Thud!!!
Ning Chen clutched his stomach, went over backward onto the ground, and lay there with his whole face screwed up in pain.
The woman emperor’s cheeks were flushed scarlet. She drew her fist back and glared at Ning Chen. “This emperor takes it you really don’t want to keep those claws?”
Ning Chen rubbed his stomach and gave a pained smile. “Not my fault. That was a natural reaction…”
When a man kisses, his hands come fitted with radar. One is always climbing the mountain while the other goes feeling for water.
Ning Chen sat up. “Four months along, you know, you can still have sex perfectly well.”
The woman emperor glared at him. “Want to find out whether I’ll have that child born without a father?”
Ning Chen: “…”
The woman emperor stood up. “This emperor is leaving. Take care of yourself!”
“Wait!”
“Take liberties with this emperor again and this emperor will kill you.”
Ning Chen was speechless. “They all say men are fickle. I say women are worse… You got what you came for, and now you turn on me like you’ve never met me?”
The woman emperor snorted. “Not killing you is mercy enough from this emperor!”
“Woman, can’t you tell who’s holding the high cards here? This is my tent. Want to find out whether I’ll take you prisoner and march in and swallow Wu whole?”
The woman emperor stroked her belly lightly. “No.”
Ning Chen could only look resigned.
“Take care of our child. If anything comes up, send Silence to tell me.”
The woman emperor gave a slight nod and a small sound of assent, then turned and walked toward the entrance.
Ning Chen saw the woman emperor out of the tent and watched her leave with her people.
Ning Chen handed the prisoners over to the woman emperor too, and let her take them back with her.
Shen Min muttered, “This is a chance that does not come in a thousand years. If we could seize the woman emperor and attack while we had the chance, we might swallow Wu whole.”
Pan Yucheng glanced at him. You must want to die.
The corner of Ning Chen’s mouth twitched. He looked at Shen Min. “Seizing the woman emperor would do us no good. If the Divine Wolf Army has not seen her by this time tomorrow, it marches on the frontier.”
“The woman emperor came in good faith this time. The Prince Regent rebelled, and we can count ourselves as having helped her… So the talks went very well. The woman emperor has given her word that as long as she sits on the throne, Wu will not raise arms against Great Xuan.”
Shen Min’s eyes lit up. “The talks succeeded?”
Ning Chen nodded.
Shen Min said excitedly, “If Her Majesty the woman emperor can guarantee no war with Great Xuan for as long as she reigns, that is wonderful news!”
Evening, inside the tent!
Ning Chen, Yuan Long and Pan Yucheng were drinking.
“Yuan Long. I have a task for you!”
Yuan Long said quickly, “My lord marquis has only to give the order!”
Ning Chen fished a sheaf of papers out of his robe and handed it to Yuan Long.
Yuan Long took it, leafed through it for a while, and looked amazed. “This is a method for training troops?”
Ning Chen nodded slightly.
“This is a training method I wrote myself… We start back for the capital tomorrow. After I go, pick ten thousand soldiers out of the army and train them in secret by this method.”
“Take those ten thousand and forge them into special forces for me. Make certain they are absolutely loyal to me.”
Yuan Long stared. “Special forces?”
“The elite of the elite. Pull any one of them out and he can hold a front on his own.”
“I have only one requirement. These men are to be absolutely loyal to me… Order them to their deaths and there must not be a moment’s hesitation.”
Yuan Long gave a start. “You mean to—”
Ning Chen laughed and waved a hand. “Don’t let your mind run away with you. I’m not planning a rebellion… I raised the training of special troops with His Majesty, and His Majesty agreed to it.”
“I want to train an ace army. A torrent of steel, to work wonders on a battlefield.”
He had in fact asked the Xuan Emperor’s leave to train special troops, and the Xuan Emperor had agreed — and he had taken the chance to squeeze three hundred thousand taels of silver out of him.
It should have been under way long before this. Only the immortal powder case had come up at the time, and after that he had been too busy to see straight, so the thing had been put off again and again.
