Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/350

RV 345 (VICTORY) Kuei-fei; to make her his Empress, and where was she now? Would he ever see her again?

He went into the Palace gardens where he found Lan Jen walking somberly among his flowers, flowers he loved so much that he had refused to leave them to seek sanctuary. There could be no sanctuary for him away from his flowers.

At An Lu-shan's approach, he glanced up.

"My flowers are dying!" he cried in anguish. "Dying, because Yang Kuei-fei is dead."

An Lu-shan gripped him by the throat and shook him until his eyes bulged and his throat rattled.

"You lie!" he cried. "You lie! Yang Kuei-fei is not dead!"

When he released him, Lan Jen sank to the ground.

"Listen to the voice in the wind," he gasped. "Can you not hear? Yang Kuei-fei is dead and my flowers are dying of grief."

An Lu-shan turned away, a conqueror in anguish. His Empress was dead, killed by the force of his ambition.

Early the next morning, he drew his troops together with difficulty and set out on the return journey to Loyang. And though he did not know it, the backbone of the rebellion was broken. Mighty armies were rallying to the defense of T'ang. But equally important to the welfare of the Empire was the anguish of An Lu-shan. It was so extreme, he had little heart left for hollow conquest.

Some of the soldiers were so laden down with RV 345 (345)