“Commander Nie. Where is the place they do the refining?”

Ning Chen asked it.

“In the inner court. The Tower of Immortal Cloud.”

“Go!”

They left a part of their men to hold the people of the outer court, and the rest of them charged into the inner court.

A great hall, vermilion-lacquered and gold-roofed, magnificent and grand, came into Ning Chen’s view.

The board above it read Tower of Immortal Cloud.

This was where the refining was done.

“What is it you think you are doing?”

Just as they were about to charge in, an old man appeared in a Daoist robe, his hair and beard streaked with gray, with the bones of a sage and the air of an immortal about him.

Nie Liang said to Ning Chen, “This is the Grand Immortal Master of the Elixir Bureau. Every pill His Majesty takes comes from his hand.”

Ning Chen said oh.

Nie Liang took a step forward. “Grand Immortal Master. We are going to search the Tower of Immortal Cloud.”

The Grand Immortal Master’s face was perfectly calm. He had the manner of a sage from beyond the world.

He said mildly, “Commander Nie. What has happened, that this immortal master’s Tower of Immortal Cloud must be searched?”

“Forgive me, I can’t tell you. When we have finished our search, the Grand Immortal Master will be given an account of it in due course.”

The Grand Immortal Master made a cold sound in his nose. “Commander Nie. The Tower of Immortal Cloud is where the immortal vapors gather. This immortal master is at this moment refining pills for His Majesty and the furnace has not yet been opened… Every one of you carries a foul air about him, and if the quality of the elixirs suffers by it, can you answer for that?”

“You mean to search the Tower of Immortal Cloud? Have you an imperial edict?”

The Grand Immortal Master was certain they had none.

If they had an edict, would Nie Liang be standing here explaining himself at such length? He would simply have produced it.

The Grand Immortal Master’s eyes came to rest on Geng Jing, and he frowned. “Has the Inspectorate not stretched its hand rather far?”

“Without an order from His Majesty you force your way into the Elixir Bureau. Am I to take it you mean to rebel?”

“Those three words, Tower of Immortal Cloud, were written by His Majesty’s own brush and given by his own hand. I should like to see who dares—”

He had not finished when he saw a boy in a silver coat unhook the saber at his waist, walk up to him in long strides, and swing the thing up and bring it down flat on his head.

Bang!!!

The Grand Immortal Master gave one scream and clutched his head, everything going black in front of him, and staggered on his feet and very nearly went down.

Ning Chen came forward and put a kick in on top of it, and knocked the Grand Immortal Master flat on the ground.

“What are you yapping about? Going on and on.”

Nie Liang, Geng Jing, Pan Yucheng and the rest of them were struck stupid, every one of them.

A Grand Immortal Master given his place by His Majesty’s own hand, and Ning Chen had not even waited for the man to finish his sentence before kicking him off his feet.

What astonished them more was that the Grand Immortal Master, with his bones of a sage and his air of an immortal, was holding his belly with one hand and pointing at Ning Chen with the other, cursing him for all he was worth:

“God damn it… you little son of a rabbit, you dare hit me? Do you know who I am? I am His Majesty’s own appointed—”

And Ning Chen was hardly the man to stand about waiting for somebody to finish cursing him. He swung the saber up and set about him with it.

“You swindling old fake holy man. I’ll teach you to curse me, I’ll teach you to curse me—”

He beat the Grand Immortal Master until he was rolling all over the ground, screaming and screaming.

Geng Jing coughed. “Ning Chen. The business first.”

Only then did Ning Chen stop.

“Old Feng. Watch him… If he tries to run, take him apart with the saber.”

Feng Qizheng nodded.

Then the rest of them charged the Tower of Immortal Cloud.

Ning Chen stopped short and called back to Feng Qizheng, “Check him. See whether he’s got a poison tooth in his mouth.”

Feng Qizheng grunted and pinched the Grand Immortal Master’s mouth open.

He looked it over, then shook his head at Ning Chen to say there was no poison tooth.

Ning Chen frowned. That was strange. That Immortal Master Qiu had a poison tooth in his mouth, and this old fake holy man had none.

“Old Feng. Check it more carefully.”

Feng Qizheng had nothing to say to that. “If there were a poison tooth, you’d see it at a glance.”

“Pull them out and check. The light’s bad just now. What if you missed it? Better to be careful.”

The corner of Feng Qizheng’s mouth twitched slightly. “Understood!”

“The boy can be taught!”

Ning Chen split his mouth in a grin, turned his head and went into the Tower of Immortal Cloud… and behind him rose the sound of the Grand Immortal Master screaming like a pig on the block.

