when qian long was told that the red flower societyhad rescued wen, he was both surprised and angry. buthe decided there was nothing to be gained in punishingthe imperial bodyguards. he could see from theirwounds that they had fought bravely.

a while later, commander li also arrived, and wasinformed by the emperor that a decision on whether ornot he would lose his post would be deferred untillater. li was overjoyed at this unexpected luck.

after li had left, qian long thought about wen'sescape and wondered if his secret would get out. fromwhat wen had said, it did not appear that he knew, butthere was something about his manner which suggestedthere was still much he could tell. wen had said therewere two important pieces of evidence hidden somewhereand he wondered what the evidence could be. he wasalready almost certain he was a chinese and not amanchu, but what good could come of such knowledgeleaking out?

he paced about the room, extremely angry that he, theson of heaven, should be out-witted by a band ofbrigands. if they discovered his secret, would he beforced to submit to them for the rest of his life onpain of having the secret revealed? the more hethought about it, the angrier he became, and he pickedup a large porcelain flower vase and threw itviolently to the floor.

the guards and eunuchs waiting outside heard the crashclearly and trembled in their boots, not daring toenter.

qian long passed most of the day in a state of mentalconfusion. towards evening, he heard the sound ofgentle music drifting in from outside. the music movedcloser and closer, passed by the gates of the yamenthen gradually receded. a moment later, anothermusical troupe passed by. he had always been very fondof music, and hearing it now, his mood suddenlychanged.

"servants!" he shouted.

a senior bodyguard named he jia, who had recently cometo favour, hurried in. hearing the emperor's call, theothers had pushed him forward.

"what is that music outside?" qian long asked. "go andfind out."after a while, he jia came back to report: "your slavemade enquiries and learned that all of the famouscourtesans of hangzhou will gather on the west lakethis evening to choose what they call the 'topcandidate of the boudoir', as well as second, thirdand fourth ranking candidates.""how dare they make fun of the imperial civil serviceexaminations in such a way!" qian long said, amused.

"ridiculous!"seeing the smile on the emperor's face, he advanced astep and added in a low voice: "i heard that the fourbeauties of qiantang river will be there.""and who are the four beauties of qiantang river?""your slave was talking to a local just now who saidthat they are the four most famous prostitutes ofhangzhou. everyone out in the streets is trying toguess which one will be the top candidate of theboudoir this year.""the top candidate in the imperial examination ischosen by me. who chooses this top candidate of theboudoir? don't tell me there is an emperor of theboudoir as well?""i hear that each prostitute sits in a flower boat onwhich are displayed the gold and jewels presented byher customers. then the winner is chosen by some ofhangzhou's most eminent gentlemen.""when do they play this game?" qian long asked,fascinated.

"it starts soon," he jia replied. "as soon as it getsa bit darker, the judging will begin. if your highnessis interested, you could go and watch."qian long smiled. "i'm afraid people may laugh at me,"he said. "if the empress should hear that i chose thetop candidate manner which suggested there was stillmuch he could tell. wen had said there were twoimportant pieces of evidence hidden somewhere and hewondered what the evidence could be. he was alreadyalmost certain he was a chinese and not a manchu, butwhat good could come of such knowledge leaking out?

he paced about the room, extremely angry that he, theson of heaven, should be out-witted by a band ofbrigands. if they discovered his secret, would he beforced to submit to them for the rest of his life onpain of having the secret revealed? the more hethought about it, the angrier he became, and he pickedup a large porcelain flower vase and threw itviolently to the floor.

the guards and eunuchs waiting outside heard the crashclearly and trembled in their boots, not daring toenter.

qian long passed most of the day in a state of mentalconfusion. towards evening, he heard the sound ofgentle music drifting in from outside. the music movedcloser and closer, passed by the gates of the yamenthen gradually receded. a moment later, anothermusical troupe passed by. he had always been very fondof music, and hearing it now, his mood suddenlychanged.

"servants!" he shouted.

a senior bodyguard named he jia, who had recently cometo favour, hurried in. hearing the emperor's call, theothers had pushed him forward.

"what is that music outside?" qian long asked. "go andfind out."after a while, he jia came back to report: "your slavemade enquiries and learned that all of the famouscourtesans of hangzhou will gather on the west lakethis evening to choose what they call the 'topcandidate of the boudoir', as well as second, thirdand fourth ranking candidates.""how dare they make fun of the imperial civil serviceexaminations in such a way!" qian long said, amused.

