The palace. The imperial study.

Geng Jing stood below the dragon desk and reported his conversation with Ning Chen to the Xuan Emperor, word for word.

As he listened, the Xuan Emperor took up the vermilion brush at his elbow and wrote rapidly on the paper.

When he had finished he picked it up and studied it.

“Ten paces, one man dead. A thousand miles, and nothing in his way. The work done, he shakes out his robe and walks off, and buries his name along with himself.”

“Since the world began, what man has not died? Leave a loyal heart behind to light the pages of the histories.”

“Water carries a boat, and water turns it over…”

The Xuan Emperor read them through. He loved poems and lyrics, and the more he read the better he liked them.

“The boy overflows with talent… His nature is simply too wild. There is no fear of the imperial house in him.”

The Xuan Emperor glanced at Geng Jing. “You’ve talked with him. What do you make of the man?”

Geng Jing thought about it. “His gifts would astonish the world. And he has no fear of power.”

The Xuan Emperor’s brows drew together slightly. “Do you mean that this emperor is the power in question?”

Geng Jing went down on his knees with a thud, sweat starting on his forehead. “Your Majesty’s pardon. Your subject did not mean that.”

It was a while before the Xuan Emperor spoke. “Enough. Get up.”

“Geng Jing. What has come of the matter this emperor set you?”

Geng Jing had just got to his feet, and he went straight back down. “Your subject has failed… A good many sons of the great houses in this capital have kept a Black King of Hell in secret. Your subject has men pursuing it hard.”

The Xuan Emperor made a cold sound.

“This emperor forbade the keeping of Black Kings of Hell in plain words. Do these people take that word for wind in their ears?”

“Look into it. Look into it to the bottom.”

Something jumped in Geng Jing. There is no telling how many heads come off for this one.

“Your subject has the order.”

The Xuan Emperor grunted. “Go, then. And remember. Nobody is to give Ning Chen any trouble. The boy’s body is far too weak. There is to be meat at every meal. Is that understood?”

“Your subject understands.”

There were no further orders, so Geng Jing bowed and withdrew.

The Xuan Emperor glanced at Eunuch Quan, standing meek and downcast beside him. “Quan Sheng. What do you make of Ning Chen?”

Quan Sheng thought about it. “This servant finds that on the surface Ning Chen is all courtesy with people. But in the bone he is a very proud one.”

The Xuan Emperor nodded. “He is. His manners are more than good — and what is that, if not a way of keeping people off?”

“Quan Sheng. Do you think Ning Chen could be put to great use?”

Quan Sheng said quickly, “That, this servant would not know.”

The Xuan Emperor let out a long breath. “The crown prince cannot bring himself to decide anything. A hundred years from now, those old men at court — this emperor doubts he will be able to hold them down… So this emperor must find him a minister able enough to prop him up.”

Eunuch Quan said quickly, “Your Majesty is destined for ten thousand years, and is in the prime of life. This servant thinks—”

“Less flattery. Birth, age, sickness and death are ordinary things. Being the Son of Heaven does not exempt this emperor from any of them… Those elixirs can add years to a life and nothing more.”

He said it, and still there was something wistful in him. What ruler in any age has not wanted to live forever?

As a matter of fact the Xuan Emperor was taking the elixirs himself, quietly, with exactly that in mind.

He was rational enough about it, though. He knew they could give him vigor and add years to him… and that they could not actually make him deathless.

Several days went by.

Ning Chen stayed in the cells.

He was fed and watered well every day, but it was as though he had been forgotten. Nobody came near him.

That day the jailer brought food again.

It was a generous meal. A whole roast chicken and several side dishes.

The jailer set it down and turned to go.

“Sir. Wait a moment.”

Ning Chen called him back.

The jailer stopped and turned his head.

Ning Chen asked, puzzled. “I’m under sentence of death. You feed me like this every day… What is it you actually want?”

“You’ve got food. Eat it and stop asking questions.”

The jailer left.

“Hey. Hey— hey— what is this supposed to mean? If you’re going to kill me, get on with it… This is frightening, what you’re doing.”

Ning Chen shouted it.

The jailer was long gone.

Ning Chen’s head filled with question marks.

Every good meal, he took for a condemned man’s last.

It had been going on for days, and every one of them had his heart in his mouth.

It was like having a blade laid against his neck. The blade comes down and stops. Comes down again and stops again. And the executioner says: Care to guess whether the next one kills you?

Are they fattening me up before they do it?

Christ… that makes me a pig.

“You’re not going to die.”

The voice came suddenly, low, from the next cell.

Ning Chen went still. There was a wall between them and there had never been a sound from the other side. He had assumed the cell was empty.

Then, curious, he asked, “What makes you say so?”

“Nobody who goes into the Inspectorate comes out alive, and nobody goes through it without torture… You’re the first man I’ve ever seen come in here and not only never be questioned, but be waited on with good food and drink.”

Ning Chen asked quickly, “Do you know why?”

“No.”

Ning Chen’s mouth went sideways. Then what are you talking about? And so sure of yourself, too.

“Maybe the charge is clear enough that there’s nothing to question me about… and I confessed without any trouble, so they’ve let me alone.”

“What are you charged with?”

Ning Chen smiled without humor. “A capital one. I beat the Fifth Prince half to death.”

No sound from the other side. Stunned, presumably.

In a world where imperial authority stands above everything, beating the Fifth Prince is a thing nobody would dare so much as think about.

Ning Chen asked, curious, “What are you in for?”

“Murder… I killed the magistrate of Zhenyuan County and his household. Seven of them.”

“Holy shit… You’re a hard man. That’s a crime that takes three generations of your family with you.”

A cold laugh came through the wall, dismissive of the whole idea.

Ning Chen asked, “Why did you kill the magistrate of Zhenyuan?”

“They deserved to die.”

That interested him. He sat down against the wall. “Tell me about it. Neither of us has anything else to do.”

Nothing from the other side.

Ning Chen said, “Don’t worry. I keep my mouth shut… I’d never tell the Inspectorate anything.”

A cold laugh again. “My sentence is already fixed. They behead me in a few days.”

Ning Chen let out a breath. “Three years as an honest prefect and you come away with a hundred thousand in snow-white silver… I’d guess this magistrate was a nasty piece of work. Nobody takes on a crime that costs three generations, to kill an official of the court, unless he’s been pushed somewhere with no way out.”

Silence again from the other side.

Just as Ning Chen was deciding the man wouldn’t speak again, he spoke. “Officials in league with merchants. Inventing pretexts for new levies. Bullying the trades and cornering the markets. Making meat of the common people… If I hadn’t killed him, the people of Zhenyuan County would have had nowhere left to go.”

Respect rose in Ning Chen, real respect.

“Sir. That was a great and righteous thing.”

The laughter through the wall came again, cold, and went on and on. “I thought that giving up one man — myself — would buy the people of Zhenyuan County a way to live… I hadn’t reckoned on how dark this world is.”

Ning Chen frowned slightly. “What, it didn’t fix it?”

All that came back was a long breath, with everything helpless in it.

“What’s your name? Are you from Zhenyuan County?”

The answer came flat. “I’m not from Zhenyuan County. I’m just a man of the jianghu.” (TL Note: the jianghu — literally “rivers and lakes” — is the floating world outside official society: wanderers, fighters and outlaws, living by their own code rather than by the law.)

Ning Chen’s admiration was complete. “The men who stand by you are mostly butchers of dogs. The men who let you down are mostly men of letters.“

“A pity. I have no power and no influence, and I’m in a cage myself. Two sick men pitying each other. I can’t help you.”

(End of Chapter 33)