when chen received the imperial command, he went todiscuss the situation with the others. master lu andwen were worried that the order to go alone couldindicate a trap.

"the fact that he calls me back so soon afterreceiving the evidence i gave him must mean he wantsto talk about it," said chen. "this is the big chancefor us to recover china for the chinese. i have to gono matter what dangers are waiting for me. secondbrother," he added turning to priest wu chen. "if idon't return, please take over command of the redflower society and avenge me.""don't worry, great helmsman," the priest replied,deeply moved.

"there's no need to wait for me outside the palacethis time. if he means to harm me, there is no way youcould help me and trying would just cause needlesscasualties."by the time chen re-entered the forbidden precincts ofthe palace with bai zhen, it was already dark. twoeunuchs carrying lanterns led them through webs oftree-branch moon shadows to the precious moonpavilion. this time, they ascended to the fourthfloor, and as soon as the eunuchs reported chen'sarrival, qian long ordered him sent in. he was seatedon a couch in a small room, a far-away look in hiseyes. chen knelt and kowtowed and qian long told himto be seated. he was silent for a while. chen lookedaround him and noticed a poetic couplet on the wallwritten by qian long himself.

"what do you think?" qian long asked, seeing himreading the couplet.

"your highness has high aspirations and the spirit ofan emperor of great courage and intelligence. when thegreat endeavour is successfully accomplished, and themanchus have been driven from china, your merit willfar exceed even the han dynasty emperor who expelledthe tartars or the ming dynasty emperor who threw outthe mongols, and will be remembered for ten thousandgenerations."qian long was delighted to hear such praise. he smiledand stroked his whiskers. "you and i may be servantand master, but in spirit we are brothers," he saidafter a moment's contemplation. "in future, you mustassist me well."chen was overjoyed to hear these words: from his tone,qian long did not appear to be planning to go back onhis oath. his doubts dispersed, chen knelt down onceagain and kowtowed.

"your highness's wise decision is truly a greatblessing for the people," he said.

qian long sighed. "i may be the son of heaven, but iam not as fortunate as you," he said. chen wonderedwhat he meant. "in august last year, when we were inhaining, i gave you a piece of jade," he added. "doyou have it with you?"chen was startled. "your highness told me to pass iton to someone else, and i have already done so," hereplied.

"you standards are very high. whoever it is must beone of the world's most beautiful women."chen's eyes reddened. "unfortunately, i do not know ifshe is dead or alive, or where she might be. when ourbusiness is concluded, i will search to the ends ofthe earth to find her.""do you love this lady deeply?""yes," said chen quietly.

"the empress is a manchu, you know that?""yes.""she has served me for a long time and is veryvirtuous. if we go ahead with this plan, she willcertainly fight to the death. what do you think shouldbe done?"chen was unable to answer. "your highness's opinionsare sacred," he finally said. "your servant would notdare make any reckless suggestions.""i cannot allow the nation to be split in two. thisconsideration has made me very hesitant of late. also,at present i have a personal problem whichunfortunately no-one can help me with.""i will do whatever your highness orders.""gentlemen should not snatch prized possessions fromothers, but this is something decided by fate,"replied qian long. "ah, when one's love isconcentrated on one person, what can one do? go overthere and take a look."he pointed to a doorway on the western side of theroom, then stood up and walked out.

chen was greatly confused by this strange speech, buthe calmed himself and pulled aside the thick doorcurtain. he walked slowly through into what he saw wasan extremely sumptuous bed chamber. a red candleburned in the corner, and a girl in a white gown satstaring at its flame.

suddenly seeing princess fragrance in the depths ofthe imperial palace, chen was dumbfounded. he swayedunsteadily and was unable to speak. upon hearing thefootsteps, princess fragrance had grasped the daggerhilt tightly. then she looked round to see the veryperson she had been dreaming of day and night. herangry glare immediately melted into an expression ofdelight. she cried out and threw herself across theroom into chen's arms.

