From the capital to Xiuzhou was six or seven days on the road at a hard gallop.

Because this was a secret investigation, they kept to the back roads and stayed off the post road.

They ate in the wind and drank the dew, and it was a hard road.

Luckily every horse under them was a fine animal, faster than an ordinary mount, and they hardly rested along the way. It took them only five days to reach Xiuzhou.

They got into the city without any trouble.

Xiuzhou's climate was damp, and although it was winter it was far warmer than the north. There was still green to be seen, and the leaves on some of the trees had not turned at all.

Xiuzhou was famous for its silks and satins and its embroidery, which made it one of the richest prefectures in Great Xuan.

The streets were broad and thick with people, and the noise and bustle were something to see.

Ning Chen and the others led their horses forward.

Then Ning Chen's face changed a little and he dropped his voice. "Find us an inn, fast."

Pan Yucheng was startled. "What is it? Have you spotted something?"

Ning Chen shook his head. "It's my horse. Diaochan is a warhorse. Anyone could pick her out, and I forgot about it."

He had only just noticed it in passing—Diaochan was more powerfully built than the horses Pan Yucheng and the others rode, and a good size larger all around.

Pan Yucheng ran his eye over her. Ning Chen's horse really was too conspicuous.

"Move!"

Pan Yucheng said it low.

They found an inn and handed the horses over to the stable boy, with strict instructions that they were to be fed good grain.

Then Ning Chen grandly took five of the best rooms... Young Master Feng was paying!

He was the young gentleman of a great house now, and anything short of extravagant and dissolute would not have fit the part.

Once they were settled in, they gathered in Ning Chen's room.

"Diaochan is too conspicuous. She stays at…