Back in the city, Ning Chen got out of the carriage partway and went to pay his respects at Uncle Chai's grave.

On the way back, he stopped in at the Inspectorate.

He hadn't been there in a long time.

There were a lot of new faces there now.

Ning Chen went to Geng Jing's door, stopped the silver coat outside from announcing him, and knocked.

"Who is it?"

Geng Jing's voice came from inside, puzzled.

If someone had business with him, the silver coat at the door would announce them... This was the first time anyone had ever knocked.

Ning Chen put on a squeaky voice. "Geng the Purple Coat, your takeout's here."

Geng Jing was completely baffled. Takeout? What the hell is that?

"Come in!"

Ning Chen pushed the door open and walked in.

At the sight of him, Geng Jing was startled, then hurried to bow.

Ning Chen wasn't the little silver coat of the Inspectorate he used to be. He was the all-powerful Prince Regent now.

He went over and helped Geng Jing up. "That's enough. There's no one else here. You don't need to stand on ceremony."

Geng Jing smiled. "Did my lord prince come with orders?"

"Can't I come see you all without orders?"

"Of course you can. We're honored."

Ning Chen rolled his eyes. "I see a lot of new faces."

Geng Jing nodded. "While my lord prince was away from the capital, I gave the Inspectorate a thorough purge and took on a lot of new people."

Ning Chen nodded. "We keep saying it's been ages since we all got together, and I'm about to head off to war again... Round up Old Gao, Old Meng and the others tonight, and let's all meet at the Heavenly Blessing Tower."

Geng Jing said, "Sure, no problem. I'll get in touch with them."

Ning Chen chatted with Geng Jing a while longer, then left.

He went back to his residence and watched Xie Siyu show off how cool he was for a while. As evening came on, he took Feng Qizheng and the others…