Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/296

RV 291 (AN LU-SHAN). She was proud of him, proud for the House of Yang. Now perhaps those other distant members of the clan with whom he had never been popular would alter their opinions.

She was happy, happy beyond reason, so happy that later when she was with Ming Huang, he remarked upon it. Then she told him of her conversation with An Lu-shan. The Emperor wept as he listened. It was not good to think of the perfidy of Li Lin-fu who had served the Court so long. But in face of the attitude of the two people he treasured most on earth, Yang Kuei-fei and An Lu-shan, there could be no doubt of the guilt of Li Lin-fu.

The next morning, at a meeting of the Imperial Court, the Emperor commanded that Li Lin-fu be stripped of all honors, that his coffin be cut open and exchanged for a small one that was to be buried in a common grave.

For Kuo-chung, it was a major victory, nor did he know that in the silence of his own quarters at the Palace, where there was no one to see, Ming Huang wept.

Kuo-chung, the tiger, was beginning to believe the legend that he himself had created. He looked around for new fields for conquest. His search was soon rewarded. His eunuch advisors shrewdly pointed out that for over twenty years spurious coin had been in free circulation throughout the Empire. They explained to him how he might wisely limit its circulation. RV 291 (291)