"i knew you would come and save me," she cried. "iwaited patiently, and finally you have come."chen held her warm body tightly. "are we dreaming?" heasked. she looked up and shook her head as tears beganto course down her cheeks.

chen's first thought was that the emperor had foundout she was the lady of his heart and had brought herfrom the muslim areas to be with him. he put his armsaround her waist and then unself-consciously kissedher on the lips. in the midst of the sweetness of thelong kiss, they became oblivious to everything aroundthem.

after a long, long time, chen finally looked at thepink flush on her cheeks. behind her on a dressingtable, he noticed a broken mirror, and the image ofthem both embracing in each segment.

"look," he whispered. "there are one thousand me's,and every one is holding you."princess fragrance glanced at the broken mirror, andthen pulled the piece of warm jade from her pocket.

"he stole my jade piece and broke the mirror with it,"she said. "luckily it wasn't damaged.""who?" chen asked, startled.

"that evil emperor.""why?" chen asked, even more astonished.

"he bullied me, but i said i wasn't afraid because iknew you would rescue me. he was very angry and triedto grab me, but i have this dagger.""dagger?" he repeated distantly.

"yes. i was with my father when they killed him. hegave me this dagger and told me to kill myself if theenemy violated me. people who commit suicide are sentto hell, but if they are girls dying to protect theirvirtue then allah makes an exception."chen looked down and wondered how many times thisweak, naive girl had come close to death in the pastfew months. his heart was filled with love and painand he embraced her again. after a while, he steadiedhimself and began to carefully consider the situation.

he now realized that qian long had had princessfragrance brought to beijing because he wanted herhimself. he had obviously ordered the construction ofa desert in the imperial gardens to try to please her.

but she had sworn never to give in. he had threatenedand cajoled her in every way he could think of, allwithout effect. that must be why qian long had saidthat he was not as fortunate as himself.

he looked down at princess fragrance as he held herand saw she had closed her eyes and was fast asleep.

why did he let me see her? he wondered. he had raisedthe problem of the empress and said that if the greatendeavour was to accomplished, she would have to bediscounted, and that a choice would have to be madebetween family and country. yes, his meaning is......"he shivered and began to sweat. he felt princessfragrance move slightly against him and heard hersigh. a smile appeared on her face like a flower budopening.

"should i break with the emperor for her sake, or askher to give in to him for the sake of the greatendeavour?" the thought shot through his brain like alightning bolt, and he cringed from it.

"she loves me so deeply. she's managed somehow tomaintain her virtue for my sake, she believes firmlythat i will rescue her. how can i really bring myselfto reject her, to betray her? but if i think only ofus two, i must break with my brother, and this rareopportunity to recover the throne will be lost. if idid that, would we not be cursed by generations tocome?" his brain was in turmoil, and he had no ideawhat he should do.

princess fragrance opened her eyes. "let's go," shesaid. "i'm afraid of seeing that evil emperor again.""wait here for a moment. i'll go out for a while thencome back." she nodded and took the dagger from hishand, then watched him leave the room with smilingeyes.

he went up the stairs and found qian long on the nextfloor up sitting on a couch, stony-faced andmotionless.

"affairs of state are of more importance than privateconcerns," chen announced. "i will urge her to give into you."qian long jumped up off the couch in delight.

"really?" he exclaimed.

"yes, but you must swear an oath." chen stared at himas he spoke.

"what oath?" asked qian long, avoiding his gaze.

"if you do not honestly do all in your power to drivethe manchu barbarians out, what then?"qian long thought for a moment. "if that is the case,then no matter how glorious my life may be, may mygrave be dug up and my skeleton smashed to pieces."the grave of an emperor was inviolable. such an oathwas extremely serious.

"all right," said chen. "i will talk to her. but iwill have to do it outside the palace.""outside?" qian long asked, startled.

chen nodded. "at the moment, she hates you to her verybones. she won't be able to quietly listen to what ihave to say here, so i wish to take her to the greatwall to explain things.""why do you want to go so far?" said qian longsuspiciously.

"i once promised to take her to the great wall. when ihave done so, i will not see her ever again.""you will definitely bring her back?""we members of the fighting community consider ourword to be worth more than our lives. i will do what ihave said."qian long was uncertain of what to do. he wondered howhe would ever find this beauty again if chen escapedwith her. but on the other hand, he knew the girlwould never give in to him unless chen could think ofa way of convincing her to do so. he was sure chen wascommitted to their great endeavour and would not giveit up just for the sake of a girl.

