to our family and to the nation, to both you and I. Why be so disloyal and unfilial as to continue with this criminal course of action?"

  Chen spun round. "I have never accused you of being disloyal or unfilial, or of acting criminally, and yet you accuse me of these things."

  "Hah!" replied Qian Long. "It is true that ministers must be completely loyal to their emperor. But since I am already emperor, how could I be disloyal?"

  "You are obviously a Chinese and yet you submit to the Manchus. Is that loyalty? When our father and mother were alive, you never attended to them properly. Is that filial behaviour?"

  Beads of sweat dripped off Qian Long's forehead. "At the time, I did not know," he said quietly. "I first heard about it when the former leader of your Red Flower Society, Master Yu, visited me last spring. Even now, I'm not sure whether I believe it."

  "Look at yourself," Chen said. "What resemblance is there to a Manchu? How can you have any further doubt?"