The Ruse of the Dowager Empress

First published as Part 7 of Underground History in Pearson's (UK&US), Jan 1904 and in Secret Service Stories, Apr 1928. Story 7 of 12 contained in the collection Secret History of To-Day
V is hired to travel to China to meet with the Dowager Empress. Her task for him was a daring one. During the Boxer Rebellion, the German ambassador had been killed. Germany sent a military detachment to get revenge. One demand was that a member of the royal family travel to Berlin to personally apologize. The Empress was sending an impostor, a barber who resembled one of the Princes and V was employed to go along and make sure the ruse worked.