There was mockery in Ning Chen’s face.
He had actually believed Nie Liang never went to that whole side of the city… He had been too green after all.
Nie Liang was one of those quiet ones about it. It was only in his talk that he never came.
Ning Chen walked toward Nie Liang, ready to give his face a good scorching.
To his surprise the man clasped his fists all at once and bowed. “Does the young gentleman know my elder brother?”
Ning Chen was stopped for a moment, and then the corner of his mouth twitched. “Commander Nie, you’re going to pull this on me?”
The other man’s whole face was puzzled. “The young gentleman has mistaken me. I am Nie Feng. You must mean my elder brother, Nie Liang.”
“Nie Feng? And I’m Nie the King of Men.”
The other man clasped his fists and bowed over them. “Nie the King of Men? So the gentleman is a Nie too? Delighted, delighted.”
Ning Chen was briefly at a loss.
Is this really not Nie Liang?
Before Ning Chen could ask anything more, the man bowed low. “I have business to see to. Until we meet again.”
With that he turned and went.
Ning Chen stared a long while at his back going away. Is this really not Nie Liang, but his twin brother?
No. This character is certainly Nie Liang.
The bastard puts it on well enough.
Ning Chen made a face, turned and left.
The next day, in the morning.
Ning Chen drove to the Inspectorate.
He had barely walked in when Feng Qizheng and several of the other degenerates crowded around him.
“Come on, let’s go and see the show.”
Ning Chen asked, curious, “What show?”
“Don’t you know? Prince Fu is to be beheaded.”
Ning Chen was stopped for a moment. “As quick as that?”
Gao Ziping said, “It’s His Majesty’s own order. No questioning, straight to the block. How could it not be quick?”
Ning Chen thought about it and shook his head. “Never mind. I have something to see to. You go.”
“If you’re not coming, we’re off.”
Feng Qizheng and the others went to see the show.
Ning Chen rolled his eyes. Blood all over everything. What is there to look at?
He leaned over his desk and drew the musket and cannon plans out again, checked them over, made sure there was nothing wrong with them, and got ready to send them to Ji Mingchen.
He had just come out of the door when he ran into Geng Jing.
“Ning Chen, good, you’re here… Come into the palace with me, quickly.”
Ning Chen was slightly taken aback. “What is it?”
“I don’t know yet. I have just had His Majesty’s order that you and I are both to come into the palace at once.”
Ning Chen made a sound.
The two of them went straight into the palace to stand before the emperor.
On the way Ning Chen asked, curious, “Lord Geng, let me ask you something. Does Commander Nie have a younger brother?”
Geng Jing nodded and made a sound of assent.
Holy shit!!!
Nie Liang really does have a younger brother?
“Are they twins?”
“That’s right. Commander Nie is a twin — one of them a scholar and one a soldier. The younger one is at home serving their parents, which is how Commander Nie has so much time to keep His Majesty safe… Why do you ask?”
Ning Chen said, “Last night I ran into a man at the gate of the courtesans’ quarter who looked exactly like Commander Nie. He said his name was Nie Feng.”
Geng Jing said, smiling, “Then that was Commander Nie’s younger brother, no question.”
Something moved in Ning Chen’s eyes. He still could not shake the feeling that the man last night was Nie Liang.
“Does Commander Nie never go to that whole side of the city?”
Geng Jing shook his head. “That I couldn’t tell you… But Commander Nie is responsible for the safety of the whole palace city. He would hardly have time for such places.”
Ning Chen and Geng Jing came to the imperial study.
Seeing the two of them, Nie Liang said, “His Majesty has given the word. When you two come, go straight in.”
Geng Jing nodded.
But Ning Chen looked at Nie Liang with a very odd expression.
Nie Liang was puzzled. “What are you staring at me like that for?”
“Commander Nie, did you enjoy yourself at the courtesans’ quarter last night?”
Nie Liang’s whole face went blank. “The courtesans’ quarter? I never go to that kind of place.”
“Last night I met a man at the courtesans’ quarter who looked very much like you. He said his name was Nie Feng.”
Nie Liang was stopped for a moment, and then said furiously, “That is my younger brother. The creature is a disgrace to the family name. I have told him again and again to keep away from that whole side of the city, and he will not learn. See if I don’t break his legs when I get home.”
