The Fourth Prince did not press Ning Chen for another bout. He laughed, open and hearty. “Ning Chen, one of these days I’ll come find you for a drink.”
Ning Chen smiled and nodded. “Whenever the Fourth Prince likes! I’ll be waiting.”
“I’ve been on the road the whole way and I only got back just now. I haven’t even made it home yet, so I’ll take my leave!”
“Ah?” There was reluctance all over the Ninth Princess’s face. “You’re going back already?”
Ning Chen smiled. “I’ll come and call on the princess another day.”
The Fourth Prince teased her. “Huai’an, once the two of you are married you can be stuck together every day of the year!”
The Ninth Princess’s small face went pink, and she looked a little shy.
Ning Chen made his bow and left.
He thought it over as he walked out of the palace.
The Fourth Prince had a war record to his name. Barring something unforeseen, he would be the heir apparent.
Prince Duan’s judgment of the Fourth Prince was: courage and no head.
Ning Chen had had little to do with the Fourth Prince and did not know the first thing about him, so for the moment he passed no judgment of his own.
Out of the palace, he rode Diaochan, clop, clop, clop, to the courtesans’ quarter.
Yudie, seeing Ning Chen, was of course beside herself with delight.
She hurried to bring tea and pour water, and at the same time sent someone off to get food ready.
“Ning, dear, when did you get back?”
“I only arrived today. I went into the palace, and when I came out I came straight here to you.”
Yudie’s smile was lovely.
Ning Chen sat down on the couch and pulled Yudie into his lap, holding that full, soft body of hers, his hands wandering up and down and not behaving themselves.
“How was the New Year?”
Yudie said softly, “I spent it with Sister Nanzhi.”
“Ning, dear, I’m sorry!”
“Mm?”
Yudie looked guilty. “It was all because of this girl that Ning, dear, was out running around and couldn’t even come home for the New Year.”
Ning Chen grinned wickedly. “Then tonight you’ll have to make it up to me properly.”
Yudie’s pretty face went crimson, and she gave a soft little mm.
“Your father’s case and Yan Wenbo’s have been cleared up. Both of them were wronged.”
Yudie went completely still.
It was a long moment before her eyes reddened and filled with a shine of tears. “It’s been cleared up?”
Ning Chen made a sound of assent. “Cleared up all the way. But getting your father’s name restored is a complicated business, and it’ll take a while yet.”
Yudie struggled gently free of Ning Chen’s arms and knelt down in front of him.
“This girl thanks Ning, dear!”
Ning Chen frowned. “Get up now. What is this?”
Yudie shook her head, tears sliding down her cheeks. “If it weren’t for Ning, dear, I’m afraid the day would never have come when my father and Uncle Yan had their names restored.”
“This girl is low-born and can add no luster to Ning, dear’s career… but so long as Ning, dear, does not cast her off, this girl is willing to be Ning, dear’s ox and horse all her life, to repay your great kindness.”
Ning Chen pulled her up and gathered her into his arms.
“What foolishness is this? Never mind the ox and the horse—but you have to stay with me, always.”
Yudie was his first woman: gentle, thoughtful, good-natured and sensible, and she had been at his side all along.
The truth was that what he had with Yudie was the purest thing he had, with no tangle of interests mixed into it.
If it came to choosing a wife, Ning Chen would choose Yudie without a moment’s hesitation.
When a household is at peace everything prospers, and having a good-natured, sensible woman at home matters more than anything else.
He spent his days outside scheming against other men, and the last thing he wanted was to come home to flying chickens and leaping dogs and feathers over the floor, and be worn out in body and mind.
Yudie curled up meekly in Ning Chen’s arms. “Ning, dear, has Sister Zisu been saved, then?”
Ning Chen nodded. “Don’t worry. Nothing is going to happen to her.”
“Ning, dear, do you think Sister Zisu is pretty?”
“Uh… she’s all right, I guess?”
“Ning, dear, is saying one thing and meaning another. Sister Zisu is far prettier than this girl.”
Ning Chen laughed. “What does that have to do with me?”
