"Is here, great prince," and Nicholas presented the document to Wey-t-song, who tore open the seals, and for some minutes became lost in the perusal of its contents, after which, to the surprise of the court, he placed it beneath his vest, saying, "This letter must be for the consideration of our inner council. Youth, thy honesty and loyalty are beyond doubt, and we permit thee to name thy own reward."
"Thy slave, O prince, would ask one so great, that the greatest of thy tributaries would seek it upon his knees," was the reply, to the astonishment of the lords, who expected it would be nothing less than the hand of the princess. "No less, indeed, than a private audience," added Nicholas, which, with a smile at this novel and modest request, the Emperor granted.
"May this not be a trap, O my prince, to beguile thy person within reach of the assassin's dagger?" said the artful but baffled Li-Kong.
"The dagger to be feared by thy sovereign, base prince, is beneath thine own vest," said Nicholas.
"Dares the dog so far?" said the exasperated Li-Kong.
"Forget not thy dignity, O noble Li," said Woo-san-Kwei, touching that prince upon the shoulder, and adding, "Yet it is but just that such an assertion, made in the very presence of the Emperor, should be verified."
The Emperor came to the rescue, saying, "Open thy lips, youth, for, well as we think of thy honesty, thou hast uttered words against the noblest of our yellow girdles, which as they are true or false merit reward or punishment."
Thus challenged Nicholas fell upon his knees, and related his adventure at the palace of retirement, declaring that the two men were plotting the dethronement of the Emperor, and that the chief of the two was the Prince Li-Kong himself. At this bold and circumstantial accusation, the young Prince Yong-Li and the great lords on the steps of the throne, placed their hands upon their swords, and alternately glancing at Li-Kong and Nicholas, awaited the command of the Emperor to seize either accuser or accused. For an instant the lips of Li-Kong quivered with fear or rage, but, recovering his equanimity, he gave a signal with his hand, when a large body of military mandarins came around him, and fell upon their knees before the Emperor, when Li said, "Are the services of thy servant so soon forgotten, have the rebels been no sooner chastised, and peace restored within the empire, that the exterminator and his officers should be as mice before the words of this less than a dog? O my sovereign! let these officers be questioned, and they will prove that on the night of which the dog speaks, their general was engaged in discovering a new conspiracy among the Fan-Kwi priests."
"What words are these, O prince?" said the Emperor, whose alarm had been artfully turned in another direction. "Have we not honored these priests, even to making their chief the president of our high board of mathematics?"
"Yet such is the ingratitude of the barbarians, O my Emperor, that, in league with the outer barbarians, they seek to overthrow the empire."