The courtesans’ quarter.

Yudie sat at her table with a letter in her hands, her small face pink.

She had received Ning Chen’s letter the day before.

Learning that Ning Chen was safe and well made her very happy.

Though it left her a little downcast that Ning Chen had said her technique was clumsy.

She had read the letter through several times already.

“Xiaoxing, is Sister Nanzhi up yet?”

Xiaoxing nodded. “She is! This servant saw Miss Nanzhi just a moment ago.”

Yudie put the letter away. She had decided to go and learn mouthwork from Nanzhi, so that when Ning Chen came back she could give him a surprise.

Yudie went to Nanzhi’s room.

“Sister Nanzhi, I want to learn the flute from you.”

“Mm?” Nanzhi gave her a puzzled look. “Why the sudden urge to learn the flute?”

Yudie said, a little embarrassed, “Ning, dear, says my technique isn’t good.”

Nanzhi was more puzzled still. “What technique isn’t good? What does that have to do with you learning the flute?”

“Sister Nanzhi, this flute isn’t that flute…”

Yudie leaned in close and, red-faced, murmured a few words in her ear.

When Nanzhi had heard her out, she was both cross and exasperated. “That Ning, dear, of yours really is a wicked man. How am I ever supposed to touch a flute again after this?”

Far away in Mangzhou, Ning Chen had only just gotten out of bed.

After he had washed, Zhang Youcai brought his breakfast.

Ning Chen asked in passing, “Old Pan and Old Feng not up yet?”

“The two lords went out early.”

“Mm? What are they doing out at this hour?”

Zhang Youcai said, “Lord Pan said he was going to see Miss Zisu off.”

Only then did Ning Chen remember that Shang Lu and Zisu were leaving Mangzhou today.

He thought about it for a while, and decided to go and see Zisu off after all.

“Zhang Youcai, ready my horse.”

“Yes, sir!”

Outside the south gate!

Zisu bowed and made a graceful courtesy, and said with a faint smile, “Thank you both for coming to see us off. If fate wills it, we shall meet again.”

“Take care on the road, Miss Zisu. Keep well, Elder Shang Lu.”

Shang Lu smiled. “If the chance comes, this old man will go back to the capital, and we shall see one another then.”

Pan Yucheng said, “If you reach the capital, Elder, you must let Pan here play host to you properly.”

“I shall have to trouble Pan the Gold Coat when the time comes.”

“Zisu, it’s getting late. We should be on the road.”

Shang Lu said it.

Zisu’s eyes went toward the city gate, and there was hope in them.

Then she sighed softly, a little cast down.

“My lords, I shall take my leave of you. Until we meet again.”

Pan Yucheng and Feng Qizheng nodded.

Zisu got into the carriage.

Shang Lu took the reins and was about to set out.

Suddenly, hoofbeats!

“Hyah!!!”

Ning Chen came riding hard.

He rode up to them and swung down from the saddle.

Feng Qizheng hollered, “Didn’t you say you weren’t coming?”

Ning Chen glared at him. “When did I ever say I wasn’t coming?”

Then he cupped his fists to Shang Lu. “Forgive me, Elder. I overslept — but I made it, at least.”

Shang Lu smiled and returned the salute. “For Ning the Silver Coat to come and see us off — this old man hardly knows what to say.”

Zisu lifted the curtain at the carriage window. There was a smile on her pretty little face, and her eyes were shining.

Ning Chen turned to look. “Thank you for looking after me these past few days, Miss Zisu. Take care on the road!”

A flicker of disappointment crossed Zisu’s eyes. Perhaps she had thought Ning Chen would ask her to stay.

But she smiled her lovely smile soon enough and said softly, “Take care yourself, Ning the Silver Coat.”

“Where are you headed next?”

Zisu thought about it. “Xiuzhou, perhaps?”

Ning Chen nodded. “If you ever get the chance to come to the capital, let me play host to you.”

Zisu’s smile was bright and lovely, and she gave a soft “Mm.” “My master said we would go to the capital before long to call on my uncle in the craft.”

Ning Chen smiled. “Good. We’ll meet in the capital, then!”

Zisu nodded gently. “Keep well, Ning the Silver Coat. Until we meet again!”

