Liang Jingwu’s face was serious.

It was only guesswork of Ning Chen’s, but with more than ten years on battlefields behind him, Liang Jingwu thought the guess very likely to come true.

Approval was in his eyes as he looked at Ning Chen. “No wonder Old General Chen says you have the makings of a great commander. That old man’s eye has never once been wrong.”

“One day here and you’ve seen all this. I can’t help admiring you for it.”

“General Ning, don’t go back to the capital at all. Stay and hold Beilin Pass with me.”

Ning Chen smiled modestly. “General Liang shouldn’t praise me. It’s only guesswork.”

Liang Jingwu said, “A general needs more than courage. He needs the sight to see a thing coming, and the sense to mend the roof before it rains.”

Ning Chen smiled. “Bold in the guess, careful in the proving… If I’m right, so much the better. If I’m wrong, no great harm.”

Liang Jingwu nodded. “That’s right… And having guessed this far, you’ll have worked out how to meet it.”

Ning Chen nodded slightly.

Then he went through his plan for Liang Jingwu.

Liang Jingwu listened and could not get a word out, and the shock was all over his face.

“Let me have a moment to steady myself. That notion of yours is a great deal too bold.”

Ning Chen gave a slight smile. “The bold eat till they burst and the timid starve… A man dies and his prick points at the sky. He doesn’t die and he lives ten thousand years. No harm in taking the gamble.”

“Win, and it’s rank and office, high place and fat pay, wives and concubines by the handful. Lose, and it’s nothing so terrible. You start over.”

Liang Jingwu looked at him, his face serious. “It’s little enough to me. The trouble is that your end of it is far too dangerous.”

Ning Chen smiled and said nothing.

He had to gamble, and he had to win… He wanted merit in the field, because there was a larger enemy waiting for him in the capital.

Without merit to shield him, there would be no settling his mother’s score. He would likely not keep his own life.

Liang Jingwu was silent a while. “All right. You’ve decided, so I’ll say no more about it.”

“Tomorrow I’ll talk it over with Supervisor Kong—”

“He can’t be told.” Ning Chen cut him off, low. “Heaven and earth know this, and you and I know it. Nobody else.”

Liang Jingwu’s brows drew together. “That’s against the rules. Lord Kong is the Army Supervisor. He has a right to know.”

Ning Chen shook his head. “Rules are dead things and men are living ones… A thousand men’s lives hang on this. Not a third person is to know.”

“But he is the Army Supervisor. Without his nod there’s no moving troops or appointing officers.”

Ning Chen said, low, “I have the imperial sword granted by His Majesty’s own hand. To see the imperial sword is to see His Majesty in person.”

It brought Liang Jingwu up short, and then he had to laugh at himself. “I was worrying over nothing. It seems you had it all planned out long ago.”

Ning Chen said, smiling, “Then we go ahead as planned, General Liang.”

Liang Jingwu nodded.

For the next few days Ning Chen was either riding about outside the pass or in the camp.

On the fourth day the thousand suits he had asked for were finished and carried secretly to the camp.

In the tent, Yuan Long and Qi Yuanzhong and the others were all hands and elbows trying the clothes on.

With Ning Chen’s help they got into them at last.

“Move around. See whether they bind anywhere.”

Yuan Long swung his arms around a few times, kicked out a leg, and grinned wide. “I’ll say this, they’re comfortable. A good deal lighter than armor.”

“But the stuff won’t wear well. One big movement and I’m afraid it tears.”

Ning Chen said, smiling, “They were never meant to be worn long. Ten days, half a month at the most.”

Ning Chen told them to give out the rest to the men and keep it as quiet as they could.

That day Liang Jingwu came hurrying to find him.

“Word has just come from the scouts. Sixty miles out there’s a body of Tuoluo horse riding for Beilin Pass. A thousand or so.”

Ning Chen asked quickly, “Any sign of a main force?”

Liang Jingwu shook his head. “Nothing from the scouts yet.”

Ning Chen thought about it a long while. Then his eyes settled, as though he had made up his mind to something.

“We go ahead as planned.”

It startled Liang Jingwu. “Are you sure? If the guess is wrong, you may none of you come back at all.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait for more word from the scouts?”

Ning Chen let his breath out hard. “If I’m going to gamble, I’ll gamble it to the end… I trust my own judgment.”

“And if the gamble is wrong, I’ll pull back at once. I won’t risk the men’s lives on it.”

“If we wait for the Tuoluo army to arrive before we move, I’m afraid we’ll be too late.”

Liang Jingwu nodded slightly. “Take great care, then.”

Ning Chen made a sound of assent, then sent for Chen Chong.

“Old Chen. I have an important job for you.”

“What job?”

“Take the imperial sword and take men, and watch Kong Yongchun close for me. The whole Supervisor’s residence. Let men in and nobody out. Not one fly gets out of there.”

It struck Liang Jingwu dumb.

“General Ning, surely there’s no need for that.”

Ning Chen said, “A thousand men’s lives hang on this. There’s nothing else I can do.”

Chen Chong broke into a wide grin. “Has the little shit done something, then?”

“Don’t ask. I’ll tell you later.”

“You got it. The little shit had us drinking the northwest wind two hours last time… Let’s see how high he carries himself now.”

Chen Chong went off in high spirits, and came running back a moment later. “Ning Chen. What if Kong Yongchun insists on forcing his way out?”

“Is the imperial sword I gave you an ornament? If he tries to force his way out, break his legs.”

“And if he crawls out?”

“Cut him down.”

“You got it.”

Chen Chong went off in a streak and was gone.

The corner of Liang Jingwu’s mouth twitched, and he looked at Ning Chen with a good deal going on behind his eyes.

Ning Chen looked back at him and showed his teeth in a smile. “Don’t worry, General Liang… If anything comes of it, I’ll carry it alone.”

“All right. Let’s get moving.”

Late that night Ning Chen went to the camp, and before long he was out of the town with his thousand picked troops.

Outside the walls, the moment they set foot on snow, Ning Chen had every man change into the white camouflage.

The thousand left their spears behind and carried only their service swords, muskets, crossbows, food and water.

They went fast over the snow like ghosts.

Ning Chen kept sending scouts ahead to see what lay in front of them.

“Ning Chen. What is it we’re actually doing?”

Curiosity got the better of Feng Qizheng, and he asked it.

Pan Yucheng and Yuan Long and the rest badly wanted to know too.

Ning Chen dropped his voice. “A surprise attack on the North Royal Court.”

That one sentence froze every face there. They stared at him and could not get a word out.

Ning Chen looked at them with narrowed eyes and a smile. “What is it?”

Feng Qizheng asked, with great care, “You’re joking. Aren’t you?”

Ning Chen looked at him and said nothing.

Feng Qizheng’s face changed. “You mean it? Ning Chen, have you lost your mind?”

“Do you know how far the North Royal Court is from here? All right, say we can even get there… what is this handful of us supposed to do?”

Ning Chen said, smiling, “I know the North Royal Court is a thousand miles off. I’ve worked it out. At the pace we go, ten days at best and fifteen at worst and we’re there.”

Feng Qizheng said, “Never mind the rest of it… will the food we’re carrying last that long? I’m afraid we starve to death on the road before we ever reach the place.”

Ning Chen said, smiling, “Rest easy, I’ve worked that out too… What the men are carrying is enough for seven days. Sparingly, ten is no trouble at all.”

“I looked into it beforehand. There’s no shortage of food along this road. Snow mice, hares, foxes, wolves… all of it is food for us.”

“As for water, there’s even less to worry about. A handful of snow will do.”

(End of Chapter 158)