"all right," he said finally, slapping the table. "go,both of you."he waited until chen had gone, then said to thecurtain behind him: "take forty bodyguards and followhim the whole way. whatever you do, don't let them getaway."chen returned to the fourth floor and took hold ofprincess fragrance's hand. "let's go," the two walkedtogether out of the pavilion and out of the forbiddencity. the guards had already received their orders andmade no attempt to stop them. princess fragrance'sheart was full of joy. she had always believed herknight was capable of doing anything, and was in noway surprised that they could just walk out of thepalace gates.

as they reached the outside, the sky was alreadygrowing light. xin yan was standing close by, thereins of the white horse in his hands, keeping watch,and when he spotted chen, he rushed over. seeingprincess fragrance standing by his master's side, hewas even more surprised and delighted.

chen took the rein from him. "we are going on a tripout of the city for the day," he said. "we won't beback until late evening, so tell the others not toworry."xin yan watched the two mount up and ride off north,and was about to leave when the sound of gallopinghooves rose behind him and several dozen palace guardsthundered past. he recognised the frail old manleading the troop as bai zhen, and returned quickly totwin willow lane to report.

as the white horse left the city, it galloped everfaster. princess fragrance, snuggling into chen'sarms, watched the trees on either side of the road zippast, and all the distress and sorrow of the previousfew months evaporated. the horse's strong legs carriedthem quickly past the small villages to the north ofbeijing, and as they approached a crossroads, chensaid: "let's go and see the tombs of the ming dynastyemperors."the horse galloped on. just past the jade stonebridge, they came upon a huge stone monument inscribedwith the words: 'the sacred tombs of the great ming'.

on the right-hand face of the monument were severallines of poetry in qian long's hand.

"what is it?" princess fragrance asked.

"it's a poem written by the emperor.""he's vile and horrible. don't look at it," she urged.

she took his hand and they continued on, and soonfound themselves walking along an avenue flanked bystone lions, elephants, camels and strange mythicalcreatures. "i have only this one day left with her soi must make sure she enjoys it," chen thought. "aftertoday, we will neither of us ever pass another happyday again." so he roused his flagging spirits andsmiled.

"you want to ride on the camel, don't you?" he saidand lifted her up onto its back and sat behind her.

with shouts and calls, they urged the stone camelforward. princess fragrance bent over double withlaughter, then after a moment she sighed.

"if only this camel could really run and could carryus back to the tianshan mountains," she said.

"what would you want to do there?"she looked into the distance. "oh, i would be verybusy. i would have to pick flowers for you to eat, andlook after the goats and feed the small deer. and i'dhave to visit the graves of my father and mother andbrother to keep them company, and think of some way tofind my sister.....""what happened to her?" he asked.

"she was ill the night the manchus attacked. we weresplit up during the battle and i have heard no news ofher since."chen was silent as they remounted the horse andstarted on their way. the road wound upwards andbefore long they arrived at ju yong pass and caughtsight of the wall, writhing like a long snake throughthe clusters of hills.

"why did they waste so much effort to build thisthing?" princess fragrance asked.

"it was to stop the northern enemies from invading,"chen replied. "countless people must have died oneither side of this wall.""men are truly strange. why don't they all livehappily together and dance and sing instead offighting? i really can't see the point of it all.""if you ever get the chance, you must tell the emperornot to make war on the poor peoples of the borderareas. all right?""i will never see that evil emperor again," shereplied, puzzled by his sudden solemness.

"but if you were able to make him do your bidding, youmust urge him not to do bad things, and to do somegood for the people. promise me!""what a funny thing to say. do you really think iwould be unwilling to do anything you asked me to do?""thank you," chen said, and she smiled.

they walked along a stretch of the wall hand-in-hand.

"i just thought of something," said princessfragrance.

"what?""i am very happy today, but is it because of thisbeautiful scenery? no. i know it's because i am withyou. as long as you are by my side, i would think eventhe most ugly place on earth was beautiful."the happier she was, the more uncomfortable chen felt.

"is there anything you would like me to do?" he asked.

