he roared.
"Search him," Chen ordered. Zhang Jin frisked him quickly and found an official document which he handed over.
Chen saw the document had a singed corner and a chicken"s feather stuck to it indicating that it was an urgent report which the courier would be required to travel day and night to deliver. On it"s wrapper was written the words: "Extra Urgent Dispatch for Border Pacification General Zhao." He broke the seal and took out the document.
The courier went white with fear. "That"s a secret military document," he shouted. "Aren"t you afraid of execution?"
"If anyone"s going to be executed, it"s you," replied Xin Yan with a laugh.
Chen saw the letter was from a certain commander in charge of provisions reporting to General Zhao that rations for the Great Army had reached Lanfeng, but that because of the floods, there might be a delay of several days before they could be delivered.
Chen handed the letter to Xu. "It has nothing to do with us," he said.
But as Xu read the document an expression of delight filled his face. "Great Helmsman," he cried. "This is truly a great treasure delivered to us on a plate. With this, we can both assist Master Muzhuolun and save the refugees."
He jumped off his horse and walked over to the official and tore the document up in front of him.
"What are you going to do now?" he asked. "Isn"t losing a military document a capital offence? If you want to live, it would be best to run."
The official was startled and angry, but he saw the truth of Xu"s words. He took off his military uniform, threw it in the water, then ran off, melding into the mass of refugees.
"Steal the provisions and hand them out as disaster relief, and we can kill two birds with one stone," Chen said, nodding. "The only problem is that the provisions for the Great Army are bound to be heavily guarded, and we are few in number. What ideas do you have, Brother Xu?"
Xu whispered a few words in his ear, and Chen nodded in agreement.
"Good, we"ll do it that way," he said, and ordered the heroes to disguise themselves and disperse.
Their instructions were to spread rumours.
The next morning, tens of thousands of refugees suddenly descended on Lanfeng. When the county magistrate, Wang Dao, saw the extraordinary situation, he ordered his officers to seize several refugees and question them. They all said they had heard there would be a distribution of relief money and provisions in the city that day. Wang immediately ordered the city gates to be barred, but by then, a huge crowd of refugees had already gathered inside with many more outside. Wang sent someone to announce to the crowd that there would be no distribution of relief, but the crowds continued to grow. Beginning to feel nervous, he went personally to see the Provisions Commander Sun, who was stationed in the Stone Buddha Temple in the eastern part of the city. He asked if some of the commander"s troops could be assigned to help control the situation in the city.
"I have my orders from General Zhao," Sun replied. "Any slip-up, no matter how small, before these provisions reach the Great Army will be a capital offence. It is not that I am unwilling to help, but my responsibilities are heavy. Please forgive me, Master Wang."
Wang pleaded with him, but Sun was adament. Back on the streets, he saw the refugees creating an uproar everywhere.
Night fell, and fires started simultaneously in several parts of the city. Magistrate Wang hurriedly dispatched men to put them out, and in the confusion, an officer ran in to report.
"Master!