Yuan Long nodded slightly. Since even the Xuan Emperor knew about it, he had nothing to worry about.
“Yes. Rest easy, my lord marquis!”
Ning Chen said, “Keep this quiet… These ten thousand special troops are my secret weapon for taking Nanyue.”
“Yes!”
Yuan Long accepted the order.
Ning Chen then produced two hundred thousand taels in silver notes and gave them to Yuan Long.
“Special troops train several times as hard as ordinary soldiers, so they have to eat well and the nutrition has to keep up… Their pay has to be several times an ordinary soldier’s too.”
“Their weapons I’m going to rebuild too. I’ll send someone out with them when the time comes.”
“To give them something to belong to, this special army is to be called the Ning’an Army!”
He called it the Ning’an Army because the Ninth Princess was called Huai’an… If anything went wrong later, he could say the army was one of the betrothal gifts he had given her.
Yuan Long nodded. “Yes. Rest easy, my lord marquis!”
Three days later the army was back at the frontier.
Ning Chen spent a day inspecting it.
These hundred-odd thousand men were his biggest card.
Ning Chen put his airs aside and enjoyed himself with the officers and men.
The next day Ning Chen and the others rode out light and fast, left the frontier, and started back to the capital.
It was a hard road the whole way, and it took the better part of a month to reach the capital.
Ning Chen sent Pan Yucheng and the others home first.
He and Shen Min went into the palace for an audience.
Seeing Ning Chen back safe, the Xuan Emperor was naturally delighted.
“Where is Beloved Minister Li Hongzhuo? Why do I not see him?”
The Xuan Emperor had noticed that Li Hongzhuo was not there. The first thing he should have done on reaching the capital was present himself.
Ning Chen said calmly, “Lord Li Hongzhuo is dead!”
“What?” The Xuan Emperor was stunned. “How did Beloved Minister Li Hongzhuo die?”
Ning Chen said, “Lord Li Hongzhuo was killed by Song Tiancheng, the Prince Regent of Wu.”
The Xuan Emperor’s brows drew together slightly, and he said in a low voice, “The talks failed?”
“Your Majesty, the talks succeeded!”
The Xuan Emperor was taken aback. “What exactly happened?”
Ning Chen told it through from beginning to end!
The Xuan Emperor was astonished. Who would have thought so much could come out of a peace mission?
“The Wu Prince Regent’s treason is Wu’s own affair… But an envoy of my Great Xuan died in Wu, and the emperor of Wu still owes this emperor an accounting.”
Ning Chen bowed. “Your Majesty, Lord Li Hongzhuo refused your subject’s invitation on the grounds that he was unwell… and then appeared at the Prince Regent’s residence. Does Your Majesty not find that strange?”
A light flickered in the Xuan Emperor’s eyes, and he frowned. “You mean… Li Hongzhuo was dealing with the enemy?”
Ning Chen nodded. “In the Wu court, Lord Li Hongzhuo spoke for the Wu Prince Regent at every turn. Your subject felt at the time that something was wrong.”
“Then the man appeared at the Prince Regent’s residence… Your subject has grounds to suspect that Lord Li Hongzhuo was dealing with the enemy and betraying his country, and had been in league with the Wu Prince Regent for a long time.”
“Your Majesty, your subject wishes to make a full search of Lord Li Hongzhuo’s residence!”
The Xuan Emperor was silent for a while.
“The thing has to be cleared up. This emperor grants it… This emperor will have Nie Liang take men to assist you in a full search of the President of the Secretariat’s residence.”
Ning Chen bowed. “Your subject obeys the command!”
“Ning Chen, this matter must be looked into properly. A loyal minister must not be wronged.”
“Your subject understands!”
“You have had a hard road. When it is done, go home and rest… Anything else can be said at the morning court tomorrow.”
Ning Chen and Shen Min said together, “Yes. Your subject takes his leave!”
The two of them came out of the Hall of Cultivated Heart, and Ning Chen and Nie Liang took men and went straight for Li Hongzhuo’s residence.
(End of Chapter 362)