When Vandhiyathevan saw the younger Pazhuvertaraiyar, he stopped fighting and walked towards him. The guards got up and ran and caught him. Without paying the slightest attention to them, he walked four steps forward and said, "Commander! You came at a good time. These pakka thieves not only stole my possessions, but also tried to kill me! Is this how a guest is treated? Is this the Thanjavur tradition? I am not only your guest, but also the emperor's guest; You heard what the empress said! The messenger who brought the letter from the crown prince. What will those who make me suffer like this not do to others? I wonder why they have such thieves as their servants. We will immediately put such thieves on the stake in our throat region and see the next thing!"
Pazhuvertaraiyar's wonder at the young man's heroic act of defeating three soldiers at the same time had not left Pazhuvertaraiyar's mind. He was tempted to enlist such a soldier in our garrison. So, he said in a calm voice, "Wait! Younger brother! Wait! I don't think they would have done that! I will interrogate them!"
"That's what I demand! Inquire of them; Investigate and deliver justice! Please arrange for my clothes and belongings to come back to me!" said Vallavarayan.
"Oh! Leave that child and come like this! What did I say? What did you do? Why did you lay your hands on him?" asked the fort commander angrily.
"Lord! We did as you said. We baptized him with oil and clothed him in new clothes and ornaments. We served delicious food. We brought him to the picture hall! He spent some time looking at the paintings in the picture hall. Suddenly he thought and asked for his old clothes. He immediately started attacking us!" said one of the soldiers.
"Did you fall with three thugs on a small child?" he said and looked up in a pool of blood.
"Master! We wondered if he was a palace guest. Now give some permission; We'll get him out of the job right away."
"Enough of your heroism! Stop! Younger brother!... What do you mean?"
"I'm just saying give them permission. Give me permission too. It had been some time since I had fought with the enemies of the Chola tribe. Shoulders twitch. I will teach them how to treat palace guests!" said our soldier.
The younger Pazhuvertaraiyar smiled and said, "Brother! Keep your shoulder to the Chola enemies! When the emperor is ill, orders are that such fighting and bustling inside the Thanjai fortress will not help!"
"Then tell them to bring me my clothes and belongings at once!"
"Where are they?"
"Master! We have preserved it at your behest."
"Commander! See how they flinch! They said they had just washed their clothes. Now they say they were told to 'keep it safe'. If they go a little later, they will even give themselves a stolen title!" said Vandhiyathevan.
The commander looked at the guards and said, "Fools! Didn't I just tell you to give this child new clothes? I didn't say anything about the old ones?... What are these fools talking about, brother? By the way, why are you so worried about old clothes? Did you have any superior stuff in it?"
"Yes; I had gold coins for the passage ..." Before Vandhiyathevan could say, "Don't worry about that. I will give you as much gold as you want for the passage!" said Pazhuvertaraiyar.
"Commander! I am Prince Karikalar's messenger. I don't have the habit of extending my hand to others and taking money..."
"Then I will have your clothes and the gold coins in them returned to you. Don't bother! There's nothing else in your dress, is there?"
Vallavaraiyan thought for a moment. The younger Pazhuvertaraiyar also saw that hesitation.
"There's something else important in my half-wrap dress. I don't think your men touched it. If they were touched, they were lost..."
"Aha! How angry do you get? You forget where and to whom you are speaking. I forgive you for being a child; What is that kind of thing?"
"Commander! That's not to say. It's a private matter!"
"There cannot be any privacy in the Thanjai fortress that I do not know!"
"A private matter entrusted to me by Prince Karikalar."
"The prince is the hero of the North. His authority will go north of Palar. The power of the emperor will go here."
"Commander! Wherever the tiger flag flies it is the emperor's authority. What's the doubt about that?"
"That is why I say that there can be no secret within this fortress that I do not know. It is for the emperor's well-being!"
