Whereupon he invited Ma Tʻêng to go into the room where the others were seated and then showed him the decree. As Ma read it his hair stood on end, he ground his teeth and bit his lips till the blood came. “When you move, remember the whole force of my army is ready to help,” said he. Tung Chʻêng introduced him to the other conspirators and then the pledge was produced and Ma Tʻêng was told to sign his name. He did so, at the same time smearing the blood as a sign of the oath and saying, “I swear to die rather than betray this pledge.” Pointing to the five he said, “We require ten for this business and we can accomplish our design.” “We cannot get many true and loyal men. One of the wrong sort will spoil all,” said Tung Chʻêng. Ma Tʻêng told them to bring in the list of officials. He read on till he came to the name Liu, of the Imperial clan, when clapping his hands he cried, “Why not consult him?” “Whom?” cried they altogether. Ma Tʻêng very slowly and deliberately spoke his name. To a very trusty servant comes an Emperor’s decree, And a scion of the ruling house can prove his loyalty. If the reader turns to the next chapter he will see who was Ma Tʻêng’s hero. CHAPTER XXI. TSʻAO TSʻAO DISCUSSES HEROES: KUAN YU SLAYS CHʻÊ CHOU. “Who is it?” was the question on the lips of the conspirators. Ma Tʻêng’s reply was, “The Governor of Yüchow, Liu Pei. He is here and we will ask him to help.” “Though he is an uncle of the Emperor, he is at present a partizan of our enemy, and he will not join.” “But I saw something at the hunt,” said Ma Tʻêng. “When Tsʻao Tsʻao advanced to acknowledge the congratulations due to the Emperor, Yüan-tê’s sworn brother Kuan Yü was behind him, and grasped his sword as if to cut down Tsʻao Tsʻao. However, Yüan-tê signed to him to hold his hand and he did. He would willingly destroy Tsʻao, only he thinks his teeth and claws are too many. You must ask him and he will surely consent.” Here Wu Shih urged caution. “Do not go too fast,” said he. “Let us consider the thing most carefully.” They dispersed. Next day after dark Tung Chʻêng went to Liu Pei’s lodging taking with him the decree. As soon as he was announced Yüan-tê came to greet him and led him into a private room where they could talk freely. The two younger brothers were there as well. “It must be something unusually important that has brought you here to-night,” said Pei. “If I had ridden forth by daylight, Tsʻao might have suspected something so I came by night.” Wine was brought in and while they were drinking Tung Chʻêng said, “Why did you check your brother the other day at the hunt when he was going to attack Tsʻao Tsʻao?” Yüan-tê was startled and said, “How did you know?” “Nobody noticed but I saw.” Yüan-tê could not prevaricate and said, “It was the presumption of the man that made my brother so angry; he could not help it.”