In the Hall of Cultivated Heart, the Xuan Emperor was leaning back on a couch, going through memorials.

The Xuan Emperor was a hardworking emperor.

Eunuch Quan had reminded him several times already to have a care for his health. His Majesty had fainted the night before and had only woken that morning, and had slept a while during the day, and his body had still not come right.

But the Xuan Emperor answered him with his mouth and did not stop with his hands.

Eunuch Quan’s face was full of worry.

Just then a young eunuch came in on tiptoe and dropped to his knees.

“Reporting to Your Majesty. Something has happened at the Elixir Bureau.”

The Xuan Emperor started. The Elixir Bureau was where his elixirs were refined, and he had always thought a great deal of it.

“What has happened?”

The young eunuch said, shaking as he spoke, “Commander Nie, and Lord Geng, have taken the Inspectorate’s men and arrested every man in the Elixir Bureau.”

The Xuan Emperor went blank all at once, at something of a loss.

Eunuch Quan was struck dumb as well!

The Inspectorate had no authority inside the palace at all, and even where it did, it had to have His Majesty’s consent.

Now the Inspectorate had gone around His Majesty and taken the men of the Elixir Bureau… Was this rebellion?

The Xuan Emperor was very angry, but he was not alarmed.

In the first place, he believed in Geng Jing’s loyalty and in Nie Liang’s.

If those two meant to rebel, they would certainly have come for him, and not for the Elixir Bureau.

They must have found something.

The Xuan Emperor said heavily, “Quan Sheng. Order the carriage to the Elixir Bureau.”

“Yes!”

In the inner palace, the Hibiscus Palace, the Empress’s own bedchamber.

The ornaments on the table and the tea bowls had all been swept onto the floor, and the place was a wreck.

That wide, flat face of the Empress’s had gone livid, and it was not good to look at.

“Qiu He, the useless thing. An opening as good as that one and he threw it away for nothing.”

“And this Ning Chen. How does he come to know these odd crafts and filthy tricks?”

“And the Left Chancellor is useless too. All this time, and he can’t deal with one small silver coat.”

Standing in front of the Empress was an old eunuch with a long thin face and a great many pockmarks on it.

“Calm your anger, Your Majesty. Your health is what matters.”

“It is as well that Immortal Master Qiu has already taken poison and killed himself. The business cannot be traced back to Your Majesty.”

“This servant has seen the Left Chancellor… The Left Chancellor’s meaning is that Ning Chen stands high in His Majesty’s favor at present, and that he is the Inspectorate’s man now, so killing him in the capital will not be easy.”

The fat on the Empress’s wide face trembled, and she said in a fury, “What does he mean by that? Am I to watch that boy jumping about wherever he likes and ask no questions?”

“Your Majesty, calm yourself. The Left Chancellor did not mean that… What he means is that Ning Chen is about to march. The men of the Tuoluo Kingdom are savage and love blood, and he has already made his arrangements. There is no possibility of Ning Chen coming back to the capital alive.”

The Empress was silent a while, and then a snarling smile came onto that wide face.

“That reminds me. Go and tell the Grand Immortal Master… Have him wipe Qiu He’s backside clean. Nothing is to be left lying about that anyone can get a hold of and drag this empress into.”

The old eunuch bent. “Yes. This servant will go at once.”

And just then a young eunuch came into the outer room and dropped to his knees.

The old eunuch asked from the inner room, “What is it?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty. Word has just come. Commander Nie and the Inspectorate’s men have charged into the Elixir Bureau and arrested all of the immortal masters.”

Every scrap of color went out of the Empress’s face on the instant, and her whole body swayed.

The old eunuch’s face changed too.

“Her Majesty has heard you. You may go.”

Once the young eunuch had withdrawn, the Empress could not sit still any longer. Her face was full of terror and the sweat stood out on her forehead.

“Is it— is it possible that His Majesty already knows something?”

The Empress had lost her head entirely, and her voice was shaking.

The old eunuch’s old face had gone chalk white with panic as well.

“Your Majesty, we do not know how things stand yet… At a time like this we must hold steady above all. We must on no account throw our own ranks into confusion.”

The Empress forced herself hard to be calm, and said, “Go quickly and find out. See what has actually happened.”

“Your Majesty must not be frightened. This servant goes at once.”

The old eunuch’s mouth said there was nothing to fear, but in his heart he had already been frightened past the tearing of his liver and gall… If His Majesty knew anything, then they were going to die very badly indeed.

(End of Chapter 109)