“Ah… to think the man was snatched away the moment we had him.”

“Go back to the Inspectorate. I’ll go and take the blame to Lord Geng.”

Ning Chen sighed and went on sighing as he said it.

The others took the order and went.

Ning Chen rode back to the Ning house in the carriage.

Geng Jing and Pan Yucheng had gone to hide the man.

They had agreed to meet at the Inspectorate the next day.

Back at the Ning house Ning Chen was too tired for anything. He was asleep as soon as he was down.

But it was not a sound sleep, and he was up early. He had slept four hours in all.

Gu Yichun was back too.

“Is it done?”

Gu Yichun bowed. “This servant has delivered the young master’s words.”

Ning Chen nodded slightly, and then had Gu Yichun drive him to the Inspectorate.

At the Inspectorate Ning Chen went straight to Geng Jing’s room.

Pan Yucheng was there too.

By the look of them neither had slept all night. Their eyes were threaded with red.

“Is the man safely hidden?”

Geng Jing gave a slight nod, and then said, “Pan the Gold Coat and I went to the palace last night. We were stopped outside, the same as you.”

Ning Chen’s heart gave a lurch. So something really had happened in the palace.

Only they still did not know what it was.

Heaven help us. Let it not be anything to do with His Majesty. Ning Chen prayed it silently.

Ning Chen thought a moment. “Come on. We’ll go into the palace once more.”

Geng Jing did not say much. He only gave a nod.

He looked at Pan Yucheng. “You stay… Ning Chen and I will go in.”

Pan Yucheng grunted.

Geng Jing and Ning Chen came to the palace, and to their surprise the gates were already open.

The two of them looked at each other.

The gates were open. That should mean nothing very serious had happened.

This time the guards at the palace gate did not stop them from going in.

They got in without trouble and came to the door of the Hall of Cultivated Heart.

From some way off they could see the officials of the court, civil and military, gathered in a crowd at the door of the Hall of Cultivated Heart.

Court was over and they had not gone home but had gathered here instead… Something must have happened.

Ning Chen and Geng Jing looked at each other, and then went quickly forward.

“Lord Li, what are you all gathered here for?”

Li Hanru turned, and seeing that it was Ning Chen, said with worry in his face, “Does Ning the Silver Coat not know yet?”

“Know what?”

“His Majesty collapsed last night, and he has not woken from it since.”

The faces of both Ning Chen and Geng Jing changed on the instant.

“Lord Li, what has happened?”

Li Hanru’s whole face was worried. “This minister is not clear on the particulars either. He only learned when he came to court today that His Majesty collapsed last night… The physicians of the Imperial Physicians’ Bureau have examined him by turns and can find nothing wrong, and His Majesty still has not woken.”

Ning Chen limped toward the Hall of Cultivated Heart, leaning on his blade.

Geng Jing followed him quickly.

But the inner palace guards stopped them both at the door of the Hall of Cultivated Heart.

There was nothing in Ning Chen’s eyes but attack. “Stand aside.”

Geng Jing frowned. “I am the Inspectorate’s purple coat, and I have the right to come before the throne at any hour. Stand aside.”

Just then a thin, high voice rose. “Who is making that noise outside?”

And directly after it several figures came out of the hall.

At their head was the crown prince.

Beside the crown prince came the eunuch they had met the night before.

And Prince Fu.

Behind them, in a red skirt, was the Ninth Princess, her eyes red with crying.

Before Ning Chen could speak, the officials crowded in at once.

The Right Chancellor made his bow and asked, “Your Highness, how is His Majesty?”

The crown prince’s brows were drawn tight and his whole face was worried. “Not even the imperial physicians can find why the Father Emperor collapsed.”

The face of every official there changed.

His Majesty collapsing was no small matter. It would not only shake the court; it would leave hearts uneasy among the common people… And if an enemy state heard of it and sent troops against the Great Xuan now, who would decide anything?

“His Majesty is in the prime of his years and his health is strong. How should he collapse all at once? What actually happened?”

It was Li Hanru who came forward and asked it.

The crown prince said heavily, “The Father Emperor collapsed all at once. There was no sign of it beforehand.”

Prince Fu took a step forward now and looked at the crown prince. “The Imperial Brother has collapsed all at once. For the court to stand firm, and for the people to be easy in their minds… it falls to the crown prince now to carry this responsibility.”

The crown prince’s whole face was troubled. “Imperial Uncle, I have studied the governing of the court under the Father Emperor for some years, but in the end I am not experienced enough.”

