Ning Chen took Tian Jiang with him to the Ministry of Justice.
Once he had been announced, a bailiff led him in to see Li Zhixing.
On the way in, Tian Jiang suddenly lowered his voice. “Young Master Ning, that’s him.”
Ning Chen followed Tian Jiang’s eyes.
An official of about fifty, not tall, a little stout, was walking along the corridor ahead of them with his hands behind his back and his head held high.
Ning Chen watched him for a moment, then pointed down the corridor and asked the bailiff leading them, “Brother bailiff, who is that gentleman?”
The bailiff was flustered by the honor. The great Ning the Silver Coat, speaking to him as politely as that?
He said quickly, “That’s our Secretary, Lord Zuo Yaozu.”
Ning Chen made a small noise of acknowledgment and turned toward the corridor.
“Lord Zuo, a moment, please!”
Zuo Yaozu was walking with his hands behind his back and his head up, a smile on his face. He seemed to be in a good mood.
Hearing someone call from behind him, he turned without thinking… and found Ning Chen faintly familiar.
“And you are?”
Ning Chen said with a smile, “Ning Chen, of the Inspectorate.”
Zuo Yaozu’s expression changed all at once.
So it was Ning the Silver Coat. No wonder he had looked familiar.
And he understood immediately why Ning Chen had come. The smile stiffened on his face.
“Congratulations on the great victory at the frontier, Ning the Silver Coat.”
Ning Chen smiled and turned back to Tian Jiang and the bailiff. “Lord Zuo and I have some things to discuss…”
The bailiff took the point at once. “Then this small man will wait over there.”
Tian Jiang and the bailiff withdrew to a distance.
Ning Chen turned back and looked at Zuo Yaozu. “I hear Lord Zuo is short of silver. Have you run into some difficulty? Perhaps Ning here could help.”
Something dropped in Zuo Yaozu’s chest, and he hurried to put on a smile. “Ning the Silver Coat is joking.”
The smile went off Ning Chen’s face. He said mildly, “Even His Majesty knows Yudie is my woman. Surely Lord Zuo isn’t unaware of it?”
Zuo Yaozu smiled slightly, not at all alarmed.
Of course he knew Yudie was Ning Chen’s woman.
When Yudie first came to him he had been uneasy about it, but she had promised over and over that she would not tell Ning Chen.
And that made sense to him. If Yudie were going to tell Ning Chen about it, she would have gone to him for help instead of coming to Zuo Yaozu.
So he had not kept his hands to himself, and had taken her silver. And the decisive thing was that she gave him far too much.
He had not imagined a woman of the courtesans’ quarter could produce that much silver, and thinking to make something out of it, his appetite had grown steadily larger.
There was another important reason he dared take the money, of course: he had gotten hold of something on Ning Chen, and that gave him a great deal of confidence.
Zuo Yaozu looked at Ning Chen. “Has Ning the Silver Coat come to call me to account? If this official were Ning the Silver Coat, he wouldn’t have come.”
Ning Chen’s eyes flickered. “How so?”
Zuo Yaozu lifted his head. “That’s right. This official did take Miss Yudie’s silver.”
Ning Chen said coldly, “Isn’t Lord Zuo afraid that silver will burn his hands?”
“However hot the silver, this official can keep hold of it.”
Ning Chen’s eyes narrowed. “It seems Lord Zuo doesn’t know me very well.”
“Is Ning the Silver Coat threatening me?”
“And if I am?”
Zuo Yaozu gave a small, contemptuous laugh. “The Xiuzhou musket case. Two officials of the court dead, and Prince Duan caught up in it… every man at court is keeping clear of it, terrified of bringing trouble down on himself.”
“This official has charge of the prisons. Miss Yudie asked this official to look after Zisu, and the two of them are no ordinary acquaintances… and Miss Yudie is Ning the Silver Coat’s woman. If this ever gets out, Ning the Silver Coat will be drawn into it himself.”
Ning Chen had guessed as much already, but hearing Zuo Yaozu say it aloud still shook him.
