Ning Chen raised his cup and touched it toward theirs across the table. Then, screening the cup with his sleeve, he drained it in one go!

The Third Prince was all smiles. "My lord prince must have made a huge haul this time, I take it? I'd say the carts alone number over a thousand."

Even as he said it, the Third Prince suddenly bent low in a deep bow. "I have a presumptuous request. I beg my lord prince to grant it."

Ning Chen's eyes turned wary. "Why such a formal bow, Third Prince? What can this prince help you with?"

Still bowing, the Third Prince said, "I'd like to borrow grain from my lord prince."

Ning Chen's eyes narrowed. Sure enough, no banquet like this one was a good banquet. The fox's tail had come out fast.

"Borrow grain?" Ning Chen smiled faintly. "The Great Xuan may be strong, but this prince has been fighting campaigns north and south these past years, and it's cost a fortune... Even the landlord's run out of spare grain."

The Third Prince's expression stiffened a little, but he pressed on, thick-skinned. "I wouldn't dare deceive my lord prince. This year the Gaoli Kingdom has been hit by flood after flood all over the country. The people have lost their homes, and the starving lie dead in the fields.

Asking my lord prince for grain is a last resort!

My lord prince has won a total victory this time, with a rich haul. For the sake of the passage Gaoli granted you... please help us.

Rest assured, my lord prince. As soon as we're through the worst, we'll do everything we can to repay you the grain."

The Third Prince looked perfectly sincere.

But to Ning Chen it was as clear as a bright mirror. The Third Prince was cashing in a favor and demanding payment.

And he'd already repaid the favor of passage. He'd given the Gaoli Kingdom twenty percent of everything seized at Qimu City and Biluo City.

Floods?

Floods, my ass.

If there'd been floods, Xiao Yanxi's intelligence network couldn't…