Fuck!!!
So the man last night really was Nie Liang’s twin brother.
“Get in there, quickly. Don’t keep His Majesty waiting.”
Ning Chen gave a nod and went into the imperial study with Geng Jing.
“Your subjects greet Your Majesty.”
“Rise. No ceremony.”
The Xuan Emperor raised a hand. His expression was grave. “I have sent for you because there is word of the Left Chancellor.”
“It is certain now. The Left Chancellor is in Mangzhou.”
Geng Jing said quickly, “Your subject is willing to take men and bring the Left Chancellor back.”
The Xuan Emperor said heavily, “I am afraid he will not be easy to bring back… Of the men this emperor sent to investigate, only two got away alive.”
“That traitor is in Mangzhou with twenty thousand men mustered on his own authority… Every official of Mangzhou, high and low, is in his hands.”
The faces of Ning Chen and Geng Jing changed.
This was trouble. The men the Xuan Emperor had sent had already beaten the grass and startled the snake… The Left Chancellor was on his guard now, and getting rid of him would be hard.
The most important thing was that Mangzhou lay nearest the frontier.
If the Grand Tutor brought his army home, Mangzhou would be the first stage of the road.
No wonder the Empress and Prince Fu had made Mangzhou their last way out.
Because falling back on Mangzhou put the Grand Tutor’s two hundred thousand men behind them.
Ning Chen said heavily, “Your Majesty sent men to investigate the Left Chancellor before Prince Fu and the Empress broke cover… which means word that Prince Fu and the Empress failed should not have reached Mangzhou yet.”
“From the capital to Mangzhou is ten days and more even riding hard… If we go downriver by boat and turn off for Mangzhou at Lingzhou, it takes less than ten days.”
“From the frontier to Mangzhou is half a month at the fastest… The Left Chancellor gets the word, then passes it to the Grand Tutor, and there and back is a month at the least.”
“Your Majesty, there is time… So long as we reach Mangzhou before the Grand Tutor has word, and settle the Left Chancellor’s twenty thousand men, we can be sure Mangzhou will not be lost.”
The Xuan Emperor looked at Ning Chen with approval and nodded slightly.
“Ning Chen, if you were to hold Mangzhou before the Grand Tutor and put down the Left Chancellor’s twenty thousand rebels, how many men would you need?”
Ning Chen said, “The more the better, of course.”
The Xuan Emperor: “…”
“Mangzhou has no garrison. Every soldier is on the frontier with the Grand Tutor… Since you mean to turn off at Lingzhou, this emperor can give you twenty thousand of the fifty thousand Changling Army there.”
“And two thousand musketeers besides. How is that?”
Ning Chen said, smiling, “Good.”
The Xuan Emperor could not raise a smile at all. “Ning Chen, if Mangzhou is lost the consequences do not bear thinking of… You must hold the situation in Mangzhou before the Grand Tutor does.”
Ning Chen nodded. “Your subject will give it everything he has.”
The Xuan Emperor said heavily, “This emperor has already sent down an edict for the Changling Army to have grain and fodder ready… The moment you arrive you can take them straight for Mangzhou.”
There was hot blood rising in Ning Chen.
Set against the mutual cheating of the court, he liked the killing on a battlefield better, with real blades and real spears.
“Ning Chen, you know the firearms battalion. Go and pick two thousand men out of it yourself… This emperor will have warships made ready. Time is short and you must set out as soon as you can.”
“Your subject obeys the command.”
The Xuan Emperor looked at Ning Chen a long moment. “Get back here alive to see this emperor.”
Ning Chen nodded hard.
“Your Majesty, then your subject takes his leave. He will go and prepare.”
The Xuan Emperor nodded.
Ning Chen walked out of the imperial study feeling that the wound in his leg was a great deal better, light on his feet, the corners of his mouth turned up.
Nie Liang looked at Ning Chen and asked, curious, “What has made you so happy?”
Ning Chen’s smile was brilliant. “I’m going to war.”
Nie Liang’s expression froze on the spot… Is the man sick? War is worth being that happy about? It is a matter of life and death… Ning Chen’s head really does not work the way other people’s do. There is something a little wrong with it.
(End of Chapter 237)