Chapter 31

While Qian Long went hungry, the officialadministration in Hangzhou was turned upside down.

　　News of the Emperor's disappearance had not yet leakedout but the whole city had been searched. All exitsfrom Hangzhou by both land and water were heavilyguarded, and several thousand "suspected bandits" hadbeen arrested until every prison was full. The localofficials were very worried, but they also tookadvantage of the situation to seize rich businessmenand merchants and extort large sums of money fromthem.

　　Fu Kangan, Commander Li and Bai Zhen jumped about likeants on a hot plate, completely at a loss for what todo.

　　Early on the morning of the third day, Fu Kangancalled a meeting in the provincial governor'sresidence. Glum-faced and powerless, they argued aboutwhether or not the Empress should be informed. Butnone of them dared consider the consequences once sucha report had been sent.

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

　　Bai Zhen went white and stood up. "How could thishappen?" he demanded. Fu Kangan hurriedly asked whatwas wrong.

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

　　"Let us go and see," he said. "This event must beconnected with His Majesty's disappearance. We mayeven find some clues."They hurried to the bed chamber that had been setaside in the Governor's residence for Qian Long. Sixcorpses lay at all angles around the room. Some hadhad their eyes gouged out, some had gaping holes intheir chests: All had died horribly.

　　"These six brothers were good fighters," said BaiZhen. "How could they have been finished off withoutbeing able to even utter a sound?"They stared in open-mouthed horror, incapabale ofdeciphering the scene. Bai Zhen examined the corpse.

　　The assassins had moved so fast, some of the six hadnot even had time to draw their swords.

　　He frowned. "This room is not big enough for a largenumber of people to fight in, so at the very mostthere cannot have been more than two or three ofthem," he said. "Their kung fu must be extraordinary.""Since they already have the Emperor, why should theycome and kill these bodyguards?" asked Commander Li.

　　"From the look of it, last night's assassins and thepeople who kidnapped the Emperor are not the samebunch.""That's right!" exclaimed Fu Kangan. "The assassinscame, planning to kill the Emperor, but found hewasn't there.""I would guess that you are correct," said Bai Zhen.

　　"If the men who killed the bodyguards were from theRed Flower Society, then the Emperor has fallen intosomeone else's hands. But apart from the Red FlowerSociety, who else is there whose kung fu is so good?"The Red Flower Society's fighters were alreadydifficult enough to handle: the sudden appearance ofyet another group of powerful enemies froze his heart.

　　Bending over to look at the corpses again, Bai Zhennoticed that some of the wounds appeared to have beenmade by the claws and teeth of a dog, and he hurriedlyasked Commander Li to send someone to find somehunting hounds.

　　About two hours later, a soldier appeared with threehunters and six hounds. Bai Zhen ordered the huntersto let their charges sniff around the corpses, andafter a second the dogs charged out of the chamber onthe trail of a scent. They ran straight to the lakeand barked madly across the water. After a moment,they raced off again along the lake shore to whereQian Long had stepped ashore following the courtesancontest, then turned towards the city. The streetswere crowded and the scent confused, and the dogs wereforced to slow down, but they continued to headtowards Beautiful Jade's establishment.

　　There should have been troops on guard outside theentrance, but none were to be seen, and as theyentered the courtyard they found a dozen corpses lyingon the ground. The ruthless assassins had not left onebodyguard alive. Some had had their throats ripped outby dogs, which Bai Zhen thought appeared from thewounds to be very large animals, possibly a crossbetween dogs and wolves such as were bred in thenorthwest. Could the assassins have come from there?

　　The dogs sniffed their way around Beautiful Jade'schamber several times, then began scratching andpawing at a certain point on the floor. Bai Zhenordered the soldiers to prise up the floor boards withtheir swords and underneath they found a stone slab.

　　"Lift it up!" Bai Zhen ordered urgently. The soldiersheaved the slab up, revealing a deep hole into whichthe dogs immediately leapt. Commander Li and Bai Zhenlooked down at the tunnel glumly. The kidnappers hadavoided the heavy guard by coming and going via thetunnel. Full of shame, they led their troops down intothe darkness.