Yudie said softly, “Sister Zisu has no family left either. If Ning, dear, doesn’t mind, why not keep Sister Zisu by you? Otherwise she’ll be drifting around the country on her own.”
Ning Chen was taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“This girl means that Ning, dear, could keep Sister Zisu here, and she and this girl could wait on you together.”
Ning Chen: ???
Yudie said softly, “Sister Zisu was born beautiful, and she knows medicine too, so she’s far more use than this girl… If anyone around you falls sick from now on, there’ll be no need to send for a physician. It would save a lot of silver.”
It would be a lie to say Ning Chen was not tempted.
馬行無力皆因瘦，人不風流只為貧。
A horse goes weak on the road only because it is thin; a man is no rake only because he is poor.
Bright clothes and a spirited horse, a young man with his pick of women… who doesn’t want that?
“No. I saved her because of you and for no other reason… If I kept her by me, it would look like robbing a house while it burns, like leaning on her with what she owes me… I couldn’t do a thing like that!”
Ning Chen said it with a perfectly straight face.
Of course, just how false the words were, nobody knew better than he did.
Yudie said softly, “This girl will go and speak to Sister Zisu. Ning, dear, is such a fine man—Sister Zisu is certain to be willing.”
Ning Chen put on a show of sighing. “You and Zisu are close, and the Liu family and the Yan family have nobody left but the two of you. I know you don’t want to be parted from her.”
“If she’s willing to stay, it’s only a matter of one more bowl and one more pair of chopsticks. As long as you’re happy, I have no objection.”
Yudie wiped her tears away and said sweetly, “Then this girl will go and speak to Sister Zisu. She’ll stay, I’m sure of it.”
Ning Chen gave a nod. “I have no objection. Your being happy is what matters most.”
“Yudie, I’ve had a hard time of it out there these past weeks. I hid in the deep mountains for days on end…”
Ning Chen went on and on, and the whole of it came to this: it’s getting late, so how about we get to bed?
Yudie’s eyes were full of ache for him, and her tears came down drop after drop.
“Then this girl will help Ning, dear, bathe…”
The next day, in the morning!
Ning Chen came out of Yudie’s room and down to the first floor, and was about to go to the stable in the back courtyard for his horse.
But he stopped in his tracks.
He had seen a man come out of one of the girls’ rooms.
The man looked very familiar, but for the life of him he could not place where he had seen him.
Just as the man was about to go down the stairs, Ning Chen walked over.
“Hold on a moment, my friend!”
At the sound the man stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Ning Chen, and his eyes lit up. “You’re Ning the Silver Coat?”
Ning Chen nodded. “You know me?”
“When Ning the Silver Coat came back from the northern campaign, I had the good fortune to see Ning the Silver Coat’s face with my own eyes… And at home I’ve heard my elder brother mention you now and then.”
Ning Chen asked, curious, “And who is your elder brother, may I ask?”
“My elder brother is Nie Liang. Ning the Silver Coat must know him well.”
Ning Chen’s mouth fell open. “You’re Nie Feng?”
Nie Feng’s whole face lit up with excitement. “Ning the Silver Coat actually knows my name. I’m more honored than I can say!”
Ning Chen looked him over. No wonder the man had seemed familiar—this was Nie Liang’s twin brother.
Except that Nie Liang’s skin was dark and rough, and a full beard covered most of his face.
Nie Feng was another thing altogether: very pale, clean-shaven, dressed head to foot as a scholar.
That Nie Liang keeps a straight face day in and day out, and he turns out to be such a quiet one about it—and not a second’s hesitation when it comes to setting his own brother up… Ning Chen groused inwardly.
Nie Feng suddenly bent from the waist in a bow to Ning Chen. “Ning the Silver Coat, I beg you, whatever you do—don’t tell my brother I came to the courtesans’ quarter.”
Ning Chen was puzzled. “Why can’t I say so? A man coming to a place like this is perfectly normal, isn’t it?”
Nie Feng smiled bitterly. “The truth is that things are hard at home… My brother won’t allow me to come to places like this. Last night I drank too much with some friends, and that’s the only reason I stayed the night here… I’d ask Ning the Silver Coat to keep it to himself for me.”
(End of Chapter 321)