“We could try winning Ning Chen over, in fact. He really is a man of ability. It would be a waste to kill him.”
It was the old man past fifty who said it, there in the hidden room.
The plump, pale young man played with the plate of cakes and began to laugh through his teeth.
It was a while before he spoke, and he spoke slowly. “Put your love of talent away for the moment. Ning Chen has to die.”
The old man past fifty did not altogether understand.
The plump young man laughed coldly. “That man’s mind does not work like other men’s. There is far too much about him that cannot be predicted.”
“I had Li Hongzhuo try to win him over, using the business between him and the Wu Kingdom’s woman emperor… and what came of it was Li Hongzhuo’s entire household to the sword, and Song Tiancheng torn up by the roots.”
“I don’t know whether you have noticed, but everyone who sets himself against that man comes to a bad end… the Empress, Prince Fu, the Left Chancellor. Was there one among them who did not stand high and hold power?”
“Which is why the man cannot be left alive.”
The plump young man paused, and went on. “Made a marquis at sixteen. General of the Second Rank. Battle honors piled up, and the common people love him… And if he marries the Ninth Princess on top of that, Ning Chen’s power will reach the sky.”
“I have no confidence that I could hold that man’s reins… And I am not His Majesty, generous and broad-minded enough to tolerate a man with no regard for the imperial authority.”
“If Ning Chen had a child by the Ninth Princess, that child would very likely be the future emperor of the Great Xuan.”
The eyes of the old man past fifty contracted sharply, and he gave a slight nod.
He said slowly, “If you can see that far, His Majesty should be able to see it too.”
The plump young man waved a hand. “You’re wrong. His Majesty is different where Ning Chen is concerned, and Ning Chen is different where His Majesty is concerned.”
“Let me put it to you this way. What is between His Majesty and Ning Chen is not the feeling of a sovereign for a subject. It is closer to the feeling of a father for a son… While His Majesty is on the throne, Ning Chen will not rebel. Once His Majesty is gone, that is another matter.”
The old man past fifty inclined his head slightly. “True enough. What is between His Majesty and Ning Chen went beyond sovereign and subject long ago.”
The plump young man’s eyes turned vicious. “So Ning Chen has to die. I dare not use the man in any case, and I have no assurance I could hold his reins.”
“I have played the fool this long. I have no wish to see the whole enterprise ruined over one Ning Chen.”
The old man past fifty inclined his head slightly. “I will send out more men, and make sure Ning Chen does not reach Xiuzhou alive.”
Four or five days went by in a blur.
Because Ning Chen was in no hurry on the road, they were still half the distance from Xiuzhou.
At the fire, Ning Chen had dry rations on the end of a stick, toasting them at the edge of the flames.
Feng Qizheng sat across from him, gnawing at dried meat with one hand and holding a waterskin in the other… no. A wineskin.
When Ning Chen left the capital he had brought a dozen or more jars of Immortal Dew along.
Two of them had already gone, drunk on the sly by Feng Qizheng along the way.
This great genius had quietly poured the water out of his waterskin and filled it with wine instead, and believed nobody had noticed.
Feng Qizheng took a mouthful of meat and a mouthful of wine, wearing a look of pure contentment… and inside he was more pleased still, because nobody knew he had swapped his water for wine.
After a while Ning Chen raked the dead fire aside, dug into the ground and lifted out a great ball of clay.
The surface of the clay ball was cracked all over. Ning Chen gave it a light tap with his dagger and the clay broke apart.
A thick smell of cooked meat spread out.
Inside was a fragrant roast pheasant.
“Damn… that smells good. What kind of cooking is this?”
Ning Chen said with a smile, “Beggar’s chicken.”
As he said it he tore off the two legs and gave them to Zisu and Yudie.
Feng Qizheng was drooling with greed. “Save me the chicken tail.”
Ning Chen: “…….”
Ning Chen tore off a wing for him.
“Eat plenty. You’ll need the strength for a fight.”
Feng Qizheng did not follow. “What fight?”
“Who’s there?”
