Prince Thomas sent a telegram: "Prince Thomas calls His Majesty, top secret, urgent. Lin Yuan has already stated bluntly: Siam will either return to China or continue to support the British, and Lin Yuan has hinted that if Siam continues to support the British, there will be a disaster of war. Lin Yuan asked us to give a reply within 24 hours and return quickly. ”

Prince Doma sent the telegram at 10 p.m. Beijing time, Bangkok time was an hour behind Beijing time, Bangkok time was 9 p.m. at this time, Chulalongkorn was reading a book, he would spare an hour every day to read, he used to read English literary works - "Pride and Prejudice" and "Hamlet" and so on, but today he is reading the English version of "Dream of the Red Chamber".

Chulalongkorn didn't know much about Chinese culture, "Dream of Red Mansions" was a little deep for him, and he couldn't understand it very well, at this time, the attendant came to Chulalongkorn with a secret telegram and said: "Your Majesty, Prince Doma is calling. ”

Chulalongkorn took the secret telegram, read it twice, and thought to himself: "Will we continue to support Britain, or will we return to China?" It is true that China is stronger than Britain, and the defeat of the British Far East Fleet by the Chinese fleet is a clear proof of this, but I don't know much about China. Also, Siam has been following the example of Britain for decades, and now it is fully turning to China, will it have a huge social and economic impact? ”

Chulalongkorn threw down the Dream of Red Mansions and paced around the room, the names "China" and "Britain" occupied his mind, and twenty minutes passed, and Chulalongkorn still did not speak, at which time the waiter whispered: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty is still waiting for you to answer." ”

Chulalongkorn stopped and said, "Call back, top secret, urgent." Would His Royal Highness the Prince please make a decision to return to China, or continue to support the British? ”

The attendant agreed and turned to go out, Chulalongkorn only felt his heart "thump" and beat vigorously, and an indescribable anxiety and worry welled up in his heart, which was very similar to the feeling he felt when he was forced to cede Laos, he touched the fast-acting heart-saving pill designed and manufactured by China in his pocket, and felt a little closer to China.

Half an hour passed, Prince Doma did not call back, Chulalongkorn knew that Prince Doma was also in trouble, forty-five minutes later, the attendant came in and said, "Your Majesty, the prince returns ......"

Chulalongkorn snatched the telegram without waiting for the attendant to finish speaking, only to see that it read: "Prince Doma calls His Majesty, top secret, special urgency." I think it's better to go back to China. ”

Chulalongkorn stared at the telegram, and after a long time said to the attendant: "Call back, top secret, urgent." Agree to return to China, and ask His Majesty the Prince to discuss with Lin Yuan about the matters after the return. ”

The attendant wrote down Chulalongkorn's words on the telegram book, and then handed the telegram to Chulalongkorn, who read it, then signed his name at the end, stamped his seal, and said, "Go and send the telegram." ”

The attendant nodded, turned around and walked out of the monastery, the telegraph room was on the west side of the monastery, but he went to the east side, and came to the gate of the monastery, the guards knew him, he greeted the guards with a smile, and then walked out, walked two hundred meters to the east, and stopped in front of a beautiful building, and the plaque at the main entrance of the building clearly read: Provisional Embassy of the British Empire in Siam.

The attendant came to the door and said directly to the guard: "Please contact the British Empire's ambassador to Siam, Siam's military adviser, Mr. Barclay." ”

The guard asked, "What's your name?" ”

The squire said, "My name is 'Victory.'" ”

The guard looked through the reservation form in the duty room, shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, your name is not on the reservation form, please make an appointment before visiting Wèn." ”

The squire smiled, "Please report my name to Mr. Barclay, please." As he spoke, the squire took a wad of pounds from his pocket and shoved it into the guard's hand, who put the money in his pocket and said, "I'll help you relay it." After the guard finished speaking, he walked into the duty room, and said in a short time, "Mr. Barclay asked me to take you to meet him." ”

The squire soon saw Barclay, who asked, "What's the matter with coming to me so late?" ”

The attendant did not speak, but handed the telegram signed and stamped by Chulalongkorn to Barclay, who read the telegram and asked, "Can this telegram be delayed for two hours?" ”

The attendant said, "Two hours, no problem." ”

Barclay said, "You go back now with this telegram and delay it for two hours." After Barclay finished speaking, he picked up the pen, brushed and wrote something on a piece of paper, then tore off the paper, handed it to the attendant, and said, "This is a check for fifty thousand pounds, and I will give you the other half after the deed, and then I will send you and your family to England." ”

The attendant took the check, put it on his body and hid it, walked out of the British embassy quickly, returned to the monastery, and did not go to the telegraph office, but went directly to Chulalongkorn, and said: "Your Majesty, the telegram has been sent. ”

Chulalongkorn asked, "Why is it taking longer than usual this time?" ”

The attendant replied: "There is some malfunction of the transmitter, I will help to repair it, so it took some time, Your Majesty, it is not early now, please go and sleep for a while, Dr. Charles of the Church of England Hospital said, your heart needs you to rest more." ”

Chulalongkorn nodded and said, "Yes, then I'll go to rest, Prince Doma has news, you should notify me immediately." ”

The attendant agreed and said, "Your Majesty, I will personally be on the night shift tonight, so you can rest assured." ”

Chulalongkorn smiled, returned to the bedroom at the back, didn't even take off his clothes, lay on the bed and fell asleep, I don't know how much time passed, only heard a commotion outside, he turned over and got out of bed, walked to the door, the closer to the door, the louder the noise, he opened the bedroom door, and asked loudly, "What's the matter?" ”

No one answered, and the attendant didn't know where to go, but at this moment, a middle-aged man in military uniform walked in, and Chulalongkorn was stunned when he saw this middle-aged man, because he was the commander-in-chief of the Siam front, his own brother, Prince Aida.

Chulalongkorn asked, "Brother, you are not on the front line to command the battle?" How did you get back? ”

Prince Aida smiled and said, "Brother, you are going to sell Siam to China!" How could I not come back? ”

Chulalongkorn frowned and asked, "How do you know?" ”

Prince Aida sneered and said, "This matter is so big, how can I not know? ”

Chulalongkorn was wondering, only to hear a cold voice sounding outside: "Your Majesty, our British Empire is not kind to your country, why did your country betray us?" ”