"ridiculous!"seeing the smile on the emperor's face, he advanced astep and added in a low voice: "i heard that the fourbeauties of qiantang river will be there.""and who are the four beauties of qiantang river?""your slave was talking to a local just now who saidthat they are the four most famous prostitutes ofhangzhou. everyone out in the streets is trying toguess which one will be the top candidate of theboudoir this year.""the top candidate in the imperial examination ischosen by me. who chooses this top candidate of theboudoir? don't tell me there is an emperor of theboudoir as well?""i hear that each prostitute sits in a flower boat onwhich are displayed the gold and jewels presented byher customers. then the winner is chosen by some ofhangzhou's most eminent gentlemen.""when do they play this game?" qian long asked,fascinated.

"it starts soon,"he jia replied. "as soon as it gets abit darker, the judging will begin. if your highnessis interested, you could go and watch."qian long smiled. "i'm afraid people may laugh atme,"he said. "if the empress should hear that i chosethe top candidate of the boudoir, she may havesomething to say about it. ha, ha!""if your highness dressed up as a member of the commonpeople, no one would know," he jia suggested.

"all right, we'll go and have a quiet look and thencome back. but tell everyone not to attractattention,"said qian long.

he jia quickly helped qian long change into a longsilk gown and a closely-embroidered jacket, the attireof a member of the gentry. then they left for the westlake together with bai zhen and several dozenbodyguards.

once at the lakeside, a bodyguard steered a boat up tomeet them. music and singing could be heard comingfrom different parts of the lake, while the multitudeof lanterns provided a sumptuous sight. they watchedas more than twenty flower boats glided lazily backand forth over the water, each boat draped with silkcurtains and lanterns. qian long ordered the oarsmanto steer close to the flower boats. some of them weredecorated with flowers and animals cleverlyconstructed out of silk and lit with lanterns. qianlong sighed in praise for the richness of life in thesouth of china with which the north could not hope tocompete. as many as a hundred other small boats movedto and fro carrying well-to-do pleasure seekers.

a gong sounded and the music from the boats ceased.

one rocket after another soared up into the air andburst in a dazzling array of colours before fallinginto the lake with a hiss. as the firework displayended, the curtains on each flower boat were drawnapart simultaneously to reveal a gorgeously-attiredwoman seated inside. thunderous cheers and applausearose from every part of the lake.

servants produced wine and food for the emperor topartake of while enjoying the scene. the boat slidslowly over the lake past the flower boats. qian long,who kept three thousand concubines in his palace, hadseen countless beauties in his time. but now, with thelanterns reflecting on the water, the splash of theoars and the slight waft of perfume, he was completelycaptivated. they neared the boats of the four beautiesof the qiantang river, and saw they were differentfrom the other flower boats. one was decoratedentirely with paper water lilies while the second wastopped by two pagodas. the third was decked out as thelunar palace and lit with lanterns shaped as toads andhares, the animals which are supposed to inhabit themoon.

qian long gasped in delight. as they glided towardsthe fourth, he saw it was decorated entirely with realbushes and flowers, the branches criss-crossing eachother and covered with a thick foliage, as simple asnature, and as beautiful as a painting. the courtezan,dressed all in white, was seated with her back tothem, but she had an air of other-worldliness abouther, as of a goddess.

overwhelmed, qian long could not help but sing out aline from the opera, 'the western chamber': "oh, willyou not turn your face to me?"the prostitute, hearing the snatch of song, did indeedturn and smiled. qian long's heart leapt: it was thegirl he had met on the west lake several days before,beautiful jade.

he heard the tinkle of a feminine voice as thecourtesan on the water lily boat began to sing. at theend of the song, the crowd applauded and a pile ofingots, big and small mounted on the table in front ofher. then the courtesan in the twin-pagoda boat pickedup a pipa and lightly strummed a tune, following whichthe third played the flute. qian long ordered he jiato give her ten taels of gold.

the pleasure launches then crowded round beautifuljade's boat. she opened her ruby lips, revealing hersparkling white teeth, and began to sing accompaniedby a flute.

it was the middle of the eighth month and it wasalready cool on the lake, but beautiful jade's voicesuggested warm breezes and fragrant flowers.

