Feng Qizheng looked at him sideways and gave a cold laugh. "If you won't go, what other reason is there but that you can't bear to give up that gold coat's post?"

"And don't forget, that gold coat's post of yours was Ning Chen's doing in the first place."

"Ning Chen isn't going because he's worried about us. Do you really think the name of a gold coat will keep you safe? Don't forget, they brought even Ning Chen down. If you stay behind, you're a dead man."

"Horseshit, you son of a bitch. Is your father the kind of man who clings to power?" Chen Chong glared with a pair of bull's eyes and roared at him, breathing hard. "Your father isn't like you. You're a single man with nobody depending on you. I have a family and I have to think about them."

Feng Qizheng gave no ground. "Then all the more reason to go. Do you mean to drag your own family down to die with you?"

"We've been in the Inspectorate this long... Haven't you seen clearly enough how black officialdom is?"

"Is a gold coat such a big thing? In front of a member of the imperial house it isn't worth a fart. And this is the crown prince. He can find any reason he likes, and your whole family never sees tomorrow's sun."

Ning Chen sighed. "That's enough. Stop quarreling, you two."

Then he looked at Chen Chong. "Old Feng puts it coarsely, but he isn't wrong. If I were in the Great Xuan, the crown prince wouldn't dare touch you. But as things stand now, I can't stay in the Great Xuan much longer."

"Old Chen, there's no good end in staying. Come with me... So long as we do nothing that harms the Great Xuan, how can it be called treason?"

Chen Chong thought about it for a while and could not make up his mind.

Feng Qizheng said, "You stupid pig, your father is asking you this... If the rest of us go, what is there in staying behind on your…