The manager came in and waved the waiter out.

The waiter hurried off in a panic.

The manager shut the door and bowed low. "He's young and hasn't seen much of the world. Coming face to face with the renowned Prince Regent, he was bound to be scared. I hope my lord prince will forgive any rudeness.

Oh, yes, I'm Li Hongyuan. My respects, my lord prince!"

Ning Chen sized him up through narrowed eyes. "You say he hasn't seen much of the world, so he was bound to be scared... And you're not scared of this prince?"

Li Hongyuan chuckled. "My lord prince jests. Tell me, who in all the world could face you calmly? Not even the rulers of the other states, surely?"

Ning Chen toyed with his teacup. "So she's not showing herself. You're here to negotiate for her?"

Li Hongyuan bowed. "Please bear with me, my lord prince. To speak with you face to face is a very great honor."

Ning Chen's lip curled. "Talk, then. How does this trade work?"

Li Hongyuan said, "It's very simple. First, I need to see that my lord prince is sincere about it."

Ning Chen said nothing. He reached into his robe, took out a jade pendant and put on a puzzled look. "This is what you people are after, isn't it?

This prince is curious. You've gone to all this trouble over one jade pendant. Is there some story behind it?"

Li Hongyuan dipped his head. "To be honest, I'm only following orders. I don't know what the story behind it is."

As he spoke, he took out a sheet of paper and unfolded it. On it was a drawing of the very pendant in Ning Chen's hand.

He compared the two carefully for a while, gave a small nod, then held out his hand. "My lord prince, if you'd be so good as to hand it over."

Ning Chen looked at him and snickered. "You think I'll just hand it over, like that? You've seen my sincerity. Where's yours? I should at least get to see Tantai…