"oh, but you have already done everything. you havealways given me everything i wanted, even withoutasking for it." she pulled the snow lotus from herpocket. the flower was now dry and withered, but itstill possessed a strong fragrance.

"there is only one thing you refused to do," she addedwith a smile. "and that is to sing me a song."chen laughed. "it's true," he said. "i have never sungyou a song."princess fragrance pulled a face. "well, i'm not goingto sing for you any more either.""i remember my mother's maid servant singing severalrhymes when i was young. i'll sing one for you now,but you're not allowed to laugh."she clapped her hands in delight. "all right! allright! sing!"he thought for a moment, and then began:

"the light rain fallsthe wind blows in squallssomeone outside saucily calls,i think it's my loved one,and softly curse him round and right.

but looking once againi see it's not, and jump in fright."after he had finished, chen explained the words of thesong in the muslim tongue, and princess fragrancelaughed.

"the lady's eyesight was not too good, apparently,"she said.

they explored the top of the wall, which consisted ofbattlements on the northern side, a stone hand rail onthe other and a walkway in between. every threehundred feet or so, there was a watchtower. they cameto a beacon tower, and chen thought of the time huoqingtong had burned wolf dung as part of her plan todestroy the manchu army. he wondered again if she wasalive or dead, and his sadness increased.

"i know what you are thinking," said princessfragrance.

"do you?""yes. you are thinking of my sister.""how did you know?""when the three of us were in the secret citytogether, i could see how happy you were in spite ofthe danger. oh, you mustn't worry so!"he took her hand, "what do you mean?" he asked.

she sighed. "in the old days, i was just a child. ididn't understand anything. but every day i was in theimperial palace, i thought about the times we weretogether and realised many things that had not occuredto me before. my sister loved you all along, and youlove her, don't you?""yes. i shouldn't try to deceive you.""but i know you truly love me too. and without you, icannot live. so let's go and find my sister quicklyand we can all live happily together forever. don'tyou think that would be lovely?"her eyes and face radiated happiness. chen squeezedher hand. "you have thought it out perfectly," he saidsoftly. "you and your sister are the nicest, the bestpeople in the world."princess fragrance stood looking out into thedistance, and noticed the sun glinting off a body ofwater to the west. "let's go and have a look overthere," she said.

they made their way across the hills, and came upon aclear spring bubbling merrily out of a crack in therocks.

"i will wash my feet here, is that all right?"princess fragrance asked.

"of course," chen replied with a smile. she took offher shoes and socks and stepped into the water,relishing the coolness as the crystal clear waterflowed around her milk-white feet. chen happened tosee his own shadow on the water, and realised the sunwas already sinking into the west. he reached into hisbag and pulled out some food for them. princessfragrance leant against him and wiped her feet dry asshe ate.

chen gritted his teeth. "there is something i must sayto you," he said. she turned and put both her armsround him, resting her head on his chest.

"i know you love me," she said quietly. "i understand.

you don't have to say it."he cringed and swallowed what he had been about tosay. after a while, he started again: "do you stillremember mami's last testament that we read inside thewhite jade peak?""she is living in heaven now with her ali. that's theway it should be.""you muslims believe that after good people die, theywill live forever in paradise, is that right?""of course that's what happens.""when i return to beijing, i will go and find anislamic imam and get him to teach me so that i canbecome a good follower of the muslim faith," saidchen.

princess fragrance was overjoyed. she had neverguessed he would be willing to voluntarily join themuslim faith. "oh my brother," she said looking up athim. "will you really?""definitely.""you're willing to do even that because of your lovefor me. i never dared to hope for such a thing.""because in this life," chen continued slowly, "wewill not be able to be together. so i want to be surethat after death, i can be with you every day."the words struck princess fragrance like a clap ofthunder. after a moment's silence, she said in shakingvoice: "you....what are you talking about? we can't betogether?""no. after today, we will not be able to see eachother again.""why?" her body quivered and two large tears fell ontohis gown.

