Feng Qizheng blew more and more smoke as he went. Taking an enemy general’s head out of the middle of ten thousand men, as easy as reaching into a bag? One furious roar frightening off a hundred and fifty thousand Wu troops?

The point was that Jiang Zhengyang was eating it up.

One man dared to say it and the other dared to believe it.

Ning Chen couldn’t sit through any more of it. He cut Feng Qizheng off, changed the subject, and asked:

“Lord Jiang, has anything come of the joint search notice I sent out?”

Jiang Zhengyang stared for a moment, thought about it, and said, “You mean the two who stole the muskets?”

Ning Chen nodded.

Jiang Zhengyang’s expression turned serious. “You didn’t hear about it in Mangzhou?”

Ning Chen shook his head.

Jiang Zhengyang thought it over. “I’d nearly forgotten—Mangzhou’s officials, high and low, have only been in their posts a few days, so they probably don’t know yet… those two have already been caught.”

Ning Chen was startled. “Caught?”

Jiang Zhengyang said in a low voice, “General Ning, this could pull you down with them.”

Ning Chen was taken aback. “Pull me down?”

Jiang Zhengyang nodded. “The two of them committed a major crime. They used the muskets to kill the Prefect and the Governor of Xiuzhou.”

“The story is that they were caught by Prince Duan’s personal guards while attempting to assassinate the prince. The one called Shang Lu was cut down on the spot, and the woman called Zisu was taken alive.”

“General Ning is in command of the musket battalion. Now muskets have gone missing and officials of the court are dead… this could pull you down with them.”

Ning Chen, Pan Yucheng and Feng Qizheng were all completely at a loss.

Ning Chen had suspected Shang Lu and Zisu might be enemy agents. What he had never imagined was that the two of them would use the muskets to kill Xiuzhou’s Governor and Prefect.

And then go on to attempt an assassination of Prince Duan.

Prince Duan, like Prince Fu, was one of His Majesty’s brothers—a prince of the royal house.

Xiuzhou was Prince Duan’s own fief.

Ning Chen’s head started to ache.

This was serious trouble.

A province’s Governor and Prefect murdered, and a prince of the blood caught up in it.

Losing two muskets in the middle of a war could not be blamed on him.

But now those two muskets had been used in a monstrous crime—and in Mangzhou, Zisu had kept close company with him, and they had gone to call on Shang Lu together… there would certainly be men at court who would use that to attack them.

Still, Ning Chen was not especially worried about any of it. Set against his military record, this alone could hardly raise much of a wave.

Ning Chen asked quickly, “Why would Shang Lu and Zisu assassinate Xiuzhou’s Governor and Prefect—and Prince Duan?”

Jiang Zhengyang shook his head. “That I don’t know.”

“Shang Lu is dead. What about Zisu?”

Jiang Zhengyang said, “Because the muskets are involved, the woman has already been sent up to the capital under guard.”

Ning Chen, Pan Yucheng and Feng Qizheng looked at one another.

Ning Chen got to his feet. “Lord Jiang, we’ll save this wine for next time… I have urgent military business. I have to return to the capital at once.”

Ignoring Jiang Zhengyang’s attempts to keep them, the three of them took their men straight to the landing, boarded a ship, and traveled through the night for the capital.

The warship cut through the waves, driving upstream.

Ning Chen stood on the deck, leaning on his saber… it was the very saber Pan Yucheng and Feng Qizheng had given him, recovered when the field was cleared after the battle.

Pan Yucheng and Feng Qizheng came over.

Pan Yucheng glanced at him. “Thinking about Miss Zisu?”

Ning Chen inclined his head slightly.

Feng Qizheng said, “The way I see it, for a frail woman to defy everything under heaven and assassinate a province’s prefect, and a prince on top of that—there has to be a blood feud behind it.”

If Feng Qizheng could see that much, Ning Chen and Pan Yucheng could see it too.

But it was only a guess. The reason wouldn’t be settled until they reached the capital and saw Zisu.

Pan Yucheng’s brows drew into three hard lines. “Feng Qizheng and I are all right. Shang Lu once saved my life, so my going to call on him makes sense by feeling and by reason both.”

“But you kept much too close to Miss Zisu, and I’m afraid people with an interest will make a great deal of it.”

“What worries me most right now is this… if Miss Zisu says you gave her those two muskets, then we really are in trouble.”

