The Emeritus Palace.

Under the old tree in the courtyard, the Xuan Emperor lay in a lounge chair, eyes half closed, enjoying himself thoroughly while Eunuch Quan pounded his legs.

A leaf drifted down, swayed on the breeze and landed right on his face.

He opened his eyes. With one hand he shaded them from the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves; with the other he brushed the leaf off his face. Then he sat up.

"Quan Sheng, by my count that brat Ning Chen should be back by now, shouldn't he?"

Eunuch Quan bowed. "By Your Majesty's reckoning, yes, he should."

The Xuan Emperor's voice ached for him. "It's been hard on the boy. The Great Xuan has been tossed by one storm after another these past years, and he's had to rush east and west, fight north and south, without a moment's rest!"

Eunuch Quan smiled. "The prince is skilled in war and stratagem. The battlefield is his stage. If you ask this old servant, he never tires of it.

Anyway, there's only the eastern frontier left now. Once that's won back, the prince can rest."

The Xuan Emperor gave a slight nod. He looked at the flowers blooming thick in the courtyard and sighed softly. "Time flies... Before you know it, Old General Chen has been gone for years.

This emperor dreamed of Old General Chen last night. When Ning Chen is back, have the brat take some people to pay respects at the old general's grave."

Quan Sheng was about to nod when a eunuch came into the courtyard with quick little steps and knelt. "Emperor Emeritus, the Prince Regent asks to see you!"

The Xuan Emperor stared for a moment. Then his face lit up with delighted surprise, and he sprang up out of his lounge chair.

Eunuch Quan was overjoyed too. His old face broke into a smile as creased as a chrysanthemum.

The Xuan Emperor said, "Speak of the devil. We were just talking about him, and here he is... Show him in, quick."

"Yes!"

The young eunuch rose and was about to…