Gu Yichun, who had the watch, suddenly shouted the words out hard.
Ning Chen looked toward the sound and saw twenty or thirty men in black come charging out of the woods in the distance.
They moved fast. One look was enough to tell they were skilled men.
Ning Chen pointed and said with a smile, “A fight with them.”
Feng Qizheng got to his feet. “Who are these people?”
Ning Chen said calmly, “Men who have come to kill me.”
“Don’t go sneaking my chicken tail.”
Feng Qizheng got to his feet and pulled the rebar out of the ground beside him.
Ning Chen said with a smile, “All right. I’ll save it for you.”
Feng Qizheng took the rebar in his hand and charged straight at the men in black.
Neither side wasted any words on the other. They simply went at it.
These assassins were good, and there was nothing gentle in the way they struck.
One assassin swung his saber down at Feng Qizheng.
Feng Qizheng grinned wide and swept the rebar across.
Clang!!!
A shrill ringing of metal against metal went up.
The assassin’s long saber was smashed clean through.
For a moment the assassin froze.
The rebar in Feng Qizheng’s hand thrust out on the opening and went straight through the man’s heart.
“This thing really is handy.”
Feng Qizheng swung the rebar up and brought it down on another assassin’s head.
The man raised his saber crosswise to block.
Clang!!!
The blade was smashed clean through, and the rebar came down on the man’s head with a dull crack that broke the crown of his skull.
The assassins were strong.
But Gu Yichun and his men were no worse.
The two sides locked together in a killing scramble.
Yudie’s small face went white with fear, and her body trembled slightly.
Zisu, on the other hand, was calm enough. She had spent her life traveling the country with Shang Lu, had seen much of the world, and had seen this kind of scene before.
Ning Chen took Yudie’s hand and said with a quiet laugh, “Don’t be frightened. Nothing is going to happen.”
Then, all at once, Ning Chen looked back.
Several assassins were charging down the slope behind them.
These men came on at a run, light on their feet and very fast.
Gu Yichun kicked an assassin flying, happened to catch sight of how things stood on Ning Chen’s side, and shouted, “Young Master Ning, look out!”
The words were barely out before he cut another assassin down and came racing toward Ning Chen.
The assassins charging down the slope were very close to Ning Chen already.
Gu Yichun’s face changed color. He gave a great roar and threw himself forward at a dead run.
Ning Chen’s expression was calm. He narrowed his eyes and watched the assassins come.
Yudie’s small face was chalk white, and yet she put herself in front of Ning Chen.
Ning Chen was speechless. He was about to pull her behind him when he saw Yudie hurl a small white porcelain bottle at the assassins.
Yudie knew nothing of fighting, and there was very little strength in it. It was like an ordinary person throwing a stone.
The assassin in front cut the little bottle out of the air.
Bang!!!
The bottle burst, and a white powder spread out on the wind.
The assassin in front ran on through the white powder, and then his body suddenly dropped and he pitched headfirst onto the ground.
Ning Chen stared at Yudie in astonishment.
“What was that?”
Yudie had no time to answer, because there were more assassins still.
Ning Chen smiled slightly, pulled Zisu and Yudie behind him, and watched with cold eyes as the other assassins came on with their noses covered. His hand tightened on the dagger.
But at that moment a figure appeared out of nowhere, a keen sword in his hand.
A hard cold glitter flashed out.
Two assassins went down with their hands at their throats.
The man in black’s swordsmanship was fierce and clean, and every stroke of it was fatal.
In the space of a few breaths, apart from the assassin already brought down by the white powder Yudie had thrown, every one of the other assassins was killed, and each one by a thrust that finished it.
The man in black sheathed his sword and turned to look at Ning Chen. His face was handsome and his expression was cold.
Gu Yichun, who had come racing over, was at a loss when he saw it, and stared at the man in black on his guard.
Ning Chen played with the dagger in his hand and said with a smile, “Eldest Brother. It has been a long time.”
The man in black was nobody else. He was Xie Siyu, Eldest Brother of the Ghost-Shadow Sect.
(End of Chapter 384)