The corner of Ning Chen’s mouth lifted. “Keep well yourself, Miss Zisu. There’s plenty of time ahead of us — and if fate brings us together again, we can pick up right where we left off.”

Zisu’s pretty face went red.

Pan Yucheng looked sideways at him, the corner of his mouth twitching. A man of filthy talents.

Feng Qizheng was the only one who had not understood a word of it.

Shang Lu had understood, but pretended he had not, and laughed out loud. “Keep well, all of you. This old man will take his leave.”

Ning Chen watched the carriage go, then turned and asked Pan Yucheng, “When they went out through the gate — was the carriage searched?”

Pan Yucheng looked at him. “You suspect Elder Shang Lu and Miss Zisu?”

Ning Chen shook his head. “No! It’s only that a little caution never hurt anyone.”

“Ning Chen, have some decency, would you? The girl slept with you, and here you are suspecting her?”

Feng Qizheng said it inwardly.

Ning Chen glared at him.

“We didn’t sleep together! Miss Zisu only gave a demonstration of her unpracticed mouthwork. Still — who’s to say it wasn’t honey in the mouth and a sword in the belly?”

“I have a whole city of people on my shoulders. I can’t afford one moment’s carelessness.”

Pan Yucheng nodded. “It was searched! There were medicinal herbs in the carriage, books, that sort of thing. Only it wasn’t searched closely — should I have them brought back?”

Ning Chen: “???”

“Never mind! Elder Shang Lu is a man of high standing and great repute. Hauling him back for a close search would be going too far.”

Ning Chen turned his horse’s head. “Come on, let’s go take a look at the camp!”

The three of them rode a circuit of the camp.

The prisoners were behaving themselves well enough.

They had been soldiers of the Great Xuan to begin with.

A soldier’s first duty is to obey his orders.

They were only ordinary men in the ranks. When the Grand Tutor decided to rebel, all they could do was follow orders.

Now, though they were men under sentence, Ning Chen had allowed them to earn their way out of the charge. They would get to see their families again someday, and every one of them was working hard to show what he could do.

After a circuit of the camp and a while spent talking with Mu Anbang, the three of them went back into the city.

The days that followed were fairly idle.

Ning Chen had already begun drawing up a plan of campaign.

Once the reinforcements arrived, he could attack the frontier passes.

That was the territory of the Great Xuan, and it had to be recovered.

What worried Ning Chen most was that the frontier bordered the Wu Kingdom. If that piece of filth of a Grand Tutor threw in with the Wu Kingdom, there would be trouble.

Then one day, Lei An suddenly brought in a sharp-mouthed, hollow-cheeked man of middle age to see Ning Chen.

Ning Chen looked at him curiously. “And this is?”

Lei An said, “General Ning, this man is called Pi San. During the attack on Mangzhou we lost several muskets, and two of them were never recovered.”

“We traced them at last to this man. He picked up those two muskets — and then sold them.”

Ning Chen frowned and said in a heavy voice, “Sold them to whom?”

Lei An said, “He says he can’t tell us.”

Ning Chen fixed his eyes on the trembling Pi San and demanded harshly, “Who did you sell the muskets to?”

Pi San said, shaking as he did it, “This small man… this small man doesn’t know the man at all.”

Ning Chen smiled coldly. “Playing the fool in front of me? Do you want to find out whether I’ll have you spitted over a fire, roasted through, and fed to the dogs?”

Pi San shook from head to foot with fright.

“Mercy, my lord! This small man truly doesn’t know him. This small man picked those two muskets up. He didn’t even know the things were muskets — he only thought they were strangely made, and thought he’d take them to the black market and turn them into a little silver to spend.”

“But this small man asked all around, and nobody knew what they were and nobody wanted them. Then, just as this small man was about to leave, someone came up to him and bought them for five taels of silver.”

Ning Chen asked in a heavy voice, “What sort of man? Male or female? Tall, short, fat, thin? What did he look like?”

Pi San said in a shaking voice, “He… that man wore a black robe, and a bamboo hat with a veil. This small man couldn’t see his face clearly.”

“But his voice was aged — he was certainly an old man. And this small man smelled a very strong smell of medicinal herbs on him. He might well be a physician, or perhaps a drug merchant?”

(End of Chapter 266)