"Commander! The Chola empire owes a debt of gratitude to you and the elder Pazhuvertaraiyar for carefully protecting the emperor. Today I heard the emperor praising you. Didn't the emperor say that Yama is hesitating to enter the Thanjai fortress because he is afraid of you? What a meaningful word that is!"
"Yes, brother! If we hadn't brought the emperor here from Pazhaiyarai and kept him under control, I don't know what would have happened all these days. It may be that the intention of the Pandya Nadu conspirators has been fulfilled."
"Ah! You say the same thing! Then what I heard must be true!"
"What did you hear?"
"I have heard that there is a conspiracy against the emperor, and another against the emperor's sons."
The younger Pazhuvertaraiyar bit his lip with his thunderbolt teeth. He realized that he had failed all this time in talking to this little ignorant boy. He had almost answered his accusations. So he wanted to cut the speech to that.
"Why do you care? We are here to break all conspiracies and protect the Chola tribe. State your request. You want your old clothes; That's it!"
"I want my old clothes too; I want the stuff that was inside them."
"You still haven't told me what they are!"
"I'll tell you if I have to. Its responsibility lies with you. Apart from the one the prince had given to the emperor; he had given me another letter ..."
"Another one! To whom? You didn't tell me!"
"I didn't say it because it was private; I tell you because you insist on it now. The prince gave a letter to the junior stateswoman Kundavai Devi of Pazhaiyarai..."
"Oho! In that case, you cannot go to Kanji immediately with the face that the emperor gives you tomorrow. What is the urgency now for the prince to send a letter to the junior stateswoman?"
"Commander! I don't read letters written to others. I have no objection to you reading this as you read the emperor's letter. That responsibility is yours. It is enough if the gold and leaf from my garment are not stolen."
"Don't be afraid of that. I will see and bring it myself," said the younger Pazhuvertaraiyar and walked away. Vandhiyathevan followed him. When the commander of the fortress saw with his eyes, five or six soldiers with spears came and stood in the way of the door. Vandhiyathevan stood there, thinking that there was no advantage in fighting with them.
In a little while the younger Pazhuvertaraiyar returned. Behind him, a man brought Vandhiyathevan's old clothes as if he were carrying a tray.
"Brother! Here are your clothes, safe. Check it well!" said the fort commander.
That's how Vandhiyathevan experimented. There were more gold coins in the halfcircle than he had. There was also a letter to be delivered to Kundavai Devi. How did you get more gold coins? How did he get the letter that did not exist when he first searched? It must have been caught by the younger Pazhuvertaraiyar. He must have reinserted the letter when he came back after seeing it! Why did he do this? Why does he have so many gold coins? This is a wicked man! He doesn't know how he's going to test himself! You have to be very careful with him. Don't be fooled!
"Is everything all right, brother? All the gold and things you brought?" asked the younger Pazhuvertaraiyar.
"I'll tell you here," said Vandhiyathevan and counted the gold coins. He took out the excess coins and placed them separately in front of Pazhuvertaraiyar and said, "Commander! I am born in the Varnar tribe; Athitha Karikalar's messenger; Others do not covet wealth!"
"I admire your honesty. But you can keep it for your passage! When would you like to leave? Are you leaving today? Or are you going to stay tonight and rest and see the old man?" asked the commander.
"I intend to stay here tonight and have darshan of the elder Pazhuvertaraiyar. But just tell your men; Don't touch my things!" — Saying this, Vandhiyathevan took out the excess gold coins and kept them in the cloth roll.
"I am very happy. You won't have any more trouble here. Whatever you want, you can ask and receive freely."
"Commander! I want to see this Thanjai city. Let's see, shall we?"
"Let's take a look. Here they two will come with you and show you all the places inside the fort. In the evening, they will close the fortress gates! Once you go out, you can't come back at night. You can roam around the fort as you wish!" — Having said this, the younger Pazhuvertaraiyar called two new men to his side and said something to them. Vandhiyathevan guessed what he had said.