"such talent," qian long sighed.

to his great delight, beautiful jade's dew-drop eyesconstantly looked over in his direction as she sang.

qian long loved demonstrating his talents in art,calligraphy and poetry and his ministers, notsurprisingly, praised everything he did. but for abeautiful woman to favour him not because of reverencefor his position as emperor, but because of his realworth meant she had recognized his ardour, good looksand talent. famous courtesans are truly discerning, hethought. he immediately ordered he jia to presentbeautiful jade with fifty taels of gold.

the boats of all the courtesans were piled up withgifts, especially those of the four beauties. midnightapproached and the judge began the job of inspectingthe gifts. as with the imperial examinations, not onlythe courtesans, but also the spectators on the lake,were anxious about the outcome.

qian long said a few quiet words to he jia, who noddedand hurried back to the yamen. he returned a whilelater with a package.

the inspection over, the boats all clustered round thelaunch on which the judge sat to hear him announce thewinners.

"the gifts presented to miss twin pagodas are the mostnumerous," he announced. there was a roar from theother boats as some applauded and some groaned.

"not so fast," someone shouted. "i will present onehundred taels of gold to miss water lily.""and i present miss lunar palace with a jade braceletand ten pearls," another wealthy gentleman called out.

the crowd saw the green bracelet and the large roundpearls sparkling under the lantern light and knew thatthey must be worth well over a hundred taels of gold.

all concluded that miss lunar palace was certain to bechosen at the top candidate for the years.

suddenly he jia called out: "our master has a numberof items he would like to present to miss beautifuljade!"a servant carried the package over to the judge, a manof about forty with a lean, handsome face and a wispof moustache. he opened it to find it contained threescrolls. he turned to the old man on his left andsaid: "master fan, this is indeed a refined gentleman.

i wonder what treasures he has presented?" he orderedthe servants to unrill the scrolls.

as the first scroll was unrolled, the judge and theothers started in surprise: it was a poem written inthe hand of the famous cillgrapher, zu yunning.

"this is extremely valuable," exclaimed the man calledmaster fan. they hurriedly opened the second scrolland saw it was a painting of flowers on the top ofwhich was the imperial vermilion seal of qian long.

yuan mei was puzzled and turned to ask his colleaguesif they knew who the benefactor was. they looked atthe scrolls and pondered silently.

"why don't we go over and meet him?" one finallysuggested.

"if we do that, people will accuse us of beingunfair," replied another. "with such treasures asthese two scrolls, the top candidate is obviouslybeautiful jade.""let us have a look at the third scroll," suggested athird.

they unrolled it and saw it was a piece of unsignedcalligraphy.

"not very graceful," remarked one of the experts. "thewriting style lacks strength.""shh! it's written in the emperor's hand," anotherwhispered urgently. the others all jumped in frightand dared not discuss the matter further.

"the judging of the gifts has been completed," yuanmei announced in a loud voice. "the top candidate ismiss beautiful jade, second is miss lunar palace,third is miss water lily."applause arose from all corners of the lake.

beutiful jade began to sing again, and her tendervoice penetrated qian long's bones, making his heartitch unbearably.

"go and tell that girl to come over," he said to hejia. "and don't say who i am."the boat glided over to beautiful jade's and he jialeapt across. after an interval, he returned with apiece of paper and handed it to qian long and said:

"she told me to give this to you."qian long peered at the note under the lamplight andsaw it read: "tomorrow."the calligraphy was very poor, but the paper washeavily scented with a fragrance that made his heartquiver.

"why wait until tomorrow? i am here now," he said. butwhen he looked up again, he saw beautiful jade's boatwas already moving off. as emperor, the concubines ofthe palace tried every trick they could think of to befavoured by him. when had a woman ever rejected hisadvances? but the more she kept him at arms length,the more he desired her. he hurriedly issued animperial command: "chase after that boat!"qian long stood silently on the prow, his heartpursuing the boat ahead. the lights on the lake weregoing out but the music had not yet been extinguished.

he indistinctly heard what he thought was the sound oflaughter and soft words from the boat in front.

the distance between the two boats gradually closed.

suddenly the curtain on the flower boat parted for asecond and a object was flung in the direction of qianlong. bai zhen lunged forward to intercept it, and asit hit his hand he noticed the object was not a dartas he had expected but a red handkerchief with allfour corners knotted together. he quickly presented itto the emperor.

qian long untied it and inside he found a lotus sweetand a lily bulb: both were symbols of a well-matchedcouple. how could he fail to catch the meaning of sucha romantic message?

the flower boat reached the bank, and beautiful jadestepped off and into a small horse-drawn carriage. shelooked out of the carriage window and smiledseductively at qian long, then released the carriagecurtain.