On the way over he had been thinking it through: Zisu and Yudie were close in age, both came from Xiuzhou, and Yudie had quietly sent Xiaoxing to hand silver to a man of the Ministry of Justice. Even then he had suspected the two women might have known each other for a long time.
Zuo Yaozu went on. “Ning the Silver Coat is riding high, favored by His Majesty, with a bright future ahead of him… but this business touches Prince Duan. If Ning the Silver Coat is drawn into it and His Majesty learns of it, isn’t he afraid of throwing that fine future away for nothing?”
“This official did take Miss Yudie’s silver, but he has never spoken of it to a second person. That was for the sake of Ning the Silver Coat’s prospects too.”
“If Ning the Silver Coat has no care for his own prospects, this official can give the silver back.”
How could Ning Chen fail to hear the naked threat in that?
In his last life he had joined the army at eighteen, and the army was full of grown men with none of this scheming, which had made him direct—if he didn’t like something he swung first, and he did things head-on.
It had left him somewhat out of step with ordinary society, not smooth enough, and short on the ways people handle one another.
In the old days he would have drawn his blade and cut a man like this down for threatening him.
But he had been through a great deal by now, and he had learned to swallow things.
A smile appeared on Ning Chen’s face. “Lord Zuo has misunderstood. Ning here isn’t trying to get the silver back… only that gold hairpin matters a great deal to me. Could Lord Zuo return it?”
Zuo Yaozu was unwilling. The hairpin was beautifully made and worth a lot of silver.
“Ning the Silver Coat, where is the sense in asking for a gift back once it’s given?”
Something hard flashed in Ning Chen’s eyes. “Lord Zuo has taken a fair amount of silver from Yudie already, hasn’t he?”
Zuo Yaozu’s face darkened and he laughed coldly. “What, do you find this official too greedy? Shall this official take all of that silver and lay it before His Majesty instead?”
He felt he had Ning Chen entirely in hand.
The smile did not leave Ning Chen’s face. “Don’t be angry, Lord Zuo. I’m not asking you to give the hairpin back. I’m proposing a trade.”
As he spoke, Ning Chen drew a handful of gold beans out of his robe.
Zuo Yaozu looked at the gold beans in Ning Chen’s hand and his eyes lit up at once, greed all over his face.
“Ning the Silver Coat has deep pockets indeed… His Majesty’s rewards for this victory at the frontier must have been considerable?”
Ning Chen’s eyes narrowed. He could hardly miss Zuo Yaozu’s meaning—the man thought the gold beans were not enough.
I’m not afraid of your greed. I’m only afraid you aren’t greedy, Ning Chen thought with cold amusement.
You need a life to be greedy with, and a life to spend it with too.
Ning Chen said with a smile, “Rest easy, Lord Zuo. Fifty thousand taels in silver notes will be delivered to your residence tonight.”
Zuo Yaozu’s eyes burned, and he could not help swallowing.
It seemed Ning Chen really was worried about this affecting his fine prospects, which meant he could live off this secret for the rest of his life.
Ning Chen’s future was boundless. He might even rise in rank and office on the strength of it.
Zuo Yaozu took the gold hairpin out of his robe. “Since this hairpin matters so much to Ning the Silver Coat, this official won’t take what another man loves. Take it back.”
Ning Chen accepted the hairpin and pressed the gold beans into his hand.
“My thanks, Lord Zuo. Tonight, then.”
Zuo Yaozu laughed until his eyes were slits. “Good. This official will be waiting to receive Your Excellency this evening.”
Ning Chen nodded, smiling. “I’ll take my leave then, Lord Zuo. This evening.”
Zuo Yaozu nodded, smiling. “This evening!”
The bailiff led the way ahead of them.
Ning Chen lowered his voice and murmured in Tian Jiang’s ear, “Go to the Inspectorate now. Find a man named Pan Yucheng and tell him…”
When Ning Chen had finished, Tian Jiang nodded. “Rest easy, Young Master. I’ll deliver it.”
Ning Chen gave a slight nod.
Tian Jiang turned and went.
(End of Chapter 293)