“You actually carry this thing around with you?”
The woman emperor was shamed and furious at once.
Ning Chen said, “I’d meant to slap it in your face when we met, but for our child’s sake I’ll let it go.”
The corner of the woman emperor’s mouth twitched.
Ning Chen smiled. “As I recall, this thing matters a great deal to a woman. You keep it.”
The woman emperor meant to refuse, but her hand went out of its own accord. Once she had it, she paused — there was something wrapped inside the silk.
She opened it without thinking. Inside was a beautifully worked gold hairpin.
The woman emperor looked up at Ning Chen.
Ning Chen smiled. “A present for you.”
“This emperor never wears such girlish things.”
“If you don’t like it, throw it away.”
The woman emperor: “…”
She hesitated a while, then put both the silk and the gold hairpin away.
She looked up at Ning Chen, and found him staring hard at her chest.
She looked down, and only then realized that Ning Chen had torn the front of her robe open, baring a wide stretch of white skin and the deep line between.
She hurriedly straightened her clothes and shot Ning Chen a vicious glare.
A wicked smile at the corner of his mouth, Ning Chen said, “More than a handful.”
“You—”
Ning Chen changed the subject at once. “All right. Let’s talk business.”
The two of them talked a long while before Ning Chen rose and took his leave.
Ning Chen left the palace.
Pan Yucheng and the others were waiting for him at the palace gates.
When they met, they stared hard at Ning Chen’s face.
Ning Chen had no idea why, and smiled. “I know I’m handsome, but is it really proper for grown men to stare at me like that?”
Pan Yucheng hesitated. “There’s a handprint on your face.”
Holy shit!!!
Ning Chen’s expression stiffened. He had forgotten about that.
Pan Yucheng watched him. That slap had to have come from the woman emperor.
If anyone else had slapped Ning Chen, it would have been a wonder if the man hadn’t torn the Wu palace apart… and besides, apart from the woman emperor, nobody had the nerve to slap the face of Great Xuan’s Idle Marquis.
What had this fellow done to the woman emperor, to earn a slap?
Shen Min frowned. “My lord marquis, who did that?”
To strike the face of a marquis of Great Xuan was to strike the face of Great Xuan itself.
“Uh…” Ning Chen rubbed his cheek and said awkwardly, “I did it myself. There was a mosquito on my face just now, and I didn’t hold back enough when I swatted it… Who else would dare hit me in the face?”
Shen Min: “???”
What a hard man. Swatting a mosquito hard enough to swell his own face.
Li Hongzhuo said in that snide voice of his, “There shouldn’t be any mosquitoes at this time of year, should there?”
Ning Chen turned his head to look at him, and suddenly swung a hand at him.
Smack!!!
Li Hongzhuo clutched his face and staggered, nearly falling.
“Who says there are no mosquitoes? Isn’t this a mosquito?”
Ning Chen held out his hand for Pan Yucheng to see.
Pan Yucheng looked at Ning Chen’s entirely empty palm and said with a perfectly serious face, “That’s a big mosquito!”
Ning Chen clapped his hands together and looked at Li Hongzhuo. “No need to thank me.”
With that he waved a hand. “Let’s go!”
Shen Min was struck dumb, and did not come back to himself until Ning Chen was some distance away. He looked at Ning Chen, then at Li Hongzhuo, then suddenly put out a hand and waved it around. “There really are mosquitoes, and quite a few of them… My lord marquis, wait for me!”
Li Hongzhuo might be his direct superior, but the way the man’s elbow had turned outward at the Wu court disgusted Shen Min.
He had guessed that Ning Chen had done it on purpose.
For Li Hongzhuo he had only one thought… serves him right.
And even if Li Hongzhuo’s elbow had not turned outward, Shen Min would have stood on Ning Chen’s side without conditions.
Li Hongzhuo held his swollen old face and stared at Ning Chen’s back with venom in his eyes, like a viper.
The party returned to the Hall of Martial Honor.
Toward evening, Ning Chen sent for Li Hongzhuo, Shen Min and the others.