chen embraced her tenderly. "if it were possible forme to be with you, i would be content even withoutfood or clothing, even if i was beaten and humiliatedeveryday. but do you remember mami? the good mami waswilling to leave her true love ali in order that hertribe would no longer be oppressed and bullied bysanglaba and was even willing to go and allow herselfto be violated by him...."princess fragrance's body went limp. "you want me togive in to the emperor?" she whispered. "you want meto kill him?""no, he is my blood brother." he told her everythingabout his relationship with qian long, and the redflower society's plans, about the oath sworn in thesix harmonies pagoda, and of qian long's demandearlier that day. as he spoke, princess fragrancerealised that what she had been longing for day andnight and thought she had achieved, was slipping fromher grasp again. she was overwhelmed by a wave ofpanic and fainted away.

as she came to, she felt chen holding her tightly, andwas aware of a damp patch on her dress soaked by histears. she stood up.

"wait for me here," she said softly, and walkedtowards a large flat rock in the distance where sheprostrated herself in prayer towards the west. sheappealed to the true god, allah for guidance on whatshe should do. the pale sunlight glanced off her whitedress, her back presenting a picture of both greatmelancholy and warmth. after a while, she walkedslowly back.

"whatever you want me to do, i will do," sheannounced.

chen jumped up and ran over to her, and the twoembraced each other tightly.

"if i had known we had only today, i would have wantedyou to hold me the whole day rather than come here,"she whispered. chen kissed her, unable to answer.

a long time passed. then suddenly, princess fragrancesaid: "i have not had a bath since i left home. i amgoing to have one now." she began to take off herouter gown.

chen stood up. "i'll go over there to wait for you,"he said.

"no! no! i want you to watch me. when you saw me forthe first time, i was bathing. today is the lasttime...after you have seen me, i want you to neverforget me.""do you really believe that i would ever forget you?""please don't go," she pleaded, and there was nothingfor chen to do but to sit down again.

while chen watched and the mountain spring gurgled,she removed all her clothing piece by piece, until thegolden evening sun illuminated one of the world's mostbeautiful bodies. chen felt giddy, and hardly dare tolook directly at this vision. but he could not fail tonotice her innocent, guileless expression, andsuddenly thought of her as simply a naked three orfour-year-old child. she was so beautiful and so pure.

"to make a body of such incomparable beauty, theremust be an all-knowing, all-powerful god in heaven,"he thought. his heart was filled with reverence andgratitude.

princess frgrance slowly wiped the pearls of waterfrom her body, and then put her clothes back on.

"this body," she thought self-pityingly. "i will neveragain be able to show it to the one i love."she rubbed her hair dry and then returned to sit inchen's embrace.

"i once told you the story of the cowherd and thespinning girl, do you remember?" chen asked.

"yes. i remember. you said that although they met onlyonce a year, they still saw each other countless timesmore than ordinary people.""yes. we cannot be together forever, but the true godwill make sure we meet again eventually. in thedesert, and here, we have been very happy. the timehas been short, but we have perhaps had more happinessthan many couples who live together for decades."she listened to his soothing voice comforting her, asthe sun slowly sank towards the hills with her heartfollowing it down. suddenly she jumped up and wailed:

"no! the sun is disappearing!"chen's heart shattered. "i have asked so much of you!"he exclaimed, taking her hand.

she continued to stare at the point where the sun hadgone down. "if only it was able to rise again, evenfor just a moment," she said quietly.

"it is right that i should undergo hardship for thesake of my people, but you have never even seen them,let alone loved them.""i love you, so are they not my people too? do you notlove all our muslim brothers?"the sky was growing darker. the sun did not riseagain, and a wave of coldness touched her heart.

"let's go back," she said. "i am very happy. my lifeis fulfilled."they climbed onto the back of the white horse andstarted back the way they had come. they were bothsilent and neither turned back to look at the place ofbeauty they had just enjoyed.

less than an hour's ride later, they heard the soundof many galloping hooves in front and several dozenriders emerged out of the evening mist with bai zhenin the lead. his face lit up as soon as he saw chenand princess fragrance, and signalling to the othersto stop, he leapt off his horse and stood by theroadside. chen did not even glance at him, but urgedthe white horse on even faster. soon after, horses'

hooves sounded in front once again, and the red flowersociety heroes appeared.

"great helmsman!" 'leopard' wei shouted. "we're allhere!"