Chen asked.
"Yes. I remember. You said that although they met only once a year, they still saw each other countless times more than ordinary people."
"Yes. We cannot be together forever, but the True God will make sure we meet again eventually. In the desert, and here, we have been very happy. The time has been short, but we have perhaps had more happiness than many couples who live together for decades."
She listened to his soothing voice comforting her, as the sun slowly sank towards the hills with her heart following 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 had gone down. "If only it was able to rise again, even for just a moment," she said quietly.
"It is right that I should undergo hardship for the sake 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 not love all our Muslim brothers?"
The sky was growing darker. The sun did not rise again, and a wave of coldness touched her heart.
"Let"s go back," she said. "I am very happy. My life is fulfilled."
They climbed onto the back of the white horse and started back the way they had come. They were both silent and neither turned back to look at the place of beauty they had just enjoyed.
Less than an hour"s ride later, they heard the sound of many galloping hooves in front and several dozen riders emerged out of the evening mist with Bai Zhen in the lead. His face lit up as soon as he saw Chen and Princess Fragrance, and signalling to the others to stop, he leapt off his horse and stood by the roadside. Chen did not even glance at him, but urged the white horse on even faster. Soon after, horses" hooves sounded in front once again, and the Red Flower Society heroes appeared.
"Great Helmsman!" "Leopard" Wei shouted. "We"re all here!"
** 6 **
The sky gradually became light and Qian Long watched the sun rising from the east as the eunuchs laid out the Imperial breakfast for him. It consisted of many delicacies, but he found it difficult to swallow them. With Chen and Princess Fragrance gone, he felt nervous and unsettled.
That day, he did not grant an audience to his ministers, and spent his time napping fitfully. On several occasions, he sent guards out to search for news, but the sky grew dark and the moon sailed up over the palace walls, and still none of them had returned to report.
He started to become extremely anxious and tried to calm himself by staring fixedly at the desert murals on the walls of the Precious Moon Pavilion.
"Seeing as she likes him, she will certainly like Chinese clothes," he thought. "When they return he will already have convinced her, so why don"t I take off these Manchu clothes and put on something Chinese to give her a surprise?"
He ordered his eunuchs to find him some, but where would Chinese clothes be found in the heart of the Manchu court? Finally, one bright young eunuch ran over to the theatre troupe and brought back a theatrical costume, which he helped Qian Long to don.
Qian Long examined himself in front of a mirror, and was delighted by his dashing appearance. Then he noticed a few white hairs amongst his whiskers and urgently ordered the young eunuch to get a pair of tweezers to pull them out.
Just as he was sitting with bowed head to allow the eunuch to remove the offending hairs, he heard the patter of light footsteps behind and another eunuch announced: "Her Highness the Empress Dowager has arrived."
Qian Long started in surprise. He looked up and saw the Dowager"s image in the mirror, her face stern and pale and full of anger.
"I trust you are well, Madame?"