Pan Yucheng told Ning Chen that Geng the Purple Coat would be in the prison at this hour, questioning prisoners.
That day at court, a pack of loud mouths had jumped in one after another to attack Ning Chen.
And the Xuan Emperor had taken the chance and dealt with the whole lot of them!
The men were being held in the Inspectorate prison.
The Xuan Emperor suspected somebody was standing behind them.
Geng Jing was in the middle of questioning them.
Ning Chen came to the torture room in the prison.
He had barely reached the door when a scream came out of it fit to tear the heart out of a man’s chest.
“May I trouble you to find Geng the Purple Coat for me. I have something very important for him.”
The jailer standing at the door went straight in to report it.
In no time at all Geng Jing came out, tall and big in the purple coat.
Geng Jing looked at him. “What is it?”
Ning Chen covered his nose. The smell of blood coming off Geng Jing was very strong.
“Lord Geng. A word aside.”
The two of them went somewhere quiet.
Ning Chen said, all mystery, “Lord Geng. Would you like to earn a merit?”
“Earn a merit?”
Ning Chen nodded. “I’ve found out that somebody means to murder His Majesty.”
That sentence changed Geng Jing’s face on the instant, and everything in his eyes went hard and serious.
He dropped his voice. “Tell me.”
Ning Chen said, “His Majesty gave me an elixir today.”
Geng Jing raised an eyebrow. Is this bragging?
Ning Chen went on. “I found that the elixir is poisoned. What His Majesty is taking is no elixir of immortality at all. It is a pill of poison.”
Geng Jing was badly shaken!
“Lord Geng. Let’s pull a big one. Let’s take the Elixir Bureau, the whole pot at once.”
A chill went through Geng Jing.
The Elixir Bureau. The place that refined elixirs for His Majesty and no one else, and stood high in His Majesty’s regard.
“Ning Chen. Are you certain those elixirs are poisoned? This is not a thing to joke about. There is no room for the smallest carelessness.”
Ning Chen said seriously, “I stake the head on my own shoulders on it. Those elixirs are pills of poison.”
“I ran a test. I fed the elixir His Majesty gave me to ants and to a rat, and in less than two hours they were all dead.”
Geng Jing was full of astonishment, and something close to disbelief.
Ning Chen actually fed an elixir His Majesty had given him to ants and a rat? What goes on in this boy’s head?
“Lord Geng. His Majesty’s fainting this time was partly the fright… but the greater reason for it is those poison pills.”
Geng Jing’s face was grave, and even his breathing had turned heavy.
His Majesty had always thought highly of the Elixir Bureau. He had even had a place built specially for their refining and posted heavy guard on it.
If this were true, it was a great merit indeed.
But if it went wrong, His Majesty would be in a fury, and the whole Inspectorate from top to bottom would very likely be swept clean.
“If you say what His Majesty is taking is poison, why not report it straight to His Majesty?”
Ning Chen said heavily, “The chain of evidence isn’t complete yet. Take the Elixir Bureau and I promise you we’ll find proof there’s no arguing with… Take the men first, then tell His Majesty.”
“If we tell His Majesty first, I’m afraid word gets out and the Elixir Bureau destroys the evidence.”
“Lord Geng, His Majesty’s safety hangs on this, and the empire itself hangs on this. I’m asking you to trust me this once.”
Geng Jing held Ning Chen hard in his eyes.
A long moment went by, and then he let out a slow breath and said heavily, “Very well. I’ll run mad with you this once.”
In the end Geng Jing decided to trust Ning Chen.
For the people of a county, he had put a blade into the Empress’s brother.
For a woman he had never met, he had put a blade into a silver coat.
For one old servant, he had put a blade into a degree-holder.
That was enough to prove that Ning Chen hated wickedness the way a man hates an enemy, and that he was worth trusting.
“Ning Chen. There is one more man we need for this.”
“Who?”
“Nie Liang.”
Seeing that Ning Chen looked uncertain, Geng Jing explained. “However great the Inspectorate’s authority is, it does not reach inside the palace.”
“Nie Liang is Commander of the guards of the imperial presence, and he has charge of the imperial guards as well. The safety of the whole palace is his… Without his help we could not get through the front gate of the Elixir Bureau.”
Ning Chen thought about it. “Then here’s how we do it. I’ll go into the palace first and find Nie Liang, and you bring men along behind me.”
“Are you sure you can talk Nie Liang into it?”
