Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/341

RV 336 (VICTORY) order that all this should not perish from this earth?"

"Why," she said, confused, "what sacrifice of mine could in any way help my people?"

"The troops have mutinied."

"You've already told us that!" burst out Ming Huang impatiently.

But the low tone of Kao's voice did not change. "They refuse to go on."

"By what right?" thundered the Emperor.

"If they desert, what will happen to China?" asked Yang Kuei-fei.

"Our Beloved Emperor may never mount his throne again," replied Kao. "The T'ang Dynasty will come to an end, and An Lu-shan may force his rule on all China. He already has conquered Loyang and proclaimed himself Emperor of the Great Yen Dynasty."

Ming Huang sighed, but his anger had melted away. He was well aware of the peril of his position.

Yang Kuei-fei felt the cold breath of peril that filled the air. Nevertheless, she forced herself to whisper, "What do they wish of me?"

"As the price of going on, they demand—"

Ming Huang leaned forward. "Speak on!" he said. He, too, felt the ominous something, the dreadful murmuring that filled the night silence.

"That you order the death of Yang Kuei-fei!" Kao blurted out the dire words as though he had difficulty drawing them from his throat.

Yang Kuei-fei, her face bloodless, cowered in her chair, struck speechless by the enormity of the RV 336 (336)