The sky gradually became light and Qian Long watchedthe sun rising from the east as the eunuchs laid outthe Imperial breakfast for him. It consisted of manydelicacies, but he found it difficult to swallow them.

　　With Chen and Princess Fragrance gone, he felt nervousand unsettled.

　　That day, he did not grant an audience to hisministers, and spent his time napping fitfully. Onseveral occasions, he sent guards out to search fornews, but the sky grew dark and the moon sailed upover the palace walls, and still none of them hadreturned to report.

　　He started to become extremely anxious and tried tocalm himself by staring fixedly at the desert muralson the walls of the Precious Moon Pavilion.

　　"Seeing as she likes him, she will certainly likeChinese clothes," he thought. "When they return hewill already have convinced her, so why don't I takeoff these Manchu clothes and put on something Chineseto give her a surprise?"He ordered his eunuchs to find him some, but wherewould Chinese clothes be found in the heart of theManchu court? Finally, one bright young eunuch ranover to the theatre troupe and brought back atheatrical costume, which he helped Qian Long to don.

　　Qian Long examined himself in front of a mirror, andwas delighted by his dashing appearance. Then henoticed a few white hairs amongst his whiskers andurgently ordered the young eunuch to get a pair oftweezers to pull them out.

　　Just as he was sitting with bowed head to allow theeunuch to remove the offending hairs, he heard thepatter of light footsteps behind and another eunuchannounced: "Her Highness the Empress Dowager hasarrived."Qian Long started in surprise. He looked up and sawthe Dowager's image in the mirror, her face stern andpale and full of anger.

　　"I trust you are well, Madame?" he said, hurriedlyturning to face her. He escorted her to the couchwhere she took a seat, and then dismissed the eunuchswith a wave of her hand.

　　There was a moment's silence.

　　"The slaves say you have not been well today," shebegan in a deep voice. "They said you did not holdcourt this morning and haven't eaten, so I have cometo see you.""I am better now," he replied. "It was just that I atesomething fatty which made me a little uncomfortable.

　　It was nothing. I would not have dared to havebothered Your Highness about it.""Huh! Was it Muslim fat or Chinese fat?" she said, toQian Long's consternation.

　　"I think some roast lamb I ate last night disagreedwith me," he replied.

　　"That is one of our Manchu dishes. Huh! You seem to betired of being a Manchu."Qian Long did not dare to say anything.

　　"Where is that Muslim girl?" the Empress Dowagerasked.

　　"She was in a bad mood so I sent her out with someonewho can talk some sense into her.""She has a knife, and would clearly prefer to dierather than give in to you. What use is there ingetting someone to talk to her? Who did you send?"Qian Long noticed anxiously how close her questioningwas becoming.

　　"An old guard officer, surnamed Bai," he replied.

　　The Dowager looked up and let the silence hang for amoment. Then she laughed coldly. "You are the Emperor,the master of all under heaven. You can do whateveryou like, and concoct whatever lies you like, too."Qian Long knew the eyes and ears of the Dowager weremany and guessed he probably would not be able todeceive her about this affair. "The other person Isent with the girl," he answered quietly, "was ascholar I met in the south, who is very learned...""It's someone from the Chen family of Haining, isn'tit?" the Dowager's voice rasped out sharply.

　　Qian Long hung his head, not daring to utter a sound.

　　"No wonder you've put on Chinese clothes. Why haven'tyou killed me yet?" Her voice had become even harsher.

　　Qian Long knelt down in fright and began kowtowingfrantically.

　　"May I be damned by Heaven and Earth if I have beenunfilial in any way," he said.

　　The Dowager flicked up the long sleeves of her gownand walked out. Qian Long rushed after her, thenstopped when he realised he was still wearing theChinese costume. To be seen wearing such clothes wouldnot do at all, so he hurriedly changed back into hisusual gown and rushed out after the Dowager. He foundher in a side room of the Martial Hero Pavilion.

　　"Please don't be angry, Madame," he pleaded. "I havecommitted some errors and would willingly accept yourcriticism.""Why have you called that man Chen into the palaceseveral days running?" she asked coldly. "And whathappened in Haining?" Qian Long hung his head and wassilent.

　　"Do you really intend to restore the Chinese style ofdress?" she shrieked. "Are you going to kill every oneof us Manchus?""Please don't listen to the nonsense spouted byservants," he replied, his voice shaking. "How could Iplan to do such a thing?""How do you intend to deal with............