Ning Chen said, “His Majesty’s safety hangs on it. I don’t imagine Commander Nie wants anything happening to His Majesty any more than we do.”
Geng Jing nodded.
“Ning Chen. Take my waist tally into the palace and see Nie Liang. I’ll be along after you with men.”
A silver coat could not enter the palace unsummoned. Deep as Ning Chen stood in His Majesty’s favor, he had no such privilege.
Only purple coats and gold coats could go before the throne at any hour.
Ning Chen took Geng Jing’s waist tally, got on his beloved Diaochan and rode hard for the palace.
Nie Liang had been off duty that night.
But His Majesty had had a fright the night before and was not himself, and Nie Liang had stayed the whole time outside the Hall of Cultivated Heart.
He had not closed his eyes in nearly two days.
“Who goes there?”
The low challenge of a guard in the distance put Nie Liang on the alert.
“Ning the Silver Coat, is it. What are you doing here at this hour?”
“I have business with Commander Nie. May I trouble you to send word in.”
Nie Liang heard the voice and came over.
Ning Chen saw Nie Liang and let out a heavy breath. “Thank God Commander Nie is here. I was afraid you were off duty today.”
“You have business with me?”
Ning Chen nodded. “Commander Nie. A word aside.”
The two of them went somewhere quiet.
Ning Chen dropped his voice and told him the whole of it.
Nie Liang was struck completely stupid.
His Majesty has been taking pills of poison all this time?
He held Ning Chen hard in his eyes. “You’re certain?”
Ning Chen said, “I stake the head on my own shoulders on it. If anything comes of this, take my head off first.”
“Why not report it directly to His Majesty?”
Ning Chen told him the reason.
Seeing Nie Liang hesitate, Ning Chen said:
“Commander Nie. There’s no time to lose. Decide now… Are you pulling this one with me or not?”
“If you won’t, then for His Majesty’s safety I’ll have to force my way into the Elixir Bureau on my own and take my chances on dying there.”
Nie Liang’s brows knotted tight, and he said nothing.
A long time passed, and then he let a little breath out, like a man who had settled something in himself, and asked, “Does Geng Jing know?”
“Lord Geng is on his way with men.”
Nie Liang let out a deep sigh. “Ning Chen. I’m putting my whole family and my life in your hands.”
A smile came onto Ning Chen’s face.
“When Commander Nie gives it everything he has, how could I bear to let Commander Nie lose?”
The corner of Nie Liang’s mouth twitched slightly. He found there was something suggestive about that.
“Come on. We’ll meet Lord Geng at the palace gate.”
The two of them came out to the gate just as Geng Jing arrived with his men.
Besides Geng Jing there were two gold coats and thirty silver coats.
Once they had joined up there was no wasted talk. They went straight for the Elixir Bureau.
Having decided to run mad with Ning Chen this once, there was nothing more to say about it. There was nothing for it but to grit their teeth and do the thing.
Outside the Elixir Bureau, imperial guards stood watch.
Seeing a great body of men come sweeping down on the Elixir Bureau, they reacted at once and stood to in formation.
Nie Liang strode out, looked at the officer at the head of them and gave his order straight out. “Pass my command. From this moment nobody enters the Elixir Bureau but us, and nobody leaves it.”
“Yes!”
The officer was Nie Liang’s own subordinate to begin with, and took the order at once.
Nie Liang went in at the front of them, with the Inspectorate’s men pouring in behind him.
In the courtyard, men in what looked like Daoist robes were busy at their work.
Seeing a crowd of silver coats come charging in, they could only stand there blankly.
Ning Chen drew his saber and shouted hard, “Inspectorate business. Nobody moves from where he stands. Anyone who disobeys will be cut down!”
The men looked at Ning Chen strangely, with contempt showing in their faces.
Geng Jing turned his head and gave him a look with nothing to say in it. “That doesn’t work in the palace. The Inspectorate has no authority here… It has to be Commander Nie.”
Nie Liang called out heavily, “I am Nie Liang, Commander of the guards of the imperial presence. Nobody moves from where he stands. Anyone who disobeys will be cut down!”
At that, every face in the Elixir Bureau changed.
This was the palace, and this was the Elixir Bureau. They were not afraid of the Inspectorate. But Nie Liang was another matter — he was Commander of the guards of the imperial presence, and anything he did was generally done for His Majesty.
(End of Chapter 108)