Ten days and more went by.

Still nothing from Liang Anzhi.

It sat badly with Ning Chen, but he did not dare send anyone to go looking.

What if Liang Anzhi was only being watched too closely to get word out, and was waiting for the right moment... Sending men to ask after him could be the thing that got him killed.

There was good news, though. The day before, the Gaoli crown prince had sent another consignment of coal and cotton, and hemp cloth with it.

This Jin Dongxing was somebody. A man who kept his word like that was worth knowing, if nothing else.

That day Ning Chen was sitting by the brazier, turning the Heavenly God Sect over in his mind.

The door banged open without warning and the cold wind came rolling in.

Ning Chen shivered and looked up, and froze... Then he was on his feet in one movement.

She stood there wrapped in a cloak, her lovely face pink with cold, looking at him with a bright, charming smile.

"Wife..."

Ning Chen crossed the room and caught her hard against him.

"You can't call me that!"

Zisu put her arms around his waist and scolded him, smiling.

Only a principal wife was entitled to be called Wife, or my lady wife. Zisu was a concubine, and for her to be called Wife amounted to the crime of overstepping.

Ning Chen did not care about any of that. "You must be frozen through after that road."

He took Zisu by the hand and led her over to the brazier.

Just then several more figures came hurrying in.

Gao Ziping, Chen Chong, and Meng Jianbai, the gold coat of the sixth department.

"Greetings, my lord prince!"

Ning Chen laughed. "Never mind the ceremony. Come and get warm."

They gathered in around the fire.

Gao Ziping said, "His Majesty received your memorial and ordered us to escort Miss Zisu to Qingzhou... The road was dreadful the whole way. We haven't held anything up?"

Ning Chen shook his head. "You're faster than I expected. I thought you were…