In the morning, the first news we hear is that during the night General Tao’s men intercepted a small force approaching the Palace wall with ropes and grappling hooks.  Our guess about a rescue attempt was correct.  All the men were from the north-east.  According to one of the prisoners taken, they've been in touch with Xu Yating using messenger-pigeons.  I mutter a swear-word, remembering the flocks of pigeons we disturbed yesterday.

As darkness starts to lift, we get ready.  Silent men dressed in black have piled brushwood at the foot of the tower and Shao Ru’s ready with fire-arrows and battering rams.  Kong Guanyu has reappeared, smiling smugly.  Duan Bai and I are waiting outside the wall with our eight companions and a box of snakes.  We don’t know how many people will be in the upper chamber but we’re counting on surprise and the snakes to give us an advantage.

Several ladders are propped side by side against the wall.  We have torches.  By their fitful light, the engineers haul the first bridging ladder up the wall, balance it on the top and start the tricky job of manoeuvering it across the gap.  Muttered curses come from above as we watch anxiously from down below.  There are ropes attached to the ladder in case it falls, but they’re not needed.  On the third attempt, it drops perfectly into place.

“You’re on, Ah-Ping,” I say.

“I could take the snakes,” he suggests.

“Good lad.”

We strap the box to his back and he goes up to the top of the wall like a squirrel.  Then he stands up, one foot testing the very narrow bridge.

“What the fuck’s he doing?” someone says above.

I climb to the top of the wall just in time to see Ah-Ping reach the end of the ladder, walking upright with total confidence.  He jumps down lightly, scaring the guard-tower pigeons into taking flight again, their wings clapping in panic.  The parapet’s about waist-high.  Ah-Ping unstraps the box of snakes and gestures triumphantly. 

“Fuck me,” says the Chief Engineer, perched on the ladder next to mine, “He went across like he was walking down the road.  Never seen anything like it.  You lot, get that second ladder up here.”

They’ve got the knack now, so the second ladder drops into place easily.  Ah-Ping lashes them together at his end and we do the same at ours.  First problem overcome.  The light’s growing.

I can’t say I’m looking forward to what comes next.  I’ve a good head for heights, but I’ve never done anything like this before.  Duan Bai appears on the ladder next to mine.  “Forget your pride,” he says.  “Get across on all fours.  Don’t look down, look straight ahead.”

In fact, the two ladders together are reassuringly wide and solid, so after a hesitant start, I manage to find a rhythm.  I look straight ahead at Ah-Ping’s encouraging gestures at the other end.  But it’s with relief that I find my feet on the solid stone of the roof.  A few moments later, Duan Bai lands beside me, agile as a cat.  The others follow, one at a time.  Second problem sorted.

Someone on the wall waves a lantern as a signal to Shao Ru that we’ve all made it across.  In the meanwhile, I’m investigating the trapdoor.  It’s square, strong, made of rough planks.  Lamp-light’s filtering from below through the gaps between the planks and round the edge of the trapdoor, which opens outwards, judging by a stout metal ring bolted to the outside.

The sun’s rising now.  Suddenly down below, a shower of fire-arrows whizzes across the gap between Shao Ru’s cover and the tower.  The brushwood flares up immediately, creating a thick cloud of smoke.  Fire-arrows head for the upper windows again.  Many of them bounce off the bars, but a fair number are getting through into the building.  We can hear faint shouts of alarm coming from within.

Then what we’re hoping for happens.  Feet pound up the stairs, the bolt shoots back with a crash and the trapdoor’s thrown up as a soldier emerges.  The alarm on his face turns to open-mouthed surprise when he sees us, but he gets no time to shout as Duan Bai knifes him in the ribs and throws him over the parapet.  Another man follows and meets the same fate, but he manages to shout a warning to the people inside.

“Snakes,” I snap to Ah-Ping and with a grin, he knocks the lock off the snake-box and tips the contents down the stairs.  The cries of alarm take on a new note, and a woman starts to scream.  Xu Yating’s in the upper chamber.

“Follow me!” I order, and down the stairs we plunge.

The room seems full of people.  The air's unpleasantly stale after the freshness outside.  There’s a table and chairs, with bedding piled back against the wall.  Spent fire-arrows smoulder on the floor.  Half a dozen Imperial Guards are slashing at the snakes, cursing, completely distracted.  We make short work of them. 

“Secure the door,” I shout.  Duan Bai leaps to obey, slamming the heavy bar into place.  Through the barred windows come the sound of men shouting and the heavy thud of battering rams.  Shao Ru’s attacking. 

Someone cries “Look out!” and I spin in time to see one of my men go down, followed swiftly by another. 

“Fall back,” I yell, and they back off hastily.  For a moment, no-one moves.

A woman’s pressed against the wall, her hands spread out to either side, her eyes fierce.  Xu Yating has crimes without number stacked up against her, but for me, she’s the woman who packed Jinhai off to the King of Qiu and who sent the assassin to kill him.  I’ve never seen her before.  People like me rarely see the Emperor and Empress and only then at a distance.  I’d heard she was beautiful, but there’s no beauty left in her now.  Her face is nothing but sharp bones.  But there’s no fear there either.  Instead there’s anger, defiance and hatred.  There’s also bitter disappointment.  She was expecting rescue.  Instead, her enemies have her cornered.

Du Xun’s standing in front of her, blood on the sword-blade which is pointed at us.  He’s exchanged his eunuch’s uniform for simple black robes.  His face is less handsome than I remember.  The skin’s grey and there are pouches under his eyes.  But his expression hasn’t changed:  icy-cold, ruthless.  From his stance, it’s clear that he’s a skilled swordsman.  Two bodies at his feet bear witness to the fact.

