Ning Chen woke and found himself in an unfamiliar room.

A soft bed. Lavish furnishings.

The room was a great deal better than his own broken-down little one.

Have I transmigrated a second time?

“Awake?”

Ning Chen turned toward the voice, and the movement pulled at his injuries. He grunted at the pain of it.

But mostly he was startled, because the man standing beside the bed was Ning Ziming.

“Steward Wu. Chen’er is awake. Bring in the medicine and the chicken soup.”

Ning Ziming called it out the door.

Ning Chen’s face went blank. Did they beat me stupid? Am I dreaming?

That “Chen’er” out of Ning Ziming’s mouth especially. It raised goosebumps all over him.

“Chen’er. How is it? Any better?”

Ning Chen put out a hand, meaning to pinch his own cheek and find out whether he was dreaming.

Then he hesitated, and beckoned Ning Ziming closer instead.

Ning Ziming blinked, assumed the boy had something to say, and leaned in without thinking.

Ning Chen grabbed a fistful of his beard and yanked. Several hairs came out by the root.

Ning Ziming sucked a breath in through his teeth. His hand went up on reflex to slap the boy — and then came back down.

He still couldn’t stop himself. “Unfilial wretch. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Not a dream,” Ning Chen muttered. Then he looked at Ning Ziming and put it back to him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Ning Ziming worked to press his anger down.

“Ning Chen. We are all one family. Your two brothers didn’t mean to hurt you. I’ve already disciplined them. As they say, a family’s dirty laundry shouldn’t be aired in public. Let this end here.”

Ning Chen’s head filled with question marks.

Did Chang Ruyue’s thighs crush his skull soft, or has his brain rusted through?

When a thing turns this strange, there’s something behind it.

Ning Chen watched him warily. “Minister Ning. What is it you actually want?”

“Unfilial wretch. I am your father. Can you not even say the word?”

Ning Chen laughed coldly. “Father? Please, no. A father like Minister Ning is above my station. It would get me killed.”

“Minister Ning. Say it plainly. What do you want?”

Ning Ziming was past furious, and had to keep pressing the fury down anyway.

“Chen’er. Brothers scuffle. It happens in every household. Your father feels that a family’s dirty laundry shouldn’t be aired in public. Let that be the end of it.”

Something flickered in Ning Chen’s eyes. Why does he keep pressing that same point? He seems to badly want no one outside this house to know.

He couldn’t work out the reason yet. But the fact itself was usable.

“Minister Ning. Ning Chen sits easier on my ear. Stop calling me Chen’er. It’s honestly nauseating. Anyone listening would think you and I were close.”

Ning Ziming had good control of his temper, but even so his face went livid with it.

Ning Chen went on. “Minister Ning, I know you don’t like me. Funny thing — I don’t much like you either.”

“Unfilial wretch. I am your father, and you dare speak to me this way. Monstrous. Absolutely monstrous.”

Ning Chen sighed. His eyes were flat. “Minister Ning, there’s nobody else here. No need for the performance. You and I both know exactly why you brought me back to the Ning family.”

“If you have even a scrap of conscience left, I hope you’ll think of that pitiful bit of blood between us and let me leave the Ning estate.”

Ning Ziming’s face changed slightly. “You want to leave the Ning estate?”

“Yes. I’d ask Minister Ning to be generous and let me go.”

“Ning Chen. You can’t carry a load on your shoulder or lift one in your hands. You’re no scholar and no fighter. Leave the Ning estate and you’ll starve to death out there.”

Ning Chen gave him a long look. “Minister Ning, you needn’t trouble yourself. If I starve to death, at least I won’t dirty the Ning family’s precious ground.”

Ning Ziming’s face went dark as iron.

Ning Chen absolutely could not leave the Ning estate. If the Xuan Emperor learned of it, if the dragon countenance turned in anger, ten lives wouldn’t save him.

Just then, a knock at the door.

“Come in!”

Steward Wu came in carrying a tray. One bowl of medicine, one bowl of soup.

Ning Ziming forced the anger down.

“Ning Chen. You’ve only just woken. You aren’t thinking clearly. Anything else can wait. Drink the medicine first — the injuries will heal faster for it.”

“And I had chicken soup made for you. Build yourself back up properly.”

Steward Wu came to the bedside.

“Fourth Young Master. This old servant will help you with the medicine.”

Ning Chen turned his head and looked at the tray. “That’s poisoned, isn’t it?”

Steward Wu said quickly, “The Fourth Young Master does like his jokes. The truth is the master cares a great deal about the Fourth Young Master. He simply isn’t good at showing it. The whole time you were unconscious, the master sat at this bedside and never left it for a moment.”

Ning Chen laughed coldly, unmoved.

He knew Ning Ziming far too well. The man was cold and faithless to the bone. As for sitting at the bedside and never leaving it — that certainly wasn’t worry. There was a purpose behind it.

“How is Uncle Chai?”

Steward Wu said quickly, “Uncle Chai is unharmed. Set your mind at ease, Fourth Young Master.”

Ning Chen let out another cold laugh. Uncle Chai was an old man, and Ning Mao had gone at him with fists and feet. How could he possibly be unharmed?

“Fourth Young Master. Will this old servant help you with the medicine?”

Ning Chen said nothing.

Seeing that he wouldn’t drink, the steward had no choice but to take a mouthful of it himself first.

“Is the Fourth Young Master reassured now?”

Ning Chen’s face was blank. He grunted, then said, “Change the spoon.”

He had used that spoon. Ning Chen found it disgusting.

This Steward Wu was no prize either.

His face darkened, but he had a smile back on it almost at once. “Certainly. This old servant will change it right away.”

He changed the spoon, fed Ning Chen the medicine, and then fed him the chicken soup.

Ning Ziming stood. “Come. We’ll go out. Don’t disturb Chen’er’s rest.”

“Chen’er, rest well. Your father will come and see you again in the morning. And Steward Wu will be right outside the door. Call him if you need anything.”

Ning Chen said nothing and closed his eyes.

He honestly couldn’t stand to look at that false, sickening face any longer.

Ning Ziming snorted, flung his sleeves back and walked out.

After he’d gone, Ning Chen opened his eyes. He lay there wondering what was behind Ning Ziming’s strange behavior today.

Maybe it was the medicine. He thought and thought, and drifted off without noticing.

He slept straight through to the next morning.

Ning Chen felt a good deal of his strength back, though the broken ribs hurt badly.

He struggled upright and reached for the chamber pot under the bed. There was nothing else for it — his bladder was about to burst.

Just then the door was pushed open from outside.

Steward Wu walked in.

“The Fourth Young Master is awake?”

Ning Chen said furiously, “Get out. You’ve been with Minister Ning this long and you don’t know the first thing about manners? You don’t knock? You must have taught your manners to a dog.”

Steward Wu’s face darkened.

Before, he would have found a way to deal with Ning Chen for that. He didn’t dare now. The master had suddenly taken a great interest in Ning Chen, and the steward wasn’t about to overstep.

That’s how it goes. The kind of man a master is, the kind of dog he keeps. The dog takes after the owner.

The reason Ning Chen had no kind face for Steward Wu was that this old dog had helped Chang Ruyue and her sons bully him more than a few times.

“Don’t be angry, Fourth Young Master. This old servant will go right out. Right out…”

Steward Wu kept his head down and a smile on his face. But his eyes were full of resentment as he slunk out.

(End of Chapter 10)