Ning Chen shook his head slightly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine… I have no quarrel with Prince Duan or with Xiuzhou’s Governor and Prefect. I have nothing to fear from an investigation there, and no investigation will lead back to me.”

“On top of that, His Majesty isn’t a fool. Mangzhou taken, the frontier recovered… His Majesty won’t doubt my loyalty.”

Pan Yucheng turned his head to look at him. “Then are you rushing back to the capital to save Miss Zisu?”

Ning Chen was silent for a while, then said, “If she can be saved, I’ll certainly save her… and if she can’t, then at least with me there she can go quickly.”

“Those punishments are not something a frail woman can endure.”

Pan Yucheng stared, then said, “You don’t need to worry about that. You’ve forgotten—Lord Geng knows Zisu too. He’ll look after her a little.”

Ning Chen shook his head. “If His Majesty issues an edict for a rigorous interrogation, even Lord Geng won’t dare defy it.”

“What worries me now is that His Majesty knows Lord Geng is acquainted with Zisu, and so won’t give the case to the Inspectorate at all. He’ll give it to the Ministry of Justice.”

“The Ministry of Justice’s prison isn’t as bad as the Inspectorate’s… but those tortures aren’t something Zisu can bear either.”

Pan Yucheng clapped Ning Chen on the shoulder. “From now on, treat Yudie well. She’s never once brought you trouble… and leave the other women alone. They’re all poison.”

The corner of Ning Chen’s mouth twitched violently.

A few days later, the warship put in at the Sky River landing.

Nobody came to meet them.

Because nobody knew Ning Chen was coming back.

In fact, what Ning Chen had done was entirely against the rules.

A general in the field does not enter the capital unless he is summoned.

And a man returning suddenly, the way Ning Chen had, could be taken for a rebel.

But Ning Chen’s situation was somewhat unusual.

He was a general appointed in an emergency, without so much as a tiger tally, and he had come back with a few dozen men… in a state like that, if anyone suggested Ning Chen was plotting treason, the Xuan Emperor would slap him across the face himself and save Ning Chen the trouble.

Once ashore, Ning Chen sent Zhang Youcai and the others to report to the Ministry of War first and then go straight back to camp.

He took Pan Yucheng and Feng Qizheng with him to present himself to His Majesty.

Coming back without leave was one thing. Not going before the throne the moment he arrived would be indefensible.

The three of them put their horses to a gallop, straight for the palace.

The Xuan Emperor had word before Ning Chen and the others even reached the palace.

The Sky River landing was guarded by imperial guards.

When a figure as talked-about as Ning Chen came back with no warning, the imperial guards had the news at the palace a step ahead of him.

The Xuan Emperor had been in a very good mood these past days.

Ning Chen’s victory reports had come in one after another.

He had only sent Ning Chen to take Mangzhou, and instead that boy had led an army all the way to the frontier… cut the Grand Tutor down, recovered the frontier, and handed him an enormous surprise.

As for the business in Xiuzhou, the Xuan Emperor gave it no weight at all.

Which member of the royal house had never had an attempt made on him? He himself, as emperor, had faced more of them than anyone, and he was used to it.

Prince Duan was unhurt, so there was nothing in it.

As for the two muskets, it never once crossed the Xuan Emperor’s mind to blame Ning Chen for them.

In a war, men die by the thousand and the ten thousand. Are two lost muskets worth making a fuss about?

On top of that, the moment the muskets went missing, Ning Chen had put out a joint search notice.

Anyone who dared attack Ning Chen over this would get more than he could swallow, and would be made to carry the rest of it out with him.

“Quan Sheng, what do you suppose that boy Ning Chen is up to right now?”

Eunuch Quan thought about it and said in his thin voice, “This servant would say Young Master Ning is certainly writing a memorial just now, asking Your Majesty’s leave to come back to the capital for the New Year.”

The Xuan Emperor was greatly pleased. “The frontier is recovered. This emperor has not failed the ancestors of the Great Xuan, and can finally keep a good New Year with an easy mind… that boy Ning Chen always manages to surprise this emperor.”

“When he gets back, this emperor will grant him a marriage with Huai’an.”

Just then a young eunuch crept in on tiptoe and knelt on the floor. “Reporting to Your Majesty. Word has just come—Young Master Ning is already back in the capital and is on his way here to present himself.”

“What?”

The Xuan Emperor forgot himself so far as to raise his voice a full octave, and his expression froze.

As for Eunuch Quan, he was simply struck dumb.

(End of Chapter 285)