“Stay back,” I say to my people, “I’ll handle this.  Don’t let the woman escape.”

Du Xun moves the tip of his sword up and down a little.  “Liao Shan,” he says, his tone almost conversational.  “You’ve been a stone in my shoe from the very beginning.  You were ordered to deliver the Sixth Prince to Wang Meng but instead you saved him.  Became his lover, if the rumours are true.  Well, he was always a pretty child.  I was tempted to keep him for myself.  And then you helped the Third Prince escape.  And now here you are again.  But this is where it ends.”

“Only for you, you bastard!”

It’s Duan Bai’s furious voice.  Shoving me aside, he throws himself at Du Xun, and sword-blades clash and spark as they engage.  I haven’t seen Duan Bai fight with a sword before.  He’s not unskilled, but he's nowhere near Du Xun’s equal.  The space is restricted by the bodies on the floor.  Du Xun’s moving smoothly, confidently.  The thought comes to me, He still thinks they can get out of here.  Xu Yating’s eyes are fixed on the fight, her breath coming fast.

Cursing to myself, I’m watching the two men narrowly, waiting for an opportunity to intervene before Duan Bai gets himself killed.  It doesn’t take long.  Du Xun presses forward, Duan Bai backs to avoid the blade and trips over one of the bodies.  He rolls to one side as Du Xun lunges, but too late.  He cries out as the sword pierces his thigh.

Now’s my chance!  I move in very fast and block Du Xun’s killing blow.  I have the advantage now.  I’ve had a chance to see how he fights.  What’s more, he’s been exerting himself and I’m fresh.  This is the man whose finger-marks were on Jinhai’s face when he came to, dazed, the first time I saw him all those months ago.  The Third Prince might want a trial for the sake of respectability, but I’m damned if I’m going along with it.  I’m going to kill this bastard. 

He knows it.  His lips clamp into a straight line, his eyes and mind focus on me entirely.  His skill’s impressive, but as our sword-blades clash again and again, it becomes clear that his physical condition's nothing like as good as mine.  He starts to sweat, his breathing becomes harsher, his reactions are slower.  As we circle round one another, I catch a glimpse of Xu Yating, watching with a look on her face which is almost feral.  They were lovers once, Li Wei said.  Perhaps they still are.

Time to end this!  The opportunity comes when he stumbles over one of the bodies of the men he has killed.  I swing in, knock his blade upwards and slash across his body.  He utters a gasping cry, drops his sword and doubles up, clutching his stomach.  Stepping back, I thrust my sword straight through his chest.  He falls to his knees as I pull out the blade, and stays there, upright.

Xu Yating makes a sound that lifts the hair on the back of my neck.  It’s as if her heart’s been ripped out.  Then without warning, fast as one of the snakes, she makes for the stairs and rushes up to the roof unopposed.  The ladders are still in place, she might escape.  I dash up the stairs after her, but she seems to have no intention of getting away.  She turns at the parapet and faces me.  Her voice is hoarse.  “He was the only person who stayed loyal to me.  Even my brother abandoned me.  But not Du Xun.  He mutilated himself so he could follow me here.  We were going to be married.  Instead I had to fight for my life in this filthy prison of a Palace, bearing children to a man I hated.  And now you've killed him.”

“You killed your own sons.  And other women’s sons.”

“It was my revenge.  Our revenge.”

“It's over now.  Give yourself up.”

“Never,” she says.  She lifts herself up so she’s sitting on the parapet.  “I’ll meet him again at the Yellow Springs.  And you’ll be there too, Liao Shan.  All of you will be there.  And I’ll spit in your faces.”

She swings her legs up and then quite suddenly, she’s gone.  From down below comes the solid thwack of a body hitting the ground.  I sheathe my sword, thinking, Good riddance.

Then I realize what she’s said.  You’ll be there too, Liao Shan.  All of you will be there.

Oh fuck!

Charging down the stairs, I find myself face to face with Shao Ru and Kong Guanyu.  All our men are grinning triumphantly.  I yell at the top of my voice, “Everybody out of here, now!  Get as far away as possible.”

“Oh crap,” says Shao Ru, understanding immediately.  He rushes out and I hear his voice thundering in the enclosed space downstairs. 

“Get out, all of you,” I yell, looking round.

Du Xun’s lying flat on the floor now.  His face has been mutilated.  Duan Bai’s sitting beside him, a bloody knife in his hand.

“Come on, get up!” I yell.

He shakes his head.  I see his pallor and the blood-stained sash tied round his thigh.  “I can’t walk,” he says, “Leave me be.”

“Bloody hell, get the fuck up!”  

Cursing, I heave him to his feet and sling his arm across my shoulders.  Together, with difficulty, we stumble down the stairs.  The ground floor’s full of smoke, bodies lying everywhere, the door in ruins.  We start out across the wide space towards safety, but Duan Bai’s no lightweight and it’s a long, long way.  My legs are losing their strength, I feel as if my muscles are going to fail me at any moment.  Then I see Shao Ru and Kong Guanyu racing towards us.  I yell at them to go back but they take no notice.  Guanyu takes Duan Bai’s weight and Shao Ru’s strong arm encircles me.  We’re running, but suddenly it’s as if I’m seized by my collar and hurled into the air.  At almost the same time there’s a sound like a giant pair of hands clapping and I’m flying, the ground’s coming up towards me, I try and protect my head with my arms and then there’s a crash and darkness.