"hey! wait a moment, don't go!" he jia yelled, but thedriver took no notice and with a clatter of horses'

hooves, the carriage moved off south.

"get another carriage quickly!" he jia called. thebodyguards soon found a carriage and forced itsoccupants out. qian long stepped inside and it racedoff after the other carriage.

bodyguard bai zhen saw they were heading towards theprosperous district of the city, and decidedeverything was all right: the emperor had obviouslydecided to spend the night at the home of thecourtesan. but having seen her only a few days beforewith the red flower society men, he had to takeprecautions against a trap. he quickly ordered ruidalin to bring extra men to help protect the emperor.

beautiful jade's carriage passed along severalstreets, then turned into an alley and stopped infront of a pair of black-painted gates. an attendanton the carriage jumped down and knocked on them justas qian long was descending from his carriage. with along squeak, the gates were opened, and an old womancame out, pulled aside the carriage curtain andgreeted beautiful jade. she stepped out of thecarriage and, seeing qian long standing to one side,hurried over to greet him.

"aiya, master dongfang," she said. "thank you so muchfor your gifts just now. please come in and have sometea." qian long smiled and walked through the gates.

one of the bodyguards rushed in ahead of the emperor,his hand on the hilt of his sword, checking forassassins or perhaps a customer of the prostitute whowould wish to protest that he was first.

beyond the gates was a courtyard. a wave of floweryfragrance assailed their noses and tree shadows dancedon the ground around two cinnamon bushes which were infull bloom. qian long followed beautiful jade into asmall, elegantly-decorated chamber lit by two tall,red candles.

a maid brought in wine and food. qian long looked atthe plates of delicacies, including marinated chickenand thousand-year-old eggs, and marvelled at howexquisite they were compared to the heavy food he wasserved in the imperial palace. the maid strained twocups of aged, deeply-fragrant rice wine.

beautiful jade took a sip and smiled. "masterdongfang, how can i ever thank you?" she said.

qian long raised his cup and drained it in onedraught. "sing a song first," he said, also smiling.

"we will discuss at our leisure how you can thank me."beautiful jade picked up a pipa and began to playsoftly.

while the emperor drank and enjoyed himself inside,commander-in-chief li arrived with a detachment oftroops and encircled the alley with ring after ring ofguards. his officers searched every nearby housethoroughly, leaving only beautiful jade's roomuntouched. bai zhen ordered a group of guardsmen topatrol the roof tops with bows and arrows at theready. countless men have been to brothels over thecenturies, but qian long's visit was surely the mostimposing and awe-inspiring visit of all.

the guards and soldiers were kept busy the wholenight, but dawn finally broke without anythinguntoward having happened. the sun rose, and he jiatiptoed over to beautiful jade's bed-chamber to peekthrough a crack in the window. he spied qian long'sboots lying by the bed and retreated. eight o'clockpassed, nine o'clock and ten o'clock and still therewas no sign of the emperor rising. becoming anxious,he jia returned to the window and called quietly:

"master, would you like some breakfast?" he calledseveral times, but there was no response.

he went to the door and gave it a push, but it wasbarred from inside. "master!" he called out loudly.

still no answer from the room. he jia was veryconcerned, but he didn't dare break the door down.

instead, he went to discuss the situation withcommander li and bai zhen.

"why don't we tell the old house woman to go and knockon the door with some breakfast. his highness won't beoffended," suggested li.

"an excellent idea, commander," bai zhen said.

the three went off to look for the old woman, butfound the whole establishment was deserted. greatlyalarmed at the situation, they began bangingfrantically on beautiful jade's door.

"force it open!" ordered li. bai zhen put both of hispalms on the door, and with a sight push, snapped thedoor bar.

he jia went in first and carefully pulled apart thebed curtains to find the bed clothes in disarray butabsolutely no sign of qian long or beautiful jade. hefainted to the floor in fright.

bai zhen hastily called in some guards and searchedthe establishment, but they failed to find so much ashalf a clue. how could the emperor have disappearedwhen the guard they had mounted was so tight that noteven a sparrow could have escaped without beingnoticed? bai zhen toured round the room once morelooking for a secret door, but he knocked and bangedfor a long time without finding anything suspicious.

the imperial guard commander fu kangan and theprovincial governor arrived having received news ofqian long's disappearance, and they all gathered inthe middle of beautiful jade's boudoir, palefrightened and completely at a loss for what to do.