“The crown prince need not be modest. The Imperial Brother brought you up with his own hand, and your Imperial Uncle believes in what you can do… And besides, you are the heir apparent. The responsibility should rightly fall to you.”

Prince Fu said it heavily.

“Your Highness, for the hundred-year foundation of the Great Xuan, and for the people to be easy in their minds… we ask the crown prince to take the regency.”

“Just so. The crown prince is the heir apparent, and at a time like this he must stand forward.”

“For the Great Xuan, we ask the crown prince to take the regency.”

“We ask the crown prince to take the regency.”

The officials petitioned him.

His Majesty had collapsed, the crown prince was the heir apparent, and his taking the regency was a matter of course.

The corners of the crown prince’s mouth were very nearly past holding down, but he put on a troubled look all the same. “Very well. I am not experienced enough, but this is my responsibility.”

“Until the Father Emperor wakes I will do everything in my power to oversee the business of the court.”

“I am not experienced enough, and I ask all of you, my lords, to help me as much as you can.”

The officials said with one voice, “Your subjects will do all that is in them to assist the crown prince.”

The crown prince’s face was all grief. “The weather is bitter and the ground is frozen. Go home, my lords… I am going to the imperial shrine to pray for the Father Emperor, and I hope he may wake soon.”

When the officials had dispersed, the crown prince’s eyes narrowed all at once. Ning Chen was gone.

“Where is Ning Chen?”

Geng Jing looked blank himself. Ning Chen had been there a moment ago, and in the blink of an eye he was not.

“Your subject wishes to go in and see His Majesty, and asks Your Highness’s leave.”

The crown prince said heavily, “The Father Emperor trusts Lord Geng above all others. Now that he lies unconscious, I hold the regency for the present… If there is anything I need, I hope Lord Geng will give me all the help he can.”

Geng Jing bowed. “Yes.”

The crown prince inclined his head slightly. “Go in.”

“This old subject would also like to go in and see His Majesty. Will Your Highness give leave?”

It was the Right Chancellor who spoke.

The crown prince nodded. “I understand my lords’ concern, but the imperial physicians have said the Father Emperor must not be disturbed just now… Let the Right Chancellor and Lord Geng go in on behalf of all of you and see the Father Emperor.”

Geng Jing and the Right Chancellor went into the Hall of Cultivated Heart.

And at that same hour, Ning Chen had come to the Imperial Physicians’ Bureau.

He had slipped quietly away while all the play-acting was going on.

Lin Wen had not long been back from the Hall of Cultivated Heart.

Seeing Ning Chen, he came straight to the point. “You’ve come about His Majesty.”

Ning Chen nodded. “What is actually wrong with His Majesty?”

Lin Wen shook his head. “His Majesty’s collapse looks like a chill, and it looks like exhaustion too… This old man’s skill is not equal to it. He has failed the trust His Majesty put in him.”

Ning Chen dropped his voice. “Master Director, tell me honestly… did His Majesty collapse naturally?”

A muscle jumped at the corner of Lin Wen’s eye.

Ning Chen’s eyes fixed on him and held. “Master Director, there is nobody here but you and me. I beg you to tell me the truth of it… Ning here knows the Master Director is not a man who clings to his own skin, or who fawns on whoever is in power.”

Lin Wen fixed his eyes on him. “And if this old man told you, what could you do?”

Ning Chen’s face was grave. “I have no great abilities… but whether it means climbing a mountain of blades or going down into a cauldron of oil, though it were a thousand cuts, His Majesty is going to wake. I owe him that for knowing what I was worth.”

Lin Wen looked at him and said nothing for a long while.

“Master Director, I beg you… tell me the truth of it.”

Lin Wen sighed and dropped his voice. “There is indeed something strange in His Majesty’s not waking… but this old man’s skill is not equal to it. This old man has no way to wake His Majesty.”

“Is there any other way?”

Lin Wen was silent a moment, and then inclined his head slightly.

“I beg the Master Director to tell me.”

Lin Wen hesitated, and then dropped his voice. “This old man has an elder brother in the school. Only the two of us think differently — I like a settled life and he likes to wander the four seas… but his medicine is better than this old man’s.”

“A few days ago this old man had a letter from him. He is in Liangzhou… This old man can write him a letter. If you can find him and bring him back, there is hope of His Majesty waking.”

Liangzhou was not far. Riding hard, a man could be there in two days.

Ning Chen bowed low. “I am obliged to the Master Director.”

(End of Chapter 225)