“Today the Wu woman emperor and I discussed the talks in outline. The formal negotiations begin tomorrow!”
“So tonight I’m buying. Everyone eat and drink and get your strength up — tomorrow will be a hard fight.”
Feng Qizheng cheered. “Excellent! A chance to sample the local color of Wu while we’re at it.”
Something flickered in Li Hongzhuo’s eyes. “My lord marquis, I’m not feeling well. I won’t go.”
Ning Chen narrowed his eyes at him.
“Since Lord Li Hongzhuo is unwell, rest properly… We’ll be relying on you at tomorrow’s negotiations.”
Li Hongzhuo nodded.
Ning Chen gave him a long look and said, “Then let’s be off!”
The party went out.
Pan Yucheng said, “Ning Chen, you go on ahead… I saw a jewelry shop back there. I’ll get a few things for Nanzhi and come find you after.”
Ning Chen nodded. “Go on. Watch yourself.”
Pan Yucheng made a sound of assent and turned away.
“Ning Chen, aren’t you bringing Miss Yudie a present?”
“My Yudie is lovely by nature. Without a scrap of powder on her she could topple a kingdom with her beauty. She doesn’t need vulgar things like these for ornament.”
Feng Qizheng rolled his eyes.
They found a wine house that looked decent enough, took a private room, ordered some of the specialties, and began passing the cups back and forth.
Not long after Ning Chen and the others left.
Li Hongzhuo slipped quietly out of the Hall of Martial Honor.
He was careful the whole way.
At last he came to the Prince Regent’s residence.
He looked left and right, then stepped up and knocked the door ring.
From the shadows a short distance off, Pan Yucheng watched him go in with a cold eye.
He waited about two hours.
Li Hongzhuo came out of the residence.
Then he quickened his pace and hurried back toward the Hall of Martial Honor.
Suddenly a figure blocked his way.
Li Hongzhuo’s step faltered. When he saw who had blocked his path, his face changed slightly, and there was a flustered look in his eyes he could not hide.
“Pan the Gold Coat? What are you doing here?”
Pan Yucheng looked at him without expression. “And what would Lord Li Hongzhuo be doing here?”
“I… I came out for a stroll. The formal negotiations are tomorrow and the pressure is heavy. I came out for some air.”
Pan Yucheng laughed coldly. “A stroll — and you strolled as far as the Prince Regent’s residence?”
Li Hongzhuo’s face changed sharply. “You followed me?”
“Lord Li Hongzhuo had better explain first what he was doing at the Prince Regent’s residence.”
Li Hongzhuo’s eyes flickered, and his expression kept shifting.
“Since Pan the Gold Coat has seen it, this minister won’t hide it… But this minister would like to ask one thing first. Does Pan the Gold Coat mean to be a gold coat all his life?”
Pan Yucheng looked at him. “What do you mean?”
Li Hongzhuo said, “As for today’s business, you may treat it as though you saw nothing… This minister can guarantee that the post of purple coat of the Inspectorate will be yours in due course, as good as in your purse already.”
Pan Yucheng laughed coldly. “And why should I believe you?”
“Naturally Pan the Gold Coat does not believe this minister. But the man behind this minister — him you ought to believe.”
Something flickered in Pan Yucheng’s eyes. “Who stands behind Lord Li Hongzhuo?”
Li Hongzhuo smiled. “Let Pan the Gold Coat simply treat today’s business as unseen… and when we are back in the imperial city of Great Xuan, I will present Pan the Gold Coat to the man behind me.”
“I’ll need to know first who stands behind you. Whether he’s worth keeping your secret for.”
Li Hongzhuo’s eyes flickered. At last he set his teeth and said, “Very well, I’ll tell you. The man behind me is the Fourth Prince.”
Pan Yucheng’s eyes contracted violently.
“Pan the Gold Coat, can you believe this minister now? I can tell you one more secret besides… Ning Chen is dealing with the enemy and betraying his country. He is carrying on with the Wu woman emperor.”
“Once this minister has the proof, we can put Ning Chen to death the moment we are home… and then everything of his will be yours, Pan the Gold Coat.”
(End of Chapter 357)